IT was always going to be a tall order to match the sell-out Christmas Confidential Freezeout, but 235’s plush poker room was abuzz on Wednesday 10 April for the Confidential Spring Freezeout. A respectable 93 players turned up to play for a prize pool of over £2300.
I somehow had managed to limp to the final table with a fairly average stack of 90k
With 10k chips in our starting stacks, my tactic was to play conservatively to start, nothing too clever. The first few levels tested my patience; I was card dead for well over an hour until I was dealt pocket 10s. A 10 on the flop and a paired board made a full house to gratefully double my stack just before the break.
Lamb burgers were served in the break and worked well. The queues moved quickly, and from what I gather, some players went back for seconds, and thirds.
By bad luck of the draw, I kept getting moved to a new table. This made it tough to get into any rhythm, and also meant I had to keep explaining my notebook.
“No, I’m not a pro, I’m writing notes for a piece for Manchester Confidential. Honestly.”
In the next few hours I played very few hands, but I was able to double up twice, both times with AQ. By the second break, there were 17 left and I had a stack of 46k, just below the 55k average.
Graham Robinson defied odds with his A4 and hit runner-runner to beat a flopped set of 2s. I was to benefit from this as I knocked Graham out shortly after.
Jack Spooner was the unlucky player who went out on the bubble (the last person to go out before the final table, and the payouts). His AK was foiled by Mihail Pop’s AA and somehow I had managed to limp to the final table with a fairly average stack of 90k.
Jeff Thomas was the chip leader with a massive 225k. David Herrity in second had 147k. Tim Wagner was the short stack at 25k, meaning he had to find some luck quickly.
Sadly it didn’t come as he was soon all-in against Daniel Shapiro’s pocket jacks, which hit quads on a JJ7 board, and Tim Wagner was first out in the final table.
The next casualty was Chris Evans whose QJ was comprehensively dismantled by Angela Houghton’s AK, with an ace on the flop, and another on the turn for emphasis.
I’d been waiting for a spot to move, and the blinds and antes were steadily eating away, so when I saw Q10, I had no choice but to shove. I was in terrible shape against Angela’s QK and a blank board meant I exited in eighth place. I was secretly surprised I’d even made it to the final table so it felt like a fair night’s poker for me.
Royce Joseph followed me out when his K8 failed to improve against David Herrity’s pocket 6s. Then Daniel Shapiro was sixth when his 79 failed to connect with the board.
Whilst keeping one eye on the table, I had my mind blown several times by magician Curtis Watson, who’d busted out some time ago, but stayed to support his friends.
Down to the five final players. The two chip leaders by a margin, David Herrity and Jeff Thomas, clashed. David looked down to see AQ which was enough to dispatch Jeff’s J9 and his significant stack grew even more so. The remaining players, Angela, Mihai and Nick Bowyer, who started the final table with roughly the same stack as me prepared themselves for a battle.
It wasn’t long before Angela found JJ, but unfortunately for her, Nick had AK. A board of A8A86 left her with a few blinds which Nick took shortly after. Now we were three, and Nick had a slight lead over David, with Mihai trailing.
Mihai hit a 2-outer to double up against David’s Q10 when he got it in with K8. A flop of Q810 should’ve knocked him out, but a miracle 8 on the river meant he now had a little under a third of the chips and it was relatively even.
As blinds had risen to 10k/20k and blinds of 3k, the players discussed a deal to avoid the game ending in crap shoot. A deal was agreed quickly, and a few more hands were played for the title. A great evening of poker at 235 as is always the case, especially if you were David, Nick or Mihai.
1 David Herrity - £745*
2 Nick Bowyer - £480*
3 Mihai Pop - £350*
4 Angela Houghton - £240
5 Jeff Thomas - £170
6 Daniel Shapiro - £130
7 Royce Joseph - £90
8 Sam Kalu - £60
9 Chris Evans - £30
10 Tim Wagner - £30
*The top three players made a deal and took £500 each, and played on for £75, which was won by David Herrity.
For more information about Manchester235 Casino and Poker Lounge, find them on Twitter @235pokerlounge or visit the Manchester235 website.
