Black Friday - 1 year on

It's almost a whole year since the dreadful events of Black Friday, April 15th 2011. It's the single most significant event in online poker's history and I wish to take the opportunity to recall the events of Black Friday via this blog.

A common theme I find when reading articles on the subject is where were you on Black Friday? I recall precisely where I was and whom I was with. At approximately 17:30 BST, myself and a few of my friends/colleagues from PokerStars, including a number of senior management were at the Terminus Tavern enjoying what should have been the 1st of many pints savoured in celebration of another hard worked week in the office.

Within a few moments, one of the more senior members excused himself to talk a phone call, before long a couple of other people's phones had gone off... all senior management and we knew something was up. At that very moment in time, all we knew was that the .COM domain had been seized and we were all in a panic. It didn't take long before we learnt that Full Tilt Poker had suffered the same fate, we could have barely cared less for AB/UB. Before we knew it, we'd abandoned our seats in the beer garden and were either heading home to await more news, or in my case (and a few others) I headed to the office to see what was going on. I think it's the only time in my career with PokerStars that I have ever felt insecure about my job, it was a very nervous and tense atmosphere at the office.

I was with a number of newly appointed staff, particularly Americans who had only just moved to the Isle of Man who were strangely excited by the drama, yet I'm sure they were fearful for the worst. Not a lot was going on at the PokerStars office in general, most of the staff had left, the Exec board were not there at that time. It was almost as if the DOJ bad waited for our core staff to leave before they flipped the switch and hit us HARD with almost no ability to react.

The only department in the Isle of Man which were busy were the web team. Naturally they had to assist in re-directing our sites, SEO and other such matters to a .EU domain to recover the traffic we were losing. For what it's worth they did an incredible job and worked many long hours in the immediate aftermath of the DOJ's actions. We spent the weekend wondering if we still had jobs and if our company had a future ...

Let's roll it back a little earlier, just to give you a sense of the shock involved, the timing and the magnitude. PokerStars had just announced a partnership with Wynn Casinos to potentially move back into a regulated US market, perhaps the single biggest thing to happen to our company in many years. Full Tilt Poker had just announced the Onix Cup, a series of super high stakes elitest tournaments to determine who the very best of the best in the tournament scene really were. The 2 biggest players in the game were readying themselves for massive global expansion... this was not on the cards whatsoever.

Literally out of nowhere, blackout. Having been a survivor (if you wish to call it that) of the UIGEA, the only other such event to pose a serious threat to online Poker and it certainly was a game changer. I was working a for an online gaming company that was considerably less committed to gaming (especially Poker) in the United States and folded to the legislative fear-mongering quicker than a nit facing a 3-bet. Out of the dismay of the UIGEA, the deadwood losts the industry, whilst the cream rose to the top. PokerStars became the shining becon of all good things 'Internet Poker'. Full Tilt Poker became the premier place for high stakes and legendary poker degeneracy.

Since the UIGEA, the true forces of the online game have improved the scene for all concerned enormously. We now have better promotions, better software, more security, established live events that are feeding new and exciting talent with the coverage and money they deserve. However there are such dark dark days ahead...

From my perspective, my personal concerns were almost immediately dissolved. One of the owners of PokerStars took time to personally speak to every individual (myself included) to reassure them that jobs were safe and no one would be losing their job, we faced an enormous challenge but we would get through it. Hearing that from someone so significant left me in no doubt.. especially as our owners are about as passionate about the industry as you can be. Further more the US situation actually created work for me and I had something of a career-detour for 9 months but all a good experience.

It wasn't so good for Full Tilt Poker. They were exposed as a poorly ran business, despite their technical brillance and alot of good people lost their jobs or lost their bank rolls, leaving an indelible scar on the paranoid conscience of the Poker playing public forever. Others who lost their online career based out of the US were forced to seek a new life in a far away place, the face of the game is forever changed.

What I want to end this blog is the point of something so special, that was so nearly lost.. it's damaged but it can be reborn. Do not take for granted that you can play the game you love at your local casino, in your kitchen or at a plethora of websites. Make the most of your passion for it, appreciate the people who deliver these great games and enjoy it whilst you can, you never know when your government will take it away from you.

Day 3 and accidental day 4 :-/

So after 2 days of mostly getting bust in the chops I began day 3 almost as badly. I was in a good game and had won a few little pots before getting involved in the following hand.

I raise to €20 on a straddle pot with a couple of limpers with AQ and get a call from the button, I decided to bet before the flop came out as I was c-betting anyway and this makes my hand appear stronger and generally causes some confusion. My bet was €25 on a board of 2, 8 ,Q and he calls.

The turn brings a 9 of spades giving me a nut flush draw along with my top pair, I bet €40 and he raises to €100 I decide to jam for €150 on top and to my dismay he made a set of 9's on the turn and I don't improve.

I decide to take a break for a while before rejoining the same game a couple of hours later, I see a youngish player has bought in for €800 into the €200 game lol, I managed to get some money out of him.

Folds to my button and i make it €8 to go with Qh8h and our overly rich BB calls as does the SB. The flop comes Ah Kh Jx and we check around, the turn is a blank and I check/call a bet for the BB for €12 to try and make my gutter or flush. The river brings thee gin card.

It comes a 10h and the BB makes an over sized bet of €40, something is seen him do with a nut hand earlier so I know he has a straight and I can take advantage of it, I raise to €175 making it appear that I'm trying to get him off a chop and he begrudgingly calls and is SEETHING when he sees my hand.

I scooped a nice pot there and liked he way I played the hand, by checking the flush draw on the flop I completely concealed the draw and the deck certainly helped me in creating a favourable scenario.

I then get into a hand with the guy who stacked me with 9's earlier, I raise tug with KJs to €7 and get a couple of callers. The flop is 2,7,J and I bet €15 and the guy who got me earlier calls . Turn brings another J and he checks so I check back my trips to appear I c-bet and missed... The river is another J! He leads for €25 and I tank up and then make it €80 and get he call from QQ.

By this point I'm up about €300 for the day before I drop €75 on an all-in preflop when my AKs runs into the shorty's AA. So me and Christin decide to head to the bar for the evenings beer pong free roll. Most of the dealers and many of the Internet kids are in and it took far too long to get going but was good fun. Needless to say we were both in the drinking mood by the time it concluded.

We have a few beers (including a few necked pints!) and I decide I need to get in more pokers before I head to bed and get an early night. We end back in the same game with a few faces from earlier, I jokingly (or perhaps not..) inform the table of Christin's nitty ness and she managed to stack 2 people all in pre with AQ v AK v 44, before hen going on to make quad 10's not after. Being so drunk I fail to recall any of my own hands but did leave about €30 up before Christin warned that we were getting the attention of too many pros who had began circling the table to play against the drunks, so we called it a night.

I had 2 hours sleep before I had to go the airport, I had a rapid breakfast and headed to the bus stop, unfortunate I was waiting at he public stop not he one for air coach and it went right by me,. A while later I get the next and I know I'm cutting it fine on time, I see a notification on the coach that Aer Lingus operate from T1 so get off there, however as they have taken over Aer Arann's Isle of Man flights they are based in T2 and naturally by the time I get there they have closed the flight and despite being only a few mins late they refuse to help me.

I end up having to pay €75 for a later flight and a 9 hour wait!! I decide I can't handle being stuck at the airport that long so I get the bus back to the Burlington to play for a few hours before coming back. So im here but the only €1/€2 game is with all the ringers about €1K deep... So I may be hanging around a little longer doing nothing, but will make sure I get back to the airport on time :-)

Day 1 and 2 update

Well typically my Irish Open starts slow but this is particularly bad. I managed to drop a buy in on a particularly bad hand.

Ins €5 straddle pot, I raise it to €15 with J10s and get a call from the straddle. Flop comes 2 3 8 and I c-bet for €20 and the guy calls. The turn brings a 9 and I decide I need to push the draw pretty hard and try and force a fold so bet €40 and I get min-raised.. Pretty bleak but I'm forced to cal wig only €60 then left behind. The river comes a J and I decide to payoff due to the size of the pot, he had 89 for 2 pair, urgh!

Second hand of note for the day was against my friend , Christin who is pretty tight and playing €100 deep. She makes a €7 raise early position and I 3-bet for €17... She decides to jam for €75 which sucks but I call and she has A9!!! The flop J A 9 which is pretty whacky but then she makes runner runner for a flush :-/ that's one you can't even get mad at!

So that left me €295 down on day 1 and day 2 has start even worse. I managed to stack off on a terribly played hand, I make a button raise with AJ and get a call from a tricky player who is has a pretty high VPIP, the flop comes 9 high and I c-bet for €12 and he raises (as expected) to €30 and I call preparing to make a move on the turn. It comes a J to lock me in abut brings a 3rd diamond, I check and he bets €50, I raise to €125 and he calls asking if I have any diamonds... I know I'm dead and he had a baby flush.

I rebut and admittedly I'm probably a little steamed, I get myself into a horrible hand with 56s, I call from the button in a multiway pot for €12 and flop a guts hot and flush draw on an ace high board, it check all around and the turn brings a 10, the original raise bets €15 and a super deep donkey player calls, I decide that having not bet the flop neither have a hand that can hold up to some pressure and I raise to €60! The deep donk then decides to make it €130 and I'm priced into a shove for a little more.

The river blanks and he moved on with just 2nd pair and I leave the table in disgust. This leaves me approx €700 down and just really doubting myself, none of my moves are getting there and generally I'm getting terrible hands.

I'm chilling in my room as Willy Wonka is on the box! I'll be back at it this evening and just hope for a turn of fortune, this trip is thoroughly poor so far!

Arrived in Dublin!

So after minor delays I have arrived at the IPO!! The atmosphere is buzzing in the hotel lobby and the pro's are busy checking in before main event day 1 begins!

The first bit of action (Guinness) is going far too far well... Off for dinner before some action tonight!!

Return to Ireland - Irish Open 2012

Apologies followers, for the long absence in my blog writing. I got into a nasty habit of keeping my live trip updates to facebook which doesn't provide the best means for later reference. I promise to be good and keep it all here in future :-)

So it's nearly Easter which means I'll be heading to Dublin for the IPO for the 3rd year running. Since my last blog update here I've had a reasonably successful trip to Las Vegas as well as the Dublin Winter Festival by Paddy Power.

It's reassuring to me that whilst my trips aren't yielding 'spectacular' wins, they've all been profitable. I hope this time to take a few more risks to achieve that massive win that is more than reasonable at the IPO's cash tables given the standard of play.

I fly in 2 days, it's going to be a blast. All updates will be here so stay tuned!

M