DaMatrix v Doyle Brunson: Preview

That's right! I will be taking on the living legend of poker, Doyle Brunson, in central London on the 10th of August to be shown on The Poker Channel. As well as, Doyle Brunson, Mike “Junkyard Dog” Tindall (World Champion Rugby player), fresh from his All-Star Poker Challenge win, will also be at the 6 player table.


I qualified by placing in a $30 satellite on Poker Heaven on Thursday 4th August. We made a deal 3-way since I had 50% of the chips and the other two had 25% each. I took a seat and "Sheperd" and "noodleboy" decided to go together since each package winner can take a friend.


Satellite Results

The satellite was pretty tough. Among the 24 other starters were mobsters/blondites "The_Brief" and "londongirl". A player that stood out was "Carpe1". He was playing textbook no-limit tournament poker and kept putting pressure on my blinds. I nearly made a stand with A rag on his 3rd steal attempt but felt the situation wasn't right. Next orbit though I came over the top all-in with T8o and after a long pause Carpe1 folded. Phew!

My stack was below average pretty much thoughout the entire tournament. I patiently waited to get to a full final table from short handed 2 tables out. At the final table, I set about doubling up a few times to 20k chips. Unlike day 1 of the VC Poker Cup 2005, here I was making the right moves to stay ahead from getting eaten up by the blinds and I also survived a few coin flips.

The key hand that secured my seat was when I got dealt TT and flopped a set, the river was a death card - giving me a full house and my opponent the nut flush. That double up took me to over 20k and then the deal was made.

The next night, after watching Tony Bloom win the VC Poker Cup, I saw Gus Hansen outside the Grosvenor Victoria Casino where the European Poker Championship £5k main event was taking place. He wasn't looking too happy after being turned away for not wearing a collar. As he was wandering about Edgware Road looking lost, I managed to catch up with him to ask him if he had any tips for playing against Doyle. Gus just said, "Play good!".

Poker Heaven Promotion details:

"Fancy playing at the same table as two-time World Series of Poker Champion, Doyle 'Texas Dolly' Brunson?

Poker Heaven has teamed up with The Poker Channel to give two lucky qualifiers, and two of their friends, the chance to take on the Godfather of Poker in front of the TV cameras.

The game will take place in London and will give a total of four qualifiers the opportunity to learn from a man that has been there, done it and got 10 WSOP bracelets to show for it!

Oh, and we forgot to mention, there is also a first prize of £1000 up for grabs!"

"The Poker Channel is the world’s first digital TV channel dedicated to poker and is the home of quality gambling entertainment.

Launched on Sky on the 23rd of March 2005, The Poker Channel is broadcasting 24hrs/day to initially 7.3m UK homes.

The channel embodies the culture, lifestyle and attitude of poker fans worldwide and offers a one-stop shop for UK poker fans, providing the highest quality poker television coverage, including live tournaments, educational and documentary programming, editorial and magazine style shows, and live “play along” games.

The channel focuses on providing more live coverage of major poker tournaments and will televise the first ever live tournament heats, bringing the viewer closer to the excitement and thrill of poker.

The Poker Channel is available to all Sky subscribers, as a free to air channel, and is located under the Entertainment section Channel Number 265. "

DB v DM: Coming soon to a television near you!

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