UKIPT Coventry
I had really been looking forward to this tourney as l like the lovely New Coventry G. Casino, its 35mins away and lots of friends from the Midlands poker scene would be there. Since l got banned from DTD and then with the loss of my license for a year before Christmas, l haven’t been playing in Birmingham at all, which l had made my new poker home. For those reading this blog that aren’t aware, Birmingham has the strongest Cash games outside of London and these are regular with a good base of players.
I decided to play the Thursday and had arranged a lift with Jimbo Atkin, we were going to pick up Trigg from Leicester Train Station after his last minute decision to go for his usual social. It was an interesting drive to the Ricoh with James, to say the least, lets just say l hope that's a real English license he has and not a Polish one he bought from Lincoln Market. We did arrive safely and for that l must thank the Baby Jesus!
Trigg, not looking his best and directly to my left on Day 1.
My Day One was an up and down fuck of a day, from the start when l was seated directly to the right of Trigg till 40 mins from the end of play when l went down to 9k after my QQ was outdrawn by 10 10. Even after all this l had felt comfortable and there was always plenty of spots, luckily with 30 mins left to play l was moved to a real nice table were l was able to get back in the game finishing the day with just below average chips. Unfortunately James and Trigg had not made it after getting a few difficult spots and bad beats, however l had a couple of percentages with a few fat stacks which is always nice.
I returned on the Saturday full of confidence and my starting table was good with only Dan Carter to trouble me, l got the better off him on this occasion but he’s still someone l don’t really
want on my table especially when he has chips. I moved to a new table in the main poker room with a lovely stack, about 86k with the average being 62k, l didn’t know any of the players at the table which l was happy with. After about 25 mins Paul Bracken was moved to my left but was very low and then my exit hand happened shortly after. The blinds were 800-1600 and l find QQ UTG+1, l make it 4600 and l get 2 flatters and it gets round to the BB who is that Gilles Augustus (the eventual winner), he makes it 14,800 to go and l shove my remaining 69k, fold, fold and then he snaps my neck off with KK, goodnight McCool, get your fat ass out off Coventry. I don’t really think l done a whole lot wrong here as he had been a busy fucker the whole time l was at the table, but best of luck to the lad he used the 180k pot well and scooped the 48k prize money, bastard;-)
The Winner
The G Casino at Coventry was great as usual and the cash games were rampant from what l seen, l didn’t really get a chance to play in them. The tournament was run extremely well with most of the regular GUKPT team there, only bad thing l have to say was the fact that the dealers on Day One were an absolute load of shit and there is no way they should have been allowed to deal a monkey comp. One old geezer who dealt at almost every table, was about 75, had glasses like the bottoms of milk bottles and looked like Grosvenor had dug him up from the local graveyard the night before, fuck me l did feel sorry for the old kunt. I was told they were from an Agency, well if the owner of that Agency is reading this blog l would get yourself down to your local airfield mate, put a few hours in learning to fly a small commercial plane, round them dealers of yours up and fly the whole Agency towards Iceland my son! The only little complaint l have towards the casino was the toilets, Jesus Christ they were bad, it just so happened l had a dose of the shits while l was playing on the Thursday (probably that fucker Atkins driving) and the Saturday wasn’t much better. The toilets were either blocked, there was no toilet roll or they hadn’t been cleaned for the duration of the day, sort it out Coventry….
Village Poker
Three months ago l was at the local village shop near to were l live and l seen a poster which was advertising a poker evening, l phoned the number and decided l would go along as it would make for an interesting blog entry. Long Clawson is a small village outside Melton Mowbray were one of the dairies that makes Stilton Cheese is located. The population is about 900 l reckon and they have one pub, one very small shop, a little cafe, a very good Medical Centre and a great Village Hall. Now, the Village Hall is reasonably new and is built on land that was donated by a local farmer, the money to build it was loaned to the villagers by the Dairy. They hold regular events and money that is raised is paid back to the Dairy to pay off the loan, one of the regular events just happens to be a poker night which is organised by a guy called Johnny and his wife.
The famous Stilton Cheese
After a few phone calls with Johnny and his missus l turned up with a few things that they could raffle off, a card protector, Pokerstars Bag, Hat and stuff like that. I paid my tenner on the door, which they had offered to waive, this is made up of £3 for the poker and £7 for a free drink and a dinner in the break, believe me a few of the casino bosses should come and try this as it would show them up, tight wads that they are. One thing that really lit my eyes up was that Johnny had put posters all over the entrance and the main hall that had “Mick McCool – Professional Poker Player here tonight” printed on them, marvellous, no pressure!
After getting my free pint l quickly found enthusiastic people, both young and old coming up and asking me questions about poker in general. I knew a few of the people there so it wasn’t all that bad and l quickly relaxed into the evenings game. The tournament area was well organised and although the chips were not numbered they were workable after a few minutes. The dealers were just locals who had slightly more experience and that worked fine with everyone having a real good time. Fifty players started and by the dinner break we were down to 20 approx, the standard of play was very novice as you would expect. The meal was really good and during it they held a raffle for different prizes that were donated, it all added to the enjoyment of the night.
Johnny (drinking), Bill (Linda’s Husband) and Ivor.
When the dinner break was finished and we got back to the tables l managed to get lucky in a few spots and made the final table with below average. Eventually l got heads up against one of the guys who l knew before the evening, Alan Grummitt and although he had a 12 to 1 chip lead on me he was very inexperienced. Old Ivor who finished 3rd was a character and he was responsible for learning Alan how to play a two days before, so a good result for the master and pupil. It was a very enjoyable experience and l found it really relaxing and lots of fun playing with people who were just there to have a night out whilst playing a game of poker. Believe it or not l learned a lot from the whole experience, l don’t take any game as serious now and have a much more respect for weaker players. My problem used to be that l never ever remembered being a bad player, a bit like Learner Drivers l suppose!
I talked to lots of people that night and also the second time l went which was a month after, a few days before l went to Cannes. The mixed bag of people that l met playing there was unbelievable, you had 18 – 80yr olds and occupations such as a Blood Tissue Bank Director, an Office Manager, a Building Contractor, a Shop Owner and many more. l managed to speak to a few people to see what attracted them too poker as an evening out, here is what a they said:
Linda Seden – 64yrs old
Linda is retired and has been playing for about a year with her husband Bill who she has been married to for 44yrs, she has never played online and has been to Dusk Till Dawn a few times playing the beginners tournament, she finished 19th once at DTD which she is very proud off but she feels intimidated by the men at the tables there. She has joined the Pub League and plays once a week at the local in Long Clawson, the social side of the game is very important to her. She believes that there is a bit of skill involved but that it is more luck than anything!
Charlotte Flook – 18yrs old
Charlotte is a student and has been playing for about 6 months both online and live. Again she loves the social side of the game but believes that there is more skill involved than luck. Charlottes mother also plays!
Karen Dawn – 30yrs old
Karen has been playing a few months, she works at the local pub and really enjoys the social side of the game. She intends to learn more about the game and continue to play as much as possible. She enjoys knocking men out!
Karen, with Richard railing her.
Richard Bagshaw – 32yrs old
Richard has only been playing for about a month and he enjoys the game immensely, he also wants to get better as he enjoys the competitive side off the game.
This was only a few people who were there and l spoke to many more all of who loved the game, whether it be the competitive side of it or the social side off it. The amount of women that played in both Village games that l played accounted for around 40% of the attendance which l thought was amazing. None of them had travelled to any competitions but several of them had played at DTD as we live really close to it. The whole thing was really well organised by Johnny and his wife who both play, the Village Hall is a great Venue and the people were an absolute pleasure to sit down with. I really believe that this sort of poker along with pub poker is extremely important for Poker in this Country. Grass roots is the key to longevity and we should do everything possible to help and encourage it!
No Thanks Rob!
Well l would have thought with the General Election coming up all the best Spin Doctors would have been hard at work, trying to get the public on board for them vital votes. DTD’s version of Alistair Campbell has started his election campaign on Blondepoker, as usual l reckon he won’t have to say much to win their votes.
Rob has kindly mentioned me in his new blog and to be honest he talks a lot of truth but also there is a few inaccuracies. He mentions that l have tried to get back into DTD a few times recently and l have to admit now that this is definitely TRUE, except for the recently part. The dates that l tried were in and around early September 2009, it shouldn’t take the brains of an Archbishop to work out why l tried then, but just in case you don’t know the “English Poker Open” was taking place there a few weeks later. I had not tried before or after these dates!
Like myself Rob is a good blogger and many people will read his well written entries so he has no reason to lie! Rob says in reference to my blog “l don’t read it myself, but have been sent various links to Mick McCool's blog”, now come on Rob for fucks sake, that’s the biggest lie ever, l bet your on here more than me, come on man you can tell the truth, just send me an Anonymous PM with “yes” on it, l will know its you me oul cocker. I could say that about not reading his blog but it would be a bare faced lie as l can’t wait to get on Blonde and see what brain drain your feeding the sheep, its like getting up on Christmas morning to open my presents.
As for Rob’s kind invitation to start deleting my derogatory blog entries l will NEVER EVER be doing that, l have NO intention of ever walking through the doors of DTD whilst the current management are in charge. I also have NO intention of ringing up again for my ban to be lifted. I took a new direction in Poker recently which is to travel across the water when l go to decent sized events, DTD doesn’t really hold £1k+ events as they cater more for beginners and intermediate players. As for cash games, l don’t really want to sit in 50p - £1 games anymore, the bigger cash games are dead and buried in DTD, so once l get my licence back in a few months l will be off back to Birmingham twice a week. As l have said before, my business won’t be missed at DTD and as Rob said in his latest entry “I am sure the 500 people that have come through the doors of DTD today” tells its own story.
An Online Win
I had to put this in as l usually run like shit online.
Jessica Dawley
