12-19-2005, 12:47 PM
Yesterday, I had my first amazing MTT day where I made multiple final tables, including my first win. I only play low-stakes stuff (so far) and only play a handful of tournaments a week, so a day like this was pretty shocking.
Party 99-max $6: 1st place
Party $6 turbo crapshoot, about 2500 people: 6th place
Party $11, about 2500 people: 38th place
For those who care about such things, the total take for the 3 wins was about $700, so that was a nice ROI.
Obviously the turbo paid the best, and involved the least skill, but I still definitely thrived in that due to some intelligent play once the blinds were high enough to force people all-in every hand.
Anyway, I wrote up a tournament report for my win in the 99-max, so I figured I'd post it here for feedback. Sorry it isn't formatted nicely, but I wrote it for my blog and don't have time to fix all the hand notation today.
Hand 1:
About 30 mins in, I've got 1150, blinds 10/20, I get AKo in LP. A few limpers ahead of me, so I make a big raise to 150 to thin the field. The player directly behind me goes all-in for 800. I had a strong read on her that she didn't need a good hand to make big bets, as I'd seen her do it many times. I figured I was a coinflip at worst, and possibly ahead, getting decent enough odds. I call, she shows KJ and rivers a jack to suck out. Down to 335.
Hand 2:
Level 3, table about to break up. Blinds 15/30. I get AQo in the SB. UTG and UTG+1 limp, UTG+2 minraises (didn't scare me, he'd done this a lot). Folded to the button who calls the raise. I push all-in. limpers fold, raiser folds, button calls with KQ. I've got him beat and the board holds up, actually got trip aces. I'm up to 780 and we move to new tables.
Hand 3:
I still need to make a move, my stack is well below average. We're at level 4, blinds 25/50, I've got 660 left after paying a few blinds. Folded to me, I push all-in with 88. Called by AJo from the button, I win the race, up to 1395, still below average but a lot healthier.
Hand 4:
A little blind play here, blind still at 25/50. I get 86s in the BB, I'm around 1200. Folded to SB, he completes. board comes A45, 2 cards in my suit, giving me a flush draw and gutshot straight draw. SB checks to me. I decide he hasnt show much interest and take a shot, betting 250 on a bluff, SB folds. Up to 1500.
hand 5:
My favorite hand of the day. Wasn't a hard one to play, but I was happy that I extracted so much out of it. I get 2s3s in the SB. UTG limps. I decide to complete since the blinds were still low (50/100) and the BB behind me was fairly passive. I limp, BB checks. Flop comes out and it's payday for me, A45 flop, rainbow. I flopped the nuts with my wheel straight.
So I check the flop, hoping BB or UTG (loose aggressive player) will take a shot and I can let them rope themselves in. BB checks, and UTG bets 150. Good boy, UTG. I call with a perfect chance to slowplay. Even better, BB calls too.
Turn brings a K, completing the rainbow. I check again, and this time the BB bets 150 and UTG calls the bet. This was a really small bet into a 900 chip pot, and I really wanted to raise, but I decided to keep it playing 3 ways, hoping at least one of them would get a hand they wanted to showdown. I call.
River brings another K, making there an off chance that someone made a boat, but I didn't expect that, given the way the hand played. I figured I was up against an ace and/or trip kings. SB leads again, this time he bets 300. BB folds and I pop all-in, of course, for my last 1020. the other player pretty much has to call, and he does, showing an ace for two pair. I'm up to 3390, above average, just as the table closes. Not only did I get a great hand, I then got moved so I didn't have to play against the guys who just got a read on me.
Hand 6:
I've got 3165 with the blinds at 75/150. Loose player raises to 600 from UTG+1. I call with KQo from the BB. Flop comes KT4, 2 hearts, I didn't have any hearts. Against this player, I'm pretty sure I have the best hand and pretty sure he'll continuation bet if I let him. I check, he bets 800, i reraise to 1600, and he folds quickly. Up to 4640, decently above average.
Hand 7:
Shortly later, blinds still 75/150, I have T6o on the button. Folded to me, I want to see how much these blinds will fight me. I raise to 450. SB, who was a tight player (god bless people who use the check/fold box in the blinds), raises to 925. BB folds, and I fold as well, but remind myself that I need to keep attacking that SB. Down to 4115.
Hand 8:
Few hands later, blinds up to 100/200. UTG+2 raises to 1200. that was too big of a raise for a premium pair, so I figured he was on AK or AQ, possibly TT/QQ, smaller chance of KK/AA. I barely had him covered, but I decided I'd be happy to take the good side of a coinflip. I pushed all-in from MP and it was folded back to the raiser. he had to call another 2500, so it wasn't totally trivial, but he called with AQ and my JJ held up. Up to almost 8000 chips and I'm just a few behind the tournament leader.
Hand 9:
I'm starting to bully a little with the big stack and stole a few blinds, now up to 8500. blinds 100/200. I get AKo in LP. Smallish (2000) stack raises to 400. Another small stack (1750) raises all-in. None of the players left behind me have significant stacks, so I push all-in. Blinds fold, and the original raiser folds, which surprised me. Smallstack shows TT and he wins he race. down to 6730.
Hand 10:
I was not happy with this hand. I should have gotten more out of it. i get Js3h in the big blind, blinds 100/200. Folded to the button who calls with 4500 chips behind. SB folds, I check. Flop comes out 334, 2 diamonds. Opponent is semi-loose, so I check to him, hoping that he'll lead. He overbets the 500 chip pot with 600, trying to deny the flush draw I suppose, probably a smallish overpair. I call, thinking this is a good slowplay chance. Turn brings a 6c. I start worrying about the straight/boat too, since this opponent just called on the button, he could have anything. He bets 500 into a pot of 1700, and I'm debating how much to raise. I decide there's a reasonable chance he'll call an all-in bet with a worse hand and I push. He folds. I probably could have extracted more. In either case, I'm up to 8130.
Hand 11:
I'm up to 9080, having bought some blinds. Blinds 150/300. I get J9o in the BB. Semi-loose smallstack goes all-in for 1444 from the button. He could have any 2 with that push. SB calls with a stack almost as big as mine. I decide to call as well. We're down to under 20 players, top 10 paid, so knocking one out here could make a difference, and both of these 2 players could really have anything. I'm certainly not ahead, but I could easily have 2 live cards. I call and me the other big stack check it down thru all 3 streets: flop K32, turn K, river A. Small-stack is knocked out with A3o, other big stack wins with A7o. down to 7636.
Hand 12:
After some blind steals (including a resteal from BB with 23o when the other big stack only completed from the SB--i wanted to see what his completion meant), I'm up to 8286. Blinds at 200/400. I get dealt 2 beautiful black aces and raise to 1000. I'd been starting to vary my raise amounts a lot more between 2.5 BB and 3.5 BB, so this smallish raise wasn't going to throw any red flags. The SB with a big stack (17000) calls.
Flop comes 836, rainbow. Perfect. Even better, SB leads for 700. He must have something decent, probably a pair better than 8's, maybe AK. I figure he can withstand a little more agro. I min re-raise to 1400, and he calls. Pot is now juicy at 5200. Turn is a scare card, another 8. On the off chance that he had 78/89/A8, I could be in trouble, but those hands don't make sense here. But he tries to push me off again, betting 1400. With a diamond draw on the board, I decided to push. I reraised all-in for my last 6000. calling would have left my opponent with a solid stack size, so he could afford the call. But he thinks a while and folds. I'm up to 12486 and in good shape with about 12 players left.
Hand 13:
We make the final table, and thus we're in the money, but the total prize pool is real small, so this is more for pride than money, at least for me. All 10 of us left will get paid. Blinds 300/600. I'm at 12086. Very loose big stack (18544, chip leader) who'd been minraising a lot minraises in MP. I call from the BB with 57o, wanting to look up this other big stack and see what he's about. Flop comes 972, rainbow. pot is 2700, i bet 1600. A little small, but I thought it would work, and it did. Big stack folded, I'm up to 13586.
Hand 14:
Next hand, blinds still 300/600. moderate stack calls from LP with 4000 behind. i take a flier on A5o from the SB. Flop is A62, I bet 1200 into the 1800 chip pot and opponent folds. 14786 now.
Hand 15:
Play had been very passive so far. at 13886 to start, blinds 300/600 still, I get AQo on the button. UTG and UTG+1 limp. i raise 4xBB. Blinds fold and the UTG limper goes all-in for about 5000 more. UTG+1 thinks a while and folds. It's 5000 to me to call to win about 10000, so I need 2:1 odds. I figure i'm on a coinflip, didn't really expect AK, KK, or QQ from the UTG limper. Well, he had limped AK, so I was in bad shape and AK held up. Loss took me down to 6496, still plenty of chips, but a big hurt nonetheless.
Hand 16:
Up to 7996 from buying a few blinds with good hands (TT, QQ). We're 9-handed. blinds are now 400/800. I get AKo in EP. I raise to 2400. smallstack with 3785 total goes all-in, I call, he shows AJ, and my AK holds up. Back up to 12181, and down to 8 players.
Hand 17:
Small semi-suckout. I've got 11381 and we're 7 handed. I'm 1 off the button and get A7o, it's folded to me. I make my standard raise to 2400 trying to buy the blinds. Button behind me has a tiny stack and pushes all-in for 1500. Folded around, he shows AK. I flop a 7 and a pair of 7's is good. Up to 14101, down to 7 players.
Hand 18:
I was the dope here. Blinds still 400/800, I get QJo in the BB, 6-handed. 1 semi-tight player limps UTG and the loose bigstack limps in MP. I check. Flop comes KJ9, so I've got middle pair with a decent kicker, but I don't like it given the tight UTG limper. I check, both other check. Turn brings a 2. I want to see if my jacks are good, so I bet 2000 into the 2800 pot. UTG calls. river is an A, no flush draw. I check and UTG bets 1800. the price is right, and he could have a few hands that I'd beat, so I call, getting about 3.5:1. Probably a loose call, especially against a semi-tight player, and he actually had QT and had flopped a straight. ouch. down to 10701.
Hand 19:
5-handed now. Fun hand. I've got 11901 from some blind buys and I'm dealt TT in the SB. blinds 400/800 still. Button (semi big stack I tangled with a while ago) raises to 2800 with plenty behind to have me covered. He's raised a lot of hands, and I think I have him beat or I'm a coinflip at worst. He also didn't give me credit for hands a few times before. On the hand where i had AA, he said "bs" after my big turn bet. He thinks for a while and calls. He shows 99 and I'm in great shape. A little scare when the flop came 568, giving him a gutshot straight, but my tens held up. Up to 24602, now 2nd in chips.
Hand 20:
Jackpot hand number 2. One player I hadn't tangled with much had the chip lead with about 40000, I've got 23602. Blinds 500/1000. I'm dealt 2 black Kings in the SB. Chip leader minraises, which he'd done a lot, but I hadn't seen him show down much trash. I put in a healthy reraise to 4000, which he called. Flop comes K98, rainbow. I wanted to try and rope-a-dope him, so I lay out a very small probe bet at 2000, hoping he'd raise. He took the bait and raised to 7500, and I reraised all-in, figuring he'd call for 10000 more. He did, and showed KQ. My hand held up and I suddenly had 48204 and the chip lead. Funny enough, on the very next hand, the previous chip leader busted out when he called an all-in on the flop with second pair and lost to a pair of eights, going from a huge chip lead to out of the tournament in 2 hands.
Hand 21:
Blinds still 500/1000, I've got 48204, another player has 34138, and there are 2 smaller stacks, 4-handed. I get QJs UTG and raise to 3500 on a blind buy attempt. One small stack goes the all-in for 6007 total, I call. He shows 67s. He flops a 6 and makes a runner runner straight to win the hand. I'm down to 42197.
Hand 22:
Bad time for a move. I'm down to 36197 from blinds, and we're 3-handed. The big stack who I tangled with many times is the chip leader with 44830, I'm at 36197, and the smaller stack has 17973. I've noticed that 3 or 4 times, when I made a reasonable PF raise on a steal, he reraised all-in. I had a hand this time where I was willing to go to the felt. So I intentionally minraised, which I hadn't done all day, to try and get him to either fold (thinking I had a monster) or make a move (thinking I was weak). He moved all-in, I called, and he woke up with QQ. I didn't catch an ace and suddenly I was down to 18224, but still had plenty of chips to work with.
Hand 23:
I aggressively stole blinds and got up to 21724. I'm dealt 99 in the SB. My favorite big-stack pal limps on the button. There hasn't been much limping since we got 3-handed, so he's either got a monster or something marginal and really wants to see a flop. I figure this is gonna be a good chance to buy his limp and take a coinflip at the worst. I push all-in. BB folds, and after a lot of thinking, SB calls and shows 44. I'm in great shape.
And then this happens:
Flop: 552 (ok, awesome, fantastic)
Turn: 4 (ack ack ack ack ack ack)
River: 5 (saved the day!)
I win with 5's full of 9's, beating his 5's full of 4's. I'm up to 44448 and back in the lead.
Hand 24:
Interesting hand. blinds 500/1000, I've got 44948 in the lead, the guy I tangled with a lot in 3rd at 20000, and the other guy at 33446. I get AQc on the button and raise to 3000. 2nd place guy calls from the SB, other guy folds.
Board comes K54, 2 hearts. I didn't really have any sort of read on this guy yet, we hadn't been in many pots together. He checks to me. I decided to vary my line and not continuation bet, which I had been doing all day when I had the chance. I check. Turn is Qs, pairing my queen. Opponent bets 2200 into a pot of 6500, and i raise to 5000. He calls the raise, which worries me that he might have a weak king. He could also have an open-ended straight draw, flush draw, or a weaker queen. River is an 8s and he checks. I think I'm ahead, but there's enough chance that I'm not that I decide to just check it down. Opponent shows JTc for an open-ended straight draw that didn't fill up. I win 17000 chips and my stack is up to 53948.
The guy I tangled with a lot is knocked out in 3rd when he calls an all-in preflop from the other guy with 78o and was beat by QJs. God knows what he was doing calling that all-in. In either case, we're now heads up. I have a small lead, 51698 to 47302. Opponent asks if I want to deal, and I decline, the prize pool was pretty small and I just wanted to say I won one of these.
Heads up:
Didn't last too long. He was very aggressive. I wasn't getting great cards and was having trouble outplaying him. He kept pushing all-in and I didn't want to take the dumb side of a coinflip or worse. Blinds were 750/1500 for the entire heads up session.
Here's most of the hands, there were a few others where it just went fold or raise/fold.
1. I raise to 3250 with K9o, opponent goes all-in for 46000, I fold.
2. He completes, I check the BB with 93o. Flop is K86, both check. river is Ts and I bet 2500 into 3000 chip pot, he folds.
3. He minraises to 3000, I call with 56o. Board comes Q84, giving me a gutshot. I check, he bets 3500, I think for a bit and fold.
4. I get 27c and raise to 3500. he calls. Flop comes T95, rainbow. He pushes all-in, I fold.
5. I get AJo. he raises to 3200, I push all-in for 40000, he folds.
6. I minraise with 45o, trying to see how he'll react. He calls. Flop is K92, 2 spades. We both check the flop, I thought about a bet, but decided to hold off. Turn is T, non-spade, he goes all-in, I fold.
7. He's got about 58000, I have 41000. He pushes all-in. I have A7o. I know from his play so far that he doesn't need a premium hand to push and I think there's a very good chance that I'm the right side of a coinflip. I decide to gamble and I'm right, he has KJo. Board comes out with a lot of bricks and high card ace wins it. I've now got 82000, he's got 17000.
8. He's pushing basically every hand that I don't, so I decide to use it to my advantage. I get 99 and limp, he pushes, and I call. He shows QJs and I've got the good side of the coinflip...but he wins it when the board comes KQJ78. Now i've got about 70000 to his 30000.
The last hand:
I have J5s. he limps, I check. Board comes out KJ7, rainbow. I lead out 3000 with 2nd pair, garbage kicker. He goes all-in for about 25000 more. I think about it a while and decide to call. Even if I lose, I've still got plenty left to come back. And I really don't think this flop has me beat since he just limped preflop.
And he shows J6. ouch, I'm in bad, bad shape.
Turn is a beautiful, gorgeous 5.
River is a brick.
I suck it out for my first MTT win!
Party 99-max $6: 1st place
Party $6 turbo crapshoot, about 2500 people: 6th place
Party $11, about 2500 people: 38th place
For those who care about such things, the total take for the 3 wins was about $700, so that was a nice ROI.
Obviously the turbo paid the best, and involved the least skill, but I still definitely thrived in that due to some intelligent play once the blinds were high enough to force people all-in every hand.
Anyway, I wrote up a tournament report for my win in the 99-max, so I figured I'd post it here for feedback. Sorry it isn't formatted nicely, but I wrote it for my blog and don't have time to fix all the hand notation today.
Hand 1:
About 30 mins in, I've got 1150, blinds 10/20, I get AKo in LP. A few limpers ahead of me, so I make a big raise to 150 to thin the field. The player directly behind me goes all-in for 800. I had a strong read on her that she didn't need a good hand to make big bets, as I'd seen her do it many times. I figured I was a coinflip at worst, and possibly ahead, getting decent enough odds. I call, she shows KJ and rivers a jack to suck out. Down to 335.
Hand 2:
Level 3, table about to break up. Blinds 15/30. I get AQo in the SB. UTG and UTG+1 limp, UTG+2 minraises (didn't scare me, he'd done this a lot). Folded to the button who calls the raise. I push all-in. limpers fold, raiser folds, button calls with KQ. I've got him beat and the board holds up, actually got trip aces. I'm up to 780 and we move to new tables.
Hand 3:
I still need to make a move, my stack is well below average. We're at level 4, blinds 25/50, I've got 660 left after paying a few blinds. Folded to me, I push all-in with 88. Called by AJo from the button, I win the race, up to 1395, still below average but a lot healthier.
Hand 4:
A little blind play here, blind still at 25/50. I get 86s in the BB, I'm around 1200. Folded to SB, he completes. board comes A45, 2 cards in my suit, giving me a flush draw and gutshot straight draw. SB checks to me. I decide he hasnt show much interest and take a shot, betting 250 on a bluff, SB folds. Up to 1500.
hand 5:
My favorite hand of the day. Wasn't a hard one to play, but I was happy that I extracted so much out of it. I get 2s3s in the SB. UTG limps. I decide to complete since the blinds were still low (50/100) and the BB behind me was fairly passive. I limp, BB checks. Flop comes out and it's payday for me, A45 flop, rainbow. I flopped the nuts with my wheel straight.
So I check the flop, hoping BB or UTG (loose aggressive player) will take a shot and I can let them rope themselves in. BB checks, and UTG bets 150. Good boy, UTG. I call with a perfect chance to slowplay. Even better, BB calls too.
Turn brings a K, completing the rainbow. I check again, and this time the BB bets 150 and UTG calls the bet. This was a really small bet into a 900 chip pot, and I really wanted to raise, but I decided to keep it playing 3 ways, hoping at least one of them would get a hand they wanted to showdown. I call.
River brings another K, making there an off chance that someone made a boat, but I didn't expect that, given the way the hand played. I figured I was up against an ace and/or trip kings. SB leads again, this time he bets 300. BB folds and I pop all-in, of course, for my last 1020. the other player pretty much has to call, and he does, showing an ace for two pair. I'm up to 3390, above average, just as the table closes. Not only did I get a great hand, I then got moved so I didn't have to play against the guys who just got a read on me.
Hand 6:
I've got 3165 with the blinds at 75/150. Loose player raises to 600 from UTG+1. I call with KQo from the BB. Flop comes KT4, 2 hearts, I didn't have any hearts. Against this player, I'm pretty sure I have the best hand and pretty sure he'll continuation bet if I let him. I check, he bets 800, i reraise to 1600, and he folds quickly. Up to 4640, decently above average.
Hand 7:
Shortly later, blinds still 75/150, I have T6o on the button. Folded to me, I want to see how much these blinds will fight me. I raise to 450. SB, who was a tight player (god bless people who use the check/fold box in the blinds), raises to 925. BB folds, and I fold as well, but remind myself that I need to keep attacking that SB. Down to 4115.
Hand 8:
Few hands later, blinds up to 100/200. UTG+2 raises to 1200. that was too big of a raise for a premium pair, so I figured he was on AK or AQ, possibly TT/QQ, smaller chance of KK/AA. I barely had him covered, but I decided I'd be happy to take the good side of a coinflip. I pushed all-in from MP and it was folded back to the raiser. he had to call another 2500, so it wasn't totally trivial, but he called with AQ and my JJ held up. Up to almost 8000 chips and I'm just a few behind the tournament leader.
Hand 9:
I'm starting to bully a little with the big stack and stole a few blinds, now up to 8500. blinds 100/200. I get AKo in LP. Smallish (2000) stack raises to 400. Another small stack (1750) raises all-in. None of the players left behind me have significant stacks, so I push all-in. Blinds fold, and the original raiser folds, which surprised me. Smallstack shows TT and he wins he race. down to 6730.
Hand 10:
I was not happy with this hand. I should have gotten more out of it. i get Js3h in the big blind, blinds 100/200. Folded to the button who calls with 4500 chips behind. SB folds, I check. Flop comes out 334, 2 diamonds. Opponent is semi-loose, so I check to him, hoping that he'll lead. He overbets the 500 chip pot with 600, trying to deny the flush draw I suppose, probably a smallish overpair. I call, thinking this is a good slowplay chance. Turn brings a 6c. I start worrying about the straight/boat too, since this opponent just called on the button, he could have anything. He bets 500 into a pot of 1700, and I'm debating how much to raise. I decide there's a reasonable chance he'll call an all-in bet with a worse hand and I push. He folds. I probably could have extracted more. In either case, I'm up to 8130.
Hand 11:
I'm up to 9080, having bought some blinds. Blinds 150/300. I get J9o in the BB. Semi-loose smallstack goes all-in for 1444 from the button. He could have any 2 with that push. SB calls with a stack almost as big as mine. I decide to call as well. We're down to under 20 players, top 10 paid, so knocking one out here could make a difference, and both of these 2 players could really have anything. I'm certainly not ahead, but I could easily have 2 live cards. I call and me the other big stack check it down thru all 3 streets: flop K32, turn K, river A. Small-stack is knocked out with A3o, other big stack wins with A7o. down to 7636.
Hand 12:
After some blind steals (including a resteal from BB with 23o when the other big stack only completed from the SB--i wanted to see what his completion meant), I'm up to 8286. Blinds at 200/400. I get dealt 2 beautiful black aces and raise to 1000. I'd been starting to vary my raise amounts a lot more between 2.5 BB and 3.5 BB, so this smallish raise wasn't going to throw any red flags. The SB with a big stack (17000) calls.
Flop comes 836, rainbow. Perfect. Even better, SB leads for 700. He must have something decent, probably a pair better than 8's, maybe AK. I figure he can withstand a little more agro. I min re-raise to 1400, and he calls. Pot is now juicy at 5200. Turn is a scare card, another 8. On the off chance that he had 78/89/A8, I could be in trouble, but those hands don't make sense here. But he tries to push me off again, betting 1400. With a diamond draw on the board, I decided to push. I reraised all-in for my last 6000. calling would have left my opponent with a solid stack size, so he could afford the call. But he thinks a while and folds. I'm up to 12486 and in good shape with about 12 players left.
Hand 13:
We make the final table, and thus we're in the money, but the total prize pool is real small, so this is more for pride than money, at least for me. All 10 of us left will get paid. Blinds 300/600. I'm at 12086. Very loose big stack (18544, chip leader) who'd been minraising a lot minraises in MP. I call from the BB with 57o, wanting to look up this other big stack and see what he's about. Flop comes 972, rainbow. pot is 2700, i bet 1600. A little small, but I thought it would work, and it did. Big stack folded, I'm up to 13586.
Hand 14:
Next hand, blinds still 300/600. moderate stack calls from LP with 4000 behind. i take a flier on A5o from the SB. Flop is A62, I bet 1200 into the 1800 chip pot and opponent folds. 14786 now.
Hand 15:
Play had been very passive so far. at 13886 to start, blinds 300/600 still, I get AQo on the button. UTG and UTG+1 limp. i raise 4xBB. Blinds fold and the UTG limper goes all-in for about 5000 more. UTG+1 thinks a while and folds. It's 5000 to me to call to win about 10000, so I need 2:1 odds. I figure i'm on a coinflip, didn't really expect AK, KK, or QQ from the UTG limper. Well, he had limped AK, so I was in bad shape and AK held up. Loss took me down to 6496, still plenty of chips, but a big hurt nonetheless.
Hand 16:
Up to 7996 from buying a few blinds with good hands (TT, QQ). We're 9-handed. blinds are now 400/800. I get AKo in EP. I raise to 2400. smallstack with 3785 total goes all-in, I call, he shows AJ, and my AK holds up. Back up to 12181, and down to 8 players.
Hand 17:
Small semi-suckout. I've got 11381 and we're 7 handed. I'm 1 off the button and get A7o, it's folded to me. I make my standard raise to 2400 trying to buy the blinds. Button behind me has a tiny stack and pushes all-in for 1500. Folded around, he shows AK. I flop a 7 and a pair of 7's is good. Up to 14101, down to 7 players.
Hand 18:
I was the dope here. Blinds still 400/800, I get QJo in the BB, 6-handed. 1 semi-tight player limps UTG and the loose bigstack limps in MP. I check. Flop comes KJ9, so I've got middle pair with a decent kicker, but I don't like it given the tight UTG limper. I check, both other check. Turn brings a 2. I want to see if my jacks are good, so I bet 2000 into the 2800 pot. UTG calls. river is an A, no flush draw. I check and UTG bets 1800. the price is right, and he could have a few hands that I'd beat, so I call, getting about 3.5:1. Probably a loose call, especially against a semi-tight player, and he actually had QT and had flopped a straight. ouch. down to 10701.
Hand 19:
5-handed now. Fun hand. I've got 11901 from some blind buys and I'm dealt TT in the SB. blinds 400/800 still. Button (semi big stack I tangled with a while ago) raises to 2800 with plenty behind to have me covered. He's raised a lot of hands, and I think I have him beat or I'm a coinflip at worst. He also didn't give me credit for hands a few times before. On the hand where i had AA, he said "bs" after my big turn bet. He thinks for a while and calls. He shows 99 and I'm in great shape. A little scare when the flop came 568, giving him a gutshot straight, but my tens held up. Up to 24602, now 2nd in chips.
Hand 20:
Jackpot hand number 2. One player I hadn't tangled with much had the chip lead with about 40000, I've got 23602. Blinds 500/1000. I'm dealt 2 black Kings in the SB. Chip leader minraises, which he'd done a lot, but I hadn't seen him show down much trash. I put in a healthy reraise to 4000, which he called. Flop comes K98, rainbow. I wanted to try and rope-a-dope him, so I lay out a very small probe bet at 2000, hoping he'd raise. He took the bait and raised to 7500, and I reraised all-in, figuring he'd call for 10000 more. He did, and showed KQ. My hand held up and I suddenly had 48204 and the chip lead. Funny enough, on the very next hand, the previous chip leader busted out when he called an all-in on the flop with second pair and lost to a pair of eights, going from a huge chip lead to out of the tournament in 2 hands.
Hand 21:
Blinds still 500/1000, I've got 48204, another player has 34138, and there are 2 smaller stacks, 4-handed. I get QJs UTG and raise to 3500 on a blind buy attempt. One small stack goes the all-in for 6007 total, I call. He shows 67s. He flops a 6 and makes a runner runner straight to win the hand. I'm down to 42197.
Hand 22:
Bad time for a move. I'm down to 36197 from blinds, and we're 3-handed. The big stack who I tangled with many times is the chip leader with 44830, I'm at 36197, and the smaller stack has 17973. I've noticed that 3 or 4 times, when I made a reasonable PF raise on a steal, he reraised all-in. I had a hand this time where I was willing to go to the felt. So I intentionally minraised, which I hadn't done all day, to try and get him to either fold (thinking I had a monster) or make a move (thinking I was weak). He moved all-in, I called, and he woke up with QQ. I didn't catch an ace and suddenly I was down to 18224, but still had plenty of chips to work with.
Hand 23:
I aggressively stole blinds and got up to 21724. I'm dealt 99 in the SB. My favorite big-stack pal limps on the button. There hasn't been much limping since we got 3-handed, so he's either got a monster or something marginal and really wants to see a flop. I figure this is gonna be a good chance to buy his limp and take a coinflip at the worst. I push all-in. BB folds, and after a lot of thinking, SB calls and shows 44. I'm in great shape.
And then this happens:
Flop: 552 (ok, awesome, fantastic)
Turn: 4 (ack ack ack ack ack ack)
River: 5 (saved the day!)
I win with 5's full of 9's, beating his 5's full of 4's. I'm up to 44448 and back in the lead.
Hand 24:
Interesting hand. blinds 500/1000, I've got 44948 in the lead, the guy I tangled with a lot in 3rd at 20000, and the other guy at 33446. I get AQc on the button and raise to 3000. 2nd place guy calls from the SB, other guy folds.
Board comes K54, 2 hearts. I didn't really have any sort of read on this guy yet, we hadn't been in many pots together. He checks to me. I decided to vary my line and not continuation bet, which I had been doing all day when I had the chance. I check. Turn is Qs, pairing my queen. Opponent bets 2200 into a pot of 6500, and i raise to 5000. He calls the raise, which worries me that he might have a weak king. He could also have an open-ended straight draw, flush draw, or a weaker queen. River is an 8s and he checks. I think I'm ahead, but there's enough chance that I'm not that I decide to just check it down. Opponent shows JTc for an open-ended straight draw that didn't fill up. I win 17000 chips and my stack is up to 53948.
The guy I tangled with a lot is knocked out in 3rd when he calls an all-in preflop from the other guy with 78o and was beat by QJs. God knows what he was doing calling that all-in. In either case, we're now heads up. I have a small lead, 51698 to 47302. Opponent asks if I want to deal, and I decline, the prize pool was pretty small and I just wanted to say I won one of these.
Heads up:
Didn't last too long. He was very aggressive. I wasn't getting great cards and was having trouble outplaying him. He kept pushing all-in and I didn't want to take the dumb side of a coinflip or worse. Blinds were 750/1500 for the entire heads up session.
Here's most of the hands, there were a few others where it just went fold or raise/fold.
1. I raise to 3250 with K9o, opponent goes all-in for 46000, I fold.
2. He completes, I check the BB with 93o. Flop is K86, both check. river is Ts and I bet 2500 into 3000 chip pot, he folds.
3. He minraises to 3000, I call with 56o. Board comes Q84, giving me a gutshot. I check, he bets 3500, I think for a bit and fold.
4. I get 27c and raise to 3500. he calls. Flop comes T95, rainbow. He pushes all-in, I fold.
5. I get AJo. he raises to 3200, I push all-in for 40000, he folds.
6. I minraise with 45o, trying to see how he'll react. He calls. Flop is K92, 2 spades. We both check the flop, I thought about a bet, but decided to hold off. Turn is T, non-spade, he goes all-in, I fold.
7. He's got about 58000, I have 41000. He pushes all-in. I have A7o. I know from his play so far that he doesn't need a premium hand to push and I think there's a very good chance that I'm the right side of a coinflip. I decide to gamble and I'm right, he has KJo. Board comes out with a lot of bricks and high card ace wins it. I've now got 82000, he's got 17000.
8. He's pushing basically every hand that I don't, so I decide to use it to my advantage. I get 99 and limp, he pushes, and I call. He shows QJs and I've got the good side of the coinflip...but he wins it when the board comes KQJ78. Now i've got about 70000 to his 30000.
The last hand:
I have J5s. he limps, I check. Board comes out KJ7, rainbow. I lead out 3000 with 2nd pair, garbage kicker. He goes all-in for about 25000 more. I think about it a while and decide to call. Even if I lose, I've still got plenty left to come back. And I really don't think this flop has me beat since he just limped preflop.
And he shows J6. ouch, I'm in bad, bad shape.
Turn is a beautiful, gorgeous 5.
River is a brick.
I suck it out for my first MTT win!