I made the dinner break without too many tough spots and Bo made up for his epic rick by paying for a great Sushi and l have to admit these lads are great craic as well as very streetwise. After the break l was moved table and had the pleasure of sitting opposite Paul Gardiner, one of the Northern Crew who you see regularly on the UK Circuit, a great bunch of lads. The reason l mention Paul though is because of the one thing that stood out for me in Manchester apart from my exit. Paul was in the small blind facing a raise from a guy who had literally just sat down at the table, Paul gave him the old Geordie stare and flatted and the BB made up the raise. I had been looking at Paul the whole time and was sure he had a monster, so l was not surprised when he called the continuation bet with an Ace on the flop (Ah, 2c, 7d), the turn brought a Jack and Paul checked called once again. When the river brought the 8h Paul checked once again and the guy bet again, Paul insta called and turned over Qd 4c looking at the bloke not realising that he had read the 4c as the Ac, obviously your man flips AK for the pot and the table erupts, it was one of the best moments l have had in poker, sometimes you don’t have to win money to have a priceless moment like that. Paul Gardiner, you are a corker my son and its always a pleasure to play with such a gentleman.
With having a bad run of cards and always grinding a bowl of Uncle Bens, l was amazed that l managed to navigate my way through the rest of Day One and creep into Day Two, my first ever consecutive Day Two in GUKPT’s. I was well chuffed even though l wasn’t amongst the big stacks. Actually l was thinking about this the other day whilst l was reading the Racing Post Poker page on the bog and thought to myself that l have never ever had a massive stack in anything l have played in 4 years, what the fuck is it like to have a stack at the end of a Day 1?
Day 2 was quite easy going, after l was gifted some chips by Andy Mosely early on, after this early set back he showed why he can play a bit by keeping his composure and rebuilding. I was happy to sit tight after this early double up as l had two of the busiest feckers on the circuit atm, Chris Brammer on my left and John Eames on my right, Chris had a monster stack as usual. Young Andy was still in action and this meant that spots were few and far between with the shit l was getting dealt. As we made it to the dinner break however, l was starting to get more confident of reaching the final table and l went to have grub in good form.
Kully was treating me to dinner as l had bought breakfast in town before we walked to the Casino. He had been on at me since we arrived in Manchester Piccadilly about this great kebab joint near the casino so l thought as it was the last day there l should oblige as l had forced him to eat Sushi for the last couple of days. Kirit Patel joined us as we jumped into a taxi for the 5 minute drive up the hill, when l seen the place l nearly told Kully to go fuck himself as it looked like one of them Takeaways which had been on Grime busters having just shut down after a Health Inspector had found two rats humping in the Deep Fat Fryer. l went in and it was clean enough so l decided to eat what was ordered by Kully, l was so wrong, the food was absolutely fantastic and l will be back there without a doubt when l go back to Manchester.
Its funny how things work out and after Kirit had knocked me out, Kully who l had spent most of the weekend with, went on to win the Main Event. Two great lads and well done to both of them. I have to give a mention to a young lad who is just starting out on his Live Poker career, Xander Arnold! I first met him on the final table of GUKPT Main Event Satellite in Bolton earlier this year were he performed miracles to win a seat, l then encountered him on a table in Manchester were me and Mike Ellis had a great bit of craic with him in the Main Event. He was extremely unlucky in Manchester at the end of Day 1 and he was visibly heartbroken, l know he will recover and hope he will get some breaks as he definitely has game, good luck kid!
Coventry GUKPT.
I love going to Coventry as l have mentioned many times before and this was no different. My good mate was back from work in Nigeria for a few months so l had him playing for us and James Atkin who always gives you a real run for your money. None of us cashed in the small field and Gino was the last man standing going out in 22nd. Once again l enjoyed my visit there with the place as immaculate as always. A wee thing l must mention which really stuck in my memory was the fact that Tikay from Blondepoker was there keeping tabs on a SkyPoker Qualifier who l was sat beside for a short time, seemed a nice lad. Everybody knows l’m not keen on Blonde and never will be, but this man who l have slated in the past came up to me and asked how my Black Labrador was and even remembered his name. He also done it with real sincerity in his voice and body language which meant an awful lot to me, l won’t forget that in a hurry. Thank you Tikay!
Her Majesty’s Pleasure. (A wee bit of porridge)
I can finally write this section now as it’s all over. I went to court in November last year for totting up 13pts as l’m sure many of you reading this blog are aware off. I had just had my licence back from a previous Disqualification were l had been caught driving whilst disqualified so l went to court and lost my licence for 12 months this time and at the same time l gave the Magistrates a wee bit of shit. I left the court at 11.40am and was caught driving a Hire car at 11.55am by two policewomen in a Traffic Car, they stopped me because l was on a mobile phone and l wasn’t wearing a seatbelt. Thinking quick l didn’t tell them that l had just lost my licence as l would have been arrested straight away, l just gambled that it wouldn’t be on the system yet and it worked…….of course they gave me a producer and then consequently found out everything!
I ended up in court last month with TWENTY charges against me and was sure l was going down for 5 months, probably ending up with eight weeks. I done alot of research into good solicitors for this type of thing and l ended up with a great Solicitor from London. It cost a packet but he was top bollocks and got me off with £200 in fines and an extra 4 month ban, in the Court on the day he was just unreal, cutting the prosecution in bits. If you get into shit with Motoring Offences get yourself a good Solicitor, worth every penny.
A New Direction For Me.
I will do a bit more on my next blog entry which won’t be too long as l have lots more time on my hands these days. I have managed to QUIT the disease that is Online Poker, yes, l’m not joking. I have not touched it in 7 weeks now and although it was very hard to get through the cold turkey of Sunday’s especially, l am done for good now. It is a fucking disease, an addiction and no better than playing Roulette Machines in a bookies or Fruit Machines in an arcade. It has you glued to the PC for unhealthy amounts of time, it makes you moody, you eat unhealthy shit regularly, you hardly exercise, don’t spend time with people who matter to you and generally don’t have a LIFE. I am well rid of it!
I have started a new venture in Sports Trading also which l can’t say a great deal about, it means l have a lot less time to play poker on a regular basis, not that there are many opportunities for the games l want to play. I am really enjoying what l am doing now and l hope it will continue for a long time, l love Horse racing and Dog Racing so this is my dream job!
I think my next Live Poker Event will be the London EPT and then the Belgium Poker Open which l absolutely loved last year.
More Soon………good luck all!




Jessica Dawley




