Lee Davy delivers his trip report from Day 2 of the Unibet UK Poker Tour in the Rendezvous Casino in Brighton.
The problem with taking your family on a poker trip to Brighton, and successfully navigating your way through Day 1A, is you feel obliged to spend time with them during the off day.
What’s wrong with that you may ask?
Have you ever been to Brighton?
It is one funky little city with plenty to see, plenty to do, and plenty to spend your money on. So after a day shopping down the Lanes I returned to Day 2 with my 106k stack knowing that I needed to win the £14k first prize otherwise I was going to be homeless.
I was late.
I couldn’t find my cap.
I don’t wear a cap to be cool. It’s not to prevent people from seeing my eyes at a poker table. It’s because my hair is a mess and it’s not that I can’t be bothered to do it. I don’t know what to do with it.
I am late by 10-minutes, but the event hasn’t started. That bugs me. It’s the old railwayman in me; I need things to start on time. If dickwads like me are late because they can’t find their lucky cap then tough shit.
There is a Polish dude sat to my right with heaps of chips. I recognise him as a hyper-aggressive fella I shared a table with the day previously, and so that’s not good news, but my spirits lift when he orders a Guinness before the tournament begins. His name is Mateusz Krzewski, a Pole, and I look him up on Hendon Mob, and he doesn’t have any results, so another good sign.
While I was in The Lanes spending all my money on baby clothes, Day 1B of the Unibet UK Poker Tour, Brighton was pulling in 124 punters. All told 
that meant 261 entrants were creating a £52,200 prize pool, a record for the young tour.
67 qualified for Day 2 with 30 getting paid and I was determined to be one of them. I ordered a pint of water, green tea and lemon, and pulled my beetroot juice out of my back pocket ready for business.
We were beginning at Level 13 with blinds at 1200/2400 and there was a familiar face at my table in the shape of Charlie Godwin. My first action is to check with A5o in a family pot and fold to the action on an A77cch flop. Then I call one of Charlie’s opens with deuces in the big blind and then fold when I miss my set on the flop.
I finish the level with 96k.
I look around and can see the former PKR sponsored pro Simon Hemsworth in the field. Manig Loeser and Jon Spinks are in the thick of it, and so is Daiva Barauskaite, a Unibet Ambassador known as The Baltic Blonde.
I get into a conversation with the woman to my left. She is a confident player in her late forties. Next to her is a guy in his 60s who tells her he only plays in EPT and WSOP events. There is a big guy who tells the table he recently won the Deepstack event at The Vic and I can see why – he was hitting everything without earning a bean.
I felt comfortable, and the only person at the table I was keeping an eye on was Charlie. I looked down to see A3cc in mid-position and opened. Charlie called in the big blind. I remember thinking wouldn’t it be great to flop a wheel when the dealer put Q76chc onto the flop.
Not bad at all.
Charlie checked, and I bet 6.8k, and I had already made my decision to move all-in should she check-raise me, and I was expecting a check-raise. Charlie didn’t disappoint, and I think she just clicked it back, but I wasn’t paying attention to the amount. I took a pause, moved all-in for another 26bb, and I heard her say why not.
I looked up, and she had tabled T7c.
For a moment, I thought I had her, and then I noticed the seven on the flop. I needed a club or an ace to win, and become a Top 5 stack for sure, but I never get the feeling that these things are coming when I play poker. I can’t remember the run down, but there wasn’t a club or ace amongst them.
I was out.
I was gutted, but calm. I wished everyone well, and then I ran as far away from that casino as my little legs would carry me. I often see players hanging around after they bust and I often wonder how they do it? When I am out, I have this horrible feeling, like I have just masturbated and then walked downstairs to hug the wife.
After a five and a half hour trip down the motorway with my daughter crying her eyes out and my wife singing Little Donkey non-stop getting all of the words wrong, I got home to learn that the aggressive Guinness drinking Pole had won the lot for £14k. Charlie had put my chips to good use finishing in eighth place for £1,310, and that would have done nicely thank you.
I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Brighton. I think it’s important for live tours to host events in places where there is more to do than just play poker. The tournament was also full of locals, and it felt like one huge home game, and it was amazing to see poker alive and well at the £220 level, even if I couldn’t earn a bean.
Final Table Results
1 Mateusz Krzyzewski, Poland, Unibet Poker Qualifier, £14,090
2 Renata Jack, UK, £9,260
3 Deborah Worley-Roberts, USA, £6,140
4 Darren Adlington, UK, £3,650
5 Simon Hemsworth, UK, Unibet Poker Qualifier £2,770
6 Stanley Ledlie, UK, £2,240
7 Aaron McBride, UK, £1,720
8 Charlie Godwin, UK, £1,310
9 Tim Priddis, UK, £990
