Matt Cromwell won his seat by winning the Season 16 Heads-up Championship. He went on to finish 10th in the Birmingham Cup for £570. Well played, sir! And now, in his own words…. ……………………………
So here`s my write up of the UKIPT Birmingham Cup event that was played out over the weekend of 8th October and how the events unfolded.
Not many of you know me and most have only met me the once, but after moving in to the area last December it was great to find a lot of people that enjoyed playing poker as much as myself. A few months playing at the Crosswells on a Thursday night and a few conversations with Jack, Smithy and Steve Healey and I find myself at this BCPC thingy playing some heads up tournament. A few games later and after a lesson in poker from Mr. J/6 (twice) I somehow managed to claw it back and make the final. Sitting down I`m hoping for a win to make a nice little cash earner. Rubbing my hands together I`m then told the winner gets a 200 quid seat to play another tournament so no wonga today! (Cheers Bri) 😀
I`d hoped to play the GPS mini at Star City but missed it due to work commitments so with that and a bit of thought I added some cash to play what would be my biggest poker tournament for the final UKIPT Birmingham Cup.
On arriving I`d taken my old genting card from about 10 years ago and duly got laughed at for it`s antiqueness, but nevertheless it worked and we were in! I was expecting a bigger turn out after comparing to last year’s competition in Nottingham, however only 70ish runners were taking part in the flight.
The game duly got underway at 13:00 and not a lot of talking at the table from anybody as the nerves kicked in. From a 15k starting stack I managed to increase this progressively at the beginning; A nice little chip bump to 20k when my pocket Queens made a set grabbing a nice portion against a bloke who`d managed to make a set with his pocket 8`s (Tar muchly)
Just before 15:00 I`d had another set of ladies bringing my chip stack up to a nice 26k. So far so good, keep it tight and chip away I said to myself before trotting off for the first break. I return to pick up the Tod special and decide to call the small preflop reraise from BB position. Overcards form most of the flop, but happy with my tight table image I`ve decided to play this hand against the only bloke at our tables with shades on, oh dear. I`ve bet the flop 1.5k with air, “Call” Turn no good and fired 2.5k, “Call” river comes and the Tod has let me down, cut my losses? nah lets fire 5k in and pray for the fold. After a lot of thought he`s made the call. Reluctantly prepared to hand over my chips the dealer has said my last bet was only 500 not 5k as I said “5” when dropping in the single 5k chip. I Could have kissed him and with that 4.5k was saved; Cheers dealer! Next hand I`m dealt the Tod again, but not interested in being burnt twice, FOLD!
10 Minutes later things have gone from bad to worse. My two pair changed on river to a different two pair as the board paired subsequently giving the other guy the same two pair, but his with a better kicker. I`m now sitting on 12k and wondering whether I should have stayed in bed. After this I`ve been moved to a new table (nothing like a change of scenery). Folding all hands I`ve been blinded down to 8k when I wake up with pocket 6`s. I`m late to act and shoved receiving two callers, one being a reraise all in shove over the top not creating my ideal 3-way scenario showdown preflop. Villain cards are turned to see A/8 K/8 and I`m just happy to see those 8`s shared. 5 cards later and the poker Gods smile upon me, triple up to 26k.
Bit of action between 17:00 and 18:00 giving me Ace King twice and getting my chip stack up then down then back up again quicker than my ex used to move her knickers.
Pocket 9’s see me up to 50k and then up to 62k after I hit a set with pocket 6’s
With 11 players left we were playing to 9 for Day 2 and these would all be guaranteed a cash. Blinds at 2 and 4k and I’m getting raised a lot on my big blind. It took 2 or three hours of grinding but the bubble was burst when the a big stack on my table went all in pocket 5’s only to be called by the biggest stack with Pocket Kings and that meant we were coming back tomorrow and in the money!
Day 2 started with 14 players after flight 1C had around 30 entries and 5 finalists joining us. Things were always going to be tough with my 38k starting stack, but I got it in good with A/10 to be cracked by an 8 on the river to a smaller stack.
Lowlight of the day against the same bloke was with blinds at 2.5/5k and a reraise by him in middle position to 12k, I’ve looked down at some lovely Aces and reraised all in for 18k. He’s calling, he’s showing me his 9’s, I’m doubling up then to find that the dealer has mucked the cards in a balls up worse than the Remain Campaign in the Brexit referendum. Tournament director called over, verdict put down as a fold by initial raiser however cards mucked so It’s a split pot?!? I let my blood pressure drop, remember chip save from technicality yesterday. Karma says 1-1 and onwards we go.
We’re now down to 10 players and I seemed to be playing the same bloke every time and after his raise preflop again I see J 8 and make the call. Scary flop but good tell shown when I reached for chips so pushed him all in. Thank you Mike Caro, he folds.
Things finally ended for me when I got into a hand with yep you’ve guessed it the same bloke. He’s shoved all in and I’m looking at 40k in chips and an Ace Jack suited for artillery. I make the call, see him turn K J and eagerly await the double up however computer says no after a flop dropping a King and a Jack and an exit of £570 for my troubles.
I went to pick up the cashing slip and was asked about any tip for the dealer, I politely declined opting to blame the BCPC indirectly for having to share the winnings. What I really meant was YOUR DEALER MUCKED FOOKIN ACES!!! 😀
Overall it was a fantastic weekend and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I got to meet some new people and a few professionals, which gave me some great experience. I later found out that nice compadre at the poker table (Gabriel Bleahaut) only went on and won the thing giving me a bit of hope for the future.
Here’s hoping I can continue that success playing with you all next season.
