Estonia Trip Report - long.

[1tripz1]

Here is the trip report from a poker holiday me and my buddy took in August to Estonia in Eastern Europe. Hope some will find it entertaining! Part 1 of 3...

August 7th, 2007


First night in Estonia
Glad i bought my laptop as the hotel has free wireless internet!

Came 8th out of about 45 runners at the Western which i was supprised with as i was so excited about going away i couldnt really concentrate! After a couple of big hands though (sorry Glen) and building up a nice stack i made myself concentrate and played pretty good to give myself another strong tournament finish.

Pretty much the first thing we did after a few hours kip was go check out the Olymic Grand Casino in Tallinn, where we would be playing the tournament on Wednesday. On the way, we noticed another 3 casinos of the same name and 3 other casinos, but they are all slots only! We found another Casino in the 'Old Town' which is where all the resteraunts and clubs are and they had some blackjack and a hidden away poker table which they said they rarely use. the Grand Casino had all the regular games but was abit smaller than i expected. 2 roulette tables, 3 blackjack and 2 5 card poker tables and then lots of slots, its pretty much the same size as the upstairs of the Grosvenor in Reading, but with lots of decoration getting in the way.

The card room is a small with 5 tables crammed into a corner. When we arrived they had just closed entry to a mixed holdem and omaha event which would of been resonable enough for us to play in but sadly we were too late. We were told the cash games started at about 22 00 so we went to see the city before returning.

I sat down from the beginning of the game. The limits were 10/20 Kroon which is roughly 50p/£1, a nice level. Minimum buyin was 2k which is about £100. The game was dealers choice but with only 3 games to choose from, NL Holdem, PLO, PLO/8. This was quite exciting for me as i have never played either of the Omaha games properally live. Apparently Soko, 7 Stud and Crazy Pinapple are sometimes thrown into the mix, but not tonight.

The game was pretty loose with lots of people limping and cold calling raises to see the flop. This meant that it was essential to come in with a good starting hand and really play position well and in doing so there would be oppoortunities to bluff on later streets. Id say that we played %50 Omaha/8 and %50 Holdem/PLO which was abit of a shame for me as Omaha/8 is my weakest game of the 3 as its the one ive put almost no time into playing.

Id won about 400Kr (£20) when i got involed in a big pot with AA. I raised and had two callers pre flop, the flop came 3s4sJd and i bet out (was in SB) and first player moved in follwed by the second. I thought about laying it down but decided that i was getting such a good price and i was likely up against a jack and a draw i would game. Turns out i was right and the flush draw came on the river, putting me down to about 1000Kr(£50). Was abit annoyed but am happy with how i played it, i gambled and knew i had a good chance to lose even though i was a slight favourate on the flop.

I then grinded my way back and got myself back to even and decided to quit. We had had a few beers which doesnt make me play my best and i was also still groggy from the flight so i decided to wait for the next night to go in fresh and hopefully do some damage.

A real fun experience and a free day for me (i won £50 playing roullette) and am really looking foward to putting in a long session tomorrow night.