Sands AC 12/28 tourney (long)

Played the Sands $20+$10 R/A tourney today. Finished 5th, +$334 (and a Sands t-shirt) after entry, rebuy to start, add on, tip, and "bubble" pot.

145 players, never more than 100 at once. Usual cap is 90 but they opened a 10th table just before the start. As people got knocked out, "alternates" took their place with T500 in chips all during the first hour. That whole alternate scheme was asinine and I would have left if I wasn't seated at the start. That 10th table saved me as I was registered 99.

Blind structure wasn't bad. T500 (yes, T500) to start. T500 rebuys for $20 during hour 1 and a $20 for T1000 add on. Blinds started at $25/50 and went up slowly but antes didn't start until level 6. Levels were 20 minutes. Breaks after levels 3, 7, 10, and just prior to the final table start.

It must have been my first dealer's first day because he sucked bad. Twice forgot to use the cut card. I yelled at him the second time I saw him flashing the bottom card of the deck as he confusedly tried to sort out the preflop betting. He actually dealt the hands to the players before collecting and counting the antes - it made his bad dealing worse as the cards bounced everywhere off the green chips in front of each player.

I actually busted a guy on the first hand dealt. Limped with 33 into a 6 way pot. Hit the set on the flop, bet at the pot twice and got called, and the river gave villan his flush and me 3s full of 9s. He pushed his flush into me and I was at T2000 after the first hand. This scenario is exactly why you rebuy to start any time you choose to play in a rebuy tourney.

Cracked AA after foolishly calling a limp min reraise of my 3xBB MP raise with KTd. Flopped the straight and villan had 1/10th of his previously large stack left when he called my big river bet. Now that is implied odds in action. He even fell for my Hollywood of checking my hand after the second heart fell on the turn after we both checked the flop.

Sat next to the world's most annoying player. He went on for 10 minutes about the hand that he would have rivered a 10s full of 3s full house with the T3o he folded preflop. And then proceeded to let himself get blinded out. I was never more happy to see someone leave a poker table.

When we started the final table, we all chipped in $10 cash for 10th place (the bubble). Payout structure was very steep, only paid 9 ($145), my 5th got $434, and first was $2800.

As soon as I sat in my car afterwards my back completely tensed up - those chairs are awful and deceptively bad. The last time I played there I didn't last long enough to notice. I'm still all bound up now.