Letter from Doke and News from Irish Eyes Gaming

Welcome to this week's letter, which contains a catch up on how things are going here in Vegas, a strategy section on bubble situations, some tournament news from Irish Eyes and online promotions for July.

Almost halfway through my Vegas campaign and it's a case of 5 down 5 to go in terms of bracelet events. I played another couple at the weekend without any joy. In Saturday's 1500 I built a stack early peaking at four starting stacks which unfortunately disappeared late in the day as the blinds rose. Sunday's 1k was a much shorter affair where I never really got going and was gone after the first break. I haven't been playing as much on my days off from the WSOP as in other years. This is the first year I've sold action for the series and given that that means I'm partially playing other people's money I want to be certain I'm well rested and able to play my A game.

My two roommate on the trip notched up cashes in the main event. Daragh Davey went deep in the 1k and Jason Tompkins cashed in the 2500 NLH event that started Monday. It hasn't been a great series so far for Irish players do I'm hoping that turns around.

Well done to Neil Channing. Neil is one of my personal poker players, someone I have the highest respect for both as a player and a person. I've been fortunate enough to share a microphone with him commentating on the Irish open a few times and it's always been illuminating and entertaining. Aside from possessing a great poker mind Neil is a very funny man and great storyteller. He was clearly devastated in the immediate aftermath of losing heads up but the 400k and the flood of messages of support that proved how popular he is are a consolation I'm sure.

This week's strategy section looks at bubble situations in large runner fields. These are interesting because the fact that if you have a below average stack so much of your equity is tied up in just making the money it makes for some very unusual spots. Jason found himself in a couple of these on his bubble. The first occurred when there was a raise under the gun and a three bet on the button. Jason found himself with jacks in the small blind and just folded. In normal circumstances this would be a very nitty fold but it's totally standard in this spot unless you're certain both villains are maniacs looking to abuse the bubble. Most people's ranges tighten right up in bubble situations and sudden jacks is in pretty poor shape against the raiser's range. Queens may even be a fold here.

Jason's other spot was even more interesting and I'll talk about it next week in the strategy section.

A note from Irish Eyes regarding this monthy's Monthly €50,000 guaranteed tournament - due to the fact that it overlaps with the Final of EURO 2012 it has been moved to an alternative starting time.The tournament has been rescheduled for Monday, 2nd of July at 20:00.

On the promotions front, this summer Irish Eyes Poker is offering players a chance to win a MacBook Air. Players can get their hands on this prized notebook either by winning the "MacBook Air VIP Special" tournament or by getting AA as a starting hand three times in a row in our "Summer Special Hands" promotion. In addition, players are eligible for cash prizes by winning four Super Turbo Sit&Go's in a row and one of five trips to the European Masters of Poker (EMOP) tournament in Barcelona.

Plus get an Extra hot summer offering with our Reload Bonus week during the first week of July (Deposit between 2012-06-02 and 2012-06-08) {NOTE: These bonuses are NOT available on cash deposits or transfers.}

Reload Bonuses:
Use Reload Bonus Code EURO50IE to get a reload bonus of 100% up to €50 paid when 500 vips are earned.

Use Reload Bonus Code EURO100IE to get a reload bonus of 100% up to €100 paid when 1000 vips are earned.

Use Reload Bonus Code EURO200IE to get a reload bonus of 100% up to €200 paid 2000 vips are earned.

Irish Eyes are also launching the new Hand Replayer in July.
To celebrate the launch of the new software which allows players to reply their hands, Irish Eyes Poker is offering prizes for special hands. (The following promotions are valid only in cash games and only when a minimum of three players have received cards.)

Texas Triple AA Special - Win a MacBook Air!

Get AA as your starting hand three times in a row at the same cash game table, regardless of the stakes you're playing, and win an Apple MacBook Air notebook (11" Core i5 1.6 GHz 64 GB SSD)!

This promotion is available on all real money Texas Hold'em tables. To claim a prize, players must send an email to promo@igt.com no later than Tuesday, 31 July. The e-mail should contain the following information:
Subject: "Triple AA MacBook claim"
- Hand History number of the first AA hand
- Poker nickname
- Full home address

Texas Triple Same Pair Special

Get the same pair, deuces to kings, as starting hand three times in a row at the same cash game table and win €200.

This promotion is available on all real money Texas Hold'em tables. To claim a prize, players must send an email to promo@igt.com no later than Tuesday, 31 July. The e-mail should contain the following information:
- Subject: "Triple Same Pair claim"
- Hand History number of the first pair hand
- Poker nickname

Omaha Quad Aces Special

Get Four-of-a-Kind aces as your starting hand in 4-card Omaha and win €100.

This promotion is only available on real money 4-Card Omaha and 4-Card Omaha H/L. To claim a prize, players must send an email to promo@igt.com no later than Tuesday, 31 July. The e-mail should contain the following information:
- Subject: "Omaha Quad Aces claim"
- Hand History number of the quad aces hand
- Poker nickname

Omaha High Quads Special

Get Four of a Kind kings, queens, or jacks as your starting hand in 4-card Omaha and win €50.

This promotion is only available on real money 4-Card Omaha and 4-Card Omaha H/L. To claim a prize, players must send an email to promo@igt.com no later than Tuesday, 31 July. The e-mail should contain the following information:
- Subject: "Omaha High Quads claim"
- Hand History number of the quad hand
- Poker nickname

Four the Win! - Sit & Go Promotion

Win four Super Turbo Sit &Go tournaments in a row on the same level and win a cash prize!
Sit & Go's qualifying for this promotion are marked (PROMO) in the lobby.
Super Turbo SitGo (PROMO) Holdem NL €2 + €0.2 Prize = €200
Super Turbo Sit&Go (PROMO) Holdem NL €10 + €1 Prize = 700

(Please note that the collation of tournaments is determined by time of registration.)To claim a prize, send an e-mail with the following information to promo@igt.com no later than Tuesday, 31 July.
- Subject "Four the Win claim"
- Tournament ID of the first Sit & Go in the series (in the poker lobby under Account Information/Last Transactions)
- Poker nickname

MacBook Air VIP SPECIAL

On Sunday, 8 July at 20:30, three players will have a chance to win a MacBook Air in a special tournament. The buy-in is 50 VIP points that must be earned starting from 1 July.

Prizes:
Three (3) Apple MacBook Air notebooks (11" Core i5 1.6 GHz 64 GB SSD). The maximum number of participants is 1000, 3000 in starting chips, and 12 minutes levels. To claim a prize, send an e-mail with the following information to promo@igt.com no later than Tuesday, 10 July.
- Subject "MacBook Tournament claim"
- Poker nickname
- Full home address

Freerolls:
Don't forget to 'Like' our Team Irish Eyes Poker page on Facebook and you can get the password to the Weekly Facebook €100 Freeroll every Wednesday night. Here is the link http://www.facebook.com/pages/Team-Irish-Eyes-Poker/112290065454803

Good luck at the tables - unless I'm at the same table :)

Doke

Click on the links below for details on all Irish Eyes Poker Promotions, Blogs, and News.
Irish Eyes Poker Promotions - click here
Join Team Irish Eyes Poker on Facebook - click here
Join EMOP Ireland on Facebook -- click here
Keep up to date on Doke's blog - click here
Interview with Per Hildebrand - click here
Play Fast Online Poker on your Mobile or iPad on Terminal Poker. For Signup Offer - click here
Play live poker with the Celtic Poker Tour. For next events and news - click here