First Impressions - The Cincinnati Club

I've been wanting to visit the Cincinnati club in Glasgow for a long time now and earlier this week I made my mind up that I would take the plunge this weekend.

Apart from the fact that I enjoy the odd game of live poker there were a few other reasons I wanted to get out to the CinCinnati club. Firstly the schedule changed a couple of weeks ago and there are now more Freezeouts on offer. I'm not very fond of Rebuys and the £10 Freezeout on a Saturday night looked promising for my fist excursion.

Secondly, due to the uncertainty over the future of some of the UK poker clubs because of the current gaming laws and the test case at the Gutshot, I wanted to make sure I at least got a chance to play at the Cincinnati. The club was raided back in June and it would be a crime if it were raided again or had to shut down and I certainly didn't want to miss the opportunity to play there at least once.

So my mind was made up, I was going to play in the £10 rebuy. I double checked the start time, parking and dress code online then texted a couple of mates to see if any of them wanted to come along too.

Arriving at the club we parked around the back and ventured inside to join and get our names on the list. Joining was a breeze, just bring along some photo ID and your fine. We put our names down on the list and paid our buy in then took a seat until the tournament started.

The tournament started at 8pm and there must have been approaching 40 players seated at four tables. The tournament structure was good with 4,000 chips to start and blinds increasing every 15 minutes. Play was quite sensible and conservative, no mad all in merchants throwing there chips around. Being new to the club I just kept my head down and played really tight at the start whilst trying to get a feel for the playing style of the people at my table. I won a few hands early on, one with A-J when an Ace and a Jack came out on the board giving me two pairs. I raised it up on the flop but didn't get any action. I also took down a pot with A-6 from the Big Blind, not a hand I would usually play early in a tournament but I was in the Big Blind and nobody raised it up before the flop so I limped in and paired my Ace. I then raised it up with a pot sized bet, and once again everybody folded. I continued to play tight for a while and didn't really build my stack or lose very much.

The next notable hand I played was a bit of a bummer, I played it badly and lost some chips. I was on the big blind again and I got A-5. Nobody raised the betting before the flop, I limped in and the board paired my Ace again. I bet out from my early position with a 2/3 of the pot bet and everybody folded except one lad in a lte position who called. The turn card came down and didn't help and I decided to check to see if the other lad would bet, he did. At this point I thought I should probably fold but against my better judgement I decided to call. The river card wasn't very inspiring and once again I checked and the other lad bet. I put him on an Ace with a better kicker than me or perhaps a mid pair or maybe even a stone cold bluff. I thought about it for a few moment and decided he probably had me beat with a pair of aces but with a better kicker. Even though I was pretty sure I was beaten the bet was only small and I decided to call just to see his cards, remember I'm still trying to get a feel for the people at the table and the range of hands they play. We flipped over our cards and sure enough he was holding A-J, he head me beat with his stronger kicker. Ok so I played the hand weakly and lost a few chips but it didn't make much of a dent in my stack, just took me back to around my 4,000 starting chips. A frustrating hand though, I should have played it better and just put it down when he bet into me on the turn.

The play continued until the break with players gradually dropping out and the tables getting shuffled about a bit. One big lad at the table in the middle could be heard above everybody else in the room. Sounded like he was giving a commentary on the play at his table. He had ammassed quite a huge stack of chips but I couldn't tell from where I was sitting if this was through luck or skill.

A few more players dropped out after the break but nothing much happened, the blinds were starting to creep up and it wasn't long before we reached 150/300 and my stack had dwindled to about 3000. It was time to ammass some chips before my chips atarted dwindling too much more. The hand that would knock me out is approaching. I picked up K-Q in mid position, no callers before me raised, I raised it up and a lad behind me went all in. I thought about it for a few moments, I've got a drawing hand, he could have a better drawing hand or a nice mid or high pair....but he has gone all in a couple of times recently and built back up from being seriously short stacked so it could be a bluff.....if i fold I'm down to 2,000 chips or less, if I call it's probably going to be a coin flip as to whether I bust out or double up. Do I want to potentially bust out at this stage, hmm, I shouldn't play it but what the hell. I call his all in and we flip our cards K-Q versus A-K...it's a coin flip and he ends up pairing his Ace and I'm out. Not to worry, it was a good game and it was my own fault I busted out, should probably have stayed tight and just folded to his all in, but that's poker. I think I busted out in around 15th position.

It was a thouroughly good evening. Great tournament structure, pleasant surroundings and a friendly bunch of players. The level of play was good and I had a great time. I'll definately be going back. If we want poker to flourish in Glasgow and have a choice of different places to play we have to try and support our local card clubs, so for that reason and the fact it was a great night and good value, I'll definately be back. Next time I'll know what to expect and will hopefully manage to go a bit deeper in the tournament.