I opened in the hijack for $2,500 with A, 4 and Phil Ivey called from the button. The small blind called and the big blind folded. The flop came 10d, 10, 8d. The small blind checked and I bet 4k. Ivey raised to $12k and the small blind folded. I thought for a while and made it $34k and Ivey folded after a long think. Ivey is all about putting pressure on people and I felt like that was a type of board he’d raise because he didn’t think I could call. I also knew that my reraising him meant that a call here would pot commit him and he knew I knew it.

 

500/1,000 with a 100 ante:

 

Nothing to report.

 

600/1,200 with a 200 ante:

 

It folded to me on the button and I looked down at my first pair higher than 6, 6 in the whole tourney. Rrrrrrrrrrockets (A, A)! I raised to $3,500. Shannon Shorr folded the small blind and the somewhat loose playing big blind called. The flop came 8, 5, 2 rainbow. I bet $6k after he checked and he called. The turn brought a 6. He checked but something felt weird here so I decided to check for a couple of reasons, the first being that the six could have hit him and if he check raised me here, I’d be facing a big decision, and likely another big bet on the river. We both were deep stacked. Also, if I checked the turn, I might induce a bluff on the river or possibly a “value bet” if he thought his pair was good. The river was a five. He bet $10k and I just called. He had turned a straight with 4, 3. This was probably my best hand of the day because most players would have headed to the rail with a hand like mine.

 

 

*Note: From now on, I’m not complaining about the lack of big pairs because so far, I’m 0 for 2.*

 

Current Chip Stack: $230k

 

Blinds 800/1,600 with a 200 ante:

 

 

A while later, action folded to the cutoff who was quickly becoming my personal whipping boy. He made it $4,600. The button called. I looked down at a 10, 5 offsuit and grabbed chips to call since folding wasn’t an option given the price I was getting. However, after thinking for a few seconds about how I didn’t want to see a flop out of position with my 10, 5 off, I raised $15k more and they both folded.

Current chip stack: $170k

 

 

Blinds 1,000/2,000 with a 300 ante:

 

It folded to me in the cutoff and I raised to $6k with A, J. Shannon Shorr make it $21k from the button. I thought that he had me on a wide range of hands since I’d been raising a lot and therefore he had a wide range with which to reraise. I decided to put him all-in for $50k more. He quickly folded.

Later, I raised to $5k in the cutoff with 9, 6 of spades. Both blinds called and the flop came K, Q, 7 with two spades. Both blinds checked and I threw out $11k. The small blind (Mr. Loose) made it $30k and I just called after a long think because we were the two biggest stacks at the table. The turn was a 9. He bet $30k and I obviously called. The river was an A of spades. He checked and I bet $60k because I thought he had two pair or a straight and he’d call a big bet. He called quickly with K, Q. He was pretty frustrated that I called him down but he was laying me gigantic odds, not to mention the implied odds (if I hit).

 

Then I raised in middle position with K, 10 to $6k. Loose McLoose called, as expected and the big blind also called. The flop came K, Q, 7 with two hearts. I bet $12k. Loose called and the big blind folded. The turn was a 3. I bet $25,000 and L quickly called. At this point I didn’t know if I was good. When the river brought a deuce, I knew he’d call me down with a lot of marginal hands but if he missed his flush he might bluff at it. Ultimately I decided he didn’t have a flush draw because he would have raised me at some point. I put him on a weak K or perhaps a Q or a pocket pair. I bet $60k, trying to make it look like I was bluffing. He wanted no part of it though and quickly folded.

 

I raised UTG to $6,000 with A, K. Mr. Loose called. Whipping Boy decided he was done calling and getting owned so he reraised me to $23k. I decided he wasn’t done getting owned so I made it $63k and he went away. So did Mr. Loose, for once.

 

Current Chip Stack: $430k.

 

This level was very nice. I improved my stack by $260k, which is more than most people have. I could tell Shannon was pretty card dead, which was lucky for me because I wasn’t thrilled to have him sitting immediately to my left. I’m very fired up for tomorrow.