Bulletproof Brad!

6th of September 2009.

PAN Poker Live Game

£20 Freezout with Rebuy for the first hour

10 Handed Prize Pool - £200

1st - £100

2nd - £60

3rd - £40

Entrants:

Seat 1: Manslow - 2nd

Seat 2: Brad - 1st

Seat 3: Andy - 5th

Seat 4: Stevo - 10th

Seat 5: Fish - 4th

Seat 6: Al - 9th

Seat 7: John - 8th

Seat 8: Pat - 3rd

Seat 9: Brev - 7th

Seat 10: Jen - 6th

Our first 10 handed event in our new surroundings - saw Brad do it - he won his 4th title on the bounce - amazing run of form - this guy is becoming unplayable!!!

For me the night was a good one - I played fairly well, but was card dead for the most part. I wasn't getting any tempters - no KQ no 44s just premium hands or absolute tosh! I hit a few big hands and tried my best to maximise value out of them - making a nice pot with a set of 2's, slow playing AA and value raising the river with Aces full of 5's to win a decent pot. But cards and action for me were few and far between for the most part.

I gave Brad a fair bit of stick tonight as he was catching miracle cards to crack big hands on a consistent basis. Think I got on his nerves - but with success comes a good ribbing - especially when you catch the breaks Brad did!

First to get done by Brad was Stevo - Ste had been pretty card dead and was shortish in chips - when he min raised under the gun alarm bells rang around the table - with Brad in the small blind actually putting him on aces out loud! Jen called from the cut off and then something happened that I am to dumb to understand the logic behind. Brad looking down at JJ decided to raise so he could isolate Stevo's Aces! He popped in a raise of about 1400 total - Stevo double underlining the AAs he had pushed all in for 2600 more - Jenny folded and Brad had got what he was after a race AA v JJ! Ste was safe though - I had mucked a jack - so strange flush or straight draws aside Brad had just the case Jack to drag him out of this hole. BOOM Jack - Brad must've known it was coming!

Next it was Al's turn - surely his QQs would hold against Brads 99s - BANG 9 - he's only done it again!

Brad wasn't just catching cards - he was catching them when all of someone else's money was on the line in the middle. It doesn't matter if you're calling off your chips from behind when you know your hands are gonna come good!

I then mis-stepped against Brad - during a rush of decent starting hands I was dealt 1010 and raised 4x the big blind after Brad had limped in front of me. Out of position and with just K 10 off suit Brad elected to call - I hate this call, but from then on Brad played this one well. Flop came 10 high with two diamonds - Brad leads out and I elect to call knowing there is the risk of him hitting the flush - but potentially, if the board behaves, extracting another bet on later streets - the third diamond on the turn slows me down - Brad checks, but I am certain he'll call a raise with a single diamond in his hand (which he says he would've after the hand). So I check too praying for the board to pair on the river. With Brad running as good as he was - the board elected to help him come from behind to be in front on the river with the forth diamond completing his flush. His diamond just being a ten he checked as did I expecting the board to have done Brad the favour it had - I saved money here. Maybe I could have re-popped him on the flop - although Brad believed he was ahead at that point - I think this hand should have been over pre flop - but when you're running as good as Brad was - you can dodge bullets!

Brad as always played really well - but with so many high profile moments of luck he wasn't getting through the night without his fair share of stick! Apologies if I did your head in Brad - but your last three victories were flawless - this one you got a little bit of help from lady luck - which is exactly what you need when you're running at a 6500-1 shot! I expect the same stick if I manage to get my money in bad more than 3 times in a night and still come up smelling of roses!

Manslow was playing really well tonight though - playing more aggressively than usual and it was reaping rewards - he was getting his money in good and getting paid. He was gonna take some stopping.

McGinn, then Brev, then Jen fell out of the tourney - while I was heading towards oblivion and pushed with A10 off with just 5 big blinds to my name. When I heard Pat call I knew I was out in 5th - Pat's QQs held up - all the suckouts had been reserved for Brad this evening!

Fish bubbled - putting in a good shift for his first game in a million years - Pat went out in third - then Manslow lost out to Brad in a decent heads up battle. (Brad cracking KK with 74 in the process;)).

Is Brad the United of PAN Poker - hated for his success - a strong player who can win ugly!?

Fair play though Brad - I know you felt a bit targeted - but I guarantee every one at that table wouldn't begrudge the run of luck you had tonight for themselves! This victory may be your best yet - fighting of a barrage of abuse, and envious stares and comments to stick to all your critics - well done Brad!