Cardiff revealed

My William Hill Grand Prix heat was on the TV last week, so I can actually talk about it without breaking the embargo. I came 6th of 8 in my heat. I was pleased with how I appeared in the final edit - I wasn't shown doing anything too amateurish. I had very few decent cards and, as you would expect at a table of that quality, there were few chances to nick chips. The one hand where I managed to get some chips was as follows.

I'm in the BB and Tony G raises from the button. I have T9 hearts so I call (given the title of the blog I could hardly fold it). The flop is 995 with 2 spades. Now, when I remembered this hand, I thought I bet out with my trips, but I actually check-raised Tony. Betting out would have been preferred, as it would disguise my hand better. Anyway, Tony called and the turn is my perfect card - the ten of spades. I'm sure Tony has just made a flush. I bet out and Tony calls. The river is an incredibly annoying ten. Seeing as my check-raise made it obvious I had a nine, my full house is staring Tony in the face. I make a small bet, which he has to call to keep me honest, saying 'You got lucky there'. I retort 'No, you got lucky', which gets a cool 'Whoa, Andrew giving Tony a bit of verbal there' from Jesse May on the commentary. Tony did have the flush, as I suspected. What I didn't know what that he'd tried to steal my blind with 83!

My chips then dribbled away as I couldn't find a hand, or a good spot to steal some blinds. I raised Roy Brindley's BB with A8, and he went-all in with A5 and I laid down. The next hand they showed was the same situation next time round, when I raised with KQ, but this time Roy had me in all sorts of trouble with AQ. Now, on the programme you see me have a long think, whilst Jesse and Lucy Rokach say things like 'It's tough to lay this down' and 'This would be a great fold if he can make it'.

Actually, I was only pretending to think - I was never going to call. I've been burned too often in the past by calling an all-in with KQ, as I'm too often dominated. I'm just glad Roy had AQ rather than something weaker.

I went out when I reraised Tony G all-in with AT. I was at the get-chips-or-die stage and was unlucky to find him with AJ. I was fed up of not getting a decent hand. It was a fun event though, and I am pleased with the fact I kept getting referred to as a 'young man' even though I was older than two other players and am the same age as Tony G.

Very crappy poker month so far - 18 tournaments paid and not a single cash. I've played 9 £20 tourneys with between 41 and 90 entrants (where the money is top 10) and finished in the teens 4 times. I've just had rotten luck with finding any decent hands, and when I try and force the issue, I just keep finding a bunch of calling stations who call down my bluffs. I know it will turn, but it's very frustrating. I'm showing a small profit in cash games, but am down for the month overall. I've also had a cold/chest infection for the past twelve days which I can't shift which is really getting on my nerves.

I might try and get down to the Sportsman casino in Marble Arch tomorrow afternoon for a £30 freezeout. I've heard good things about this place, but it's normally a high-roller venue (£100 rebuys and £250 freezeouts) so I want the chance to try it out in a smaller buy-in event. The tourney also takes place after a poker beginner's lesson, so hopefully there will be some players who have never played live before. If my run of poker luck continues, then at least the food there is supposed to be excellent, so I might have a Sunday lunch there.