A remarkable SnG (long...beware!)

[triplc]

Hi all, I just had a win that featured some of the most remarkable hands and plays. Thought I'd give a quick report.

Hands 1-14: I fold.
Hand 15: Dealt AQo in EP. I'm antsy and raise to 90 (Blinds 15/30). All fold except UTG who calls. flop comes 46Q two diamonds. UTG checks, I bet 300, UTG raises to 600. I call.
UTG pushes in, I have him covered by 100 chips or so...I fold. Down to 720 chips.

Hand 27 (25/50) : Dealt 88 on the button with 735 in chips. Couple limpers. I take a shot and push in. Called by CO with AKo. He doesn't improve and I'm up to 1645.

Hand 42: I get KQo in the BB. All fold to SB who calls. He's been very loose, so I raise to 300. He calls. I take a stab on the flop, but he calls. We check to the river and he wins with 97o and a pair of sevens against my unimproved KQo. Down to 770.

Hand 44: Dealt QQ on the button with 720 in chips. EP min-raises to 200. All fold to me. I push in and get called by the BB (who has 580 in chips). EP folds and he shows A3s. Flop OK, but turn has an A and I'm crippled.

Hand 46: Still 50/100 blinds and still with 140 in chips I push in with K9o in CO after all fold to me. Button folds, SB folds, and the BB...folds?! I double up to 290 without seeing a flop. I love it when that happens. Still breathing.

Hand 48: Dealt QQ again UTG+1 this time. UTG calls (we'll call him Hogg from now on) and I push in with my 290. All fold to Hogg. He calls for 190 with QJo. Woohoo! I more than double through and am now up to 730.

Hand 49: Dealt A8c UTG. I limp, button and two blinds both call. Flop comes T39, 1 club. Turn is a club. I call 100. River...club! I take down a 1100 chip pot, and I'm back in business with T1430.

Hand 52: Dealt 99 on the button. EP min raises to 300, I call and the BB calls and is all-in. Flop comes J96 with two clubs. I push in, hoping for AA from the EP raiser, but no dice. HE folds. Still, I take down a nice pot and am up to T1950.

Hand 61: I'm rolling now and get 77 in BB. three limpers to me, and I check. Flop comes A87. I check and shortstack pushes in for T477. I call. He's got an A, but my trips hold up. I'm at T3177, and we're 4-handed.

Fast forward to hand #88. Cold deck, ill-advised steal and a couple of missed flops translate into T752 for Cook and still 4 players at the table. Looking pretty bleak here. I push in with A8o and nobody calls. Up to T1127...

Hand 91: Getting blinded away (100/200 Ante 25) and have T777 again and push in with Q4d. Nobody calls and I am back to T1152.

Hand 93: Push all-in with 56s on a 6TJJ board. Opponent folds. T1602, and now in third place. Hogg has T8300, and is dominating. Others have T2245 and T1329.

Hand 95. Short stack pushes all-in and called by Hogg. Hogg has A8h...short stack has A7d. Hogg holds up and I limp into the money. Thank goodness. Insert heavy sigh of relief here.

Hand 99. Funniest hand of the tourney...for me anyway. I have 93c on the button. I have T1077, second place has T2370 and Hogg is T10000+. I push in, figuring this will be the last time I have a stack that warrants any respect. Folded to Hogg who think...and calls. With 85s...I have best hand. The board ends up TQ2A4 and I take the pot down with my 9 kicker....still breathing.

Hand 105. Both shorties have managed to chip away at Hogg, and the stacks stand at Hero: T3479. Other: T3190. Hogg: T6831. I have momentum, I'm playing well and...I get disconnected. I frantically try to reconnect, and I only lose my big blind and reconnect in time for hand #106.

Hand 108: Another huge hand for me. I get 46o in the BB. Hogg checks to me. Flop comes 234 with two spades. I bet 800 and he calls. Turn is the 9 of spades. We both check. River is another 3. Hogg bets 1600. A call drops me to T1300. I call and take the pot with my 4s. He had A8. I am now the chip leader with T7004.

The rest of the story is simple. I blind steal and wrangle my way to the win. From T140 to back to respectability back down to T777 late and come back to win.

Sorry for the long post, but I just had to recount this tourney for posterity. I apologize to those who don't care for this kind of post.

Good night, all.

CCC

[crockpot]

you appear to have left out the turn card in hand 15. regardless, you made a bad play calling the flop check-raise if you were not prepared to play the hand for the rest of your chips. this min-check raise is very unlikely to be a bluff, so you should either go all-in with your hand or release it if you think it isn't good. don't expect the opponent to slow down on the betting after he check-raises a big bet from you.

hand 27 is a play i probably make too often when i'm on a short stack. i'm interested to see what others think of it. of course, in party SNGs limpers can generally be assumed to have either AA, KK or a weak hand, and not AK.

hand 49 - i really don't like this limp. you have too few chips, you're out of position, and your hand is just too weak. if you're going to play, raise and try to steal the blinds.

hand 52 - i would probably fold this preflop, and i would definitely rather go all-in than flat call the raise. you're not getting odds for a set, and you won't know what to do if he bets into a flop with overcards.

[triplc]

Hand 15 - I agree wholeheartedly...I should have folded to the min raise. I thought I might sniff out a bluff, but he made a strong bet on the turn and I dropped 300 chips that I shouldn't have.

hand 27 - This was a Stars SnG, and the limper with AKo was Hogg, who, after playing several hands I began to realize that he never (ok maybe once or twice) raised regardless of his holding. What do you do with this hand...limp, release? I took a shot...and won the coin flip.

Hand 49 - the only reason I limped was that I felt I could get away with it and see a flop. At this point, the table was very passive. Still, I understand the point and don't disagree with the blind steal attempt given the shortness of my stack at the time.

Hand 52 - On this one, I will disagree. I often like to flat call min raises with middle pairs when in position when my stack can withstand it. I have been rethinking my all-in strategies lately, and with 1255 and a pair of nines, I think that calling gives me a big opportunity, and if a big flop falls I can fold it up. Can't do that by pushing all-in. I would prefer to fold this hand than call push in here. Please correct my thinking on this one if it's too cautious or simply wrong.

CCC