“I call” – said the player in seat 5. I was pretty happy with his call – I made a pre-flop raise with KQ suited. After the hand played out and I hit my needed queen, he turned around 4 5 off. Well that wiped the smile off my face as there were a 4 and a 5 on the board.
Two players, both on my left and right together with me were confused – what was he doing calling my raise before flop with 4,5 off?
I asked him in the break as it was killing me – I went through scenarios of my raise being too small, having some sort of a tell, anything… “The board before the hand we played was 4445 so when I picked up the 4 and the 5 I decided the fate is giving me a sign. Nothing to do with you, girl.”
I stood there with my mouth open – the fate??
And that is one of the stories from the tables of the WPT Dublin. The overall tournament was so much fun, as usual. I have been to Dublin a few times now, last year I hosted the Irish Open and I loved every second of it. The hosting, of course, because it is my job and I enjoy it, but Dublin itself has a vibe that is hard to explain but it drags you towards a glass of whiskey and a beer every time you are awake.
I’d gladly share some more stories but they are all hazy!
Unfortunately, I did not get to stay there long because it was time to pack for the Aussie Millions but it was nice to meet up with some of my working colleagues from the WPT circuit and catch up at the hotel bar.
Ah, if the hotel bar chairs could only speak, I wonder what poker stories they hide. I also met a lot of new players, Twitter followers and I got picked up by the Irish Independent that did a page 5 story on me, which was pretty damn awesome.
I accidentally slow rolled Dermot Blain, which was a total mistake and I apologised so many times for it but still feel bad so if you ever want to hear about the Q2 hand in Dublin, just tap me on the shoulder at my next event.
All in all, I left Ireland with a giant grin on my face after outlasting over 200 players; reading yet another poker book and poking McLean on the back every three seconds with questions about strategy. I hope that his coaching brings some bacon from my side in 2012.
Now it is time for some sun and tennis – I just got to Melbourne.
Tash xxx (@tattytats)
