It was almost not a great night. I decided that I needed to leave at 7pm to get to The Western Club in time to register for the 8:30 tourney so I grabbed my ID, some cd's for the car, wallet, directions, keys and then Heather decided she wanted to see the moon so I pushed what I could in my pockets, and went outside for a second. Said goodbye and left. I'd got to the end of the street before I'd realised I'd left my wallet at home! Anyway, two minutes later and I was away again.

I managed to hit traffic going into London on the M4 for a few miles and was sure I was going to miss registration. I did toy with the idea of turning off at Heathrow and grabbing a flight to Vegas but perhaps I wasn't quite ready for that yet, besides, the missus wouldn't have been overly impressed with me.

Managed to find the place ok, joined the club and made my way to registration without any more problems. I was a bit early and watched some guys playing a cash game of what I think was some kind of hi/lo game with cards everywhere. They moved on to HORSE and some weird Dealers Choice stuff before long but it was interesting watching even if I didn't know what they were playing!

Anyway, five minutes later and we we're ready to play with 61 runners.

I managed to get a few playable hands in the first hour and also managed to grab a few chips. One hand I limped in with KQ from late position with about 5 callers. I nearly wet myself when the flop came K7K and called a 500 bet from someone opposite me. Guy to my left also called and the rest folded. Turn brought another 7 and we all checked. The river brought another 7. Matey1 bet 500, I raised to 1000, guy to my left called and Matey1 folded. Sadly it was a shared pot but still a nice pot to get some of. Managed to be on about average on the 2nd break.

The second hour I managed to knock a couple of short stacks out. One with pocket 7's against his pocket 3's and another with AK against his A9 and I picked up a blind or two. I did lose a few chips raising from the button with A4s only to be called by the SB (who was quite agressive but solid and not in a crazy way). Anyway, I bet 500 on the flop, he called, I checked the turn, he bet and I had to fold. At the second break I was on about 5k so probably not too far off average.

After this, I really didn't get much. I was moved tables a couple of times and was pretty short stacked for the rest of my tournament. I managed to stick my chips in a couple of times, once with AK and once with JJ but didn't get any callers with either. 9 people were due to go to the final table and get paid, but when there were 12 left, someone suggested they move it to 10 and give a small saver back to the 10th man to which everyone agreed. The 12th man left and at this stage I was really in trouble. With blinds of 1000/2000 and me only on 5000, I pushed it in with pocket 6's and was called by the BB as it was only another 3000 out of his 20k to call. He showed QJ and hit the queen on the flop (dealt by me!) and that was that - bubbled again!

Shame to go out on the bubble, that's twice I've done that now. I've played live 4 times now, the first did nothing special. The second, came 4th out of 10, then at the Blonde Bash, I came about 23rd out of 140ish, then last night, came 11th out of 61. I know I'm yet to make the money, but overall, I think I've put up a decent show of myself so far. I seem to be able to grab a few chips early doors but then something changes and I don't accumulate them quickly enough to keep up. I think last night I just didn't get any cards I felt comfortable with making a raise with after the first couple of hours but I'm not sure it's just that. It's something I have to work on.

Anyway, I had a great night. Everyone was friendly enough and it was nice to be in a proper card place rather than a casino. I think I could become a Thursday regular if the Other Half doesn't mind too much. It's a bit of a hike to get there but to be honest, I was glad it was on the way back - it was good to have half an hour or so to think about my game and calm down a bit.

Next time, I'm determined to finish in the money!