Finally! The Deuce 9 is (pretty much) back to the way it used to be. A minimum of a full table STT (single table tournament) with a shot at a decent occasional MTT (multi-table tournament).
9 people showed up (which is good, GREAT considering the recent attendance problems), $25 buy-in, top 3 get payed, 10k starting chips with 20 minute levels and a blind schedule that closely resembled that of the WSOP Main Event's (a link to that schedule is posted in a past post titled January Tourney that was posted (duh!) in January...
As I had planned going in to the tournament, things (for me) went slow early on. I was very critical on myself that I would NOT bluff off a bunch of chips when you just don't need to. The blinds start out at 25-50 and you have 200 BBs with your 10k starting chips. You don't need to be stealing tons of pots until later... there's just NO equity in going crazy by firing 3 bullets at a pot to pick up, what, 300 in chips... which is like dirt when you consider how big the pots will be later on that are actually worth stealing.
So I limped a bit, folded a lot, and raised rarely just trying to get a feel for how the table was going to be playing, which in my opinion was pretty good for guys who play casually a couple times a month. So at a table like this there was no reason to get out of line, just play ABC... well, ABC kinda limits me to a nitty style, so lets go with playing ABCDE style, hahaha.
I turned a small profit (like 1k-1.5k) in the first level, which is very good.
With the blinds at 50-100 I played a pot in which I feel I played a hand VERY poorly and felt sick about it afterwards.
It was folded to me in the CO (cut-off, 1 off the button) and I limped in with A-T (T = Ten). The button folded, Corey limped from the SB and Tommy checked the BB.
Flop: (Pot: 300)
A-Q-7
Corey checked, Tommy bet 200, I called, Corey folded.
Turn: (Pot: 700)
6
Tommy bet 600, I called.
River: (Pot: 1900)
K
Tommy bet 1000, I felt like he had either the nuts or a weaker Ace (like A-8 was the one hand that I put him on), I made a crying call, and he showed Q-7, I mucked. Next hand...
Still in the 50-100 level:
I limp in MP (middle position) for 100 with 9-9. No raises, and we saw a 4 way flop.
Flop: (Pot: 400)
J-9-4
The SB (Danny) bet 200, I min-raised to 400 only becuase I had very little respect for his game and thought he was a fish who would call a min-raise with a weak hand... he called. Lol. But seriously, I speak the absolute truth here, I'm not gonna sugarcoat it, at this point in time I tought very little of his game (after the tourney I think he played alright, and he's an okay player in general). So anyway, he called the 200 more.
Turn: (Pot: 1200)
2
Danny checks, I bet 800, he calls.
River: (Pot: 2800)
4
Danny checks, I bet 2000, he calls with A-J and loses. Next hand...
During the 75-150 level:
It folds to me in late position (I was 2 off the button) and I just limped in for 150 with K-K. Corey limped in on the button, Tommy completed the SB, and Don checked the BB.
Okay, not what I was hoping for, but whatever, play the hand...
Flop: (Pot: 600)
J-9-8, two spades
Gross! Thats the nastiest flop I could see. Tommy bets 300, I just call to keep the pot small, all others fold.
Turn: (Pot: 1200)
8
Tommy bets 500, I call just trying to get to the showdown as cheaply as possible.
River: (Pot: 2200)
8
Tommy bets 500, I made it 1500 total because I was 100% sure he had a Jack. He called with J-T.
So now, I'm actually starting to build a stack here. It feels good to just grind, grind, grind and see the outcome be successful. Much better feeling than playing some huge coin flip for a big stack.
Don't recall too much from the next 3 levels, kinda went card dead and just stole occasionally (or randomly picked up a hand [BTW Don, that hand where you thought I was using my image to 'make a play' I had A-K... so you were a little off] when I needed to steal blinds) in order to keep my stack afloat over 10k. Somewhere during these levels Brendon decided to donk off 10k in chips with 10's before the flop, hahaha. Sawyer had K-K and basically busted him. He got bad beated for his last 800 chips vs. Don. (A-J vs. Ah-3h, Don went heart-heart to bust him). Also, right before this hand Don went broke to Sawyer on a Q-J-5 flop, Don went all-in for A LOT with K-Q and Sawyer called A LOT with K-T (an open-ender!!!???)... Turn = Ace. So gross, so now Sawyer had a shit load of chips.
During the 300-600 level:
(What I feel was the most important pot for me of the night, its what sticks out when I think of the tournament as a whole.)
Sawyer limps UTG, I raise to 1500 with Ad-Jd (d = diamond), Corey calls on the button (kinda scary), Danny (who was really short stacked, I mean like 2 BBs) went all-in from the BB for 2.6k total.
Sawyer called 2k more, I had to call 1.1k to win like 7k so I called, and Corey called 1.1k more as well. 4 ways to a flop with one guy all-in.
Flop: (Pot: 10,700)
7d-5d-2s
Sawyer checks, I check, Corey checks.
Turn: (Pot: 10,700)
Qd
Sawyer bets 1500 into a DRY side pot, I smooth call with the nuts, Corey folds Ac-Kc face up.
River: (Pot: 10,700) (Side Pot: 3000)
Jh
Sawyer bets 2500, I raise to 5500, he calls with A-Q and loses. Danny is out.
That was a BIG pot for me. Before that pot I was in the grind-zone and was constantly floating in between 12k and 18k. Now, I was comfortably sitting on over 30k. 50 BBs at the time, which is a lot that late in a STT.
Corey busted Will in 5th, and then shortly after busted Kurt in 4th to grab the chip lead, but not by too much. We were now in the money, Sawyer, Corey, and myself.
Blinds 500-1000:
We traded blinds for a few hands. Then...
Corey limped for 1k on the button, Sawyer raised to 4.5k from the SB, I woke up with K-K and thought if I just moved in Sawyer would call me with a zillion different hands that I had crushed. I shoved all-in over the top, Corey folded, and Sawyer insta-called. He had J-J. Cooler for him. God given gift for me. The flop had a Jack in it... but a King too (A-K-J). He missed the miracle, and I was heads-up with Corey with a slight chip lead. We each had about 40-50 BBs so we had A LOT of chips to play with, which was nice.
At the beginning of heads-up play, I don't know what the fuck was going on! It seemed like either he was getting hit by the deck or totally outplaying me, because I couldn't win a pot. If I bet, he raised. If I raised, he re-raised. It was sick. Thank God the stacks were deep enough, otherwise I might have been busted really fast. I got my head straight and calmed my crazy brain down and then everything just started flowing. I won a big pot with K-K, where he flopped a Jack and did all the betting for me.
Then he started playing very aggressive again, and that style of play combined with my total card drought at the time left him with about 3-1 chip lead on me and the blinds going up to 1k-2k wasn't that good either, as there was not much room for error (ie. bad calls, etc.) anymore.
With the blinds at 1k-2k and me only having 24k:
I limped in with A-4 from the SB, he checked to a flop.
Flop: (Pot: 4000)
A-9-6
Corey bet 3k, I made it 10k total, he moved all-in. I didn't want to call but I had put so much in already, plus I felt like he had 1 of 3 hands:
1) 9-6, I'm in pretty bad shape not much else to say.
2) 8-7, I wouldn't be surprised to see him make this play.
3) A-5, Even though its technically ahead, I split the pot against A-5 about 70% of the time, so...
Like I said, I'm so pot comitted I had to call, I didn't like it but I did. Fortunately he showed 8-7 and he bricked out. Now we're back to even in chips.
I made a few good reads here and there (call downs with mid-pair, etc.) that were right and before I knew it I had exaclty 70k to Corey's exactly 20k.
With the blinds at 1k-2k and the above chip counts:
I got 7-7 in the SB and moved Corey all-in, he called fast with A-8, and we had a race for all the marbles... well, all of his marbles.
The flop was gross... Q-9-5 all diamonds, Corey had a diamond so now he's got a bunch of outs. Any Ace, 8, or diamond.
Turn - 4c
River - 9h
I win.
I really enjoyed the entire tournament and can't wait until the next one... although the next time we play will probably be a cash game (I wonder how many people will play in that? I hope a bunch like that one we had last summer)...
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
MTT Homegame: Part 4
I had been playing pretty sharp going into this tournament, so I had high expectations from the start.
Same details as usual. If you don't recall it, it is under several other posts of similar titles.
The action was fast early. Second hand in just about everyone limped to me in the BB (I checked rags), some whack-o went broke with Top Pair-3 kicker vs. Top Two. Some Chicago White Sox fan was the beneficiary of that present.
Three hands after that we have a 3-way all-in on a flop of A-7-4. One guy's got A-T, one guy's got A-4, and one guy's got A-7. The board bricked out, and the guy with A-7 (Some college kid in a Dogtown T-shirt) won a 4,000 chip pot.
I played REALLY tight positional poker, because I knew if I flopped a hand, I'd win a big pot. But until then I wanted to keep the pots small and try to side step the land mines when I had marginal hands.
I won played like 3-4 pots during the 15-30 level, and won 2 of them. A small pot with Qd-9d and small one with 6-6 on a 3-2-2 flop.
I played a pot with K-9 that was interesting.
2 guys limped in late position, and I checked from the BB (with K-9 off).
Flop:
9-6-2, two hearts
SB bets small, I flat call, Button also calls.
Turn:
8h
SB bets the pot, I put him on a strong hand, it felt like maybe a straight or small flush... so I folded. The button flat called.
River:
Ad
SB bets small, Button min-raises, SB calls.
SB: 10c-7c for the straight
Button: Ah-5h for the nut flush
Very next hand, it folds around to me in the SB, I limp in with A-8 off, BB thinks for a while and then checks.
Flop:
A-A-J
I check, he bets 80 (the pot), I flat call the 80.
Turn:
4
I check, He checks
[ I'm putting him on a hand like Q-J/K-J. ]
River: (Pot: 300)
6
I bet 300 because I thought he'd pay off a larger bet with his Jack, he called and mucked showing a Jack.
So that got me up to over 2,000. Where I floated around for a little while. I'd steal a pot here, make a small bluff there, and I broke about even during the whole 25-50 level... mostly folding, though. Just waiting for a big hand where I knew these guys would double me up. (Especially one of the big stacks).
It finally came, but was against a guy who had a stack about my size.
We're playing 5-handed on the final table bubble with 50-100 blinds (I've got about 1900)
I had A-K off OTB (on the button). 2 guys limped in early position for 100. I made it 450 total. Everyone folds except 1 guy.
Flop:
A-Q-4, two clubs
He shoves all-in, I call.
He has As-8s.
Turn:
K
He's drawing dead and I've got about 3500 in chips going into the final table. (35 BBs is not bad for an event like this).
At the final table, I won a decent pot with 8-8 on a 6-5-2 flop when noone called my 400 bet.
Very next hand I get 9-9 in early position, and limp for 100. A couple others follow suit, and Dogtown makes it 1,100 total. I fold, because with my stack I don't need to (best case scenario) flip a coin for my tournament life.
7-Handed at the final table there was a BIG pot.
2 Short Stacks got all-in and we're called by BOTH big stacks (Dogtown and White Sox) and were both knocked out by Dogtown's Kd-Qd (pretty loose call on his part, but that was his middle name). So now we're on the money bubble.
PATIENCE PAYS!
With the blinds at 80-160, I raised to 480 UTG (under the gun) with A-Q off. White Sox insta-called on my left. And we saw a flop 2-ways...
Flop: (Pot: 1200)
A-9-6, two diamonds
This not a time when I wanna keep the pot small, there are a lot of draws on that flop and I want him to pay for them. I bet the pot, 1200, and he calls.
Turn:
3s
I move in for my last 1k and change, he calls with A-5 off (WOW!) and misses his 3-outer.
I'm up to 5.5k.
Next hand I call a guy on the turn with nothing because I felt weakness, I bluffed the river after he checked and I was over 6k in chips with 100-200 blinds (Pretty DAMN deep stacked for a crapshoot like this)...
A little later I pick up J-J, 1 guy limps in early position, I make it 900 total. Dogtown calls, all others fold.
Flop: (Pot: 2,200)
J-10-8, rainbow
He checks, I bet 1400, he folds. Now I'm the chip leader with a little over 7k.
I go a little card dead, and dwindle down to about 6.5k, but I'm picking my spots well and playing pretty cautiously, just wating for another good spot to bust somebody. I don't need to get creative against these kinds of players becasue they won't understand any cute moves I try and pull. You can just wait for solid hands and they'll give you action with weaker ones. So that is my game plan vs. these guys.
Over the next few hands, I start catching cards (Top Pair with a flush draw, K-K, etc), but noone else is. Thats actually not bad, though, because I'm perfectly fine picking up all the dead money every hand since the blinds are so high. I built my stack up over 8k during this time period with the blinds at 200-400. But dwindled down to the 6k range after a few pots here and there (with the blinds as high as they are, my standard raise is 1200 so its not hard to lose a couple thousand).
With the blinds at 250-500, we were STILL 5-handed on the money bubble. Until White Sox got a guy all in with A-2 off, the short stack showed A-Q, and of course the flop came 4-2-2. So we were finally in the money.
The blinds were eating away at my stack so bad, and I couldn't steal a single pot as White Sox and Dogtown were making huge raises EVERY hand. So if I could just pick up a hand, I'd be GREAT! But it was 8-3, 6-2, J-3, 8-4 over and over. White Sox had like 15k as he showed a pocket pairs/big cards like every pot.
The short stack got all-in with 5-5 vs. Dogtown's K-J. He flopped a 5, but Dogtown went runner-runner to make a straight and we were 3 handed, with me having almost NO CHIPS.
I shoved with Kc-9c, OF COURSE, White Sox has 8-8 and calls. Lucky for me I rivered a King! :) But I was still REALLY low on chips! :(
Next hand, I shove the button with Q-Q, White Sox beats me into the pot with A-4 off. He misses and I'm up to 8k.
Two hands later, White Sox shoves the button. I wake up with A-Q in the BB and call. He has Ad-6d.
Flop:
A-J-7, two diamonds.
Turn:
3c
NO DIAMOND! AND I'LL HAVE THE CHIP LEAD WITH HIM BASICALLY GONE!
River:
2d
FUCK! One Time let me fade it... bullshit.
I'm out in 3rd, after playing so good and building my way back into SERIOUS contention.
White Sox went all-in EVERY hand heads-up because he thought thats how you're supposed to play ("What? That's what happens on TV...") and Dogtown picked him off a couple times to win it.
As usual, I gave no bad beats and got my money in good all but once (in which case I was even money and the blinds forced the hand to occur), but ended up going broke when I got it in as a 3.5 to 1 favorite... boo hoo me! ;)
I've played in this tournament 4 times now and I've faired pretty well:
March - 1st Place (+$720) - My Hands Held Up
April - 2nd Place (+$540) - Bad Beat
May - Didn't Cash (-$100) - Coolers Galoure
June - 3rd Place (+$360) - Bad Beat
So overall I've done VERY well in this game, and I hope to continue doing so...
I should have a New Blog up this weekend, after I play with my friends on Saturday Night.
Same details as usual. If you don't recall it, it is under several other posts of similar titles.
The action was fast early. Second hand in just about everyone limped to me in the BB (I checked rags), some whack-o went broke with Top Pair-3 kicker vs. Top Two. Some Chicago White Sox fan was the beneficiary of that present.
Three hands after that we have a 3-way all-in on a flop of A-7-4. One guy's got A-T, one guy's got A-4, and one guy's got A-7. The board bricked out, and the guy with A-7 (Some college kid in a Dogtown T-shirt) won a 4,000 chip pot.
I played REALLY tight positional poker, because I knew if I flopped a hand, I'd win a big pot. But until then I wanted to keep the pots small and try to side step the land mines when I had marginal hands.
I won played like 3-4 pots during the 15-30 level, and won 2 of them. A small pot with Qd-9d and small one with 6-6 on a 3-2-2 flop.
I played a pot with K-9 that was interesting.
2 guys limped in late position, and I checked from the BB (with K-9 off).
Flop:
9-6-2, two hearts
SB bets small, I flat call, Button also calls.
Turn:
8h
SB bets the pot, I put him on a strong hand, it felt like maybe a straight or small flush... so I folded. The button flat called.
River:
Ad
SB bets small, Button min-raises, SB calls.
SB: 10c-7c for the straight
Button: Ah-5h for the nut flush
Very next hand, it folds around to me in the SB, I limp in with A-8 off, BB thinks for a while and then checks.
Flop:
A-A-J
I check, he bets 80 (the pot), I flat call the 80.
Turn:
4
I check, He checks
[ I'm putting him on a hand like Q-J/K-J. ]
River: (Pot: 300)
6
I bet 300 because I thought he'd pay off a larger bet with his Jack, he called and mucked showing a Jack.
So that got me up to over 2,000. Where I floated around for a little while. I'd steal a pot here, make a small bluff there, and I broke about even during the whole 25-50 level... mostly folding, though. Just waiting for a big hand where I knew these guys would double me up. (Especially one of the big stacks).
It finally came, but was against a guy who had a stack about my size.
We're playing 5-handed on the final table bubble with 50-100 blinds (I've got about 1900)
I had A-K off OTB (on the button). 2 guys limped in early position for 100. I made it 450 total. Everyone folds except 1 guy.
Flop:
A-Q-4, two clubs
He shoves all-in, I call.
He has As-8s.
Turn:
K
He's drawing dead and I've got about 3500 in chips going into the final table. (35 BBs is not bad for an event like this).
At the final table, I won a decent pot with 8-8 on a 6-5-2 flop when noone called my 400 bet.
Very next hand I get 9-9 in early position, and limp for 100. A couple others follow suit, and Dogtown makes it 1,100 total. I fold, because with my stack I don't need to (best case scenario) flip a coin for my tournament life.
7-Handed at the final table there was a BIG pot.
2 Short Stacks got all-in and we're called by BOTH big stacks (Dogtown and White Sox) and were both knocked out by Dogtown's Kd-Qd (pretty loose call on his part, but that was his middle name). So now we're on the money bubble.
PATIENCE PAYS!
With the blinds at 80-160, I raised to 480 UTG (under the gun) with A-Q off. White Sox insta-called on my left. And we saw a flop 2-ways...
Flop: (Pot: 1200)
A-9-6, two diamonds
This not a time when I wanna keep the pot small, there are a lot of draws on that flop and I want him to pay for them. I bet the pot, 1200, and he calls.
Turn:
3s
I move in for my last 1k and change, he calls with A-5 off (WOW!) and misses his 3-outer.
I'm up to 5.5k.
Next hand I call a guy on the turn with nothing because I felt weakness, I bluffed the river after he checked and I was over 6k in chips with 100-200 blinds (Pretty DAMN deep stacked for a crapshoot like this)...
A little later I pick up J-J, 1 guy limps in early position, I make it 900 total. Dogtown calls, all others fold.
Flop: (Pot: 2,200)
J-10-8, rainbow
He checks, I bet 1400, he folds. Now I'm the chip leader with a little over 7k.
I go a little card dead, and dwindle down to about 6.5k, but I'm picking my spots well and playing pretty cautiously, just wating for another good spot to bust somebody. I don't need to get creative against these kinds of players becasue they won't understand any cute moves I try and pull. You can just wait for solid hands and they'll give you action with weaker ones. So that is my game plan vs. these guys.
Over the next few hands, I start catching cards (Top Pair with a flush draw, K-K, etc), but noone else is. Thats actually not bad, though, because I'm perfectly fine picking up all the dead money every hand since the blinds are so high. I built my stack up over 8k during this time period with the blinds at 200-400. But dwindled down to the 6k range after a few pots here and there (with the blinds as high as they are, my standard raise is 1200 so its not hard to lose a couple thousand).
With the blinds at 250-500, we were STILL 5-handed on the money bubble. Until White Sox got a guy all in with A-2 off, the short stack showed A-Q, and of course the flop came 4-2-2. So we were finally in the money.
The blinds were eating away at my stack so bad, and I couldn't steal a single pot as White Sox and Dogtown were making huge raises EVERY hand. So if I could just pick up a hand, I'd be GREAT! But it was 8-3, 6-2, J-3, 8-4 over and over. White Sox had like 15k as he showed a pocket pairs/big cards like every pot.
The short stack got all-in with 5-5 vs. Dogtown's K-J. He flopped a 5, but Dogtown went runner-runner to make a straight and we were 3 handed, with me having almost NO CHIPS.
I shoved with Kc-9c, OF COURSE, White Sox has 8-8 and calls. Lucky for me I rivered a King! :) But I was still REALLY low on chips! :(
Next hand, I shove the button with Q-Q, White Sox beats me into the pot with A-4 off. He misses and I'm up to 8k.
Two hands later, White Sox shoves the button. I wake up with A-Q in the BB and call. He has Ad-6d.
Flop:
A-J-7, two diamonds.
Turn:
3c
NO DIAMOND! AND I'LL HAVE THE CHIP LEAD WITH HIM BASICALLY GONE!
River:
2d
FUCK! One Time let me fade it... bullshit.
I'm out in 3rd, after playing so good and building my way back into SERIOUS contention.
White Sox went all-in EVERY hand heads-up because he thought thats how you're supposed to play ("What? That's what happens on TV...") and Dogtown picked him off a couple times to win it.
As usual, I gave no bad beats and got my money in good all but once (in which case I was even money and the blinds forced the hand to occur), but ended up going broke when I got it in as a 3.5 to 1 favorite... boo hoo me! ;)
I've played in this tournament 4 times now and I've faired pretty well:
March - 1st Place (+$720) - My Hands Held Up
April - 2nd Place (+$540) - Bad Beat
May - Didn't Cash (-$100) - Coolers Galoure
June - 3rd Place (+$360) - Bad Beat
So overall I've done VERY well in this game, and I hope to continue doing so...
I should have a New Blog up this weekend, after I play with my friends on Saturday Night.
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