Well, where to start?
It all started at saturday, October 20th with my trip to Munich by train and the next day, I took my flight to London Stansted with easyJet - my coach, Dr. Michael Keiner was waiting at the airport and brought us to the Maidstone Studios in the SouthWest of London, near Kent and the beautiful Leeds Castle.
The Marriott Hotel there was just awesome with a golf course just next to the hotel and the sun was shining - I couldnt even believe I was at UK . 20 degrees outside, sunny weather - that was a nice way to start in this event and my first heat was on the Monday, October 22nd.
The principle of the UK Open is pretty simple - u got a 6 seater sit & go and need to win the heat to get to the semifinal and the 2nd gets another chance in the lucky loser round where also just the winner gets a seat for the semis.
I still got the most of the action at the table in my head and it was just a great experience.
Seat 1: Stefan Ronnlund (swedish online qualificant)
Seat 2: Steve Wong (Pro from The Netherlands)
Seat 3: Rob Key (celeb, cricket star)
Seat 4: Katharine Hartree (Pro)
Seat 5: Christian Zetzsche (thats me)
Seat 6: Rumit Somaiya (Pro)
The day before the first heat I met Steve Wong and we were out for dinner together with Michael Keiner and my teammate Maik and talking bit about the table and our chances and so on. I told him: "tomorrow we will be in the Heads Up for the ticket for the semifinal!" Well promised is promised and thats how it also ended ... but first lets talk about the action on the table until than.
I started very aggressive and built up my stack to like 130k from 100k at the beginning, there was also a sweet bluff against the swedish where i had a straight draw with Q10 and the flop was Jack high - he was holding J5 of diamonds and I raised on his blind - the flop was 2 diamonds and he just called my bets- The turn was a king and i had the straight draw with him still on middle pair and flush draw - the river was the 3 blank and i thought bout it and made a almost half potsize bet of 21k and he folded. I showed my bluff afterwards and said: "I got to play aggressive against you because I hate swedish online players". The commentators wehre about to explode, first because of my great bluff and that I showed it and second, that I really said that in frnt of a TV camera lol.
Well afterwards I played a bit too aggressive on a straight draw and Rumit Somaiya had pocket kings and the ace on the board didnt scare him. My stack felt down to 68k and I had to go back 5 gears and chill. Katherine Hartree was the first to leave the table, she lost pretty much on her stack when she raised and got a reraise - once by me with Kings and the other times by Steve Wong and Rumit Somaiya.
The 5th place finisher was Rob Key - he was struggling from the beginning with a low chipstack and wasnt able to build it up again. He lost against Rumit when he had a low pocket, it had been 3s or 4s and he hit a Full House.
After the break of the 3rd blindlevel I was down to 55k and had to make a move and gone All In with A2 of spades, Rumit was dominating the table and had the chips to call me so he went for it with K10 of clubs - the flop came 10 2 3 with 2 spades and I needed help from turn or river to stay in the tournament. The turn was blank but god save the river, it was the ace and I hit my 2 pair. Back in action I was too fishy again on a draw and lost 30k so we were just 4 handed and I pushed against Stefan, the swedish with QJ off suit. He thought about it and to my surprise, he called with 9 10 suited and I won on high card.
I had the lowest stack and Rumit was leading and Steve Wong in 2nd position. It was the time of a fantastic timing for me! I had QJ in the small blind with maybe 145k or something as stack and Rumit was on the big blind. I just called and he checked - the flop came down QJ8 and 2 hearts. He bet 15k on blinds 5k and 10k and I immediately pushed All In to make him think that I got a draw, I still also had the image as a bluffer and so he didnt really think I was that strong. I felt comfortable and he was starring on me, trying to get usefull informations. I told him: "you can look in my face but you wont't find any information about the strength of my hand" - I really wanted to talk him int that pot. Well, he said: "I think this time I got the better hand" and called - gosh when i've seen his hand I was so happy and it was a really cruel timing for him -he flopped 2 pair with J8! I was telling the dealer - gimme another queen - and hell yes the turn was a queen woohoo - to make it even more cruel, the river was the other 8 and he also hit the Full House but mine was higher. WOW thats a really hardcore timing, isnt it? I was chipleader now with almost 300k and the next hand was folded down by the blinds.
The next hand on the table I was on the big blind again I had pocket 3s - Rumit raised on the button and I felt lucky and pushed him All In - he was committed and had to call and showed me 9 10 suited. The flop was J 10 ... and a 3 - turn was a Queen and I was praying to the pokergod not to lose against a runner runner str8 again like it is often on the internet. Well, the river was a 10 and he had the set, but I got the Full House! Rumit Somaiya was dominating the table 80% of the time and lost his chiplead within 2 hands in a very short time against me and left the table as 3rd - without any chance to stay in the tournament. I still feel for him, because he didnt make a fault there. It as just all about a very bad timing for him.
In the Heads Up - promised like at the dinner the evening before - I was chipleader with 400k to 200k against Steve Wong and well . it was really a hard fight for more than 45 minutes with good moves on both sides. E.g. he raised with A4 and I put him All In immediately with 6 7. I hit a bottom pair most of the time and knew I was ahead but the board was too risky to call his bet - his experience really helped him there. But after the 6 7 of clubs bluff, that I showed him!!! I got him and he tried to make the same move.
I had K6 on the big blind when he mowed All in with maybe 160k - if I had lost the hand we had been almost even and I needed a bit of time to call him - but finally I did and I was right. He showed me 8 9 off suit and the flop was A K 10 - I was ahead and only a few outs for him to win - the turn was a 6 and I had 2 pair, but a 7 on the river would have brought him the straight. Lucky for me, the rivergod was on my side again and so, I won the heat and booked my seat in the semifinal. Wot a great show and I was just lucky and couldnt really believe that I really made it.
More from the UK Open in part 2 soon!
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