It's been a while- APAT Scotland Part 1....

OK so where to start- I hadn't even bothered to look at the click fest for Scotland but decided last minute that I fancied a crack at the Scottish event. Why?

1) 130 runners to get past instead of the usual 150-18
02) All those Scottish players??? Valoooooooooo (or so I thought)

I applied on seat exchange and managed to get a couple of seats. One for me and one for Kev "the bagman" Smith. Unfortunately Neil couldn't make this one and may not to be able to participate in future events now he's a "pro"

So we set about booking flights/hotel/ etc etc. I booked the flights whilst Kev took care of the hotel. He knew a bloke who get us a "discount" at the holiday inn- more about that later......Ideally we would have flew up Friday for the night out but unfortunately my poker passes for the year are expiring fast. So we got the 10am flight from EMA to land at 12pm. We went for brekkie (I lost the flip) got a cab (I lost the flip) had some lunch (I lost the flip) and then made our way to the venue.

Running hot on flips, Kev queued up to pay (cos of the card payment errors) with me thinking that I had paid for my seat having shipped the money to the person I bought the seat off. Des then informed me that JBworldwide hadn't been charged so I would have to pay. FML!!!! 150 quid for an APAT seat- knowing James I'm sure this was a genuine mistake and we're currently sorting out my money back

I caught up with a few faces both old and new- Jim Lang, Neil Dawson, Leigh and of course Boshi. I also bumped into Micky P whom chided me for only making Day 2 once. I think I've played 7 APAT events up to this point and made day 2 once- not the greatest record. We chatted about my playing style early and I whole heartedly agreed that I was trying to "outplay" everyone early doors. A ridiculous strategy. Yes I'm probably better than most of the field and I hope people don't think I'm arrogant in saying that but Phil Ivey I'm not.

This is easily the most focussed I've been for an APAT event. I deiced that I would play a lot of flops early and keep pots as small as possible. Punishing limpers, even in position wasn't working because:

1) People tend to limp a lot stronger in APAT events
2) People tend to raise a lot tighter in APAT events
3) So because they open and limp a lot stronger- they fold less to raises which means all I'm doing is inflating pots pre.

With this in mind I was limping a lot more in position, playing flops and generally winning a lot more pots. I was mixing my play up between opening and limping and the strategy seemed to be working quite well- I wasn't accumulating but I wasn't panicking. I was fairly card dead but using position to keep myself around starting stack.My opening table didn't have too many familiar faces. I only really knew Simon Auckland but only by reputation- I had never played him before so treaded carefully trying to get reads. Like most APAT tables it was extremely tight early which is why I think APAT tourneys get so crap shooty later on- people don't exit so stacks are naturally shallow.

Anyway some hands! As I've said I'm playing mainly small pots not getting involved too much when I look down KJhh at 3rd to act. I open for 275 at blinds 50/100 playing a stack of around 9k and the sb calls. I later find out the sb is Alan Horburgh (I think). He was constantly making comments about my "celebrity" which is always nice to hear. Getting approached by players and shaking hand and meeting people is very flattering!Anyway the flop comes 963 rainbow one heart and Alan checks. I c-bet for 350 and Alan calls.

I'm not sure what range to assign him but it's a pretty dry board so I'm putting him on a mid pair, maybe 78 for the up and down or 45. He could perhaps be slow playing a big pair but unlikely given his line. I'm looking to barrel most turns if he checks.The turn falls jc Alan checks again. I continue with my plan as I'm fairly confident I have the best hand now and he may get stubborn with his pair so I want to get some value from my hand. I could check the turn and then value bet the river if he checks to me but if he does have a medium pair there's so many river cards which he'll check/fold to that I want to get some value now if possible.

I bet 750 and Alan calls quite quickly. Heading into the river I'm sure I'm winning. The river falls the Kc

BINGO! How much to value bet? I like to value bet between 3/4 to full pot as people often think I'm bluffing so they'll pay the maximum to "catch" me. Alans knuckles it for the 3rd time and after dwelling up I bet 1875. Alan chucks in a 5k chip and at first I think he's just called. But the dealer tells me he's made it 4k total. WOW!

WTF was going on? I go back through the hand and replay it. Has he got a set? Did he flop it? Is he bluffing me on the river? Whichever it is I have to pay the min raise on the river with such a strong hand on such a dry board. I really don't like it but reluctantly call and he turns over Ks Kd !!!!! WP sir! Sick hand and suddenly my small balling has me down to 4k!!!!