Knowing when to hold 'em

A few years ago, I was a regular in the pub poker scene in my local area. I was quite good at it and had my fair share of victories. I'm down to 1 or 2 venues that I play and am nowhere near as regular a player as I used to be. Before I left for Singapore, I won entry into a poker final at Padstow RSL It boasted a $10,000 cash and prizes prize pool with the winner getting $2,400 - nothing to sneeze at. Whilst I had already won free entry The outlay for this tournament was $40 in re-buys and add-ons. I initially thought I would not be able to make this tournament due to work certification preparation, but fate allowed me to attend.

Padstow is close to 1.5 hrs walk away fro where I live. I enjoy walking that kind of distance and whilst on many days, I've driven there, it was a nice day and in the mood for a walk. There is a body of water between my place and Padstow called Salt Pan Creek, and there are two bridges to cross it, a road only bridge and a rail-only bridge. What is little known is that under the rail bridge, there is a beautiful mangrove boardwalk

Boardwalk Entry

Boardwalk Bridge

Salt Pan Creek

 I appreciated the views and saw a few ducks frolicking in the water. I made it to Padstow early enough to have a decent fish cake lunch before my tournament. I caught up with a few people at the tournament that I hadn't seen since I was a regular player.

I had a bit of a shaky start but soon settled into the groove. I impressed myself on how well I played in this tournament - I was really expectimg myself to be more rusty and kept wanting to "make the next break". 3 breaks down, and I was still alive - by no means dominating but I was grinding my way taking risks at the right times and getting lucky a few times.

I finally made the money and the final table. I was very short on the final table so know I needed to take risks quickly. I chanced 67 and flopped a straight, I pushed a few times with Ace High and stole a few blinds. As each person was eliminated, the prize guarantee kept raising - $100 - $150 - $250 and so on. Before too long, we were down to the final 5 players. We agreed to split at $1070 each and we also win a ticket into a bigger game in Newcastle next year.

I was delighted with the split despite feeling like I could win the lot - I've been playing poker for years and know all too well that other would only take 1 bad hand to bust me. Its the biggest win I've had in a while and its good to know that I still have it. It was a very enjoyable day!