Tim Blake
Tim Blake Update
It’s now little over three months since my last planned visit to the felt, which was curtailed somewhat by a stroke that initially left me paralysed down the right-hand side. The doctors advised me to expect three to six months in hospital followed by a similar time in rehab but, not one to shirk away from a challenge and spurred on by family and friends, I left the clutches of the NHS after seven weeks!
Now home and enduring the daily grind of a few weeks’ physio I am recovering well, but more importantly eating food that wouldn’t be better shoved straight down the loo hence cutting out the poor sod in the middle!
Life now consists of getting up, showering, a bit of weight training (2kg feels like a sack of coal) and then off to my chair for the daily round of daytime TV.
I’ve played a bit of online poker but lack of concentration for middle to long-term periods of time makes it near impossible to play any tournaments. I’m not happy with my cash game at the moment so all in all life is a bit of a bore - but at least it is life!
My wife suggested a couple of days by the sea might get me out of my routine and get some breezy but fresh sea air. Hmm, now there’s a thought, so off we headed to Blackpool, which coincidentally was hosting the latest leg of the GUKPT, an event I attend each year without fail. Agreed you don’t get much fresh air in a casino, but in I hobbled with the wife following behind with the wheelchair - fears of my friends taking the pee with endless remarks about Little Britain’s new Andy Pimkin encouraged me to at least start on my feet.
I have many close friends on the circuit and even more acquaintances and two of my closest friends are Paul ‘Actionjack’ Jackson and Jeff ‘Jaffacake’ Kimber. They greeted me warmly on my return to the cardroom. Several players passed on warm wishes and to be honest it was quite an emotional ‘homecoming’, apart from one player who sat there motionless the whole time. I later found out he had been informed I had passed away and was totally stunned to see me standing there!
I played a couple of hours of cash and soon felt back in the groove. I even won £40 but paid an hourly rake that took away £18 of it. More importantly I felt good to be there, so entry to the Main Event the next day was a no-brainer.
I grinded my way through the day without many mistakes but fell foul of what I would politely call a donk shove two hands from the end of play. You decide. Blinds were 500/1,000 with running antes of 100 and the player in the small blind annouced “all in” with over 20 big blinds to an unopened pot in an attempt to increase his stack by 10%. I woke up with AQ, which is at worst flipping with such exuberant play but most likely completely dominating. I was right as he turned over Q6, but his sterling play was rewarded on the turn with a six.
Left with only 2,700, of which 100 went in antes and 500 to make up the small blind, I was left with no choice but to ship them in and hope. Now I have seen some crazy situations at the poker table and been involved in a couple myself, but what happened next bordered on the surreal. The hero of the previous hand raised from the button, obviously knowing I had little choice but to put in my remaining bowl of rice. The big blind, a personal friend, also called. I looked down at a pair of nines, not too bad, but it was an AQJ flop and had I not been sitting in a wheelchair I would have mucked, tapped the table and departed. They went check check, the turn was a 10, check check, river 10 and my mate led out for 10,000. The button was stunned and folded an ace face up! My mate then turned to me and laughingly said "have you got any of that?" I replied “no, just 99” at which he flashed a pair of sixes and mucked. I showed my gratitude by thanking him for incurring me extra hotel bills just to come back to a stack of 7,200! LOL
A quiet day on Friday – well, eight hours of cash - and then up to the casino on Saturday just to push my short stack over the line. In 71st position of the 71 players left it would have taken a comeback that would make even Lazarus proud.
An oft-used phrase when short stacked in poker is “a chip and a chair” but in my present condition we settled on “a chip and a wheelchair”. Talk of strategy involved chucking them with any pair, any paint, any ace, any pot with three already in, in other words “any two cards”. All I hoped was I would draw seat 7,8 or 9 to at least have some action in front of me before the chips went in. Of course I drew seat three, in other words I was under the gun and with 40% of my stack going in on the big blind my choices were limited.
“Shuffle up and deal” and the cards were on their way. My first card was a Queen, that’ll do. Even better, it was followed by an Ace. “All in” I announced to a reply from all “that’s a surprise!” and naturally I found a caller but held up. Now I had 17,000, a quarter of the average stack, so still looking for another spot. Four hands later and in the cut-off with 10 10, the action was a fold to me, so in they went again only to be called by the small blind with a dominating QQ. No worries now as a 10 came out of the door and we were on our way!
I then played as well as I think I am capable of with youthful aggression on my left and stations everywhere else. After the dinner break I went back to the table with the field having dwindled to 35 and only 10 off the money. I raised the first pot back from under the gun with AK. The button called, station, and the big blind shoved. A reasonable squeeze play, apart from the fact his shove was not enough chips to get a fold from 72 never mind an UTG raiser. Unfortunately, although his stack was short it was enough to seriously cripple me, but with 20% of my stack already committed I couldn’t fold. I pushed, not wanting the button in the hand as well, which worked. Happy days, the clown, sorry the other player, had JQ of diamonds, a monster, and to my delight the King came. To my horror it was the King of diamonds and along came two other diamonds with it. As ever, the poker gods had rewarded the brilliant play!
I departed two hands later, dejected but rightly pleased to have played so well first time back.
One footnote though. In poker, a poor player is welcomed with open arms and generally referred to as the value in the game. I was made up with the welcome back I received - I hope it’s not because I’m the value! LOL
Good luck at the tables.
Tim
