Blinds:  400/800/100 ante

I started the day with La Luna two to my right and Annette Obrestad between us.  Moon had about 25,000 in chips and Annette with about 9,000 in chips.  After a few pots, Annette doubled up when she open shoved with Q,5 and got called by the small blind with J,J.  She then proceeded to raise the next two of three pots.

 

A couple hands later she opened UTG and I was next to act with 8,8.  I normally would fold in this spot, but given the structure of the tournament and the range of hands she would have to put me on if I shoved, I decided to go with it and moved all-in.  Unfortunately third position called my 10,000 all-in with a 18,000 stack and I was now fairly certain I had two outs.  When it folded around to Annette I was hoping she’d come in at this point because I thought I was drawing to two outs, so when she moved all-in I was in a very bad spot, but I would at least have a big stack if I caught the miracle.  Third position thought for a while and decided to call the remaining chips of Annette’s (which represented about 95% of his stack).  Annette turned over the now obvious K,K, but to my utter shock the noob turned over A,T!  A, 9, 8 flop!  Wow, poor Annette.  Even if I flop my eight she still wins a decent side pot and would still be sitting on 16k or so, but she lost to the guy who had her covered as well.

 

After this pot I now had some chips to work with.  It folded to me and I raised to 1,600 in middle position with As,8s (I made a smaller raise because there was no small blind).  A couple people called, as did the big blind.  Flop was Qs, Ts, 6.  The big blind opened all-in for 10,000 and I called.  The other players folded and I was up against Q,5.  An ace came on the turn and I ended up winning the pot and was now up to about 47,000.

 

I raised a couple hands later to 2,200 with Q,T and Mr. A,T called right behind me.  Flop was A, Kc, x.  I bet 3,500 and he called.  At this point I had him on either a weak ace or a king.  I normally would give up here, but I thought if I bet big on the turn he’d have to know that there was very little chance of me trying to bluff him off an ‘obvious’ ace.  Therefore, I decided to bet 8,000 of his 16,000 remaining chips on the turn, which was a 5c.  He thought about folding, but then decided to call at the last second, which solidified my read of a weak hand, but obviously better than mine.  My plan was to put the pressure on and move it on the river, but the river brought another ace and now there was no chance of this guy folding.  I checked, as did he, and he won the pot with A,9.

 

The table broke and I was now moved to a table with a lot of chips.  I raised a few pots right away and was immediately immersed in some big pots.  One of which was when I raised in middle position to 2,200 with As,8s and got called by the button.  Flop was K, 3, 2s.  I checked and he checked.  Turn was a 4s.  Now I have a gutshot, nut flush draw, and an overcard.  I bet 3,000 and he called.  The river was a 6s and now I bet 7,000.  He thought for a while and made it 21k and I went all-in for my last 3,500.  He called and my ace high flush was good.  Now I was up to 79,000, cruisin– with the average at only 34,000.

 

Blinds:  500/1000/100 ante

I raised to 3,100 with K,J in middle position and the same guy called on the button, as did the big blind.  The flop was Qs, Tc, 7s.  The big blind bet 6,600 into me and I took a while and ultimately decided to flat call because he had me covered and I’d have to fold if I raised and he moved it.  The button immediately moved all-in for 27,000 and the big blind folded.  I thought about it for a while and decided to call for a number of reasons.  First off, this is an extremely draw heavy flop.  His range in this spot is incredibly wide and I might even have the best hand if he has a J,9 or 9,8.  Another reason for the call was because he had just lost a big pot and I thought he might be steaming and didn’t necessarily have to have a good hand here.  Also, had I called and lost the pot I would still have 35,000 which was an average stack.  With a structure like this tournament has I’m willing to gamble to build a big stack because then stealing the blinds and antes will be that much easier, which is where most of my chips come from.  He ended up having a T,8, which still baffles me, but the nine on the river gave me the best hand.

 

 

Blinds:  600/1,200/200 ante

Now we are paying 3,400 per round and my open is to 3,500.  The stack sizes at this table are getting a little out of control because we keep busting people (about one person every three hands).  The average at this point was about 40,000 and five of us had 120,000+ and a sixth had 90,000 (keep in mind there are only eight players per table at this point).  Therefore, at this point, my strategy shifted from picking up blinds and antes to trying to crack a big hand and win a monster.  I siphoned off a few thousand by calling raises and flopping nothing and just folding to continuation bets.

 

Blinds:  800/1,600/200 ante

UTG tight player raised to 4,500 and I called in middle position with 9c,8c, cutoff called, and the big blind called as well.  Flop was 8, 8, 7 rainbow.  Beautiful.  Check, check, and I decide to fast play by betting 9,000.  Cutoff called and both other players folded.  At this point I think that the cutoff could be floating (having a crap hand and waiting to steal the pot on a later street), could have a draw, or could possibly have an eight as well.  I know he is a crafty French player (Fabrice Soulier).  An ace came on the turn and I decided to check to him, half trying to keep the pot small in case he had me out kicked and half throwing him some rope to bluff at the pot because I was making it look like I had a pocket pair.  He bet 12,000 and I called after a long think.  The river was a 5 and I checked again for the same reasons as before.  He bet 35,000 and I called fairly quickly.  Unfortunately he flipped over Q,8 and had me out kicked.  Ouch.  I was now down to about 50,000 in chips, but the average was still only 55,000 in chips so I wasn’t too crippled.  I was happy with how I played the hand. I think a lot of people might have gone broke in that spot, but I decided to play the hand cautiously and it kept me in the tournament.

 

The table broke and I was now moved to a table with a much different dynamic.  The stacks were much smaller and the raises were only 2.5x the big blind.  I wasn’t picking up many hands and folded for the first hour or so.

 

Blinds:  1,000/2,000 /300 ante

We are now paying 5,400 per round and my open is going to be 5,500.  The equity is great, but the pot always seemed to be opened before it got around to me.  I finally pick up a 4,4 in middle position and make it 5,500.  The big blind called and the flop came 8h, 7d, 3h.  Normally in a cash game I’d bet here to protect my hand, but I thought this player would raise me with a wide range of hands, so I decided to check.  The turn was a Kh and he now bet 6,500 into me.  I thought for a minute or so and then made it 18,500 because he have to put me on a pretty big hand given my current table image and the way the hand had played out.  Unfortunately for me, though, he moved me all-in for my last 22,000 and I folded.

 

Now it was desperation time.  I was going to need to pick up some hands and open all-in before my stack dwindled down too low.  I got moved to another table and the first hand I look at UTG is an Ah,Jh and I move it.  Luckily everyone folded because that was one of those spots where if you get called you are going to be a coin flip at best.

 

A round later I picked up A,K in the cutoff and moved it for 27,000 and picked up the monstrous blinds and antes and was now up to 32,000.

 

Then an interesting situation came up with 60 people left in the tournament, 56 getting paid a minimum of $14,000 USD.  The guy to my immediate right was complaining the whole time I’d been at the table about how he hadn’t seen a picture card in over four hours.  He was short as well – had me covered by about 400 or so.  He was getting very restless and wanted to make a deal with the big stack in seat 7 (three to my left). He says to the BB, “If it folds to me and I move all-in dark, will you call me dark?  Assuming it folds to me and it folds back to you in the big blind?”

 

“Okay, I promise I’ll call you dark if it folds to you and you go all-in without looking at your cards and it folds around to me.  I promise.”

“Deal”

First position folded, second position folded, third position folded.

“All-in”

 

After watching the guy to ensure he didn’t look at his cards, I look down at a 7,7 and make an obvious all-in, even though I don’t really like it.  He could easily have an overcard or two and it might be a race for my tournament life, but I could also easily have him dominated.  The only thing I really don’t like about this situation is that my play is all about not having my tournament life at risk and making sure that I have fold equity.  In this scenario I knew I had no fold equity, obviously, and I could easily be a coin flip with a random hand.  I ultimately decided, however, that if I was going to make a deep run at this thing, I’d have to get some chips so that I could get back in this thing, so I decided to go with it.  Everyone folded around to the big blind, who was now no longer obligated to call dark.  He looked at his cards and reluctantly folded a 7,5 to my dismay.

The guy to my right turned over an ugly K,Q and before I knew it I was drawing dead on the J, T, 9 flop.  Tough way to go, especially when you are that close to tasting the money, but I don’t think I’d play it any differently if I had to do it over again.

 

At first I was pretty disgusted to go out like this, but then I thought about two things that made me feel better.  The first being that I definitely couldn’t have asked for a better spot to double up by having a guy directly to my right move all-in dark.  That made my decision very easy – either pick up a hand that is better than a random hand and hope to get lucky and get back in this thing or fold a bad hand.  If the same scenario happens in the future, I will definitely encourage it.  Also, I should have been knocked out at the start of the day with my 8,8 up against A,T and K,K.  After winning that pot I promised myself that no matter how the tournament ended for me I had no right to be upset.  I thought I played some great cards, had a string of great luck and then a string of bad luck.  All in all a pretty typical tournament I’d say, that’s what keeps me coming back for more  

 

 

So thus ends another tournament. I have very few regrets and plenty of time to rest up and enjoy Barcelona before I head to London for the WSOP Europe. Today I’m off to play volleyball and tomorrow I’m hoping to hit up a soccer came. GOALA!!!!!