Happy hours
Trip reports aren’t really my thing. I usually leave them to my fellow WPT Global ambassador and podcast compadre Dara O’Kearney, who is a master of both anecdote and observation. However, he has left my side in pursuit of WSOP glory, so it falls upon me to give last week’s PokerStars Open Malaga a cheeky review.
perfect for catching some rays at the breaks
Firstly, congratulations to the organizers on a record-breaking 1,656-runner Main Event on the Costa Del Sol. It was won by Manuel Ferrari for €206,300 ($238,880). Last year, this event was very good, but it was a smidge below the standards one would expect at a PokerStars live event. Space issues coupled with a reliance on the casino’s own infrastructure made it a tad cramped and sloppy at times. This year, there was ample room as the hotel’s conference areas were in play, as was a tree-lined garden area, perfect for catching some rays at the breaks.
Another innovation was deployed, too, which I think was appreciated by the players. Rather than having a “player party” on the Saturday night, as is customary, PokerStars hosted four “happy hours,” scheduled to coincide with the dinner breaks from Wednesday to Saturday. These consisted of a free bar and mountains of tapas being served, taking the pressure off the players to make rushed dinner reservations and creating the perfect opportunity for mingling.
Bagging chips and cheese
I arrived on Wednesday in time to late-register for the €220 ($255) Pot-Limit Omaha tournament. I built a nice stack in the early going but ultimately busted about ten spots off the money. My backup plan had been to jump into the Main Day 1B, but the early start that morning and a two-legged journey had taken its toll, so I decided that drinking a few glasses of Rioja was a preferable way to end the night.
I thought that he subsisted solely on cigars
I had breakfast the next morning with my flatmate for the week, Jason Tompkins, and the inimitable Kevin O’Donnell, who is local to the area these days. I must admit that it was a shock to see Kevin consume food, as I thought that he subsisted solely on cigars. After a quick trip to the SuperMercado for some basic supplies (in my case plenty of jamon and manchego cheese), we made our way up the Andalusian coast to the Casino Torrequebrada.
A day of smooth sailing saw me bag up precisely 200,000 chips from a 30,000 starting stack in the €1,100 ($1,274) Main Event Day 1C. I was in a good spot to push on during Day 2, but failed to make any progress, losing as many hands as I won and ultimately wading through the bubble. A protracted period of hand-for-hand did me no favors as a middling stack and I blinded down to 150,000 chips by the time we were in the money. I at least had my Irish compatriot Aidan Quinlan for company, with whom I shared my sweaty bag of manchego. Aidan is a talented player who recently won the European Deepstacks and is thinking of turning full-time pro.
Controversy
Within an hour of the bubble bursting, I ran pocket Tens into Queens and that was all she wrote. The one consolation was that I was just in time to max-late register the €550 ($637) Second Chance tournament. A cold deck for my opponent meant an immediate double-up for me. I nurdled a few more small pots and had 77,000 chips when the following hand took place.
I raised under the gun to 6,000 with pocket Aces. The small blind shoved for 33,000. The big blind plonked seven 5K chips, announcing “call.” I took very little time before declaring “I’m all-in” as I put my chips out. My opponent took a stack of 500 chips and put them next to his blue chips. At the moment that he released his chips, I tabled my hand. He insisted that he had not called and was just replacing one of his 5K chips with six 500 chips to make his initial call precise.
Suffice to say, there was some disagreement on how this would be ruled, but I honestly didn’t think that it was a difficult decision for the floor. I won’t spoiler what happened next and will instead point you to a video that I made, asking WPT executive director Matt Savage, Irish Open TD Nick O’Hara, and the Wynn’s Ray Pulford what they would do. Let me know what you would have done in the replies.
Sangria rakeback
By the end of the Day, I bagged up 170,000 chips and we were bubble-adjacent. The players returned for Day 2 and, within an orbit, we were in the money. With 15 big blinds, I got frisky with King-Five suited shoving from the small blind over a button open. My villain was a Scandinavian kid who had just arrived at the table with racks on racks so I profiled him as a man capable of late position larceny. I’ll never know if my read was correct because, on this occasion, he had pocket Aces and I was shown the door.
It was time to fire some bullets in the €440 ($509) Mystery Bounty Cup. Neither projectile found the target, so I had to make do with some rakeback in the form of happy hour sangria. Plenty of familiar faces were in attendance, including Englishmen Dean Clay, Oliver Hutchins, and Thomas Clack, Irishmen Darren Harbinson, Conor O’Driscoll, John Farrell, and Ciaran Cooney, and Scotsmen David Docherty, Daniel Johnson, and Dode Elliot.
it was the finest meal we’d both had in a long time
A lie-in on Sunday was just what the doctor ordered as Jason and I decided that late lunch in the exquisite La Cala seafood restaurant was the best way to start the day. I had the red snapper, he had the monkfish, and after some sharesies and a delicious bottle of Ribero Del Duero, we agreed that it was the finest meal we’d both had in a long time.
Last chance
With full bellies and a gentle “vino for breakfast” buzz, we made our way to the casino to play the aptly named €550 Last Chance. Jason hadn’t troubled the scorers yet and I was barely up after a couple of min-cashes. By the first break, progress was made. By the second break, we were both on the cusp of cashing.
Jason was rocking an average stack, but I was rolling with piles. It’s such a nice feeling when you run pure and that is what I was experiencing as my pocket Kings held twice, my King-Queen dogged Ace-Queen on a Queen-high board, my Tens held against Ace-King, and my Ace-Nine defeated Ace-Queen in a blind versus blind spot. Unfortunately, Jason busted with three tables left, but I managed to bulldoze my way to the final table with the chip lead.
Some early skirmishes got us down to seven players very quickly, by which time I was sitting pretty with 4 million of the 12 million in play. The thing about hyper-turbos, though, is you have to keep running well, and sadly, that was my high point as my King-Jack lost to pocket Tens, my pocket Nines lost to Jack-Six, and I eventually busted in 4th place for €8,300 ($9,611) with another pair of Nines again, this time succumbing to Jack-Ten. Shout out to Irishman John Burke, who finished in fifth, and Norwegian Oerjan Skommo, who took third.
Overall, it was a great trip to one of my favorite places on planet Earth. My partner Saron and I have long talked about a move to that part of Spain, and last week certainly did nothing to turn me off that idea. Thank you to PokerStars staff Willie Elliot, Lizzie Wilson, Gergana Stefanova, and Gaetano Baiardi for their hospitality, always putting on a good show for the loyal tour regulars. Thanks also to the floor staff and dealers, in particular, the always professional and sage Glenn Doyle, Seb Portier, and Rudy Zirio, who put in a serious shift.
Below is my video diary from the event:
