Elizabethtown KY American Legion NL Tournament Report

[Bigdaddydvo]

So the other day I see an ad in the Fort Knox newspaper pitching a $35 buy in NL tournament at the AL lodge in E-town. This was supposed to be a poker weekend off for me, as I had spent the previous 3 Sundays at the Caesars IN 10-20 tables. I had never played a live NL tourney outside of a home game, so I convinced the wife to give me a pass for Saturday night. With that, it was off to the lodge.

I showed up about 4:45 PM with first card due to be dealt at six. The juice on the tournament was $10 which seems quite steep...with a $10 fee I would have preferred the buy in be larger. But as I looked around, it was clear that the overlay the competition was offering would make the juice seem like an afterthought. I base this on the loose corelation between hairstyles and player ability, as entrants with mullets outnumbered those without a "Kentucky Waterfall" by an approximately 3-2 margin.

The next thing I noticed was the atrocious blind structure. You started with T3000 (which were the plastic Bicycle Chips you played 5 card draw with as a kid). Blinds started at 100/200 and increased by that margin every 20 minutes. So...you begin w/15 BB, and in 20 minutes it's down to 7 BB or so, and so forth. Yep, this was going to be like one of those Party speed tournaments.

81 started this thing, Top 5 pay, with first place earning close to $950. My plan was to try to double up as quickly as possible to avoid death by the blinds. They also had a curious structure. Each of the 8 tables were to play down to 2 and then consolidate to 2 tables. Unusual, but, OK. As I folded the first few hands, it was apparent that most everyone at the table knew next to nothing about Hold Em, as most flops were 5 handed at a minimum. Solid, uncreative poker would do very well in this situation. In my first blind I picked up T3o four handed. The A-T-4 flop got checked through. A 3 hit on the turn, I bet out 600 and won the pot. Up to T4000 or so now.

A few hands later with the blinds already at 200/400 there were 3 limpers. I look down at AQ of spades, figure it to be better than the crap everyone was limping with, so I pushed. All folded and I'm up over 5000.

Blinds up to 300/600 and we're down to 5 handed. Folded to me on the button and I get AA. I want action, so I minraise to 1200 and the BB who is the table chip leader calls. Flop is Q-Q-Q giving me the 2nd nuts. Check, check. Turn 7. Check, check. River is a 5, BB moves in and I instacall. He shows K high and I double up, crippling his stack. At 4 handed, a middle aged clueless dude who happened to catch some cards called an all in on the river with a 6 high busted draw (his opponent had a wheel). He then tried to say that he didn't hear the other guy push, but with the rest of the table clearly hearing "I CALL" he was out. I won one or two small pots before the table got down to 2. We were the first table to reach 2 handed, so I finished with 13,600...just over half of the chips at the table.

A few minutes later some other tables got down to 2, so the tournament director decided to hell with the original setup, and to make us begin to play 6 handed. My gripes about two other tables playing ten handed went unanswered.

6 handed was relatively uneventful. I won the blinds unanswered with a 3xBB raise with A [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]T [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] in the cutoff. Later, after 2 limpers, I limped with AJo. One more limper came, and the flop came out J-9-5. I bet 2/3 pot with the limper behind me calling, saying "I don't think you have anything). Turn is another 9. I bet 3K, planning to fold to a big raise, and he called. River is a 2. Check, check. He turns over pocket 4s and I drag a good pot. I'm at T18,000 or so.

Two more guys eventually get eliminated, so two more replaced them. I had no more hands of significance. Once one more at our table got eliminated, the entire tournament was down to ten and we began the Final Table.

I started the Final Table with about T16,000...about the 3rd shortest stack at the table. The big stack was a 25 year old dude with a shirt that said "Poker King." He came in making big raises right away with marginal hands like QJo and smacking the flop hard. He personally eliminated two players right away. I haven't played a hand yet and am beginning to feel the pressure from the blinds. Later, after 2 limpers, I limp with A [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]6 [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]. Big stack puts in a huge raise, and we're all forced to fold.

Still haven't played a hand. When we're down to six, I'm the short stack. Short stack on the bubble is absolutely no fun. Being down to 6-7x the BB now (1000/2000) I'm waiting for any playable hand to push with. I have to pass on several weak aces that I would have pushed with when the pot was raised in front of me. Finally the key hand arrives. I'm not in the pot, mind you. The guy to my right (a mullet wearing a baseball jersey) open raises, and the BB, a solid player in a cowboy hat, calls. Flop is Q-J-6. Check, check. Turn is a 7, BB moves in, and the mullet goes in the tank. He finally calls with K-T, and the BB shows 6-4 for bottom pair. The river is a beautiful Ace that completes the straight and puts me in the money!

I feel a lot more relaxed surviving the bubble and vow to play the short stack aggressively. A few hands later, it's folded to the mullet who completes in the SB. I check my 10-4o. Flop is K-Q-9 with 2 spades. Turn is a 3 of spades. Mullet checks. I don't have a spade to my name, but I sense weakness. There is 4K in the pot, I have 10K left in front of me, so I push. Mullet again goes into the tank, and a minute later says "I call." His call was with J-8o, no spades, just a gutshot. I thought about making the classic WSOP reference "HE CALLED ME WITH JACK HIGH!!!" but, whether he knew it or not, the Jack high was the best hand. I got no help for my 6 outer on the river, and I'm out in 5th which paid $105. $70 profit for 3.5 hours of work...I've certainly done worse.

In summary, the tournament was poorly run (it was their 1st one so I'm willing to cut them a break), had an awful blind structure, and included juice of about %30. My experience showed how running card dead can kill you with this type of blind structure. On the plus side, the players were so bad that the overlay became high enough to mitigate those negatives. Well, a good time for a good cause, I guess. Nice to place in my first live NL tourney, as well. Next weekend, back to the Caesars IN 10/20.

[steamboatin]

I played 10-20 at Caesars last night, Saturday and finally had a winning session at 10-20. I left up $201 after three hours of play. You would have been proud, I played tighter than a mouse's ear. I didn't fold 22 though, but I didn't make a full house either.

[Bigdaddydvo]

Very nice work on your first 10/20 victory. Tight is certainly right for 10/20, and is guaranteed to get the money almost every time. 10/20 has its share of strong players, but plenty of donators like to step up and play the stakes. The challenge is catching some cards before the donators run out of $$$$$.