Winning the Party Super Monday (LONG, oh so long)

[Punker]

Heres a summary of my whole tourney from start to finish with every hand that I was involved in. Any comments are of course welcome.

Dealt Ah5h in the big blind with blinds at 10-15. 3 limpers and the SB folds. I raise to 95 and the button is the only caller. Flop Th7h5d. I bet 170 and he folds. Stack: 1065

Dealt T4o in the BB with blinds at 10-15. 2 limpers, the SB completes and I check. Flop Q33 with two spades. SB checks and I bet 40. One caller from late. Turn Ah, I bet 90, and he folds. Stack: 1150

Dealt KTs in the small blind with blinds at 10-15. 2 limpers and I complete. Flop AAT. I bet out 15 and everyone folds. Stack: 1195

Dealt 64o on the button with blinds at 10-20. I open limp and the blinds both play. Flop J22. Both check, I bet 45 and they both fold. Stack: 1185

Moved from table 60 to table 12.

Dealt Ac2c on the button with blinds at 10-20. One limp to me and I raise to 50. BB calls, and limper reraises to 200. I fold. Stack: 1105

Dealt 2d2s two from the button with blinds at 10-20. One limp to me and I raise to 50. BB calls and limper calls. Flop Qc4s3s. Both check and I bet 90. Both call. Turn 6d. Checked around. River 8s. Checked around to a showdown of AK vs 76 vs my 22 and 76 takes it. Stack: 965

Dealt A4o in the BB with blinds at 15-30. 3 limpers and the SB completes. I raise to 95 and get 3 callers. Flop Q85. SB checks, I bet 280, and everyone folds. Stack: 1370

Dealt KK in the cutoff with blinds at 15-30. UTG raises to 90, and its folded to me. I raise to 200, and everyone folds. Stack: 1475

Dealt AdKd 3 from the button with blinds at 15-30. UTG, UTG+1, and UTG+2 limp, and I limp. Button and BB come. Flop Qh7d5c. UTG+2 bets out 95 and takes it. Stack: 1445

Dealt AsQd UTG with blinds at 15-30. Raise to 90 and win the blinds. Stack: 1490.

Dealt AsJd in the BB next hand, blinds still 15-30. 3 limpers, and the SB completes. I check. Flop Jc9c2s. SB checks, I check, first to act bets 30. Two callers, SB folds, I raise to 325. Everyone folds. Stack: 1700

Dealt TcTh in the SB next hand, blinds still 15-30. 3 limpers, and I complete in the SB. BB checks. Flop As6s4s, checked around. Turn Kc. Checked around. River Jh, checked around. Showdown of TT vs 96o vs 98o vs A7o vs 98o. Ace takes it. Stack: 1670.

Dealt As8s two from the button with blinds at 15-30. One limper and I raise to 90. Button calls, Big blind calls, limper calls. Flop Js5s4c. Checked to me, I bet 225. Button calls. Turn Qh. I check, button moves all in for 444. I fold. Stack: 1355.

Dealt J2o in the BB with blinds at 15-30. One limper, the SB completes, and I check. Flop Jh8h7s. I bet 50 and both fold. Stack: 1415

Dealt AA in the BB with blinds at 25-50. One limper, then a raise to 100. One cold caller, and folded to me. I raise to 300. Limper folds, raiser moves all in. Cold caller folds, and I call. Raiser has QQ. Board 385-4-2. Stack: 2645

Dealt 77 in the SB with blinds at 25-50. One limper and I raise to 200. BB calls, and limper folds. Flop 962. SB bets 50 and I raise to 350. SB calls. Turn J. SB moves all in for 684 and I call. He has AK and I win on the river 2. Stack: 3929

Dealt 88 in MP with blinds at 25-50. I open raise to 125 and steal the blinds. Stack: 4004.

Dealt 88 UTG with blinds at 25-50. I limp, one other limper, SB completes, BB checks. Flop K52 and I fold the to BB bet. Stack: 3954

Dealt A2o in the BB with blinds at 25-50. One limper, SB completes, and I check. Flop AsJs8c. SB checks and I bet 90. Limper and SB call. Turn 7d. SB checks, I bet 225. Limper behind calls, SB folds. River 4s. I check, limper bets 600, I fold. Stack: 3589

Deal Kh5h on the button with blinds at 50-100. I open raise to 250, and BB reraises to 600. I call. Flop QsJs2h. BB moves all in for 1300 and I fold. Stack: 2839

Dealt QhTh in the cutoff with blinds at 50-100. EP raise to 250 and a caller. I call, and blinds fold. Flop 9d8h2d. Raiser bets 300, caller raises to 900. I fold. Stack: 2589

Dealt A9o in late position with blinds at 50-100. I open raise to 250 and get called by the button. Flop Ks8c6s. I open jam with my opponent having 850. He calls with KT. Turn Q, River A, I win. Stack: 3839.

Dealt 88 UTG+1 with blinds at 50-100. I raise to 250. BB is only caller. Flop 6s4c3s. BB bets 225 and I raise to 900. BB folds. Stack: 4214

Dealt 99 UTG with blinds at 50-100. I call, one other caller, BB checks. Flop Qd7h5d. I bet 225 and BB is only caller. Turn 3h. BB checks, I bet 425 and he folds. Stack: 4689

Dealt J8o in the BB with blinds at 50-100. One limper, SB calls, I check. Flop 7h4h3s. Checked around. Turn Kh. SB checks, I bet 175, limper moves all in for 1331. Both fold. Stack: 4414

Dealt AhJh in the cutoff with blinds at 50-100. Two to my right raises to 275. I fold. Stack: 4314

Deat 6h5h two from the button with blinds at 50-100. One limper and I raise to 200. Button calls, limper calls. Flop 4d3c3s. Limper checks, I bet 550, both fold. Stack: 4864

Dealt Ks8s in middle position with blinds at 75-150. I open raise to 400 and steal the blinds. Stack: 5089.

Dealt KhQd in the BB with blinds at 75-150. MP raises to 500 and I call. Flop As2d2s. I bet 650 and he folds. Stack: 5439

Dealt K6o in middle position with blinds at 75-150. Open raise to 400. Two players move all in behind and I fold, noting this is the third time one of these players has reraised or moved in behind my raise (he ends up showing AJo this time). Stack: 4714.

Dealt 54o in MP with blinds at 75-150. Open raise to 400 and steal the blinds. Stack: 4939

Dealt AJo in late middle with blinds at 75-150. Open raise to 400 and steal the blinds. Stack: 5089.

Dealt Jh5h in early middle with blinds at 100-200. Open raise to 550 and BB is the only caller. Flop Qh8d3c. BB checks and I bet 750. He folds. Stack: 5739

Dealt 84o in the BB with blinds at 100-200. EP raiser to 400 (same player noted above who has moved in on me several times). I call. Flop Q74. Checked around. Turn 5. I bet 650 and he folds. Stack: 6239

Dealt AcTc in late middle with blinds at 100-200. Open raised in front of me to 500 by a player with 1191. I reraise to 1500 and everyone folds. Stack: 6939

Dealt A7o next hand with blinds at 100-200. I open raise to 550 and steal the blinds. Stack: 7239

Dealt A3o in EP with blinds at 100-200. I open raise to 500 and steal the blinds. Stack: 7539

Dealt A3o in the SB with blinds at 100-200. Folded to me, I open raise to 550. BB folds. Stack: 7539

Dealt QJo in EP with blinds at 100-200. I open raise to 500 and steal the blinds. Stack 7839.

Dealt KdKc UTG with blinds at 100-200. I open raise to 500. Button calls. Flop Th4d3h. I bet 1000 and button calls. Turn Js. I bet 2500 and button folds. Stack: 9639

Dealt Kd7d in the BB with blinds at 100-200. Late position caller and I check. Flop Ks5d5h. I bet 200 and he raises to 400. I call. Turn 9h. I check, he bets 450, I call. River 6h. I check, he bets 2000 I call. He has AhKh. Stack: 6589.

Dealt Jc5c in the SB with blinds at 100-200. One EP imper and I call. BB checks. Flop Qd7d7h. I bet 350. Both fold. Stack: 6989

Dealt Q9o in the cutoff with blinds at 100-200. UTG limps and I raise to 550. BB (5820) reraises to 900. I call. Flop QsJd6d. BB bets 500 and I raise to 1750. He calls. Turn 4d. He checks, I bet 1750 and he calls. River Ad. Checked around. Showdown his AA, and I win with the queen high flush. Stack: 11689.

Dealt Ah6h two from the button with blinds at 150-300. I open raise to 750 and steal the blinds. Stack: 12139

Dealt 66 in MP with blinds at 150-300. I open raise to 750 and someone moves in for 2800. I fold. Stack: 11389

Dealt Q7o in the BB with blinds at 150-300. One limper and I check. Flop J43. I bet 300, and he raises to 900. I fold. Stack: 10789

Dealt Qc6c on the button with blinds at 150-300. EP open jams for 726 and I call. BB calls. Flop KJ3, checked around. Turn K checked around. River 6, checked around. Showdown Q6 vs A3 vs 65, I win. Stack: 12241

Dealt 7s5s in the cutoff with blinds at 150-300. I open raise to 600. BB calls. Flop AcQh5h. BB checks, I bet 600, he raises to 1800, I fold. Stack: 11041

Dealt JTo in MP with blinds at 150-300. UTG jam-calls for 180, and I raise to 750. Everyone else folds. Board T32-2-K, and JT beats his A9. Stack 11671.

Dealt AJo UTG with blinds at 150-300. I open raise to 600. Next jams for 3550. Folded to me and I fold, noting this is the second time he's raised behind my open raise. Stack: 11071.

Dealt AKo in EP with blinds at 150-300. I open raise to 750 and get one caller. Flop Qc7c5s. I bet 1500 and he moves in for 2838. I fold. Stack: 8371

Dealt A4o next hand in EP with blinds at 150-300. I open raise to 750 and steal the blinds. Stack: 8821

Dealt 76o in the BB with blinds at 150-300. EP raises to 800 and one caller behind. SB calls and I call. Flop 942. Checked around. Turn 9. I check and fold to the EP raiser's 1100 bet. Stack: 8021

Dealt KK in the cutoff with blinds at 150-300. One to my right raises to 900 and I reraise to 2500. He calls all in for his last 310 hold JJ. Board Q96-9-4. Stack 9531. We are 25 from the money at this point.

Dealt KTo two from the button with blinds at 200-400. I open raise to 1000. BB calls all in for less than the 1000. He has pocket fours. Board A83-T-5 and I win. Stack: 10518

Moved to a new table (oddly with 3 of the same people!).

Dealt A7o in the SB with blinds at 200-400. I open raise to 1300 and get moved all in for 6932 total by the BB. BB is the player I previously had noted had moved in on me three times. I call here and he has KQ. Board T43-9-7 and I win. Stack: 17450

Dealt T8s in MP with blinds at 200-400. I open raise to 1000 and the button calls. Flop 833. I bet 2000 and button folds. Stack: 19050

Dealt JJ UTG with blinds at 200-400. I open raise to 1000 and steal the blinds. Stack: 19650

Dealt Qs7s in BB with blinds at 200-400. One limper, SB completes, and I check. Flop 653. SB checks, I check, button bets 400, I call. Turn 4. I bet 2000 and button folds. Stack: 20850

Dealt AsKs in BB with blinds at 200-400. SB open limps, I raise to 1100 and he folds. Stack: 21050

Dealt JTo in SB with blinds at 200-400. MP raises to 800. I call, BB calls. Flop 875. SB checks, I check, raiser bets 1600. All fold. Stack: 20250.

We are 10 from the money now.

Dealt T7o in the cutoff with blinds at 300-600. Open raise to 1800 and steal the blinds. Stack: 21150.

Here's a view of my relative table chip position at this time:

Seat 1: swan7926 ( $5664 )
Seat 4: Nassers ( $18805 )
Seat 5: slimcolt ( $25950 )
Seat 6: PandaFan ( $21150 )
Seat 9: brady2bears ( $1120 )
Seat 10: riposto ( $16000 )
Seat 7: Mezzetin ( $19476 )
Seat 2: mucker49 ( $5590 )
Seat 3: RedsFull ( $4880 )
Seat 8: rsagolf ( $1971 )

Dealt AhJh next hand with blinds at 300-600. UTG limps, and I raise to 2000. UTG jams for 5664 total and I call. He has QhTh. Board T84-7-J and I win. Stack: 27714.

Dealt 66 in the BB with blinds at 300-600. EP goes all in for 820. SB calls and I call. Flop QJ7. Checked around. Turn 9. Checked around. River A. Checked around. All in player wins with A8. Stack: 26894

Dealt AQs on the button with blinds at 300-600. MP limps and I raise to 1950. He calls. Flop T96. I bet 2250 and he calls. Turn 4. I check, he bets 2600 and I fold. Stack: 22394

Dealt 44 in MP with blinds at 300-600. EP limps and I raise to 2250. Limper calls. Flop AcJh7h. He checks, I bet 4000, he folds. Stack: 25544

Dealt Q3o in BB with blinds at 300-600. SB open limps and I check. Flop Kh9h4h - I have no hearts. SB checks, I bet 800, he folds. Stack: 26144

Our table now closed, and as we were table 8, we must have been down to 70 players.

New table, table 3:

Seat 1: Gunkchunk ( $9250 )
Seat 2: gunnerdog3 ( $3090 )
Seat 3: AFISHOUTOFH2 ( $13240 )
Seat 4: brady2bears ( $1860 )
Seat 5: PandaFan ( $25744 )
Seat 6: PokurBot ( $7875 )
Seat 7: BlueHerons ( $8994 )
Seat 8: voor0721 ( $4490 )
Seat 9: Aggregation ( $40600 )

First hand, dealt Q9o two from the button with blinds at 400-800. I open raise to 2500 and steal the blinds. Stack: 26944.

Dealt AKo in MP with blinds at 400-800. I open raise to 2500 and get moved in for 6094 more. I call. He also has AK and the board is uneventful. Stack: 27544

Dealt K8o in the BB with blinds at 400-800 and get a walk. Stack: 27944

Dealt 97o in SB with blinds at 400-800 and open raise all in (BB has 7875). He folds. Stack: 28744

Dealt AJo in late position with blinds at 400-800. UTG (who has 41800) open raises to 1800. I call. Flop T82. He checks, I bet 2750 and he calls. Turn 7. He checks, I bet 7500 and he folds. Stack: 34494

Dealt KJo in middle position with blinds at 400-800. I open raise to 2250 and steal the blinds. Stack: 35694

Dealt 75o in the BB with blinds at 400-800. Cutoff (5160) open raises to 1600. I put him all in and he calls with TT. Board K43-9-7 and he wins. Stack: 30534

Dealt 8d2s in the SB with blinds at 500-1000. I open limp and BB checks. Flop 874. I bet 2000 and BB folds. Stack: 31534

Dealt A5o in the cutoff with blinds at 500-1000. One to my right open jams for 3580. I reraise all in. All fold. He has A3. Board KQ9-K-4, chop. Stack: 32284.

Dealt KQo next hand with blinds at 500-1000. I open raise to 3000 and steal the blinds. Stack: 33784

Dealt Js6s in early middle with blinds at 500-1000. I open raise to 3100 and someone moves in for 6134 total. I call and he has TT. Board J43-Q-8, and I earn a berating after winning. Stack: 41418

Dealt AcTc next hand with blinds at 500-1000. UTG moves in for 4330 and I reraise all in. Button calls for 7538. Showdowns: my AcTc, EP 88 and button 99. Board J72-7-4. Button wins. Stack: 33880

At this point, the other player with a big stack is moved to a different table. Table chip positions:

Seat 1: Gunkchunk ( $5350 )
Seat 2: gunnerdog3 ( $8220 )
Seat 3: AFISHOUTOFH2 ( $8900 )
Seat 5: PandaFan ( $33090 )
Seat 6: PokurBot ( $7070 )
Seat 8: voor0721 ( $10160 )
Seat 10: oiltrader ( $24006 )
Seat 4: Ardie55 ( $21946 )
Seat 7: SUPERFLYE77 ( $12380 )
Seat 9: riposto ( $22280 )

Dealt T9o in late middle with blinds at 500-1000. I open raise to 3250 and steal the blinds. Stack: 33090.

Dealt KK next hand with blinds at 500-1000. I open raise to 3250 and next player moves all in for 7070. Folded to me and I call. He has QQ. Board 975-3-Q and he wins. Stack: 26020

Dealt Qs5s in the BB with blinds at 500-1000. MP raises to 3500 and I call. Flop JT5. I check, he bets all in for 6660 and I call. He has AJ. Turn 6, river 2, and I lose. Stack 15860

Dealt T6o in SB with blinds of 500-1000. I open limp and BB checks. Flop J94. I bet 1000 and he folds. Stack 16860

Dealt A6o on the button with blinds at 500-1000. I open raise to 2500 and steal the blinds. Stack 18360.

Dealt 88 in EP with blinds at 500-1000 and open raise to 2750. No callers. Stack: 19860

Dealt KQo next hand with blinds at 500-1000. I open raise to 2500 and steal the blinds. Stack 21360.

Dealt A4o on the button with blinds at 750-1500. I open raise to 4250 and steal the blinds. Stack: 21360

Dealt KTo UTG with blinds at 750-1500. I open raise to 4250 and steal the blinds. Stack: 23610

Dealt A9o in the SB with blinds at 750-1500. I open raise to 3500 and BB moves all in for a total of 10390. I call. He has KQ. Board QT6-A-3 and I win. Stack: 34000

Dealt J9o on the button with blinds at 750-1500. UTG limps and I raise to 4250. He calls. Flop AQT. He bets 6000 (leaving about 12500 behind). I fold. Stack: 29750

Final 3 tables now.

Dealt 99 in EP with blinds at 750-1500. I open raise to 4205 (typo!). One player behind calls, and BB moves in for a total of 5400. We both call. Flop J53. I check, caller bets 4400, I fold. They showdown callers 66 vs all in player's 55. Turn 4, river 3. Stack: 24350

Dealt A2o in the BB with blinds at 750-1500. MP limp, SB complets, I raise to 4500. MP calls, SB folds. Flop T98. I bet 8000, he moves all in for 20317 total. I fold. Stack: 10350

Dealt QTo in middle late with blinds at 1000-2000. One to my right min raises to 4000 and I move all in. BB who has both of us covered reraises all in. Min raiser folds and BB shows AK. Board 965-Q-3 and I win. Stack: 24200

Dealt AKo next hand with blinds at 1000-2000. EP (11566) raises to 7000 and I raise all in. He calls, and also has AK. Nothing exciting and we chop. Stack: 25700

Dealt A7o in MP with blinds at 1000-2000. I open raise to 6500 and all fold. Stack: 25700

Now I was moved to table 1 with the following relative chip positions:

Seat 1: PandaFan ( $25700 )
Seat 2: oiltrader ( $84184 )
Seat 3: TiltRaiser ( $28500 )
Seat 4: Styler91 ( $8877 )
Seat 5: Ardie55 ( $31594 )
Seat 6: steck1 ( $15652 )
Seat 7: CUTTYOD ( $14396 )
Seat 9: indianJ ( $33115 )

First hand I receive is K6 in late with blinds at 1000-2000. I open raise to 6250 and big stack moves all in for 84184. I fold. Stack: 19540

Dealt KTo UTG with blinds at 1000-2000. I open raise to 6000 and steal the blinds. Stack 22450.

Dealt AA in the BB next hand. SB (31115) open limps and I check. Flop K52. He bets 5100 and I raise all in and he calls. He shows K3. Turn 4, river 9 and I win. Stack: 44900

Dealt KQo on the button with blinds at 1000-2000. I open raise to 6000 and steal the blinds. Stack 46900.

Dealt JTs on the button with blinds at 1500-3000. I open raise to 7500 and steal the blinds. Stack: 46900.

Dealt K9o UTG+1 with blinds at 1500-3000 playing 7 handed. I open raise to 8000 and steal the blinds. Stack: 51400. We are at 20 now.

Dealt A9o in EP with blinds at 1500-3000. I open raise to 8500 and big stack moves in for 81011. I fold. Stack: 39900

A hand I was not involved in but truly amazing. Start of this hand, chip positions are:

Seat 1: PandaFan ( $39900 )
Seat 2: oiltrader ( $87236 )
Seat 3: TiltRaiser ( $13995 )
Seat 5: Ardie55 ( $57059 )
Seat 6: steck1 ( $13427 )
Seat 7: CUTTYOD ( $10188 )
Seat 4: VOXXY ( $94011 )
Seat 8: riposto ( $12460 )
Seat 9: voor0721 ( $49510 )

oiltrader calls and VOXXY raises to 12000. oiltrader calls. Flop Ad6s4d. oiltrader checks, VOXXY jams. oiltrader calls. VOXXY has AcKc, and oiltrader QdJd. No diamond comes and VOXXY becomes a chip monster.

Next hand I am dealt AQ with blinds at 1500-3000. One limper and I raise in the BB to 10000. Limper folds. Stack: 42900

Dealt AKo in the BB with blinds at 2000-4000. Late position moves all in for 11927. SB calls all in for 9460. I call. Late position QT, SB TT, my AK. Board KT8-Q-9 and I lose to both. Stack: 29473

Dealt A8o in cutoff with blinds at 2000-4000. I open raise to 12000 and steal the blinds. Stack: 33473

Dealt 99 next hand with blinds at 2000-4000. TG goes all in for 4188 and next raises to 14000 (leaving 23000 behind). I fold.

Dealt AA in the big blinds with blinds at 2000-4000. Chip leader raisers to 12000. Another large stack goes all in for 46059. I call. Original raiser folds. AA vs his AK, Board 654-2-9 and I win. Stack: 80946

Dealt AQ in MP with blinds at 2000-4000. I open raise to 12000 and BB goes all in for 5208 total. He has 62o. Board A52-8-9. Stack: 86154

Dealt ATs on the button with blinds at 2000-4000. Folded to me and I open jam with the SB (9014) folding and BB (11990 calling). He has KK. Board Q83-9-4 and I lose. Board: 68164

Dealt AQ in the BB with blinds at 2000-4000. Monster stack (197K) limps, SB completes, and I check. Flop A43. SB checks, I bet 10000, and monster stack calls. Turn T. I jam for 54164 and he folds. Stack: 86164

Final table is now filled up. Each spot for a while now will mean $500 or so.

Down to 9, I am dealt JTo in MP with blinds at 2000-4000. I open raise to 12000 and steal the blinds. Stack: 90164

Relative stacks at final table:

Seat 1: PandaFan ( $90164 )
Seat 3: TiltRaiser ( $25980 )
Seat 5: Ardie55 ( $82066 )
Seat 4: VOXXY ( $177276 )
Seat 8: riposto ( $65766 )
Seat 2: Mezzetin ( $138198 )
Seat 7: jillistrbl ( $11316 )
Seat 9: Royceroller ( $35372 )
Seat 10: slimcolt ( $131862 )

Dealt AK in late position with blinds at 3000-6000. MP raises to 13000 and I reraise to 35372 (to put him all in). He calls with A7. Board 226-6-8 and chop. Stack: 88664

Dealt QQ in EP with blinds at 3000-6000 and open raise to 18000. No callers. Stack: 97664

VOXXY wins another monster pot here. New relative chip stacks:

Seat 1: PandaFan ( $91664 )
Seat 3: TiltRaiser ( $20980 )
Seat 4: VOXXY ( $298342 )
Seat 8: riposto ( $60766 )
Seat 2: Mezzetin ( $138198 )
Seat 7: jillistrbl ( $11316 )
Seat 9: Royceroller ( $39872 )
Seat 10: slimcolt ( $96862 )

Dealt 65o in the BB with blinds at 3000-6000. Folded to SB who raises to 12000. I call. Flop JJ2. He bets 8200 and I raise to 30000. He folds. Stack: 108864

Dealt AQo UTG (6 handed now) with blinds at 3000-6000. I open raise for 18000 and steal the blinds. Stack: 114864

Dealt Q7 in the cutoff with blinds at 3000-6000. Button calls. Flop AQ7. I bet 30000. Button raises to 60000. I jam and he calls (he has me covered). He has AJ. Turn 4, river Q and I win. Stack: 220728

Relative chip positions now:

Seat 1: PandaFan ( $220728 )
Seat 4: VOXXY ( $241306 )
Seat 8: riposto ( $68398 )
Seat 2: Mezzetin ( $60834 )
Seat 9: Royceroller ( $96072 )
Seat 10: slimcolt ( $70662 )

Dealt A9 in the SB with blinds at 3000-6000. UTG+2 (68398) raises to 20000. I reraise all in. He calls with A8. Board KJ8-2-4 and I lose. Stack: 146330

Dealt Qc9c on the button next hand with blinds at 3000-6000. I open raise to 18000, and both blinds call. Flop 887. BB bets 39000 and I fold. SB calls. BB K2o, SB JT. Turn A, river 2. Stack: 128330.

Five handed now. Each jump is about a thousand now.

Next hand, dealt A8o in the cutoff with blinds at 3000-6000. I open raise to 18000 and steal the blinds. Stack: 137330

Dealt K8o in the BB with blinds at 3000-6000. EP open raises to 13000 and SB calls. I call. Flop 533. Checked around. Turn 8. I bet 20000 and both fold. Stack: 163330

Dealt Q7o in the SB with blinds at 3000-6000. I open limp and BB checks. Flop AK9. I bet 6000 and he folds. Stack: 178330

Dealt A2o on the button with blinds at 4000-8000. I open raise to 20000 and BB calls. Flop 766. He jams and I fold. Stack: 146330

Next hand, dealt A6o with blinds at 4000-8000. I open raise to 20000 and steal the blinds. Stack: 158330

We lose a player here, and start 4 handed. Next jump is several thousand dollars. Stacks:

Seat 1: PandaFan ( $158330 )
Seat 4: VOXXY ( $339602 )
Seat 8: riposto ( $218996 )
Seat 9: Royceroller ( $41072 )

Dealt QJs on the button with blinds at 4000-8000. I open raise to 22000. SB calls, BB folds. Flop 632. SB checks, I bet 40000 and he folds. Stack: 188330

Dealt Ad3d in the BB with blinds at 4000-8000. Folded to SB who goes all in for 41072. I call. He has A2. Board JJ8-T-T, chop. Stack: 172330

Dealt KTo in SB with blinds at 4000-8000. Button goes all in for 45072 and I call. BB also calls. Flop KQ7, checked around. Turn 2, checked around. River 5, checked around. My KT vs all in K9 vs BB 88 and I win. Stack 270474.

Three handed, next jump is $5000. Relative stacks:

Seat 1: PandaFan ( $270474 )
Seat 4: VOXXY ( $250530 )
Seat 8: riposto ( $236996 )

Dealt KTo in BB with blinds at 4000-8000. SB open limps, and I raise 17000 more. He folds. Stack: 266474

Dealt JJ in the SB with blinds at 4000-8000. I open raise to 21000 and BB raises to 92000. I jam for 229474 and he calls. He has AK. Board 996-8-8 and I win. Stack: 488004.

We are headsup. $11000 difference for 1st and 2nd. Relative chips:

Seat 1: PandaFan ( $488004 )
Seat 8: riposto ( $269996 )

Dealt AJs in the SB on the button with blinds at 4000-8000. I open raise to 20000. He calls. Flop AhJh2h. He checks, I bet 40000 and he calls. Turn 2s. He jams for 209996 and I call. He has Jc8h and misses the heart on the river. Stack: everything!

[DonButtons]

Nice job with the win.

Very aggressive game, are you actually reading them, or do you always bet hard.

Obviously some days this style works well when you never run into hands, but most days you'll get worked running into big hands.

[zaxx19]

Jesus Christ, Im like 4 hands in and wondering if I will ever be able to play this way. This is unmitigated agression and im glad it worked for you. Are you always this agressive?? Perhaps its because I play low buyins....I dont know, just seems excessive to me. Win lose or draw you would definitely be a hard opponent to deal with thats for sure.

[Pepsquad]

Very well done Punker. I learned a great deal from reading through your thread (mainly, that I have a larger attention span that I thought I did - you're right, it's hella long). But probably the most informative aspect of your post for me was the size of your raises in the later stages. I'm beginning to realize that at the 100-200 levels and beyond I need to be more aggressive with my blind steals. As I read through your post, I was aboslutely shocked at how often they laid down to your raises and began thinking about why I get played back at so often and I had a revelation. In the late stages, when I am sitting on 30+BB - when on the button or CO and it's folded to me, I'll throw out a 2XBB raise. The more I think about it, I may as well be holding up a neon sign saying "Please play at me so I can fold." I noticed your standard raises have a real bite to them that forces any average or lower stack to make a conscious decision about whether or not he wants to continue in the tournament beyond this hand.
I'm curious, how often were you raising with those crap cards in the later stages? Do they represent one out of every 3 hands dealt? 5? 10? You seem to have been doing it just enough to get weak aces to push in but not so much that you were still getting laydowns quite often. I'm still trying to figure out what that middle ground is.

At any rate, well done and congrats.

Pep.

[housenuts]

congratulations. i don't have the patience to read it all right now. i just started reading through and this one caught my eye.

Dealt AdKd 3 from the button with blinds at 15-30. UTG, UTG+1, and UTG+2 limp, and I limp. Button and BB come. Flop Qh7d5c. UTG+2 bets out 95 and takes it. Stack: 1445

Do you always fold this 1/2 pot sized bet with overcards and backdoor flush draw? Also why don't you raise preflop?

[Punker]

The key to being constantly aggressive is doing it in such a way as to put not much of your stack at risk. Say its level 1, and you are the big blind and have about 1000 in chips, and post the big blind of 15, and 4 people limp. You raise to 75; aggressive, and a fair sized raise, but percentage wise, you aren't really risking much of your stack. If you can consistently find spots where you are putting minimal parts of your stack at risk to chip up, you can build chips to the point where you can make some of the more difficult decisions easier because you have a bit of chip cushion to handle it, whether this means calling an all in bet with a marginal hand, or laying down a decent hand when you think you're beat. When they say chips are power, it doesn't just mean the power to bully people; it means the power to give yourself more options in how to play hands.

[Myst]

Several times in your road to victory, you called all ins with weak Aces (A2-A8). Can you explain your rationale behind that?

[fnord_too]

Congrats again on the win. There is no way I am reading that whole post though /images/graemlins/tongue.gif .

[Punker]

I had been struggling with what I think is one of the most common struggles for online tourney players, which is mid game play. I think most of us play pretty tightly at the start, and can often 3x up or so in the first hour or two, but then suddenly the "wait for good cards/situations" doesn't work so well, unless you get a continued run of big hands (which sadly doesn't work well!). While playing a tourney earlier in the week, I read a post by EMarkM from somewhere on this board (sorry...can't remember where, but I'm sure it can be found). Basically, the thing I took from it was that in the middle stages, you really have to take charge because you've got to keep accumulating chips. I also learned quite a bit from watching the much maligned TV poker broadcasts; if you want someone like Negreanu or Ivey, they are raising with all kinds of things, and folding to reraises. You watch it and wonder to yourself...how come they don't run out of chips? But when you try it, you see...people don't always play back! I was also quite impressed watching Fossilman play this year; someone would limp early, and he'd look at KTo and say, no limping buddy, raise. Losing the fear of making that kind of raise is a real key to accumulating chips.

My basic criteria for raising was that any time I thought the "situation" was good, I would go for it. In the old days, I would consider a good "situation" just like anyone else: late position and a half decent hand and folded to me. The problem is that everyone knows you're in a good steal position there and you get played back at way more often.

Now, I consider a good steal position to be opening in middle, or raising a limper, or the BB after limpers (a concept really I first read about in TPFAP). The one limper raise is, I think, my favorite (if you read the transcript, you'll probably notice!), since you generally raise the same amount as a normal blind steal, but the reward is higher. Riskier too though!

[Punker]

I found four such instances in the transcript:

"Dealt A7o in the SB with blinds at 200-400. I open raise to 1300 and get moved all in for 6932 total by the BB. BB is the player I previously had noted had moved in on me three times. I call here and he has KQ. Board T43-9-7 and I win."

That player had pushed in on me 3 times previously, and each time I'd folded. It was SB vs BB, and I figured he didn't have to have much of a hand to do this for the 4th time. Definitely a bit of a gamble here, but I would still have had a 10x big blind stack had I lost, and having this player on my direct left was hampering my activities. Of the four, I thought this was by far the most debatable.

"Dealt A5o in the cutoff with blinds at 500-1000. One to my right open jams for 3580. I reraise all in. All fold. He has A3. Board KQ9-K-4, chop."

This represented about 10% of my stack against a short stack player in a very obvious steal position.

"Dealt A9o in the SB with blinds at 750-1500. I open raise to 3500 and BB moves all in for a total of 10390. I call. He has KQ. Board QT6-A-3 and I win."

Getting about 2-1 on a call, again with a relatively short stacked player in a blind on blind situation. Again, I would still have been left with about a 10x big blind stack had I lost.

"Dealt Ad3d in the BB with blinds at 4000-8000. Folded to SB who goes all in for 41072. I call. He has A2. Board JJ8-T-T, chop."

Again, a short stack in an obvious steal situation (and we are playing only 4 handed here). I could call and lose here and maintain a 17x big blind stack though, whereas it was an immediate payday of several thousand if my hand holds up.

Basically, what you can tell about these hands is that I'm willing to make marginal calls if I have a large stack and not much of it is at risk, my defense against gap theory. If it takes a lesser hand to raise than it does to call a raise, in situations where even lesser hands are likely to raise, I will decrease my calling standards to some extent (does that make sense..maybe I'm confused).

[Punker]

I think I was looking for a little post flop play, as this kind of hand doesn't really mind whether I get in with 5 people or someone late raises and tries to blow out the field (in which case, I may have a little surprise for them). With AKo I would always raise here.

As for the flop, the player on my right bet and there were several people to act behind me who might yet raise, and my draw is such that if I pair the turn, I will get minimal action when ahead (since if I'm ahead, the bettor will no longer have top pair) and lose many chips if behind (say he has a set and the turn is an ace), whereas if I pick up the flush draw, I'll likely have to face another bet.

[Punker]

"Very aggressive game, are you actually reading them, or do you always bet hard."

Most of my reading comes simply in observing how often people are willing to lay down hands, and how often they are raising or reraising. For frequent folders, I lower my raising standards, but increase my calling standards. For frequent raisers/reraisers, I increase my raising standards slightly, but lower my calling standards. Aggression is definitely a big part of my game, obviously.

"Obviously some days this style works well when you never run into hands, but most days you'll get worked running into big hands."

A few comments about this; first, you have to do it in such a way as to keep your stack out of risk while trying to win chips. I posted something a week or so ago about how I think the raise 3x big blind, bet pot on the flop strategy doesn't work well online, since you get overcommitted to pots too quickly. If you review the early hands, you'll see a lot of 2.5x BB raises, followed by 50-65% pot bets on the flop, letting me escape from those big hands.

Second...you'd be surprised how few big hands get dealt out /images/graemlins/grin.gif Even when you're behind, if you play it in such a way to give yourself to fire two barrels, the mere threat of the second barrel makes people get dealt not only two good starters, but also find a good flop to play those good starters with.

[petvan]

you have a hand in the middle there where you move from ~t6900 to !t12000 by catching flush out of q9o. I am learning so bear with me. I can see why you want to push UTG who limps, but I don't see where you call the BB reraise of 450. Is it just that the reraise is small, or do you know something else? I gotta put at least one of these guys on a hand here. Is there something more than table image / position here that sees you calling?

[Algasm]

Awesome win and post. I've noticed the same things that you have with reference to raising with anything and then betting 2/3 the pot (not every hand obviously). I am going to have to add in the raise the limper strategy. While reading your post last night I was playing in a one table qualifier for a weekday super. Long story short I felt like I played very aggressively when we got down to 4 and won. I think it was reading your post and being reminded of the fact that people actually have to have a hand to call you.

[Punker]

"Dealt Q9o in the cutoff with blinds at 100-200. UTG limps and I raise to 550. BB (5820) reraises to 900. I call. Flop QsJd6d. BB bets 500 and I raise to 1750. He calls. Turn 4d. He checks, I bet 1750 and he calls. River Ad. Checked around. Showdown his AA, and I win with the queen high flush. Stack: 11689."

My first instinct here was to fold, until I saw exactly how much it was to call (yay for online poker which tells you these things without you having to think). Its a combination of three things:

1) His raise of 350 with the pot currently standing at 1750. Obviously, very small in relation to my stack and the current pot.

2) Relative positions; I will be able to act last after him each round. As you can see how the hand played out, I was able to keep my exposure to a minimum on the turn, which I probably can't do if I have to act first. The river was going check check pretty much no matter what (though I certainly could have bet this specific river card!).

3) His deep stack behind (which is why I noted his 5820 in the hand summary); if I hit my hand, he's got plenty more for me to win.

[davidross]

Congrats.

I'm curious about your BB play. I see you getting real aggressive and raising limpers with your little aces, but when you have AJ in the same position you just call. Is this just a feeling or a concious decision to try and make more post-flop with a better hand?

[SomethingClever]

Great post... this gives me a lot of insight.

How much was 1st good for?

[Punker]

I believe strongly in the theory expounded in one 2+2 book called "Don't turn a good hand into 72o". Middle strength hands that build one pair like AJo I am much more likely to check in the blinds as by raising preflop, I put myself in situations where I can very well make medium strength hands and get overcommitted and not sure where I'm at. With A2o, its unlikely I'll get overcommitted without being very sure where I am in the hand.

The main difference for me between A2o and AJo in these spots is when the flop comes ace high. The A2o I can get away from if I make one pair and someone gives action so I don't mind putting more pressure on for smaller chips on earlier betting rounds. The AJo I may have more trouble escaping if I'm losing, and am more likely to make mistakes with.

Say the flop is A-8-4 and someone calls my flop bet, the turn is a 3, I bet and someone raises all in. The A2o I can fold quite easily here if the bet is of any significant amount, and be fairly certain I'm right in doing so.

The AJ, not so much. By keeping the pot smaller preflop with AJ, I force that turn raise to be much larger in relation to the pot (since my flop and turn bets will also be smaller), which makes it much easier to lay down the AJ.

I hope what I mean is clear...it makes sense to me but maybe its silly. I will note that contrary to the book's advice, I would tend to raise a couple of limpers with a pocket pair, because again, my post flop decision making will be fairly easy and I am unlikely to make errors in calling (or folding to) large bets from others in the hand.

[Punker]

$25,014

[Sam T.]

[ QUOTE ]
Jesus Christ, Im like 4 hands in and wondering if I will ever be able to play this way. This is unmitigated agression and im glad it worked for you.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm with Zaxx on this one. Wow. Reminds me of one of Jason Strasser's SnGs I watched. I just couldn't believe how much abuse people will take.

I don't know if I've got the nuts to try this for a full tournament, but can't wait to do so in the early stages of a sng, and see how people react.

[DblDownTrent]

congrats and thanks for posting all these hands. very informative.

[doggin]

Punker, congrats on the win guy!
When I first started reading this, I thought "My God,
some of this raising is insane", but after reading your
follow up posts to many replys, It is very clear that you
are a very deep thinking player. I'm sure this won't be your
last big win.
Do you mind telling any of your MTT stats?
Thanks for sharing.

[Potowame]

Great post, I watched you play for awhile that night. Thanks for the HH, I dont know if this will work real well in the 2,3, & 5 Stars trnys though. I guess it will only cost me a couple bucks to try it out, lol.

[Punker]

I don't track my stats very closely as most of my play is done at ring games. Tourneys are kind of a fun diversion for me when I have lots of time to play.

[doggin]

Great read, I was thinking I've seen your Party name at
the top (top 3 maybe) in another big MTT or two.
Thanks

[doggin]

Quote: "In the old days, I would consider a good "situation" just like anyone else: late position and a half decent hand and folded to me. The problem is that everyone knows you're in a good steal position there and you get played back at way more often."
This was expressed well in a post by Gigabet. He said the same thing you're thinking here, UTG + 1 or 2 and CO-1 are
far better positions to try to steal, these positions are just not nearly as obvious as the classics.

[Jason Strasser]

Congrats on the super win. I have some unfinished business in this tournament (2nd place)... Maybe one day I'll get revenge.

Anyhow, your play in general strikes me as odd. Obviously you have a strategy that will allow you, on any given day, to win any tournament given the right turn of events. Sure, i suppose in theory everyone could have that perfect day, but your style allows you to accumulate chips rapidly when things are going your way.

Anyhow, let me offer a critique to your style.

1) Your raise amounts are way too small. You opt for lots of little baby raises and limp raises and 'punishing limpers' or whatever. Basically, you play a style of poker that is very loose and not very strong, if that makes any sense. You are aggressive, but very often there will be a limper and you will raise to something like 2.5xBB with crap. I think you should pick your spots more selectively.

2) You spew too many chips. The fact is, you are in so many marginal situations, and for you to be successful you need to come out ahead a lot. You were able to make some nice laydowns (I did not read the whole thing). The good thing about your style is that especially early in the tournament you were often pure bluffing with crap, which makes it very easy to fold. The bad thing is, you were fortunate to not run into too many big hands.

3) The party field consists of many unobservant players. An observent player would play back at you much more. Just keep that in mind.

I subscribe to a much more tight approach. This often results in me having to rely on some large all-in confrontations to do well in tournaments... Which is not always a good thing.

Anyhow, I wouldn't change your style... Its yours and it works... I would however analyze your play here quite a bit... especially your raise amounts.

-Jason

[JaBlue]

I don't like the way you played at all. Like Jason said I think you just had your perfect day. I had a friend that didn't even know the rules of PLO (he didn't know that you must use two of your hole cards...) and he placed 2nd and 3rd consecutively in his first tournaments. Anyway, my point is that I don't think you have a very good chance of succeeding like this against players that realize that you don't have jack. Also, why do you play so aggressively with the blinds so small (the first hand)? When you have a speculative hand like A5s why don't you just see the flop? I basically have the same issues as Strassa except that I think that if you're going to keep this style you definitely have to change it. I myself am a LAG, but there's a fine line between LAG and Maniac and I think you're much more on the maniac side - except that your raises aren't big enough (which is wierd) for this to work... OK rambling... good job on the win.

[Punker]

"This often results in me having to rely on some large all-in confrontations to do well in tournaments"

This is the problem I had in party multis for the longest time as well; I found this style of play would often get me to the money (or close), but rarely in a position to do much from there, barring a perfect day. Your points regarding the smaller than normal raises are absolutely correct; however, I explained my rationale (right or wrong) in some of the other posts (basically, keeping the pot size such that there is some postflop play during the quickly accelerating stages of the event). I guess the question is simply how well they worked; in my experience on party, they do ok. You will probably also note that once stacks became relatively larger compared to the blinds, most of my raises moved up to a more standard 3x big blind.

The style I use does definitely revolve around the cluelessness of party players and their lack of observation (many times they just see "raise" and don't really consider the amount); there are a lot of level 1 players on party and I rely heavily on taking advantage of their level 1 thinking (What do I have? Nothing? Fold.).

Dealing with observant players does require some touch and difficult decisions (as you saw when I called the reraise all in with A7o); however, the sad truth is that there's no really easy way to beat observant players; I like my style better than waiting for big hands to deal with them, since my style forces them to gamble more and take chances, whereas waiting for a big hand leaves observant players with nothing to worry about from you (since they either have a monster and play, or a marginal type hand and fold, observing you to be tight).

[Punker]

Comments are appreciated...I would say that winning any tournament of this kind of size does pretty much require at least an element of "perfect day"-ness, and no doubt I had my share of good luck.

As for playing aggressively early, I tend to assume most players at the start of events such as this who limp in to be weak, and I am not shy about trying to punish them for it. 100 chips may not be much, but at the start of the tourney, its still 10% of your stack. I'm not going to put my stack on the line with no hand chasing those 100 chips, but I'm not going to hesitate in fighting for them. Its those 100 chips that allow you to survive that bad beat at the start and still have a few hundred left, or that have you covering other people, making them less likely to play against you.

[HoldingFolding]

Great win, thought provoking play, incisive analysis.

I hope you realise you'll never be able to play another MTT as PandaFan /images/graemlins/grin.gif

[Che]

I really enjoyed reading the history, Punker. Thank you for posting it.

I printed the whole thing out (11 pages when pasted into a Word doc /images/graemlins/blush.gif) and I plan to read it a couple more times so I can really get a handle on how you're putting pressure on your opponents with minimal risk to your own stack (and how I can incorporate that into my game, of course /images/graemlins/smile.gif). Very nice work.

I do have a few questions that have not been addressed yet:

[ QUOTE ]
Dealt 77 in the SB with blinds at 25-50. One limper and I raise to 200. BB calls, and limper folds. Flop 962. SB bets 50 and I raise to 350. SB calls. Turn J. SB moves all in for 684 and I call. He has AK and I win on the river 2. Stack: 3929

[/ QUOTE ]

Did you have a read here? Could you have made this call for all (or almost all) of your chips?

[ QUOTE ]
Dealt AhJh in the cutoff with blinds at 50-100. Two to my right raises to 275. I fold. Stack: 4314

[/ QUOTE ]

Why did you post this hand? You weren't actually "involved." A similar hand appears later (99, I think). Are you just trying to show us that you don't play every decent hand you see? /images/graemlins/wink.gif

[ QUOTE ]
Dealt Kd7d in the BB with blinds at 100-200. Late position caller and I check. Flop Ks5d5h. I bet 200 and he raises to 400. I call. Turn 9h. I check, he bets 450, I call. River 6h. I check, he bets 2000 I call. He has AhKh. Stack: 6589.


[/ QUOTE ]

I know his flop raise and turn bet were both very small relative to the pot, but your bet-call flop then check-call (small bet on turn) then check-call (big bet on river) with TP-no kicker on a paired flop really gave me a sick feeling in my stomach when I read it. Not only is this a bad line in general IMHO, it seems very out of character for you.

So, I'm wondering why you chose that line. Did you have a read on this particular opponent that affected your decision-making process?

[ QUOTE ]
Dealt Q7 in the cutoff with blinds at 3000-6000. Button calls. Flop AQ7. I bet 30000. Button raises to 60000. I jam and he calls (he has me covered). He has AJ. Turn 4, river Q and I win. Stack: 220728

[/ QUOTE ]

I assume you open-raised ~18000 here, but I'm not sure. Is that what happened?

Finally, I noticed that you called some all-ins with rather marginal hands in the late stages. I forget where you explained the rationale behind when you lower your calling standards/increase your raising standards versus when you increase your calling standards/lower your raising standards, but that post was excellent. I would certainly recommend that post to anyone who aspires to do well in MTT play.

Thank you for all the work you put into this thread. I know my game will improve as a result and I really appreciate it.

Thanks,
Che

[Punker]

"Did you have a read here? Could you have made this call for all (or almost all) of your chips?"

The bet he made was close to the biggest amount I would have called; this was a hand where he played so confusingly that I thought there was a reasonable chance I had the best hand and the pot was laying something like 2-1. I just couldn't let go here since his hand made no sense.

"Why did you post this hand? You weren't actually "involved." A similar hand appears later (99, I think). Are you just trying to show us that you don't play every decent hand you see? "

The two hands were both decisions that affected my final result that I didn't think were super easy (the 99 was easier than this one, certainly).

"I know his flop raise and turn bet were both very small relative to the pot, but your bet-call flop then check-call (small bet on turn) then check-call (big bet on river) with TP-no kicker on a paired flop really gave me a sick feeling in my stomach when I read it. Not only is this a bad line in general IMHO, it seems very out of character for you."

No doubt...this was a mistake on my part. A river fold was in order. The rest of the hand, the bets in relation to the pot/stacks were not enough to get me to fold. He played the hand well and I played it less than well.

"I assume you open-raised ~18000 here, but I'm not sure. Is that what happened?"

Yes, exactly to 18000.