MLG
10-25-2004, 11:47 AM
I had a wild ride in this weekend's Stars 250K, I'm sure you will all enjoy it. It started off fine as I dsiplayed massive amounts of poker skill in flopping trips a couple of times from the blinds, and having assorted other nice hands to chip up to around 3000 chips. Thats when the fun started.
Losing Chips
Blinds are 25/50 and I make it 150 to go UTG, with KQo. Borderline play at best, I know, but when it comes to close decisions I favor raising, and trusting my postflop skills (maybe it comes from listening to Sossman too much and Davidross not enough). Anyway, after getting an MP caller and a BB blind caller, I bet out on a K high flop with 2 hearts. MP calls, so after an offsuit 10 turns, I move him all-in. He has Aces, and he played them well, so I tip my hat and on we go with about 1500 chips.
1300 chips and I'm on the SB with AQs. EP limps, ive played with him before, and never been particularly impressed. Button limps, he's a bit of a yahoo. I think and decide my best option is all-in. I push and now limper goes into the thank. Finally he calls with.....33. Then SB calls with A8. No help and I have 25 chips. Thats right, 1/4 BB.
Getting Chips
So, I fold for a while, and then I'm on the BB and throw in my lone virtual green chip. Its folded to the small blind, who has 63o and I doulbe-up. Yay, I have 50 chips, just enough for the SB. Thats ok though, cuz the poker gods have seen fit to deal me QQ, so I triple up to 150. Next hand I get A10, somebody raises to a billion (or at least some number more than what I have) and I call with A10. He has JJ, but I catch an A and have 450 chips. I move in from EP with AJ, and get called by A10 and suddenly I'm at 10x. I chip up to about 1200 before the blinds go up again. Then I move-in from LP with Q10s and get called by 66, catch a 10 and I actually have a real stack again. You would thing I'd learn my lesson, but no, I raise UTG with KQ again, and get one caller right behind me. Flop comes K high and I'm all in. Problem is, once again im up against AA. Thats all right, I'm a luckbox now and I catch a Q on the turn. My chips waiver a bit, but with about 5500 I raise from CO-1 with A6s. Button (tightish player) calls. Flop is A high, I push. He thinks and calls with A-8. Doesnt matter, I runner-runner a split pot.
After that, I start actually playing well. I legitamtely double up with A-9 v. 54. Biggish stack, probably didnt have to call but wanted to gamble with me. Then I start destroying the table. There are a couple of big stack loose limpers, so maybe once everyother round, I'll push from the LP after they've both limped with a hand like A-8s. Easy chips. Then one of them limps, and I happen to have AA on the button. I raise, he pushes. Its my dream scenario, he though he was trapping with his AK. Sucker. Now I get to play big stack poker. Desperate cut-off pushes, I isolate raise all-in with AQ from the button. SB thinks forever and then calls with 99. Small stack had A-4, but I caught an A anyway. Now I'm, in the top 20 in chips. I raise from MP/LP with KJ, and a player pushes over the top. I'm getting like 4-1 to call. He has QQ, a K flops. He was not pleased. me: "sorry dude, I was pretty pot-stuck with like 4-1." him: "when a guy moves in don't you think you might be a little worse than 4-1." I figured I'd let that one go.
After that it was true big stack poker. I was like 2nd in chips and the chip leader was at my table. I had about 90,000 and he had like 92,000. Blids were about 1k/2k when I picked up AQ in late position and raised his BB. He calls making a 13000 pot. Flop is Kxx and he bets like 4000. That bet smells of hoping I missed the flop so I get all tricky and smooth call planning to make a decision on the turn. Well, turn blanks again and he bets 4000 again. Well, that settles it, if he has a K its with no kicker and he is not calling a raise. I make it 16k, and he folds like a girly-man. He says he had 1010, then again I say I have AK. Bitter guy from the previous hand (still chirping from the rail) suggests that I had KJ. Then I raised like a million hands in a row (some legit some not) and nobody played back. What can I say, it was bubble time.
Losing Chips Redux
The thing about this tourney is the blinds are pretty quick so a big stack even my 130k stack can go quickly. Part of the reason is that the small stacks have gotten sufficiently short that after the bubble either you have to stop stealing or you are going to have to gamble with them when they decide to play back. I was not about to stop stealing. Of course, twice I got played back at when holding suited connectors. I had to call, and both times I couldn't out run a better hand. Nobody played back the times I had 10s or Qs. So my stack was halved pretty quickly. Then I made a raise from LP with A-7 and got moved-in on by a stack giving me like 2.5-1 to call. I folded, so I don't always consider myself pot-stuck. There was no way I was drawing to more than a 3 outer there (well maybe KQ). Finally with blinds at 3k/6k and me with 52k I picked up AQo utg+2. All-in baby. Big stack thinks for a long time and then finally calls me. During his thinking I figured I had to be a coinflip, turns out he almost folded AK /images/graemlins/blush.gif. Oh well. Out in 86th after 1 wild ride.
Moral of the Story
There's a lot of luck in poker. Cards Happen.
Losing Chips
Blinds are 25/50 and I make it 150 to go UTG, with KQo. Borderline play at best, I know, but when it comes to close decisions I favor raising, and trusting my postflop skills (maybe it comes from listening to Sossman too much and Davidross not enough). Anyway, after getting an MP caller and a BB blind caller, I bet out on a K high flop with 2 hearts. MP calls, so after an offsuit 10 turns, I move him all-in. He has Aces, and he played them well, so I tip my hat and on we go with about 1500 chips.
1300 chips and I'm on the SB with AQs. EP limps, ive played with him before, and never been particularly impressed. Button limps, he's a bit of a yahoo. I think and decide my best option is all-in. I push and now limper goes into the thank. Finally he calls with.....33. Then SB calls with A8. No help and I have 25 chips. Thats right, 1/4 BB.
Getting Chips
So, I fold for a while, and then I'm on the BB and throw in my lone virtual green chip. Its folded to the small blind, who has 63o and I doulbe-up. Yay, I have 50 chips, just enough for the SB. Thats ok though, cuz the poker gods have seen fit to deal me QQ, so I triple up to 150. Next hand I get A10, somebody raises to a billion (or at least some number more than what I have) and I call with A10. He has JJ, but I catch an A and have 450 chips. I move in from EP with AJ, and get called by A10 and suddenly I'm at 10x. I chip up to about 1200 before the blinds go up again. Then I move-in from LP with Q10s and get called by 66, catch a 10 and I actually have a real stack again. You would thing I'd learn my lesson, but no, I raise UTG with KQ again, and get one caller right behind me. Flop comes K high and I'm all in. Problem is, once again im up against AA. Thats all right, I'm a luckbox now and I catch a Q on the turn. My chips waiver a bit, but with about 5500 I raise from CO-1 with A6s. Button (tightish player) calls. Flop is A high, I push. He thinks and calls with A-8. Doesnt matter, I runner-runner a split pot.
After that, I start actually playing well. I legitamtely double up with A-9 v. 54. Biggish stack, probably didnt have to call but wanted to gamble with me. Then I start destroying the table. There are a couple of big stack loose limpers, so maybe once everyother round, I'll push from the LP after they've both limped with a hand like A-8s. Easy chips. Then one of them limps, and I happen to have AA on the button. I raise, he pushes. Its my dream scenario, he though he was trapping with his AK. Sucker. Now I get to play big stack poker. Desperate cut-off pushes, I isolate raise all-in with AQ from the button. SB thinks forever and then calls with 99. Small stack had A-4, but I caught an A anyway. Now I'm, in the top 20 in chips. I raise from MP/LP with KJ, and a player pushes over the top. I'm getting like 4-1 to call. He has QQ, a K flops. He was not pleased. me: "sorry dude, I was pretty pot-stuck with like 4-1." him: "when a guy moves in don't you think you might be a little worse than 4-1." I figured I'd let that one go.
After that it was true big stack poker. I was like 2nd in chips and the chip leader was at my table. I had about 90,000 and he had like 92,000. Blids were about 1k/2k when I picked up AQ in late position and raised his BB. He calls making a 13000 pot. Flop is Kxx and he bets like 4000. That bet smells of hoping I missed the flop so I get all tricky and smooth call planning to make a decision on the turn. Well, turn blanks again and he bets 4000 again. Well, that settles it, if he has a K its with no kicker and he is not calling a raise. I make it 16k, and he folds like a girly-man. He says he had 1010, then again I say I have AK. Bitter guy from the previous hand (still chirping from the rail) suggests that I had KJ. Then I raised like a million hands in a row (some legit some not) and nobody played back. What can I say, it was bubble time.
Losing Chips Redux
The thing about this tourney is the blinds are pretty quick so a big stack even my 130k stack can go quickly. Part of the reason is that the small stacks have gotten sufficiently short that after the bubble either you have to stop stealing or you are going to have to gamble with them when they decide to play back. I was not about to stop stealing. Of course, twice I got played back at when holding suited connectors. I had to call, and both times I couldn't out run a better hand. Nobody played back the times I had 10s or Qs. So my stack was halved pretty quickly. Then I made a raise from LP with A-7 and got moved-in on by a stack giving me like 2.5-1 to call. I folded, so I don't always consider myself pot-stuck. There was no way I was drawing to more than a 3 outer there (well maybe KQ). Finally with blinds at 3k/6k and me with 52k I picked up AQo utg+2. All-in baby. Big stack thinks for a long time and then finally calls me. During his thinking I figured I had to be a coinflip, turns out he almost folded AK /images/graemlins/blush.gif. Oh well. Out in 86th after 1 wild ride.
Moral of the Story
There's a lot of luck in poker. Cards Happen.