The Road to Mecca...

Or Drogheda as it may be known by some.

The Green Joker Poker Main Event starts this evening. I am excited and nervous. Quite simply, I have never played an event of this structure and prizepool before. 15,000 starting stack, 1 hour levels - no running ante at any point. Wow.

I have played a few deepish stack events over the past six weeks. The Fitz €500 twice, the SE €200 twice and the GJP Drogheda €250 game. I have cashed in none of these events. However, progress is definately being made. In the last update on this blog I concentrated on my exit hand from the SE Boards game, where I blew a gasket and donated my stack to Reggie. That tourney had come a week after my first attempt at the Fitz €500 (I don't like the term monkey - so there!!). I had got intimitaded by the structure and some of the opposition and ended up playing a terrible Tight weak game on the night. I would bet too much pre - flop, give up too easily off the flop and completely bottle it on the later streets. I was not planning my hands, and I was not playing the opposition. Moreover, I gave up on the night too easily - disheartened by huge stacks when I still had an M of over 10. In the end I just went in blind and headed down to the SE to win my entry fee back. I achieved that, but it was hardly a successful night.

My second attempt at the Fitz game over the EPT weekend was somewhat of a turning point. I played extremely well against some top opposition despite having no cards or luck all night. I also had had the pleasure of watching Dave O' Callaghan go to work at my table for most of the night in a tournament he would go on to win. I ended up finishing an extremely dissapointing 10th after taking two horrible beats in pots that would have put me back in it.

I would like to think that my very best, focused and disciplined poker could approach the money in this tournament. However, I can't afford to make any mistakes and my lack of experience at this level will just have to be gotten over. I will give it my best and write a full report on the weekends play here - though if I bubble I will probably not want to...!!