Tournament Report - My First Super (Way too long)

[Harv72b]

So I'm coming up on my 1-year anniversary as a small/mid-stakes LHE player, and lately I've gotten the tournament bug. I've been watching a lot of the Supers and feeling like I could probably hold my own in them, but bankroll was a problem--most of my roll is currently sitting on the Empire skin, and the entry fee for last night's Super tournament represented about 25% of my cash on Party (I'd decided about a month ago to get back to my roots & build a new bankroll from scratch on that skin). I'd tried a couple of satellites but kept coming up just short, so I finally decided about 30 mins before the registration closed that I was going to play one game of spider solitaire (4 suit, of course); if I won that game, I'd enter the Super. I won that game. This tournament report is going to be most useful, if it's useful at all, for other MTT noobs who are just starting out in the big ones.

Level 1

I generally go with a very tight/aggressive line in the first couple levels of a tournament, overraising with my premuim hands and not playing very many borderline hands unless I can get in for cheap on the button. For this tournament, I decided to modify that a bit by taking more chances with my premuim hands instead of trying to push people out, my thinking being that I'd rather double up & risk the chance of busting out early than just pick up a lot of small pots. This strategy came into play on the second hand of the tournament, when I found AcQs in MP1. UTG limped, UTG+2 raised it up to 2xBB, and I called the raise right behind him. SB & limper call, 4 to the flop for t150. Flop comes J82, 2 clubs, checked around. The turn brings the 3c, checked to UTG+2 who makes an "I've got a flush draw" bet of 2/5 the pot, I call, others fold. River is the Tc, UTG+2 bets 300 into a 270 pot, I take my time "thinking about it", push my remaining 910 chips into the pot, and he insta-calls with KcQd, then bemoans his terrible luck for running into the Ac. Just like that I'm at t2070. The rest of the level was fairly uneventful. I picked up a small pot with a resteal from the SB holding AJo, had it folded to me in the BB holding KQo, and won half of a small 3-way pot with a 1-card straight. At the end of level 1 I've got t2210 & the rest of the table is is giving me a lot of leeway.

Level 2
Completely uneventful. I pick up the blinds with AKs & move to level 3 with t2220.

Level 3
I started to take advantage of my tight table image here, taking down a good-sized pot with 66 UI vs. a PFR on an A-high board; he makes a 1/2 pot continuation bet on the A29 rainbow flop after it's checked to him 3-handed, I call to reevaluate on the turn. He checks through HU on a 4h turn, I bet t350 (half his stack) into a t635 pot after the 3h shows on the river, putting a 4-straight & 3-flush on the board, he folds. I win a t120 pot by betting the pot on the button with 9 high after KJ3 flop. I finish the level by dumping t225 betting A high in a blind battle; he calls down with a pair of eights. t2380 at the end of level 3, and my confidence is rising.

Level 4
Level 4 is where I like to turn it up a notch, being more aggressive in blind steals & resteals and playing a few more junk hands on the button in unraised pots. This results in some good with some bad--I double up a short stack after raising first-in with A8s from MP1 (he's got ATs), but I pick up about t2000 when my QQ holds up against JJ, and add another t175 with A7o in a blind battle. t3562 at the end of the level.

Level 5
I'm pretty much card dead on this level, stealing the blinds with an ATo and picking up a pot with a turn semibluff on an A-high flush draw with A8s. The only noteworthy hand is a 77 that I misplay pretty badly. I raise to 3xBB from MP1, called by the SB. 2 to the flop for t700, the flop comes 86T rainbow. SB checks, I bet t600, she calls (her stack is just a little shorter than mine). Turn is the 3c and I check through, figuring that I'm either ahead of overcards/a smaller pocket pair or behind a passively played overpair or 99--I should have fired again but I figure I'll try to induce a bluff by a worse hand on the river. River is the Kc, putting a 3-flush on the board and I check through and lose to AKo. Down to t3012 at the end of the level.

Level 6
I get moved to a new table & immediately pick up the blinds with 76s from the button, and then things get ugly. I raise to 2xBB from the hijack with A4o (mistake #1) and am called by the CO (he has about t300 less than me). Flop comes 473r and I bet 750 (mistake #2) into the 825 pot with bottom pair, he immediately pushes. I think it over for a long time and finally fold, figuring that he's going to have an overpair to my fours at least as often as he's bluffing AK/AQ; this costs me 1/3 of my stack. I pick up a few more blinds but end the level at t1962.

Level 7
We've still got plenty of people to go before the money, and that's in my mind when I'm down to t1162 & it's folded to me on the button with 22. I push and immediately get called by the SB with AKo. For the first time since the Earth cooled, I win a race and double up. The rest of the level is just blind steals, and I go on to level 8 with t2964.

Level 8
I steal more blinds than I lose, and finish with t3189.

Level 9
I get moved to a new table and am less than thrilled to see Gamboholic_ sitting across the table from me. I fold K5o UTG and a medium-sized stack attacks the blinds from MP3. The BB pushes for about t900 more, and turns over AsQh vs. MP3's KcJd. Both players pair their kickers on a Qs3cJs flop, MP3 improves to 2 pair when the Ks shows on the turn, and BB catches the royal with a river Ts. First time I've seen one in a tournament. On the very next hand I'm in the BB with AhQh, folded to the button who raises to 2.5x BB, SB folds, and I push for t3109. Button has me covered by about t1300, thinks it over for a long time, and finally calls. I double up when my hand holds up vs. his Ad9d. Two hands later I'm UTG+1 with 99, open-raise to 3xBB, and the same player pushes for t681 more from the BB. I'm in great shape vs. his 44, until he rivers the club flush to knock me right back where I started from. t3417 and getting close to the bubble.

Level 9
I tell myself that I'm not going to just play to get into the money, but rather take some chances with decent hands & try to get into the money. The problem is that I get pretty close to zero decent hands, and Gamboholic has gone into Gus Hansen mode & is raising just about every pot. I steal the blinds with ATo from UTG+1, but fold 44 when it's folded to me in MP1, fold A4o vs. a Gambo openraise in the SB, and fold 88 on the button after Gambo opens for 2.5x the BB and an almost as aggressive player on her left comes over the top to 5xBB. Looking back on it I think I made the right decision on the 88 hand, but I should have pushed with the 44 and probably come back over the top with my A4o (but the pot odds at the time were just good enough that Gambo would've called with any 2, which convinced me to fold--I wasn't looking to push what was probably a very small edge (if I had one at all) that close to the money). I'm on life support with t2617 as we move to level 10 & officially hit the bubble.

Level 10
I am very displeased with my play here. I finally managed to double up with A9s vs A3o, but I then immediately donked it away by miniraising J8s from the button. The hyperaggressive SB immediately pushed, and I was forced to fold away t1600 with my J high. That hand really hurt me, as I lost the preflop folding equity I had gained by doubling up the hand before & was now once again forced to play push & pray. I'm at t2354 as level 10 ends and we finally hit the money.

Level 11
I'm torn at this point, as I know how quickly people use usually bust out right after the bubble & I know that I can likely play supertight & move up a bracket or two. But when it's folded to me in MP3 with 77, it's just too good an opportunity to pass up. I push and cringe when the same hyper-aggressive player on my immediate left overpushes for t15000. I get a brief reprieve when he turns over AK, but the A comes on the flop and I go out in 64th place, earning $314.10.

Overall
I think I played very well for about the first hour and a half, but a couple hands really hurt me as I moved closer to the money. The 99 hand above was one, and another was an A9o from the BB; vs an EP limper & the SB, the flop came ragAT with two hearts. I bet out 1000 (about the size of the pot; I somehow lost this HH) and got raised the minimum by the EP limper. I immediately smelled an AK that was hoping to reraise preflop, but thought it over a long time before opting to fold rather than commit myself to the pot. I still trust my read, but I can't help but wonder if I overthought myself out of a bunch of chips that would have come in very handy later. I stuck with my gameplan through the early going, playing tight & taking some chances to have a shot at winning bigger pots, but as my stack size shrank in relation to the rest of the field I was unable to play aggressively in the crucial third hour & on the bubble, which killed my chances of moving deep into the money. And then I shot myself in the foot with that terrible J8s move.

I'm happy to have made it this far in my first Super and it has definitely given me the confidence to try another big MTT in the near future. I also think I learned more from this tournament than all the others I've played before combined; while I've only played maybe 50 MTTs total, I have had several other money finishes in smaller ones including three final tables and 1 win in a 5+1 on Empire.

As I said to start this thing off, this was probably a waste of time for many of you who bothered to read the whole thing. But thanks for reading it anyway, and thanks again for all the help & support I got last night and from this forum in general. If you ever need help with LHE, let me know. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[aaronbeen]

[ QUOTE ]

but I then immediately donked it away by miniraising J8s from the button. The hyperaggressive SB immediately pushed, and I was forced to fold away t1600 with my J high. That hand really hurt me, as I lost the preflop folding equity I had gained by doubling up


[/ QUOTE ]
You don't really give enough detail but it could have been correct to call here.

[bosoxfan]

I won a super spot in a sat last night. It will be my first tourny with more than a $15 buy in. I'm hoping I can get over the opening jitters and find a spot in the money like you did. congrats

[Harv72b]

[ QUOTE ]
You don't really give enough detail but it could have been correct to call here.

[/ QUOTE ]

I was just barely not pot committed, and he had me covered. While his play had been extremely aggressive since I joined the table, it was not generally stupid aggressive; I figured there was about a 0% chance that I had the best hand preflop:

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t800 (10 handed) converter

saw flop|<font color="#C00000">saw showdown</font>

MP2 (t12272)
MP3 (t7062)
CO (t4880)
Hero (t5074)
SB (t8140)
BB (t5571)
UTG (t7187)
UTG+1 (t2541)
UTG+2 (t4295)
MP1 (t13120)

Preflop: Hero is Button with 8[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], J[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img].
<font color="#666666">7 folds</font>, <font color="#CC3333">Hero raises to t1600</font>, SB raises t8140, <font color="#666666">1 fold</font>, Hero folds.

Final Pot: t2800
<font color="#009B00">Main Pot: t2800 (t2800), returned to SB.</font>

[Harv72b]

[ QUOTE ]
I won a super spot in a sat last night. It will be my first tourny with more than a $15 buy in. I'm hoping I can get over the opening jitters and find a spot in the money like you did. congrats

[/ QUOTE ]

I saw one player make the final table last night by hitting a lot of sets. I would highly recommend this strategy. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

GL with your tourney! Unless you get extremely unlucky, your first table or two will still be populated by a lot of pretty poor players, which should help get over the early jitters. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[durron597]

I push that preflop. If SB has a better hand and calls, oh well.

[Benal]

[ QUOTE ]
Level 10
I am very displeased with my play here. I finally managed to double up with A9s vs A3o, but I then immediately donked it away by miniraising J8s from the button. The hyperaggressive SB immediately pushed, and I was forced to fold away t1600 with my J high. That hand really hurt me, as I lost the preflop folding equity I had gained by doubling up the hand before &amp; was now once again forced to play push &amp; pray. I'm at t2354 as level 10 ends and we finally hit the money.

[/ QUOTE ]

This hand really stands out. I'm guessing the blinds are 300/600 at this point? This means your stack is about 4000, and you open MINRAISE on the button!? Bad bad bad, gag, vomit. Even worse is your fold once SB pushed. This was push or fold with your stack size.

Congrats on the cash btw.

[4T25Q85]

[ QUOTE ]
If you ever need help with LHE, let me know. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

I'd like some help with Limit. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[Harv72b]

I try to get around to at least the SS forum on a daily basis. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Since the thread has already been dredged up, I guess I could throw out a brief update. I've played in 3 more "majors" on Party since that first one. Haven't cashed again, but I've done fairly well all things considered (finished 232 of 1960 in the 500k on Sunday; missed the money by 12 spots). I'm sure a big part of it is just running fairly well, but I really feel like my game is coming along in leaps &amp; bounds. Sunday in particular I felt I played very well; I could have coasted into the money easily, but actually did play for the final table this time.

I'll be returning my focus to my limit game for a while, but I do plan to keep playing the MTTs, and will definitely be in some more of the big ones soon. Just like my first few hands at 15/30 limit, all it took was that first teetering step to figure out that I really could hold my footing on the higher ground. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[LearnedfromTV]

Congrats Harv. An enjoyable read. I am also getting my feet wet in 50-100 buyin MTT's and am having fun learning the complexities of tourney play. Good luck.