With 192 runners and first prize of £110,000 i was ready to play my A game and try to improve on last weeks 21st of 174 in Dublin , the first hand i played set the tone for the evening.

On the button i raised to 175 with AK and got 3 callers , flop was T 6 6 , checked to me i reopresented an overpair and bet 400 with one caller , turn was an A , he now bet 1300 , i have played with him many times and as he was in the SB knew he probably had a T but was representing the 6 , i called , river was another T ! He bet 4000 and i passed , he had TJ , great start .

Later the same player Ali Mallu called a raise from Carlo Citrone of 2100 with J9o , flop was J J 9 , then when Carlo raised to 4000 with blinds of 400 800 he called with 8T of hearts and on a flop of Q Q 9 with two clubs called Carlos all in bet of 3000 , Carlo had AA but the river was a J !

The next hand i held was TT and i flopped a full house heads up , we both checked then on the turn he bet 400 when a Q fell , i called hoping a blank would induce another bet , instead the worse possible card came , the A of spades making a possible flush , he passed to my small bet .

I eventually picked up TT again , this time Tony Kendall had limped in FP , one other player limped for 200 and with 700 out there i raised to 1600 , back to Tony who now raised to 5000 , passed to me i flipped up the TT and he showed me QQ .

In seat one was an aggressive Scandanavian , i noticed regardless of the flop he always bet when preflop raiser so when he raised to 700 for the 10th time i flat called on the button with 55 , flop was T 7 2 , as usual he came out firing 1300 , i smooth called , turn was another 7 and i saw him hesitate then check , i took a chance and checked knowing he had overcards , river was a 7 , he paused considering bluffing but finally checked and my pair took the pot .

I managed to get in front with a couple of weak hands on the button that hit flops the i picked up JJ on the button , there was a raise to 1100 and seeing had 8000 left i raised to 5600 to let him know i wasn't passing , the SB passed then Carlo in the BB raised all in for a total of 5875 , the original bettor passed and i of course called for the 275 , this was of course my key pot , Carlo had AKo , should i win i will have 18700 , lose 5700 .

Flop was Q 9 6 , turn T , i had the red Jacks so now had a straight flush draw , Carlo had the bare A of diamonds , a K would make me a straight and the 8 or K of diamonds the straight flush , he needed an A or 2 3 4 5 6 7 of diamonds , river was the 5 of diamonds !

Blinds were now 300 600 , with 4800 when FP limped as did Tony i called one off the button with KJ of clubs , there was 2700 in the pot , flop was 2 3 5 with two clubs , Tony bet 1500 , having not raised after a FP limper , i assumed he had an overpair preferably lower than JJ , round to me i moved in for my 4100 , i had 2 ways of winning , it is possible i have flopped a set and Tony may pass for the 2600 raise or if he has TT or lower i i have 15 outs twice , he called and flipped up two red Aces , turn was a Q , river a 4 giving him a wheel , even if i had a set i would have lost .

If only my Jacks had stood up it could have been a different story but although i am playing well i am still out of form and i am yet to fet any premium hands , Carlo for example had QQ once KK and AA twice .

I believe i am due a change in my fortunes and what better place to do it than the Bellagio this month , let's hope so .