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THERE WAS no shortage of high-profile players from England and other European countries in the Aussie Millions no-limit hold'em tournament at the Crown Casino, Melbourne, last month
Published: 2005-02-01
 POKER
Independent, The (London), February, 2005 by Nic Szeremeta
THERE WAS no shortage of high-profile players from England and other European countries in the Aussie Millions no-limit hold'em tournament at the Crown Casino, Melbourne, last month.
But when it got to the televised stage of the event and we were down to the last six of a field of 263, only one European remained. And the question most spectators were asking was: "Who's he?"
The young Irishman Stephen McLean had not taken part in any of the warm- up competitions and had appeared on the scene only a couple of days before the blue riband event. He had been backpacking around Australia for six months with his girlfriend Roisin, roughing it around the country and staying in cut-price hostels.
Not surprisingly, the A$10,000 (pounds 4,120) buy-in was a bit beyond his budget, so he needed to win a qualifying satellite to earn his seat - and win one he did, at the first time of trying, for just A$325, about pounds 120.
He celebrated his 24th birthday the following day by moving into the luxury five-star Crown Towers Hotel. While the two previous champions from England, Tony Bloom and Peter "the poet" Costa, fell by the wayside, the mystery backpacker survived the three days of play. And although he had short chips at the final, McLean hung on to finish in fifth place for a win of A$100,000 (pounds 43,000).
After collecting his prize money, it turned out that he was not the online novice that his opponents had assumed.
In fact, he probably had more poker experience than many of them, having been playing since the age of six in his native Ireland. "We only played for 2ps in those days," he said. He comes from a bookmaking family steeped in poker tradition. Both his grandfather Leslie, 70, and his father Allen are well known on the Dublin circuit. "When I was a kid I used to get up for school and find all- night games still going on," McLean said. He himself began playing tournaments at the city's Merrion Casino Club six years ago. "I had been targeting this event for a year," he claimed. "I had my mind set on it and I was determined not to leave empty-handed."
Stephen also mentioned that there was another young McLean waiting to make a mark on the poker scene: "My sister Alison plays a pretty mean game," he said. "She's probably better than me - and she's only 14."
For the record, the Aussie Millions title went to New Zealander Jamil Dia.
Copyright 2005 Independent Newspapers UK Limited
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.
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SOMETIMES, THERE'S no escape from a hold'em hand in which one of those involved has played unsuspected starting cards
Published: 2005-01-01
 GAMES: POKER
Independent, The (London), January, 2005 by Nic Szeremeta
SOMETIMES, THERE'S no escape from a hold'em hand in which one of those involved has played unsuspected starting cards.
The following example occurred during the World Speed Poker Championships, a no limit hold'em competition staged recently in Melbourne, Australia.
Player A was last to act on the button with A2-J2 and the rest of the players apart from the blinds had passed. He raised the big blind from 600 to 1,800.
The player in the small blind passed, but player B in the big blind called.
The flop, the three common cards used by both players, was A4-94- 9#.
When player B checked, player A bet 3,000. With top pair of aces and a jack high kicker (side card), he reckoned his hand was best. The other factor was the presence of the two spades in the flop. He did not want to check and give his opponent a free card to make a flush.
Player B called the 3,000 bet. The turn, the fourth common card, was the 2!. No danger there, and player B checked again. Player A figured that had his opponent held A-K, he would have raised before the flop and that the only pocket cards he could hold that would beat his hand were A-Q.
He bet out a further 4,000, about half his remaining stack, and to his surprise player B moved all in, betting all his chips, for a total of 6,000. By this stage, player A was committed and called the 2,000.
Convention dictates that when there is no further betting and a player is all in the cards are played "on their backs" - poker speak for turned over - before the final card is dealt. There was a nasty surprise in store for player A. His opponent showed down Q!-9!, making three nines. He could only win the coup if the final card was one of the two remaining aces. The last card was a blank, so his chip stack was depleted to a point where he had little or no chance in the event.
The holder of the suited Q-9 was perhaps making an optimistic call pre- flop in the hope of getting lucky - but he did. From the flop on he played the hand perfectly to extract the maximum from it.
But the other player also made the right moves only to lose a significant pot.
Sometimes poker plays out like a Greek tragedy - something happens and from there on in there is no way out.
The overall winner of the inaugural World Speed Poker event was the 20- year-old Swede Michael Thuritz, who picked up A$100,000 - about pounds 43,000.
Copyright 2005 Independent Newspapers UK Limited
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.
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