Poker Academy Blogs

February 28^th 2009 - Ranked 1/77 in the €3,000 GTD Rebuy Tourney on Poker Heaven and cashed €1200.00

March 15^th 2009 - Ranked 1/82 in the $2,000 GTD (6-Seater) Tourney on PKR and cashed $650.00

March 27^th 2009 - Ranked 15/190 in the $4,000 GTD (6-Seater) Tourney on PKR and cashed $71.00

March 30^th 2009 - Ranked 1/155 in the $2,000 GTD (6-Seater) Tourney on PKR and cashed $605.00

March 31^st 2009 - Ranked 10/103 in the Grand Prix $10,000 GTD Tourney on PKR and cashed $227.00

April 3rd 2009 - Ranked 11/100 in the Grand Prix $10,000 GTD Tourney on PKR and cashed $180.00

April 5^th 2009  - Ranked 1/46 in the $2,500 GTD Deep Stack Tourney on PKR and cashed $925.00

April 16^th 2009 - Ranked 3/270 in the Daily $17K Tourney on PKR and cashed $1,700.00

April 18^th 2009 - Attended and completed the 2-Day Malta Poker Seminar; present on the Panel were the mathematician, successful businessman and former seat holder at the American Stock Exchange, who holds a WSP (World Series of Poker) gold bracelet and two WPT (World Poker Tour) championships, Ron Rose; online Poker Pro Ari Pietarinen; founder of the Time2Think Organisation and member Creative Trainers International, Norman Darmanin Demajo; Gamecare representative and psychotherapist, Linda Aklundh; and last but not least, freelance psychotherapist and Life Coach, Malcolm Tortell

April 19^th 2009 - After finishing first at a ‘sit & go table’ organized just after the Malta Poker Seminar, Mr Ron Rose agrees to take me on as his mentee and be my poker mentor, indeed an important and pivotal point in my poker career towards achieving the rank of Professional Poker Player

April 25^th 2009 - Participated in the €300 Chilli Poker 2009 Malta Open; unfortunately, this experience did not yield positive results as I was eliminated on Day 1 of the tournament, thus failing to progress into the second and final phase taking place on April the 26^th.

April 30^th 2009 - Made it to the final table in the Dragonara Casino (Malta) €100 Freeze-Out – approx. 35 players

May 7^th 2009 - Ranked 1st in the Dragonara Casino (Malta) €100 Freeze-Out and cashed €1200.00 – approx. 35 players

May 14^th 2009 - Made it to the final table in the Dragonara Casino (Malta) €100 Freeze-Out – approx. 35 players

May 17th 2009 - Ranked 17/1440 in the $10 Freeze-Out Tourney on Poker Stars and cashed $72.00

May 19^th 2009 - Ranked 4th in the Casino Di Venezia (Malta) €10 Rebuy and cashed €60.00 – approx. 35 players

May 29^th 2009 - Ranked 4/272 in the Daily $17K Tourney on PKR and cashed $1,190.00

June 13^th 2009 - Ranked 3/28 in the Saturday $500 Big Shot Tourney on PKR and cashed $2,450.00 – Final table hole cards viewed on PKR TV

June 29th 2009 - Ranked 1st in the Dragonara Casino (Malta) €200 Freeze-Out and cashed €1600.00 – 16 players

June 10^th 2009 - Ranked 4/41 in the $3,000 GTD Deep Stack (6-Seater) Tourney on PKR and cashed $451.00

September 1^st 2009 - Ranked 1/78 in the €3,000 GTD Rebuy Tourney on Poker Heaven and cashed €885.00

October 11th 2009 - Ranked 1/75 at a $75 buy-in a Multi Table Tourney on Full Tilt Poker and cashed $1180.00

October 12^th 2009 - Ranked 1/75 at a $75 buy-in a Multi Table Tourney on Full Tilt Poker and cashed $1180.00   

October 17th 2009 - Ranked 6/148 in the $12,500 GTD Freeze-Out  on Titan Poker and cashed $880.00   

October 27th 2009 - Ranked 1st in the Dragonara Casino (Malta) €20 Rebuy and cashed €1000.00 – 54 players

On April 18^th 2009, I attended and completed the 2-Day Malta Poker Seminar; present on the Panel were the mathematician, successful businessman and former seat holder at the American Stock Exchange, who holds a WSP (World Series of Poker) gold bracelet and two WPT (World Poker Tour) championships, Ron Rose; online Poker Pro Ari Pietarinen; founder of the Time2Think Organisation and member of Creative Trainers International, Norman Darmanin Demajo; Gamecare representative and psychotherapist, Linda Aklundh; and last but not least, freelance psychotherapist and Life Coach, Malcolm Tortell.

Right after the seminar was over, a 10 player sit-n-go was organized and it felt real good to be sitting next to and playing an internationally renowned poker icon. Eventually, one by one, all players were eliminated with Ron Rose finishing up in 3^rd place. I played good solid poker throughout the mini-tourney, although I have to admit that I did suck out on Ari in an all-in, in which a Queen showed up on the turn giving me a KQ two-pair beating Ari’s flopped KJ two-pair. Then again, my game back then was still in its infancy! Sorry again Ari …

Heads-up I find myself with around 3,000 chips against a massive 23,000 chip stack. A few rounds of aggressive poker combined with a weak performance by my opponent soon gave me the chip lead, followed by a pre-flop all-in going my way and handing me the victory. Fantastic feeling; and to put the cherry on the cake, I clearly remember Mr Rose getting up from his seat to shake my hands – “You’re a winner”, he said to me; a statement that kept echoing through my head for quite some time.

That same night, we attended the after-seminar party at Level 22, St Julian’s. The guys were all great and although the attendance was pretty poor, it was fantastic for all those present to highlight the weekend’s events. I discussed my future poker intensions with Mr Rose, who after seriously considering my offer, accepted to become my mentor and lead me all the way to my dream. On that morning of April the 20^th, the eve of my birthday, a new chapter in my life had opened, a new great friendship developed, and my dream unfolded. Indeed my most memorable poker moment!

In this section of my blog, I shall be highlighting some of my most memorable hands ever throughout my poker career. For a change, I thought of letting the negativity go, and therefore not discuss bad beats; I’m afraid I would require an entire web-page all for myself if indeed I need to discuss those as well  Obviously, you are mostly welcome to post your comments and have a mature and open discussion about how the hands have been played, and if you perhaps think they should have been played differently …

May 7^th 2009 – Dragonara Casino – Weekly Euro 100 Freeze-Out Event – Placing 1^st

At the final table with 85K in chips, blinds at 1000/ 2000:

Everyone folds to the small blind

Small blind raises to 6K

I’m Big Blind holding Qd Qs, I immediately raise to 18K

Small blind calls 12K

Flop is 5h Jd 4c

Small blind bets 12K

I raise to 36K

Small blind moves all-in with 50K

I call the remaining 26K

Small blind shows Kd Jd

Turn is 9c

River is 2h giving me the winning hand

June 29^th 2009 – Dragonara Casino – Monthly Euro 200 Freeze-Out Event – Placing 1^st

At the final table with 75K in chips, blinds at 1000/ 2000:

Everyone folds to the small blind

I’m small blind and I raise to 6k with As Js

Big Blind calls 6K

Flop is 2c Kh 8s

I bet 5K

Big Blind calls 5K

Turn is 10h

I fire a second bullet and bet 10K

Big Blind calls 10K – obviously, she must have a King I’m thinking

River is 3s

Have to fire a third bullet or else I let the pot go – I bet 20K

She stares at me from top to bottom, waiting for a sign, my demeanor unchanged – She folds

Phewwwww ……..