I’m feeling horrible this morning. I knew yesterday when I was noticing that my throat was starting to get sore that I was probably coming down with something, but it was confirmed this morning when I woke up feeling even worse with a nice little cough to boot. But the doctor’s advice is a little poker blogging, or it might have been if I consulted a doctor and they knew what poker blogging was.
Last night was my bi-weekly pot limit Hold’em tournament. I’ve been putting these on for the past two months and have an average turnout of about a dozen guys. Buy-in is 20+2 for 1000 in chips. We had twelve last night and started at two tables of six, with a merge at eight. I got a lucky draw and ended up at a table half filled with our traditional dead money boys. But, they managed to surprise us this night.
Everyone was playing much tighter than usual. Often we see a few people limp to see the flop, but this there was a lot of folding going on. Except for Mr. Dead-Money himself, who started the night very aggressive, stealing the first 3-4 pots. He continued to play aggressive and picked up small pots throughout the first level. I wasn’t too concerned because I didn’t have the cards to call him down, and I knew I could outplay him later, even if he had the chip lead.
The first player (3s) busted out at our table during the second orbit. He had made an ill-conceived call a few hands earlier. The board was KQQT and he had put in a sizable bet (I figured him for a Q) and was called. I wasn’t sure what his opponent (1s) had, but was thinking probably two pair. The river came a K and the 1s put himself all-in for a good chunk of the 3s’s remaining chips and most of the pot. I was convinced that the 1s had Ks over Qs full, but the 3s thought for a good long while and eventually called, putting himself in terrible chip position. Now, I asked him afterwards what he thought the 1s had and he said was hoping he had the other Q. I told him that it probably wasn’t worth risking most of his chips just to split the pot, which would only have earned him a couple hundred in chips. A light went on in his eyes and he spent the rest of the night cursing the call.
My first hand of interest was QTo on the button, blinds were 20/40 I believe. There were two folds and Mr. Dead-Money limped. Since I was in position, I doubled his bet. The blinds folded and Mr. DM saw the raise. Flop came AJ6. Mr. DM bets and I have to figure him for an ace. But, I know that I intimidate this guy, so I decide to play. Besides, I have the inside straight draw. I raise his minimum bet 100$. He calls and we see the J turn. He checks and I think perfect, he doesn’t have the J, probably has the A. I represent a J myself with a 200$ bet. He thinks and he thinks and finally calls. Now I’m a bit nervous, he may be too invested at this point to fold. I pray for a K but the river comes a 9. He checks immediately and I start fingering my chips. I don’t want to put myself all-in because I’m pretty sure he has me beat. But I really think I can bluff him off the pot. I put in a 200$ bet and sit back waiting for him to act. He starts squirming in his chair, looking for some sign from me. Of course, I don’t quite have my emotions in check for live games yet, so my heart is pounding and I really hope he doesn’t see too much of my nervousness. Then again, I am nervous with both good and bad hands, so he probably wouldn’t know what to make of it. Eventually he mucks his cards, showing A3. He tells me he figured me for an A with a bigger kicker, which wasn’t really such a bad call. Of course, he forgets that later when he calls me with a pair of tens, 2 kicker, when he should have figured me for at least tens, which were second pair.
The bluff hand brought up a bit of a dilemma. I had brought a notepad to take a few notes, but I couldn’t very well write that I bluffed this guy, particularly while sitting at the table. I ended up just scribbled some poorly written notations that hopefully I’d be able to interpret later, but that was the last chance I had to take any notes between playing cards and handling my tournament director duties.
The good news was that the two-time defending champ when out second on the night, followed by a player who had busted me out in third a month back.
The next few levels were pretty forgettable. The fourth player busted out and we merged to one table. The big surprise was that Mr. Dead Money and his friend – who was wearing sunglasses in a hilarious attempt to improve his game – had made it to the final table. And even more surprising, Mr. Dead Money was close to the chip lead.
Even though Sunglasses was severely shortstacked, he managed to survive long enough for the 7s to go all-in with his 2-pair vs. a set a queens. Apparently at the other tables queens had been cursed and had done a lot of damage to different players. This would hold true throughout the night.
Sunglasses fell soon after, but then the table tightened up a bit. The two chip leaders were hemorraging chips and I was stealing pots left and right. Mr. Dead Money was the next to go, followed by equally dead that had started at the other table. They had come to the table with the chip lead, but their style of “Well, you never know” sunk them quickly. Fourth place went to a pretty decent player who went all in with pocket rockets and was called by presto. First card flopped was a 5 and no help came.
Then I had a couple more memorable hands. I was stealing pretty often, but I had cards enough that it might hurt when someone decided to call me down. Blinds were 200/400 and I had about 3700 in chips. In the big blind with A9o, I raise to 1000. I get called by the small blind and we’re going to see a flop. It comes 873. He checks and I bet 1500, figuring the flop didn’t hit him, but when he comes back over the top of me to put me all in, I figure maybe he a pair in the hole. I’m certain that I am beat at this point, and I don’t want to go all-in on a draw, so I fold. Immediately on folding I realized I had made a mistake. I should have called just based on the horrible chip position I was now in. If the turn or river hit, I was in great shape to win and as it was with my short stack, I didn’t have much chance at anything but third. I eventually learned that my opponent had A7, so I would have been drawing to the one card, so it was probably just as well, but I still think it was the wrong play.
Two hands later I am on the button with 77 and decide this is it. I put in my last 1000 and I am called by the big blind. He flips Q2 and I’m feeling pretty happy about doubling up. Of course, I had forgotten about the curse of the Q, and the flop slaps me in the face. No 7 on the river or turn and I’m out third. I already had a third and fourth place finish in the first three tournaments, so I was really hoping for a higher finish, but thems the breaks I suppose.
Heads up play went on for a while until J3h went all-in against Q9, and well, the Q reared her ugly head one more time to finish the tournament. It had been an impressive comeback as the winner had lost most of their chips 10 hands earlier on a bad suckout. But, his aggression against his notoriously tight opponent brought him the victory – though I’m not sure what notoriously tight was doing going in with J3. All in all, it was another successful tournament. And now I’m collecting fees to pay off my recent purchases for the game, so it’ll be nice to have that cash back.
The good:
– my aggression at the final table.
– intimidation play early.
The bad:
– too much aggression with premium hands at the final table scared people off.
– bad fold on a huge pot.
The ugly:
– busting out in third … AGAIN.
The highlight of the night was our new table. One of the guys who showed up at our last tournament makes his own tables and offered to build us one for cost of materials. A week later he sends me an email that he is moving to California and is looking to get rid of one of his tables. He offers to bring it to our next tournament so we can give it a test drive. He dropped it off yesterday morning and the table looks and feels great. I host our game at my office (with permission) and we usually use the lunch tables to start and then we play on the pool table when we merge. It’s not the most comfortable table to sit at, but playing on felt makes up for it. And the pool table is so old and mistreated already, we aren’t too worried about doing more damage to it.
But what a difference the new table makes. The rails were perfect and finally we didn’t have to worry about hitting our knees on the pool table. Now I just have to find out how much it’s going to cost me.
I wish I understood half of what you’re talking about. I’m a poker dum-dum.