9 SNG $5 + .50 End 1st 86 hands

Well this one went much nicer than the previous one. :-) Had one interesting player who had around 400 chips much of the time we were at four players. He would go up a bit and go back down a bit but managed to hang in there in spite of the blinds getting up to 80/160,. On hand 74 after he posted the SB he had 160 chips left. UTG w/5000 chips opened w/a 400 bet, I & SB folded, BB w/2610 chips called. Flop Qd 4s 9s. BB checked and UTG bet 640 into the 880 pot and BB called. Turn Kd. BB checked again, UTG went all-in w/3960 chips and the BB called. BB had Ac Ks, having paired his K and UTG had Kh Qh having top two pair. I'm sure the Short Stack w/160 chips was smiling now. River 2h. BB is gone and Short Stack made the money. I feel it was a tough call for the BB as it would have been for me., I'd likely felt UTG to have something like AK or AQ, though I do recall when he got into pots he usually had the goods and I should give serious thought to what he might have that could beat my AK, Anyway back to my play.

Hand 2. It could have been all over for me right here. I'm the BTN w/As Qc. UTG opens w/a 4 BB bet (120), action folds to me, and I give out a sigh. I didn't want to have to call or raise a 4 BB UTG bet, I could easily be out carded here. I think about it and decide to call and see what the flop brings; SB also calls. Flop 5h Ah 10c. My Ace pairs w/a decent kicker. UTG bets 150 into the 390 pot, I opt to raise him to 300 to see if he is serious about this, SB folds, and UTG re-raises all-in w/1380 chips. Darn. Big decision. Why did he decide to go all-in? Could he have AA, KK, QQ, JJ? There's a lot of ways I can be beat and all too often when a player bets like that they do have the goods as I've found out the hard way. I think now, I mixed up the country he was from when I decided to call, though the actual country, I might have called as well as they can be aggressive with an Ax card when they are not the best. He shows  Ad 6d. Paired Ace with a much weaker kicker than my Q. Now I wait and hope he doesn't suck out. Turn 9d. River 3c. Phew. Actually double Phew!! One for not sucking out and the other for not having pocket cards that had me beat when I called his all-in. Lucky hand and I can relax a bit with a 3120 chip count to start out this session.

BTW that player I just beat had only 15 chips left and he is the same player who ended up 3rd some 70 hands later. :-)

Hand 12. Eight players. I'm CO w/pocket A's (Ah Ad). UTG+1 opens w/a 40 limp, MP raises to 140, HJ folds, I re-raise to 340 and all fold. I could have slow played that and maybe won more chips but opted to see if anyone else was willing to bet or challenge me pre-flop. I'd have been happy if they did.

Hand 16. I'm UTG w/Ad Jc. Not strong cards but I decide I'd like to see the flop and open w/a 2 BB bet (100). UTG+1 & MP fold, HJ raises to 300, CO & BTN fold, SB re-raises all-in w/1110 chips, BB calls and I say "later folks!" and fold. HJ re-raises all-in w/1395 chips and BB calls. Phew. Definitely looks like one my AJ wouldn't have fared well. They show: HJ pocket Q's (Qh Qc), SB pocket 8's (8d 8h), and BB Ah Ks. Flop 8c 4c 4d. SB hits their set and has a FH! Turn Ac. River 2d. Pocket 8's to a set hold up and two players are severely chip challenged.

Hand 20. Seven players. I don't often get into raise/re-raise situations but did this hand and it paid off. I'm HJ w/pocket 10's (10d 10c). UTG limps in w/50, action folds to me and I raise to 175, BTN, SB, & BB fold, UTG calls. Flop 3s 6c 8h. All undercards to my 10's. UTG checks and I bet 225 into the 425 pot. UTG re-raises me to 525. Oh dear. What should I do here? My 10's certainly look the best, UTG only limped in. Could they have a set from the flop cards? I don't know. I like my 10's so I re-raise them to 825 and hold my breath waiting to see what they do. They fold and I exhale!! Whatever they had, they decided wasn't worth one more bet or call.

Hand 35. Five players. Blinds 40/80. I'm SB w/pocket 9's (9h 9d). UTG folds, CO opens with a bet of 2 1/2 BB (200), BTN folds, I raise to 400, BB folds and CO calls. This is the same player I was up against in Hand 20. Flop 7d Ac 5d. My 9's do not like seeing that Ace. I bet 440 into the 880 pot and the CO folds. Apparently he didn't have Ace's.

Hand 36. I give up a few chips thinking I might be able to take out the short stack who has 675 chips. I'm the BTN w/10c Jc, action folds to me and I bet 2 BB (160), SB folds, and short stack BB goes all-in w/675 chips. Darn. Oh well, I jumped in this far, lets go all the way and I call. He shows Ks Kd. Nice cards for him, bad for me! Flop 10h 5c 7c. Some hope here for me. I've paired my 10 and have a club flush draw. Turn 7h, River Jh. I doubled him up!!

Hand 44. Four players left. I was hoping to get a litte action out of this one, again with the same player in hand 20. He is big stack w/4910 chips, I'm 2nd w/3980, 3rd has 3370, and short stack 1090. I'm BB w/Ah 8h. UTG folds, BTN bets 3 BB (300), BB folds, and I call. Flop 2h 8d 8s. I have trip 8's w/an Ace kicker. I bet 350 into the 650 pot, hoping BTN's open bet was more than a blind steal. BTN folds. At least I got his 300 chips.

Hand 76. Three players. Blinds 80/160. One more time I have a chance to try and take out the short stack. I'm BB w/As Jh. Short Stack opens all-in w/480 chips, SB & I call. Flop 2d 10h 2c. SB & I check. Turn Jc. That pairs my J. I might have the best hand. SB checks & since we are trying to remove the short stack I decide to check as well., River Qh. We both check again and the  moment of truth is upon us. Short Stack shows Ks 8s, hitting nothing. SB shows Ah 9d hitting nothing as well. My pocket J's carry the day. We are now HU. I have 6290 chips and the other player has 7210. Not a big difference.

Hand 79 I give him some chips. I'm SB w/3c 4c and open w/a 2 BB bet (320), BB calls. Flop 7s Qd 2d. No help to me. BB checks and I bet 320 into the 640 pot, BB calls. Turn Ad. BB checks and I decide to do the same. The best I might do is hit a straight if a 5 hits on the River, but that could be up against a diamond flush. River 7c. I have nothing. BB bets 880 into the 1280 pot and I fold. It's now 7610 to my 5890.

Hand 85. Blinds 100/200. This turned out to be nice hand for me. I'm SB w/6h 5c. I bet 2 BB (400), BB calls. Flop 6d 5c 8h. I hit bottom two pair, but it looks like the flop has straight possibilities. BB checks and I bet 400 into the 800 pot, BB calls. Turn 2c. That's ok for me and it doesn't look like it hit the BB. BB bets 1100 into the 1600 pot. Uh oh, did I miss something? Has he had the straight? Did he hit a set that would beat my two pair? Well there's only one way to find out and I decide to re-raise him all-in w/4150 chips. The worse that can happen here is I end up 2nd if he calls & I lose. He calls showing 7c 3c. Boy does he have OUTS!!! Open ended straight draw and club flush draw. If I counted right 17 outs!!! Best I could do is a FH with only 4 outs. I didn't fully realize, at that time,  how fully challenged my two pair were at that point. River 10s. I hold and now have 9900 chips to his 3600.

Hand 86. I'm BB w/Ks 3c. SB opens w/ a 3 1/2 BB bet (700), I decide to call. Flop Kh Jc 9h. My K pairs but I have a very weak kicker. I decide to go all-in with top pair and SB calls. They show Ad Jh. They have middle pair and an Ace overcard. Turn 5c. So far so good. River 7c. Yeah I win!!