DaMatrix v Doyle Brunson: Warm Up

Having decided that my friend Joe will be accompanying me and playing in the Doyle Brunson match to be shown on The Poker Channel, the final 6 player table (sixpac) tournament line up will be:

Doyle Brunson
Mike Tindall (All-Star Poker Challenge Champ & Rugby player)
DaMatrix
Joe "The Sicilian"
Sheperd
noodleboy

To prepare for the match, we made our first trip to The Broadway Casino in Birmingham so that Joe could experience his first live No-Limit poker tournament.

The tournament was a £20 Rebuy & Add-on with an excellent structure and skilled staff and dealers. I made it to the end of the rebuy period with over 10k in chips from the starting 1k without any rebuys. Joe needed a few rebuys to get to grips with the whole experience especially since he was being a little unlucky. Adding on at the end of the break, he only had just over 2k in chips. After some motivational talk from DaMatrix though, Joe returned to the table ready to play like a beast! His luck was about to change...

During the freezeout section, everything was going according to plan, we were down to just 2 tables, I was picking up small pots waiting like a tiger in the bushes ready to go for the kill and Joe was doubling up every other hand. Joe had parlayed his 2k into over 20k with a mixture of skill and luck, when I was dealt AA UTG with blinds at 400/800. The action in this level had been fast, so limping in was the obvious decision as I was 100% sure there would be a pre-flop raise.

Sure enough, UTG+1 (who has me slighly covered) raised to about 4k - everyone folds back round to me and I ponder how I can get the rest of my 9k in and get called. Do I flat call and then push all in on the flop or just reraise all in preflop? I opt for option B and reraise all-in, making it over 6k to him to call. He does just that and flips over AJo! I turn over AA and someone half-heartedly accuses me of doing a "Trumper" for taking about 20 seconds to re-raise all-in with the pocket rockets pre-flop! Crazy!

Anyway, all my money is in as a big favourite and winning this pot would give me an average final table stack, but the flop brings two Jacks and I am out. :(

Meanwhile Joe is making some great Sicilian poker moves and busting people out left right and centre getting to the final table as the chip leader with over 70k out of the 200k in play.



Another break, and some more DaMatrix coaching, regarding deals and playing strategy and Joe is ready to go. I expect him to finish in the top 3 and after some deal making collect about £1k (since there is £3k prize money distributed in the top 3 places).

The final table starts of playing tight, the short stacks are holding on trying to move up the prize ladder. Meanwhile, Joe is trying to knockout the small stacks with the worst of it but doesn't manage to get lucky. His stack is decreasing, but he is still on target for a top 3 finish in his first live tournament.

After a long final table session, we do finally manage to get to 3-way play. Joe has just slightly less than the second largest chip stack. The chip leader has a big lead. A deal is struck, and the chip leader receives £1,300, the remaing player and Joe both receive nearly £900. There is a £300 seat left to play for, and the first hand after the deal Joe calls an all-in by the chip leader with AJo. The chip leader though, with KTo, manages to hit a ten on the river and Joe officially finishes 3rd.

A great comeback from the first break and a fantastic result in his first tournament! Many thanks to The Broadway Casino for running an excellent tournament. Doyle Brunson here we come!

A World of Poker Broadway Casino Review

The Broadway Casino Membership Form (pdf)