My tournament had a fairly slow start where I didn't find many playable hands. I took a small pot with KQ and then another small one from the blinds on a raggy board, but managed to give this profit away plus a bit more when I tried to semi-bluff the unbluffable player at the table.

At the first break I had just 3900 with the blinds about to go to 200/400. A5 hearts won me the blinds and then I dodged a major bullet. I raised on the button all-in (less than 10xbb) with Q4 and the bb agonized before eventually folding 99! Phew!!

I was moved tables and straight away picked up the blinds + one limper. Another move put me on a full table with plenty of action. I managed to stay on about the same chips with a couple of raises to take the blinds before another table move. This was the table where things warmed up for me.

With the blinds now at a juicy 600/1200 and my stack at just 7200 I was dealt 99 in early position. "All-in" was my play. "Call" was the instant response from the player to my left. Oh shit, I thought, here's trouble. My fears were confirmed as he turned over JJ. The flop was no help and neither was the turn, but the river was a lovely nine. Not only had I survived but I now had 15k in chips.

A couple of hands later I had 66, and raised it to 4000, getting one caller from the big blind. The flop came 973 and he led out with an all-in bet and I had to fold.

With the blinds now raising to 800/1600 I didn't fancy getting blinded down too low and looking at 107 of hearts in early position I felt like making a play, raising all-in. Everyone dutifully folded apart from the big blind who annoyingly found AK clubs and naturally called. My embarrassment at having to flip over the mighty 107 hearts was tempered quite considerably by the rivered flush. The unfortunate AK then launched into a tirade of abuse about how crap I was raising with such a crap hand from such an early position. Luckily I didn't have to listen to too much because I was moved again. That's what I thought anyway because I could hear him still moaning from my new table.

The first significant hand for me on this new table came in the big blind. The old guy on my left raised to 6000 (1k/2k blinds) and the next player, who was getting a bit short, called with his last 5k. Everyone else folded and I looked down at AQ spades. After a short think of what to do for the best I re-raised all-in, about 22k in total. The original folder reluctantly folded saying he had passed 22! The short stack called with A10 and when the board came with a Queen he was knocked out. The board also contained a 2 so my play was correct and Mr Two?s bemoaned his fold.

It wasn't long before the player in tenth got knocked out and I took 28k to the final table. Shortly before this happened I saw my only big pair of the night, KK, under the gun. My 3 x big blind raise must have looked too suspicious when the usual raise was all-in because no-one bit.

Things went pretty well for me fairly early on at the final table. I was dealt AK in late position and after there was a raise before me to 14000 (1500/3000 blinds) I re-raised all-in. His reluctance to call told me I was in good shape but he was pot-committed and put his remaining 8000 in with AQ. The flop contained an ace, king and queen and I had taken another victim and leapt up to 50k in chips and a nice lead.

I then started bossing the table with a mix of good, bad and indifferent hands, using a combination of stack size and position. My stack grew steadily - 60k, 70k, 80k. I then got lucky when a move from the small blind with 63 clubs was called by the big blind with 109. I failed to see around the dealer (I was in seat 9) that he had 6k of his remaining 16k in the blind. A ten hit the flop but the turn and river completed my flush. Lucky, lucky, lucky. My victim left the table spouting some sour-grapes type comment about how he knew I was at it again due to me having one of the biggest tells he had ever seen (or something along those lines.) I'm not sure how accurate that statement is and I'm sure it had a lot to do with him being knocked out on a bad beat but I will keep my eye on that possibility.

With my stack at 120k (out of 210k in play) and just three left a crucial hand happened. The small blind made the standard play in the circumstances and went all-in for 34k. I had A7 and called. He had Q4 but hit a queen and was back in business again. If I could have won this hand I would probably have come first, but it wasn't to be.

A couple of rounds later we were all fairly level and made a deal to take £400 each and play for the final £215.

My end came in the small blind with 109 on a board of 55510Q. We checked it all the way to river where I bet 10k into the 16k pot only to get re-raised another 50k. I called hoping for the best only to get shown the case five! Doh!

I was all-in with my final 16000 or so next hand but couldn't make a hand and was out in third.

I felt I played pretty well throughout and with hindsight don't regret anything I did. I certainly had my share of good luck at crucial moments but took full advantage of them. I was particularly pleased with how I wielded the largest stack of chips I had ever possessed.