Snupoker
02-08-2005, 12:16 PM
Let me preface this post by saying I am strictly a no-limit, B&M player and this was my first shot at Foxwood's ACT tournaments. I played Act 1 and Act 2 last friday and was able to make it to the final only showing down 2 hands to the river in each tournament. Very soft competition for a good tournament Player.
So after winning the Act 2, I was registered for this past Sunday Morning ACT 3. (For those who dont know foxwoods Act system, Act 3 is a $420 + 30 multi-table tournament with one of every 12.5 players winning a seat in April's 5,000 + 200 New England Poker Classic)
On to the trip, after being extremely hungover and arriving at foxwoods at 945 for the 10AM event I proceed to register and decide breakfast from the snack bar would be a great idea. 20 minutes later with bagel in hand I make it to my table, only to be told ive missed the first 5 hands including my blinds. Not the start i was looking for.
63 Players in the Tournament.
Prize Pool: 1st - 5th - Seats in the 5k tournament, 6th - Reseat in Act 3, 7th - $10 (ya, seriously 7th place got 10 bucks for 5 hours of play).
Each player starts with 3k chips and blinds at 25-50, levels 20 minutes. I will try to remember exact blinds for hands, but may forget.
1st level - no hands played T2850
2nd level - pick up K /images/graemlins/club.gif Q /images/graemlins/club.gif in the SB and call Buttons raise to T300. Flop comes 2 /images/graemlins/club.gif 5 /images/graemlins/club.gif J /images/graemlins/diamond.gif. I check, button bets 500, I push for my remaining 2500 on a semi-bluff. Button dwells and mucks KJo face-up. Up to T3600.
Next Hand - 4 /images/graemlins/spade.gif 5 /images/graemlins/spade.gif in the BB. MP player raises to 300, no good read, but hes been playing too many hands. Flop comes Q /images/graemlins/spade.gif Q /images/graemlins/club.gif 9 /images/graemlins/club.gif . Check, Check. Turn 9 /images/graemlins/spade.gif . Check, Check. River A /images/graemlins/spade.gif . Moral of the story, even small suited connectors get lucky when they hit runner, runner flush but you still cant bet them even when they hit the river on the scariest board ever. Check, check. I win the pot with flush. T4000
3rd Level:
pick up A /images/graemlins/spade.gif 2 /images/graemlins/spade.gif in the SB and limp in. Flop comes 2 /images/graemlins/heart.gif 6 /images/graemlins/spade.gif Q /images/graemlins/heart.gif . I bet 500 into a pot of 600, BB folds, lady UTG who limped (horrible player) calls. Turn Spade, Check Check. River Spade, i Bet 1000, she calls immediately and MHIG. T - 5500.
HAND OF THE TOURNAMENT # 1
Blinds of 75 - 150. I limp along with 5 others with 5-5, speed limit, presto whatever the hell you want to call it.
SB and BB check. Flop hits 3-5-7 Rainbow. BB bets 500, I call all else fold. Turn comes a 9, completing the rainbow. BB checks, I bet 1k into a pot of 1900 (showing weakness) and BB immediately comes over me for 1700 more. Big dwell up, I have 3800 if I fold, 2100 if I lose, but approx 8k if I win. After a big dwell up, I look at my good friend in the 10 seat allow him a peek at my cards and decide. Ill nevfer forgive myself for folding this-and if he really has a straight, ill still have outs. Fortunately when I call he flips up 7-2 off and is dead. Sweet T8000.
Tighten up extremely for a few levels as blidns are raised and Ante is brought in.
BIG HAND #2
Approx T10000, blinds of 200-400 with ante of 25 or 50. MP shortstacked with 3500 pushes in, I look down in the CO to see AK. I know i need more chips before we break at 27, so i call. I know this hand is huge bc win and i have T14000 and lose i have T 6500. Fortunately up against 4-4 and the K drops the flop and i drag a big pot. Now im fairly comfortable at T14000 and dont want to tangle to much till I can better judge the players.
Please analyze my play here.
Blinds 300-600, Ante 50 in the SB. One limper for 600, I call with QJo and the BB checks. Flop comes Q-9-4. I check, BB checks, and limper bets 1k into pot of 1800. I read this for weakness and immediately raise to 4k thinking my hand is good. BB folds and MP goes into a massive dwell. Im putting him on QK, QJ, or Q10, JJ, or 10-10 after he thinks it up. Eventually he calls and were both in the pot for 5k. Turn brings a dreaded Ace, he rolls his eyes and I check. Might have bet and scooped it considering the range of hands I put him on, he checks behind. River comes another Queen. For some idiotic reason, I check (Realize the only hands that beat me are AQ, QK, 9-9, and 6-6. Eliminate Q-9 and Q-6 from knowing the player.) He checks behind and flips up. Take a guess. But I realized I made about 4 mistakes on this hand.
You guessed it QJ. chop pot, ok better to chop than to lose.
New Table, 2nd hand with blinds of 400-800. Im in late middle and look down at AA. No one has a read on me, so I push in for T 14,000. This is obviously a move disguised as a move, hoping to be thought of as a move. Button thinks it up for approx 2 minutes, says "I dont want a race" and mucks. Folds around and i drag. I flash an ace and in retrospect tell my friend "honestly, the only way I felt I wouldnt misplay Aces was to push-in pre-flop. Id be kicking myself if I made the wrong raise, and lose with em." Ya, weak play, but almost worked to perfection. '
Nothing else of note at this table except 2 hands, get 10-10 on the button with blinds of 600-1200and ante of 100. UTG raises to 2400, UTG + 1 pushes for 9k, I muck instantly. You know it, AK vs AJ and the flop drops A-10-3. Cant win them all.
Down to 11 players, Stack approx T18k, blinds 800-1600.
Im in the BB and UTG moves in for T 18,700. I peek down at KK, ask him to count it out and say lets do it. His 77 is no match and Im up to approx 37k. The other table loses one to and we are at the final 9 with 5 of us making it.
Luckily one player only has T800 with Blinds at 1k, 2k and proceeds to lose 300 of his chips in the Race of 100 chips.
So down to 8 players with 5 of us making it. I am the chip leader with T37500, but that means little with 20 minute levels and the blinds going to 2k-4k with 500 ante, and 3k-6k with 1k ante in the next hour. I felt the levels went up far too fast, but no complaining.
We get down to 6th fairly quickly at which point the play slows incredibly as people wait to get busted. Everyone is stealing blinds and no one is willing to defend without a MONSTER. All stack sizes are fairly even, and noone wants to risk it.
BIG HAND. In the BB with 6-2 of spades folded to the small blind who calls. Flop comes 7-6-4. Check, Check. Turn brings another 6, check, check. River - 9. My friend from the first table in the small blind says, now i gotta bet. He bets 5k, i call instantly and lose to 6-4 boat. Wow, he saved me by not betting more. Or maybe I would have mucked to the straight. Who knows, but Im still alive with T24000.
Long story shorter, BB is short stack and gets in a race with AJclubs vs AK who has him covered. Flush on the river and we play on. After picking up no hands (mucked pocket 8's 3 times at the table to raises, and pocket 9's face up once in the BB). Im now the short stack in trouble with the blinds going up. I pick up 9-10 spades in the SB with blinds of 3k - 6k and a stack of 3500 after putting in my 4k for blinds and antes. Other short stack goes all-in, IM forced to call and BB mucks. He shows black QQ and i know im in trouble of being that guy. That is until the flop brings 9-10-J all diamonds. Turn is a diamond giving him more chop outs and straight outs, luckily river is the beautiful Ace of clubs and from one hand I am back up to T 24000.
Guy with QQ is unfortunately short stacked and goes all in on his small blind with Q9off against J6 hearts, 2 hearts, a Jack and a 6 later we are FINISHED!. Playing uber tight and not picking up something huge against someone elses huge hand was very helpful, but I felt so was the tight way i played. Anyone still reading, thank you and anyone with advice for the NEPC let me know!. Thanks.
So after winning the Act 2, I was registered for this past Sunday Morning ACT 3. (For those who dont know foxwoods Act system, Act 3 is a $420 + 30 multi-table tournament with one of every 12.5 players winning a seat in April's 5,000 + 200 New England Poker Classic)
On to the trip, after being extremely hungover and arriving at foxwoods at 945 for the 10AM event I proceed to register and decide breakfast from the snack bar would be a great idea. 20 minutes later with bagel in hand I make it to my table, only to be told ive missed the first 5 hands including my blinds. Not the start i was looking for.
63 Players in the Tournament.
Prize Pool: 1st - 5th - Seats in the 5k tournament, 6th - Reseat in Act 3, 7th - $10 (ya, seriously 7th place got 10 bucks for 5 hours of play).
Each player starts with 3k chips and blinds at 25-50, levels 20 minutes. I will try to remember exact blinds for hands, but may forget.
1st level - no hands played T2850
2nd level - pick up K /images/graemlins/club.gif Q /images/graemlins/club.gif in the SB and call Buttons raise to T300. Flop comes 2 /images/graemlins/club.gif 5 /images/graemlins/club.gif J /images/graemlins/diamond.gif. I check, button bets 500, I push for my remaining 2500 on a semi-bluff. Button dwells and mucks KJo face-up. Up to T3600.
Next Hand - 4 /images/graemlins/spade.gif 5 /images/graemlins/spade.gif in the BB. MP player raises to 300, no good read, but hes been playing too many hands. Flop comes Q /images/graemlins/spade.gif Q /images/graemlins/club.gif 9 /images/graemlins/club.gif . Check, Check. Turn 9 /images/graemlins/spade.gif . Check, Check. River A /images/graemlins/spade.gif . Moral of the story, even small suited connectors get lucky when they hit runner, runner flush but you still cant bet them even when they hit the river on the scariest board ever. Check, check. I win the pot with flush. T4000
3rd Level:
pick up A /images/graemlins/spade.gif 2 /images/graemlins/spade.gif in the SB and limp in. Flop comes 2 /images/graemlins/heart.gif 6 /images/graemlins/spade.gif Q /images/graemlins/heart.gif . I bet 500 into a pot of 600, BB folds, lady UTG who limped (horrible player) calls. Turn Spade, Check Check. River Spade, i Bet 1000, she calls immediately and MHIG. T - 5500.
HAND OF THE TOURNAMENT # 1
Blinds of 75 - 150. I limp along with 5 others with 5-5, speed limit, presto whatever the hell you want to call it.
SB and BB check. Flop hits 3-5-7 Rainbow. BB bets 500, I call all else fold. Turn comes a 9, completing the rainbow. BB checks, I bet 1k into a pot of 1900 (showing weakness) and BB immediately comes over me for 1700 more. Big dwell up, I have 3800 if I fold, 2100 if I lose, but approx 8k if I win. After a big dwell up, I look at my good friend in the 10 seat allow him a peek at my cards and decide. Ill nevfer forgive myself for folding this-and if he really has a straight, ill still have outs. Fortunately when I call he flips up 7-2 off and is dead. Sweet T8000.
Tighten up extremely for a few levels as blidns are raised and Ante is brought in.
BIG HAND #2
Approx T10000, blinds of 200-400 with ante of 25 or 50. MP shortstacked with 3500 pushes in, I look down in the CO to see AK. I know i need more chips before we break at 27, so i call. I know this hand is huge bc win and i have T14000 and lose i have T 6500. Fortunately up against 4-4 and the K drops the flop and i drag a big pot. Now im fairly comfortable at T14000 and dont want to tangle to much till I can better judge the players.
Please analyze my play here.
Blinds 300-600, Ante 50 in the SB. One limper for 600, I call with QJo and the BB checks. Flop comes Q-9-4. I check, BB checks, and limper bets 1k into pot of 1800. I read this for weakness and immediately raise to 4k thinking my hand is good. BB folds and MP goes into a massive dwell. Im putting him on QK, QJ, or Q10, JJ, or 10-10 after he thinks it up. Eventually he calls and were both in the pot for 5k. Turn brings a dreaded Ace, he rolls his eyes and I check. Might have bet and scooped it considering the range of hands I put him on, he checks behind. River comes another Queen. For some idiotic reason, I check (Realize the only hands that beat me are AQ, QK, 9-9, and 6-6. Eliminate Q-9 and Q-6 from knowing the player.) He checks behind and flips up. Take a guess. But I realized I made about 4 mistakes on this hand.
You guessed it QJ. chop pot, ok better to chop than to lose.
New Table, 2nd hand with blinds of 400-800. Im in late middle and look down at AA. No one has a read on me, so I push in for T 14,000. This is obviously a move disguised as a move, hoping to be thought of as a move. Button thinks it up for approx 2 minutes, says "I dont want a race" and mucks. Folds around and i drag. I flash an ace and in retrospect tell my friend "honestly, the only way I felt I wouldnt misplay Aces was to push-in pre-flop. Id be kicking myself if I made the wrong raise, and lose with em." Ya, weak play, but almost worked to perfection. '
Nothing else of note at this table except 2 hands, get 10-10 on the button with blinds of 600-1200and ante of 100. UTG raises to 2400, UTG + 1 pushes for 9k, I muck instantly. You know it, AK vs AJ and the flop drops A-10-3. Cant win them all.
Down to 11 players, Stack approx T18k, blinds 800-1600.
Im in the BB and UTG moves in for T 18,700. I peek down at KK, ask him to count it out and say lets do it. His 77 is no match and Im up to approx 37k. The other table loses one to and we are at the final 9 with 5 of us making it.
Luckily one player only has T800 with Blinds at 1k, 2k and proceeds to lose 300 of his chips in the Race of 100 chips.
So down to 8 players with 5 of us making it. I am the chip leader with T37500, but that means little with 20 minute levels and the blinds going to 2k-4k with 500 ante, and 3k-6k with 1k ante in the next hour. I felt the levels went up far too fast, but no complaining.
We get down to 6th fairly quickly at which point the play slows incredibly as people wait to get busted. Everyone is stealing blinds and no one is willing to defend without a MONSTER. All stack sizes are fairly even, and noone wants to risk it.
BIG HAND. In the BB with 6-2 of spades folded to the small blind who calls. Flop comes 7-6-4. Check, Check. Turn brings another 6, check, check. River - 9. My friend from the first table in the small blind says, now i gotta bet. He bets 5k, i call instantly and lose to 6-4 boat. Wow, he saved me by not betting more. Or maybe I would have mucked to the straight. Who knows, but Im still alive with T24000.
Long story shorter, BB is short stack and gets in a race with AJclubs vs AK who has him covered. Flush on the river and we play on. After picking up no hands (mucked pocket 8's 3 times at the table to raises, and pocket 9's face up once in the BB). Im now the short stack in trouble with the blinds going up. I pick up 9-10 spades in the SB with blinds of 3k - 6k and a stack of 3500 after putting in my 4k for blinds and antes. Other short stack goes all-in, IM forced to call and BB mucks. He shows black QQ and i know im in trouble of being that guy. That is until the flop brings 9-10-J all diamonds. Turn is a diamond giving him more chop outs and straight outs, luckily river is the beautiful Ace of clubs and from one hand I am back up to T 24000.
Guy with QQ is unfortunately short stacked and goes all in on his small blind with Q9off against J6 hearts, 2 hearts, a Jack and a 6 later we are FINISHED!. Playing uber tight and not picking up something huge against someone elses huge hand was very helpful, but I felt so was the tight way i played. Anyone still reading, thank you and anyone with advice for the NEPC let me know!. Thanks.