As with all events here there was an increase on last years figure of 220 , in fact 246 sat down to try to win , starting with 2000 in chips and 25 25 blinds my first hand was 67 8Tds , there was a raise to 75 , one caller and i called on the button , flop was A 9 5 with a flush draw in one of my suits , to my surprise the raiser didn't represent Aces and gave us both a free card , turn was a 6 in my other suit giving me the nut straight and two flush draws , both checked again and i bet winning the pot .

I decide to be more aggressive and try to dominate the table so after 2 limpers i raise to 125 with 7T JQ , so much for respect , i get 5 callers ! Flop is good though 3 9 T giving me top pair and a straight and flush draw , i bet 700 , the next player reraises to 1875 all in and the next player calls all in for 1150 , this is only the third hand , i have no idea how these guys play but i assume the first all in has top set and the other has a wrap on the straight draw , i decide that one of my draws is good and call , when they turn over their cards i am in good shape , both have a set and neither has a straight or flush draw , turn is a K to give me the nuts and with no pair up i already have 6225 , a long way to go but i started like this last year and one thing i know is with these chips i can open up my game and accumulate more as the blinds increase .

The next hand i played was KQ 66ds , as you can see i am not playing as tight as usual or waiting for big pairs , i called a raise and when the flop is K 3 7 with my K high flush draw and the pot is bet 1100 , i reraise him all in , he calls and turns over 45 57 , needing one of my 6's for a straight and drawing dead on his flush draw , turn is a 4 to give him 2 pair but the river a Q and i win another , now up to 7800 .

The tightest player on the table is Tibor Tolnai so when there is a 150 raise and he flat calls i decide even though i have the best hand i have seen KQ QJss to just call , flop is 2 4 5 with two diamonds , we all check , turn is a Q giving me top set and a K high flush draw , if one had bet here i would have reraised all in , again all checked , river made the backdoor spade flush , i check called Tibors bet of only 100 and showed my King flush , on the turn Tibor had the K high flush draw in diamonds and the nut flush draw in spades which won the pot , had he bet the turn i would have doubled him up . When you play a hand like this and get away so cheap it really boosts your confidence as you start to think everything is going your way .

Having had a near miss i decide to change gear and tighten up for a while , finally i pick up AA KTds , some players rate this the best starting hand in omaha , i raise and get one caller , flop is A Q 8 , i can't bet as i have everything , top set , a gutshot to the nut straight and the nut flush draw , we both check , the turn gives me a full house and i win .

Anthony Lellouche joins are table , if you read the €800 No Limit diary you will know how aggressive he is , he doesn't know i am hitting cards and immediately sets out to bully the table but today i have a mountain of chips and know how to use them .

On one hand he raises , i call with 45 78 , flop is A 4 6 , Anthony bets , i call , turn is another 4 , Anthony bets again , i am certain he would check aces full here so call , river is an 8 giving me another full house , now he checks and i know a bet wont get paid , i end the rebuy period with 9825 , everyone takes a top up that can and i do also to remain clear chip leader .

It's a good job i did as during the next level i was card dead and blinded away 1600 , then i lost my first big pot , on the button i am dealt KK QJds , i decide to play it slow and flat call , the BB raises and i call , flop is A Q 9 , BB bets 600 , i have a flush draw and a T for the nut straight and call , turn is a J giving me two pair and the BB checks , now either he flopped three Aces and is checking a possible straight or is beating me with a higher two pair , i check also , river is another J , now he bets 2000 , i make a weak call with my full house only to see him show AA .

I needed to get back in front and soon did , in an unraised pot i was in the BB with 24 9Q , flop was K 3 5 rainbow , i called a pot size bet , turn was an A giving me the nuts , i bet 600 and got called , river a 9 , bet 1000 and he called with a set .

For the second time tonight i picked up AA this time with KJss , i raised and got one caller , the action was checked to the river after the flop brought A 2 2 6 6 and he called a 400 bet .

With one hand of the third level to go 50 100 i pick up 89 TQss and flat call 400 in BB , flop is K T 3 , he bets 1400 and needing a J for a straight or one of my cards for 2 pair and putting him on AA i stubbornly call a hand i should pass , in my defence he did only have 1550 left and i had nearly 17,000 , turn is a J and i bet out and he calls , his hand is A K Q 9 , and the J gives him the nut straight , oh well still chip leader with 15,325 , well over average which is around 6000 but i take the opportunity to have a 5 minute break and refocus so as not to make the same mistake again .

I sat back during most of the 75 150 level then took a flop in another unraised pot from the BB holding K7 62 , flop was K 6 2 rainbow , i decided to pick it up with top two and bet 700 into a pot of 975 , i forgot to mention there were 5 limpers , all pass to one player who calls , turn is the J of hearts , i now have 2 pair with a K high flush draw , i bet pot 2375 and he goes all in for 2850 total , i call the 475 thinking he has slow played a set and i need to hit my flush , he turns over KJ 45 , on the flop he only had a K and needed to hit a middle pin 3 or a J to improve , marvellous , i lose a huge pot and find myself back down to 10,400 from a peak earlier of 18,000, i still have average chips though and i am determined this is not going to be one of those events where a couple of hands started my downfall , just need to keep focused and forget what i had and take each opportunity as it comes .

My resolve is tested as the table dynamics change and from being chip leader i find myself having to pass to raises , eventually i play a weak hand in the BB against one player , flop is A K 7 , we both check , turn is a 4 , my hand is 23 56 , i have a straight wrap and bet out , he reraises all in for a few hundred more , i call , he has a set of kings and a flush draw , the 7 pairs and i am down to 6,050 !

Johan Storakkers now joins the table , i limp with 9T JKss , Johan raises to 1350 , i call flop is A Q 9 , with one pair and a big wrap i bet the pot and win , then in the BB i have T8 62 , flop is 6 6 8 , all check , turn another 6 to give me quads , all check , river another 8 , i bet 500 and somehow get a caller .

The last hand before dinner having built back up to 10,000 i lose when i call an all in raise with AQ Q6ds , my opponent has AT 85 , flop is 4 6 9 , turn and river 5 8 to give him two pair , down to 8800 , blinds are going up to 250 500 and for the first time i have less than average chips .

I came back from dinner refocused and even as i continued to blind away i maintained my discipline , finally with 6500 i raised pot with AA 95ss and got one caller , flop was 4 8 T with my flush draw , i bet pot and no call , back up to 9700 .

When the button raises to 1750 , i reraise to put him all in for 300 more , i have KQ 78ds , he has AQ 94 , flop is Q 6 4 , i need a K 7 or 8 , turn is a 9 making him a higher two pair but giving me a 5 or a T also for a straight , river an A and i am back down to 6875 , struggling to get back above 10,000 .

Blinds are now 400 800 , there is a raise of 2500 and an all in of 3600 , i am in the SB and hope i have a hand but i find Q8 62 , the raiser calls , flop is Q Q Q and inside i'm thinking i wish i could have called , never mind .

The blinds are causing players with short stacks to play more aggressive , i am trying to see cheap flops and call with AJ J8ds , flop is three hearts and two players go all in , my cards are all black , one has the nut flush the other the Q high flush , this was a huge pot , the average is now 21,000 , i have only 6800 .

I go down further to 5600 after one round of blinds then comes my first key hand of the day , there are two limpers for 800 each making the pot 2800 , a player then raises to 2400 , i am on the button with TJ QKss , i call leaving myself 3200 if i miss the flop , in the BB sonny nirjan goes all in for 3600 , the first limper now reraises the pot , i assume slow played AA , the original raiser passes , now with 15,600 in the pot and 3200 to call all in i have an easy decision , i call , Sonny had something like 78 TT , the reraiser had AA J9 , flop came 6 J Q K 8 and i win with top two and i am right back in this event with 18,800 .

The table breaks and i am moved to one where the chip leader has 55,000 on my left and on my right is Roy Brindley with 27,000 , i test the chip leader by raising one off the button with KK 89ss and win the blinds then comes the second key hand .

All pass to Roy who makes up the BB , i have AA 62 no suits , although i could raise here and pick up the 800 , i prefer to take a flop and hope to win a big pot if Roy flops something as he will never put me on AA if i check , flop was unbelievable A 8 8 , we both check , turn is a 6 making a flush as well , Roy checks and i put in a bet of 1200 , Roy calls , river is a 2 , Roy checks again and i bet 3400 , Roy now reraises to 10,000 , if he has quads good luck to him , i reraise all in , he shows an 8 and passes , i now have 31,500 , for the first time i look up at the screen and see we are down to 33 , i am over average again and for the first time today i start believing i could make the final two years in a row .

Play is tightening up now as 27 get paid , i steal the blinds twice then the chip leader reraises me once and i get caught , i finish level 10 with 32,100 , 29 players left , average is 28,620.

Our whole table now gets moved to the TV final table , blinds have increased to 500 1500 and on the very first hand i tangle with the chip leader on my left Tony Vardgavand and this is the hand that gets me to the final .

I raise to 3600 with KK TJ , Tony reraises to 12,800 , i know he probably has AA but i have decided i can afford to call the extra 9200 and if i miss the flop still have 19,300 , so i call , flop is T 2 3 , i have hit a T giving me outs to two pair or trips against his AA and also i have TJ of hearts for a flush draw , i intend to check raise , i check Tony moves in and i call , he has the AA as expected , unfortunately he also has the hearts covered , i need to get lucky and when a J turns and the river is a blank i win a huge pot with two pair and now have 63,200 .

All of a sudden i have momentum , i call after 2 limpers on the button with K9 94ss , the SB calls and the BB raises to 6000 , one of the limpers calls , i see he has only 7000 left , there is 18,000 in the pot i decide to call in position , the SB folds , flop is K 9 5 and the raiser moves all in for 17,600 , it is passed to me , i call with my set of 9's , he has also hit the flop he has 56 78 for a straight and flush draw however on the turn he is drawing dead as i make quads !

I am now chip leader in the tournament with 92,800 , there is 830,000 chips in play so i have average for the final already with 21 left , i can be more aggressive so when i find KQ QJss in FP i raise to 7000 the BB calls all in for 3800 , he has KK xx , flop is 4 8 6 T 9 and i make the nuts .

The blinds are due to go to 1000 2000 any minute so when my BB is raised by a good player who i know will be aware of this and he only has 6800 left i call with 56 TJds , flop is 2 8 9 rainbow , i bet pot and he calls with AK Q5 , i think i would have passed here with no pair or draw , anyway turn is a 5 and he takes the lead but the river is a Q and again i make the nuts , as this level ends we have 18 left and i am up to 124,000 .

I lose 15,000 back when i call with AK J4ds , flop is A T T , i have top pair and the nut flush draw but decide to pass to a 28,000 all in , he shows a T .

The very next hand Andreas Krause on my left raises , i have decided not to get involved for a while and pass 9T JK no suits , the BB calls , flop is 9 9 T , i may not have won any more as they check it down , i decide not to let one hand effect my game and use my stack to accumulate chips so after two limpers i call with A6 69ss , with the blinds 5 of us see the flop of 2 5 6 , the BB goes all in , i call , he has 56 for two pair and a gutshot straight but my set wins . I increase my chip lead to 136,500 and start thinking maybe i am destined to win this back to back .

I win more hand during the 1500 3000 level when i limp with AK J9ss , flop is K K 6 , all check , turn is a 2 , Andreas bets 8000 and i now raise the pot , he passes and i have 150,000.

Earlier today i doubled up a player who called for a middle pin 3 or a J on the turn and hit it , he has survived and takes me on again and wins ! I raise from FP with AA Q8ss , he calls on the button , flop is K Q T , he now moves in out of turn , the dealer tells him it is me to act first but his bet will go , i ask for a count , it is 25,000 , i pass and show the AA , he shows KQ QJ .

Before i know it we are down to the final 9 and i have made the final for the second year in a row , last year i was 5th in chips and finished first , this time i am 3rd chip leader , it's a good lineup but i am sandwiched between Rob Hollink and Noah Boaken who i am sure will be trying to double through me , time to get a good nights sleep ready to be back at 5pm .

Hope you enjoyed it .