"This was my third trip to Baden and its slightly awkward location meant it was the smallest field so far in season 4, with (just) 282 runners. I had a tough starting table with Barry Greenstein and another very aggressive player immediately on my left. As in Plymouth last month I got off to an awful start, donking off 4k to Greenstein when I put him on a move; I guess I was half right, but ultimately my J-J was no match for his rivered flush.
I rocked up for the next two levels and then got lucky when I was all-in for 4k with Q-Q v K-K, seeing a beautiful queen on the flop. That suck-out turned things around for me and I knuckled down, finishing the day with an above average 26k.
Day 2 went about as well as I could have imagined - early on I took out three short stacks, winning the three 50/50 shots with ease. It got better though, as I managed to get every chip off a very aggressive young Spanish player. I re-bluffed him twice and on the third tussle most of the chips went in:
I raised in late position with J-Q, the button called and the Spanish kid re-popped it up another 4k from the BB. I just called and bet 6k on the Q,5s,7s flop. He called and I bet 10k into a 22k pot when the 10s hit on the turn. He min raised me another 10k which left him with about another 10k - it looked strong, but I just sensed he was at it. I had the Js as a kind of back-up and after a short dwell I pushed in, covering him. He mucked immediately.
I ended the day with 114k, putting me in about eighth spot out the remaining forty players.
Day 3 and I was drawn on the TV table. Good for William Hill, but given a choice, I wouldn't choose to be on there as it generally plays a lot slower than a normal table. So after two days of playing a fairly solid game, within thirty minutes of sitting on the feature table, I sucked out massively, twice. Good for my fishy reputation I guess:
The first was re-pushing against Surinder Sunar with 8-8 on a 5,10,J flop when he had A-J and turning an eight, the second against another young Spanish player when my J-J hit a set against his K-K, all-in pre. In my defence I had them both well covered and well, I guess I'll just have to live with the embarrassment.
By the time we down to two tables I had about 300k and finding aces on the button meant it didn't take long to get it all-in with Pascal Perrault's A-Qs in the SB. That pot saw me move up to 600k which is what I finished the day on.
I was pretty relaxed coming into the final table (I felt a lot more pressure getting through Day 3); I had great chips and felt good about my chances as I felt there was no one player who was really going to apply a lot of pressure. Looking back, barring the heads-up play, I think I only got re-raised twice in nearly six hours of play. Sweet.
Everything went like clockwork and whilst I'd rather not have got it all-in on a draw when four-handed, some pots just play themselves and I was the lucky boy who hit my nine outer, twice as it happens, for good measure.
The Russian limped, Thomas Fuller raised and I called from the BB with Qc-8c. We checked the Kc,6c,Q flop to Fuller and he bet 100k into a 160k pot. I was sitting on about 700k and felt pushing all-in here would give my hand away so I re-raised a further 300k, trying to look as strong as possible. I felt a bit sick when he pushed his last 700k in, but I wasn't about to back off and he was in great shape with a set of sixes. It wasn't his day though as I hit my draw and two hours later first place and an EPT title were mine.
Winning an event like this is a dream come true - you think you're probably capable of it, but with today's swelling fields and the swashbuckling style of play that's in vogue at the moment, most of the time I felt myself asking the question, 'can I really run that good for four days?' It would appear that anything is, truly possible."