I started this one to see if I could see anything in PT that told me how many tables a player was playing as suggested in the pop-up for the PT 30.8 beta. I saw nothing, nor in the write-ups on the PT site itself. I managed to win this one in spite of myself. Part of this was due to my also attending a webnair interview with Daniel L. Smith a Stereoscopic Expert, and it became particularly interesting as this session was heading into its final stages. I'll see about writing up more about this later. In a few hours I have the Sat to the $750K on Sunday and hope to be one of the 100 winners.
Hand 20. I have 930 chips, blinds are 25/50, & I have Kd 9s, six players left. UTG & HJ limp in, CO raises to 2 BB (100), BT & SB fold, I and rest call. Flop 6s Ks 9d. I hit top two pair! I decide to check to see what the others will do, UTG bets 100 into the 425 pot, HJ calls, CO raises to 200, I decide to go all-in w/my last 830, UTG folds, HJ & CO both call. Wow. What do they have? I feel my two pair are the best at the moment, though either of them could have a set. Turn 3d. Hmm, two possible flush draws out there. Both HJ & CO check. River Ah. Good, no flush possible! Only question is, with that Ace on the River do either of them have a better two pair then me? Do they have a set? Both check again. HJ shows Kh Jh. OK. CO shows 7d 8d. I win and now have 3015 chips. Next hand I give a lot of the chips back. :-/
Hand 21. I'm the SB w/Jh 10h. UTG limps in, HJ raises to 100, CO & BT fold, I call, BB folds, and UTG calls. Flop 10s Kh 9h. I pair my 10 and have a flush draw and gutshot straight draw. I bet 175 into the 350 pot, UTG folds and the HJ raises to 350, I call. Turn 6c. No help to me. I check and HJ bets 300 and due my draws I decide to call (it's 300 into a 1350 pot). River Jc. I now have 2 pair, but if he has a Q he has an easy straight to beat me. I check and he bets 525. I decide to check him out, though I'd probably been better off folding. He shows Ks 6s. Hmm, not a straight, but a better two pair then I had. I'm back to 1740 chips.
Hand 42. Four players left, blinds 50/100, I have 1140 chips. I'm UTG w/Jh 10c and limp in, SB calls & BB checks. Flop Jc 2h 4c. I have top pair. SB & BB check to me and I bet 200 into the 300 pot. SB calls & BB folds. SB is also big stack w/7000+ chips. Turn Ah. Not a card I want to see. SB bets 300 into the 700 pot and I go all-in with my last 840 chips. He could have me beat, but I decide to take the gamble; it was either that or fold. SB calls and shows 8d 8c. A weaker hand than I expected as both my pairing a J or an Ace would beat him. River 4c. I win!!! .and now have 2380 chips, about the same as the other two players beside the big stack.
Hand 60, still four players, I'm down to 1160 chips. Big stack has 7180 and the other two players have 2200 and 2720. Blinds 60/120. I'm SB w/Qh 10h, UTG limps in, I call & BB checks. Flop Js 4h 8h. I have a flush and gutshot straight draws. I check, BB checks, UTG bets the pot - 360, I call & BB folds. Turn 3c. No help to me. I check and UTG bets 360 into the 1080 pot and I call. Not sure why I didn't go all in at that point as I only have 320 chips left. River 9d. I get LUCKY and hit a straight!! I toss in my last 320 chips and UTG calls. UTG shows Qd 3s, having only a very small pair. I win and now have 2440 chips and back in line with the other two players and big stack is back to 6020 chips.
Hand 65. I have 2260 chips, am on the BT w/Ad 8d. UTG limps in for 120, I call, SB folds & BB (big stack) checks. Flop Jc 6d 8h. I pair my 8 and have middle pair. BB checks, UTG bets 240 into the 420 pot. I decide to raise them to 480, mainly to see what they'll do. BB folds and UTG calls. Turn 10d. I now have a nut flush draw as well. UTG goes all-in. Phooey. That's more than I'd like to bet and they could have a straight already. In spite of that I call and am down to 280 chips. River 7d. I hit my nut flush!!! LUCKY!! UTG bets 460 to get me to put in my last 280 chips and I call. He shows Jd 9s. Both of us hit the River, he a straight and me a nut flush. I win and now have 4700 chips. UTG only 180.
Next hand UTG is gone and we are all in the money. Big stack has 6600 chips, I have 4520, and short stack has 2380.
Hand 68 I'm SB w/Ks 6s, blinds 80/160. UTG folds & limp in, BB checks. Flop Kc 5c 4d. I pair my K. I bet 160 into the 320 pot, BB calls. Turn 6d. I pair my 6 and now have top two pair. I bet 320 into the 640 pot and BB calls again. River Jc. That's a bit of a scary card as now both a straight and a flush are possible. I decide to bet big and bet 720 into the 1280 pot (if BB calls I still have 3160 chips left), BB calls. Uh Oh. BB shows Kd 8h, having just paired the K. I win and have 5880 chips.
Hand 71. Big stack has 6600, I have 6040, and short stack has 860. I'm SB w/Kd Qc. The BT (big stack) opens with a 2BB bet (320), I call, & BB (short stack) raises all-in w/860 chips. BT & I call. Flop 5h 5d 3d. No help to me. I & BT check. Turn Qh, I pair my Q. Both I & BT check again. River Ks. I now have top two pair. I decide to make a modest bet and bet 960 into the 2580 pot, BT calls and shows Kh Jc. BB shows 6c 4h. I win! We are now HU and I'm big stack w/8720 chips to 4780.
Hand 74. I have 8240 chips, SB w/Ks 8h. I bet 2 BB (320) & BB calls. Flop Kd 5d 10s. I pair my K. BB bets the pot (640), and I raise to 1280, BB calls. Turn 8d. I now have top two pair, but BB could have a diamond flush. BB bets 480 and I decide to go-in. If they have the diamond flush I can hope for another K or 8 for a FH, but I'll still have around 3000 chips to fight back. BB calls and shows 4c 10c. A much weaker hand than I expected. Maybe they were tired of this session? River 9c. I win and come in 1st!!
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Friday, March 12, 2010
PS 10 SNG Dbl/Nth $1 + .15 End 1-5 82 hands
Well that was a lot of work for 85 cents and for awhile I wasn't sure I was going to make the top 5. :-) For those who read this who may not know, the Poker Stars Double or Nothing is a 10 player SNG; the top 5 players win 2x the entry fee, in this case $1, so you win $2. Since the total cost of entry is $1.15 you only net 85 cents.
There were two places I felt I made mistakes. The first was earlier in the session when I was going for a flush draw that I did not hit. One other player made larger bets than I'd have preferred and calling them cost me some chips. The other place was nearer the end of the session when I decided to call an all-in from one of the players who only had a VP of 3-4 after 62 hands. My mind decided that his long pause before betting was due to his debating what to do, rather then his likely playing many sessions & when he got to this hand had very good cards.
There were three players with VP's from 2 to 5 after 39 hands. All of of them didn't let you see how many sessions they were playing, as a search for them said "player can't be found," however slowness in play did indicate they must be playing several sessions.
Hand 41058910949 was the 1st hand I had some success & luck. I was in LP w/Ah 8h. EP2 limped and I decided I would too, HJ called, CO & BT folded, SB called, & BB checked. Flop Kd 6h Jh giving me a nut flush draw. SB bets 120 into the 150 pot, BB & EP2 fold, I decide to call, based on my flush draw, and HJ folds. Turn 7s, no help to me. SB bets 120 again into the 390 pot and I call. River 5h. Phew! I hit my nut flush. SB bets 210 into the 630 pot and I raise him to 420, SB calls showing 7h 10h, a lower flush. I win the 1,470 pot and have 2110 chips.
A few hands later I took a small hit. Hand 41059148309. I was BB w/2d 9s. Two players limp in. Flop Qd 7d Qc. Nothing for me but since I bet 1st I bet 65 into the 120 pot. If I'm lucky they didn't hit anything and will fold. Alas they BOTH call. A larger bet might have been a better play, say the pot? I don't know. Turn Jd. Nuts, I have a flush draw but only the 2d in my hand. All of us check. River Kd. Double NUTS!! I now have a flush but if either of the other players has a diamond I lose. I decide to bet 100 to test the waters, UTG calls, & LP raises to 330. I & UTG fold. I now have 1735 chips.
This takes us to the hand where I made my big mistake. Hand 41060446477. We are down to 7 players, I'm in 5th position, blinds 75/150 w/an ante of 15. I'm UTG w/Kh Js. I limp in. All fold to the SB who goes all-in w/960 chips, BB folds and I decide to call, forgetting that he has a VP of 4 or so and likely playing lots of sessions, so would only bet if he has a very good hand. I then see the BAD NEWS he has pocket A's (Ad Ac). I'm in big trouble! The board shows at the end Ah Ks 7d 4c 3c. I'm down to 935 chips and am the short stack.
A few hands later I get lucky with hand 41061072708. Blinds 100/200 w/ante of 20, still 7 players. I'm short stack w/900 and BB w/pocket 2's (2d 2h). UTG with a 4 VP opens w/a bet of 400, action folds to me and I go all-in w/my last 680 chips, UTG calls and shows Ad Qc. Two over cards to my pair. Now I cross my fingers and hope for the best. Flop Jd 3c Kh. Missed his cards but does give him more outs as a 10 gives him a straight (I didn't notice that while playing). Turn 8h. One more card to go! River 8s. Phew! I win!! I now have 2000 chips and am in 5th position.
Blinds were getting higher, 125/250 w/ante 25 and my stack had dwindled to 1,330. Over the next few hands I managed to steal the blinds and got my chip stack back to 2,355. More back and forth, the blinds moved up to 150/300 w/30 ante and we are now down to 6 players ... on the bubble. With some halfway decent cards like a KJ and a 3 BB bet I'm able to steal the blinds & ante's from UTG position. Part of that certainly is that two of the remaining 6 had VP's in the 4- 6 range, so I felt that would eliminate 2 of the 5 most rounds. By playing aggressively I was even able to get to 1st position, though the difference between 1st & 6th wasn't that great (1st 4315, 6th 1640).
Hand 41062208920. Blinds 200/400 w/ante 40. I'm HJ w/Ah Qd and 5635 chips. UTG folds and I bet 3 BB (1200) CO raises to 2000 (leaving them w/162 chips), rest fold, and since it's only 800 more chips I call. Flop 6c 4d 3d. No big help to me. I decide to put him all-in and he calls showing As Ks. I need some help here. Turn Kh pairing his K. River 3c. I lose and am back to 3,433 chips and in 2nd position.
One hand later it makes no difference as the short stack goes all-in and loses. I'm in the top five!!!
There were two places I felt I made mistakes. The first was earlier in the session when I was going for a flush draw that I did not hit. One other player made larger bets than I'd have preferred and calling them cost me some chips. The other place was nearer the end of the session when I decided to call an all-in from one of the players who only had a VP of 3-4 after 62 hands. My mind decided that his long pause before betting was due to his debating what to do, rather then his likely playing many sessions & when he got to this hand had very good cards.
There were three players with VP's from 2 to 5 after 39 hands. All of of them didn't let you see how many sessions they were playing, as a search for them said "player can't be found," however slowness in play did indicate they must be playing several sessions.
Hand 41058910949 was the 1st hand I had some success & luck. I was in LP w/Ah 8h. EP2 limped and I decided I would too, HJ called, CO & BT folded, SB called, & BB checked. Flop Kd 6h Jh giving me a nut flush draw. SB bets 120 into the 150 pot, BB & EP2 fold, I decide to call, based on my flush draw, and HJ folds. Turn 7s, no help to me. SB bets 120 again into the 390 pot and I call. River 5h. Phew! I hit my nut flush. SB bets 210 into the 630 pot and I raise him to 420, SB calls showing 7h 10h, a lower flush. I win the 1,470 pot and have 2110 chips.
A few hands later I took a small hit. Hand 41059148309. I was BB w/2d 9s. Two players limp in. Flop Qd 7d Qc. Nothing for me but since I bet 1st I bet 65 into the 120 pot. If I'm lucky they didn't hit anything and will fold. Alas they BOTH call. A larger bet might have been a better play, say the pot? I don't know. Turn Jd. Nuts, I have a flush draw but only the 2d in my hand. All of us check. River Kd. Double NUTS!! I now have a flush but if either of the other players has a diamond I lose. I decide to bet 100 to test the waters, UTG calls, & LP raises to 330. I & UTG fold. I now have 1735 chips.
This takes us to the hand where I made my big mistake. Hand 41060446477. We are down to 7 players, I'm in 5th position, blinds 75/150 w/an ante of 15. I'm UTG w/Kh Js. I limp in. All fold to the SB who goes all-in w/960 chips, BB folds and I decide to call, forgetting that he has a VP of 4 or so and likely playing lots of sessions, so would only bet if he has a very good hand. I then see the BAD NEWS he has pocket A's (Ad Ac). I'm in big trouble! The board shows at the end Ah Ks 7d 4c 3c. I'm down to 935 chips and am the short stack.
A few hands later I get lucky with hand 41061072708. Blinds 100/200 w/ante of 20, still 7 players. I'm short stack w/900 and BB w/pocket 2's (2d 2h). UTG with a 4 VP opens w/a bet of 400, action folds to me and I go all-in w/my last 680 chips, UTG calls and shows Ad Qc. Two over cards to my pair. Now I cross my fingers and hope for the best. Flop Jd 3c Kh. Missed his cards but does give him more outs as a 10 gives him a straight (I didn't notice that while playing). Turn 8h. One more card to go! River 8s. Phew! I win!! I now have 2000 chips and am in 5th position.
Blinds were getting higher, 125/250 w/ante 25 and my stack had dwindled to 1,330. Over the next few hands I managed to steal the blinds and got my chip stack back to 2,355. More back and forth, the blinds moved up to 150/300 w/30 ante and we are now down to 6 players ... on the bubble. With some halfway decent cards like a KJ and a 3 BB bet I'm able to steal the blinds & ante's from UTG position. Part of that certainly is that two of the remaining 6 had VP's in the 4- 6 range, so I felt that would eliminate 2 of the 5 most rounds. By playing aggressively I was even able to get to 1st position, though the difference between 1st & 6th wasn't that great (1st 4315, 6th 1640).
Hand 41062208920. Blinds 200/400 w/ante 40. I'm HJ w/Ah Qd and 5635 chips. UTG folds and I bet 3 BB (1200) CO raises to 2000 (leaving them w/162 chips), rest fold, and since it's only 800 more chips I call. Flop 6c 4d 3d. No big help to me. I decide to put him all-in and he calls showing As Ks. I need some help here. Turn Kh pairing his K. River 3c. I lose and am back to 3,433 chips and in 2nd position.
One hand later it makes no difference as the short stack goes all-in and loses. I'm in the top five!!!
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
54 Tourney 50 FTP Sat to $750K Sat End 1st 142 hands
Decided to try the 50 FTP Sat to the $750K Sat. 1st is entry to $750K Sat (2500 FTP points), 2nd receives 200 FTP points. The $750K Sat has 100 winners who are entered in the $200 Tournament. Overall my play was ok. When we got down to the last two I had a large chip lead (64,410 to 16,590) and blinds of 300/600. Though I had a big chip lead, a couple of double-ups on my opponents part and we'd be in reverse positions. At one point he did make a big comeback and even got ahead of me in chips, but in the end I was able to come out on top!! YEAH!!
In the 1st 8 hands I picked up 295 chips. No spectacular play, just some betting when I paired the board, very modest betting, but apparently the other players had worse hands as they folded to my bet.
Hand 12 I got a bit lucky and was able to keep folks tossing some chips in. Blinds 25/50, I'm MP2 w/10c 9h. EP2 limps in and I decide to limp as well and see if I can get a cheap look at the flop, HJ & CO call, BT & SB fold, BB checks. Flop 7c 3c Jd. I miss but have gutshot straight draw. BB checks, EP2 bets 50 into the 275 pot, I call as does the HJ & CO, BB folds. Turn 8h. Ah, how nice. My gutshot straight came in!! EP2 bets 50 into the 475 pot and I raise to 100. HJ & CO call, EP2 folds. River 4s. Nice. Doesn't look like anything can beat me. I make a small 250 bet into the 825 pot hoping that might encourage someone with a decent hand to call and the HJ does. They show Kh Jc, having paired their J. I win the 1325 pot and am now up 1130 chips! Good start! Not much elses happens until hand 30.
Hand 30, blinds 60/120. I'm SB w/pocket K's (Kd Kh). Action folds to MP1 who bets 2 BB (240), rest fold to BT who calls and I decide to raise to 680 (just over the 660 pot). I expect I'll get some action or they'll fold. MP1 who has 8,680 chips re-raise me by going all-in and on top of that the BT w/1535 chips calls going all-in. I pause to think about it but don't feel either of them have AA, though I could be wrong, so call and am all-in as well. The BT shows Ah Jh, one over card. MP1 show pocket 3's, far weaker hand than I expected. Things look decent at this point. Flop 2s 6s 6d. No help to anyone!! Great!! Turn 5d. ditto!! One card to go!! River 6c. I win!! I have a FH that beats MP1's FH, but I didn't need it this time. Nobody's hand was bettered and my hand was best pre-flop and held up!! I win the 7,565 pot!!
By hand 57 I'd been up and down a bit, but was now back down to 5,885 chips. Blinds were 120/240 and 5 players at my table.
Hand 57. I'm UTG w/Qc Jc and decide to limp in w/240 to see if I might hit anything w/the flop. Not sure what I want to see as a Q J in the flop don't mean much as I'd be beat with pocket hands of AQ, AJ, KQ, KJ. CO & BT fold, SB raises to 480, BB folds and I call. I'd rather the SB didn't raise, but they are the big stack w/12,630 chips, so their raise may not mean a lot. Flop 4c 6s 7c. Interesting. I now have a flush draw. Only 3rd nut high but if SB doesn't have a club or higher club I could be ok. SB bets 480 and I call. I don't see that have anything to gain by raising and prefer to see a cheap flop to see if I hit my draw. Turn Js. Not my draw but does pair my J and gives me top pair showing. SB bets 720. I wonder why? Well to see the River it will only cost me 720 of a 2880 pot, 4-1 odds and I still might hit my flush, so I call. River Jh. I like that. I miss my flush, but do get trip J's. The only problem now is, does the SB have them as well? SB bets 2,160 into the 3,600 pot. I think about it, but feel my trip J's are pretty good so I call. They show As Ac .... pocket A's!!! That helps explain why they were betting so strong. I was lucky on the river. I win the 7,920 pot and now have 9,965 chips. Next hand I thought I played reasonably well.
Hand 58. I'm BB w/Ah Qd. Action folds to the BT who limps in w/240 bet, SB folds, and I decide to raise him to 3 BB (720), BT calls. Flop Ad Qh 9c. Very nice for me!! I decide to try for a check raise and check, BT bets 960 and I re-raise them to 1920. BT opts to fold and I pick up another 1680 chips. Things go back and forth until hand 72.
Hand 72. We are now at the final table w/ 9 players; blinds are 200/400. I'm BB w/pocket 9's (9d 9c). UTG limps in w/a bet of 400 and action folds to SB who calls, and I check. Flop 4h 8h 5s. My 9's are currently best and as long as the other two players don't have 6 7 to make a straight I'm ok. SB bets the pot of 1200. That I don't like to see, but I decide to test them and raise them to 2400. Both UTG and SB call. Uh Oh, what do they have? Are my pocket 9's still good? Only the Shadow knows? Well lets see what the Turn brings. Turn 9s. Well that is good see. Still no guarantee I'll win but I feel more hopeful. This time the SB checks and I decide to go all-in which is covered by both UTG & SB. If my set is good, I'll have a very decent stack size. If not, well there's always another session I can play. UTG calls and SB folds. UTG shows 9h 5h. They have two pair and flush draw. Holding my breath on the River. River 7d. PHEW I win and now have 25,190 chips!!! That makes me top stack!!
Hand 84. Five players, blinds 250/500. I'm UTG w/Kc Qc w/22,990 chips; top stack by about 1000 ships. 2 players have aound 8000 chips, and the other player has almost 19,000. I limp in w/a 500 bet, CO folds, BT & SB call, BB checks. Flop Kh 7d Jh. I have top pair w/Q kicker. Everyone check's! Turn 8c. No help to me and not likely a help to anyone else unless they're holding a 9 10. SB bets 1250 into the 2000 pot, BB folds, I decide to raise SB to 2500 figuring my K's are still good and maybe he'll fold; BT folds and SB reraises me with an all-in of 7865. Nuts!! I still like my K's so decide to call. SB shows Kd 8s. Uh Oh he has two pair!!! I'm hoping for a Q on the River. River Js. Darn I say, I missed my Q. BUT the chips come MY WAY!! I got lucky in a way I'd not though about...the board paired the J. What that meant is KK JJ were now the top pairs. SB's paired 8 doesn't count for nothing and worse for them I now have the better kicker...a Q to their 8. WOW LUCKY!!! I win the 17,730 chips and now have 31,755 chips with only four of us left. Two hands later I have another nice win.
Hand 86. Three players, blinds 300/600) I'm SB w/pocket A's (Ad Ah) and 31,755 chips. UTG opens with a 5 BB bet of 3000, I decide to go all-in w/my pocket A's, BB folds. I figure the best he can have is pocket A's as well and if not and he calls and I win he can double me up. UTG calls and shows As Js. Weaker than I expected but he could still beat me. Flop 2h 8h Jh. I now have a nut flush draw as well. His spades are dead, but he did pair his J. Turn 6s no help to either of us. River Kh. I hit my flush which is a bit of overkill as my pocket A's had already done the job. I now have 64,110 chips. Three hands later we are down to two players. I have 65,010 chips and the other person 15,990.
Hand 138. The lowest I'd been able to get the other player was around 6000 chips but then they started building back up so that by now they had 21,580 chips. Blinds are 600/1200. I'm SB w/Ac Ks. I bet 2 BB (2400) and BB calls. Flop Qh 7d 4s. Nothing good in their for me. BB bets 3600 and I decide to call. No real good reason for that, mostly I'm hoping to hit an Ace or K. Turn 10s. Well that gives me a gutshot straight possibility. BB bets all-in w/15,580 chips. I do think about it a bit but decide to call. The only reason I can figure there is that I'm hoping to hit the gutshot straight on the River. River 3c. Rats. BB hits a straight and now has 43,160 chips. MORE THAN ME!!! OK calm down, deep breaths, deep breaths. It's not over yet!!! Just a few hands the tide turns again.
Hand 141. We are just about even in chips, he has about 500 more than me. Blinds are 600/1200, I'm SB. I have pocket J's (Js Jc) and open w/a 2 BB bet (2400), BB calls. Flop Kd Jh 4h. I hit my set!!! BB bets 1200 and I raise to 8400, BB calls. Turn 4s. I have a FH. Wonderful!!! BB bets all-in w/29,960 chips. I wonder what he could have. I don't see anything that could beat my FH, except now looking at it, if he had quad 4's, that I did not think about at the time. My thought was maybe he has another FH, such as 4's full of K's. Anyway I decide to call him. He shows 2h 8h. He has a flush draw, but those are pretty weak cards even if he hits it. Maybe it was just a bluff to try and get me off my hand. River Qc. I win and he has 520 chips left.
The last hand is anti-climatic. I have Ac 4s and he has 7s 8s. The board shows Ad 3c Jd 8h 3h. I win, game over!!
In the 1st 8 hands I picked up 295 chips. No spectacular play, just some betting when I paired the board, very modest betting, but apparently the other players had worse hands as they folded to my bet.
Hand 12 I got a bit lucky and was able to keep folks tossing some chips in. Blinds 25/50, I'm MP2 w/10c 9h. EP2 limps in and I decide to limp as well and see if I can get a cheap look at the flop, HJ & CO call, BT & SB fold, BB checks. Flop 7c 3c Jd. I miss but have gutshot straight draw. BB checks, EP2 bets 50 into the 275 pot, I call as does the HJ & CO, BB folds. Turn 8h. Ah, how nice. My gutshot straight came in!! EP2 bets 50 into the 475 pot and I raise to 100. HJ & CO call, EP2 folds. River 4s. Nice. Doesn't look like anything can beat me. I make a small 250 bet into the 825 pot hoping that might encourage someone with a decent hand to call and the HJ does. They show Kh Jc, having paired their J. I win the 1325 pot and am now up 1130 chips! Good start! Not much elses happens until hand 30.
Hand 30, blinds 60/120. I'm SB w/pocket K's (Kd Kh). Action folds to MP1 who bets 2 BB (240), rest fold to BT who calls and I decide to raise to 680 (just over the 660 pot). I expect I'll get some action or they'll fold. MP1 who has 8,680 chips re-raise me by going all-in and on top of that the BT w/1535 chips calls going all-in. I pause to think about it but don't feel either of them have AA, though I could be wrong, so call and am all-in as well. The BT shows Ah Jh, one over card. MP1 show pocket 3's, far weaker hand than I expected. Things look decent at this point. Flop 2s 6s 6d. No help to anyone!! Great!! Turn 5d. ditto!! One card to go!! River 6c. I win!! I have a FH that beats MP1's FH, but I didn't need it this time. Nobody's hand was bettered and my hand was best pre-flop and held up!! I win the 7,565 pot!!
By hand 57 I'd been up and down a bit, but was now back down to 5,885 chips. Blinds were 120/240 and 5 players at my table.
Hand 57. I'm UTG w/Qc Jc and decide to limp in w/240 to see if I might hit anything w/the flop. Not sure what I want to see as a Q J in the flop don't mean much as I'd be beat with pocket hands of AQ, AJ, KQ, KJ. CO & BT fold, SB raises to 480, BB folds and I call. I'd rather the SB didn't raise, but they are the big stack w/12,630 chips, so their raise may not mean a lot. Flop 4c 6s 7c. Interesting. I now have a flush draw. Only 3rd nut high but if SB doesn't have a club or higher club I could be ok. SB bets 480 and I call. I don't see that have anything to gain by raising and prefer to see a cheap flop to see if I hit my draw. Turn Js. Not my draw but does pair my J and gives me top pair showing. SB bets 720. I wonder why? Well to see the River it will only cost me 720 of a 2880 pot, 4-1 odds and I still might hit my flush, so I call. River Jh. I like that. I miss my flush, but do get trip J's. The only problem now is, does the SB have them as well? SB bets 2,160 into the 3,600 pot. I think about it, but feel my trip J's are pretty good so I call. They show As Ac .... pocket A's!!! That helps explain why they were betting so strong. I was lucky on the river. I win the 7,920 pot and now have 9,965 chips. Next hand I thought I played reasonably well.
Hand 58. I'm BB w/Ah Qd. Action folds to the BT who limps in w/240 bet, SB folds, and I decide to raise him to 3 BB (720), BT calls. Flop Ad Qh 9c. Very nice for me!! I decide to try for a check raise and check, BT bets 960 and I re-raise them to 1920. BT opts to fold and I pick up another 1680 chips. Things go back and forth until hand 72.
Hand 72. We are now at the final table w/ 9 players; blinds are 200/400. I'm BB w/pocket 9's (9d 9c). UTG limps in w/a bet of 400 and action folds to SB who calls, and I check. Flop 4h 8h 5s. My 9's are currently best and as long as the other two players don't have 6 7 to make a straight I'm ok. SB bets the pot of 1200. That I don't like to see, but I decide to test them and raise them to 2400. Both UTG and SB call. Uh Oh, what do they have? Are my pocket 9's still good? Only the Shadow knows? Well lets see what the Turn brings. Turn 9s. Well that is good see. Still no guarantee I'll win but I feel more hopeful. This time the SB checks and I decide to go all-in which is covered by both UTG & SB. If my set is good, I'll have a very decent stack size. If not, well there's always another session I can play. UTG calls and SB folds. UTG shows 9h 5h. They have two pair and flush draw. Holding my breath on the River. River 7d. PHEW I win and now have 25,190 chips!!! That makes me top stack!!
Hand 84. Five players, blinds 250/500. I'm UTG w/Kc Qc w/22,990 chips; top stack by about 1000 ships. 2 players have aound 8000 chips, and the other player has almost 19,000. I limp in w/a 500 bet, CO folds, BT & SB call, BB checks. Flop Kh 7d Jh. I have top pair w/Q kicker. Everyone check's! Turn 8c. No help to me and not likely a help to anyone else unless they're holding a 9 10. SB bets 1250 into the 2000 pot, BB folds, I decide to raise SB to 2500 figuring my K's are still good and maybe he'll fold; BT folds and SB reraises me with an all-in of 7865. Nuts!! I still like my K's so decide to call. SB shows Kd 8s. Uh Oh he has two pair!!! I'm hoping for a Q on the River. River Js. Darn I say, I missed my Q. BUT the chips come MY WAY!! I got lucky in a way I'd not though about...the board paired the J. What that meant is KK JJ were now the top pairs. SB's paired 8 doesn't count for nothing and worse for them I now have the better kicker...a Q to their 8. WOW LUCKY!!! I win the 17,730 chips and now have 31,755 chips with only four of us left. Two hands later I have another nice win.
Hand 86. Three players, blinds 300/600) I'm SB w/pocket A's (Ad Ah) and 31,755 chips. UTG opens with a 5 BB bet of 3000, I decide to go all-in w/my pocket A's, BB folds. I figure the best he can have is pocket A's as well and if not and he calls and I win he can double me up. UTG calls and shows As Js. Weaker than I expected but he could still beat me. Flop 2h 8h Jh. I now have a nut flush draw as well. His spades are dead, but he did pair his J. Turn 6s no help to either of us. River Kh. I hit my flush which is a bit of overkill as my pocket A's had already done the job. I now have 64,110 chips. Three hands later we are down to two players. I have 65,010 chips and the other person 15,990.
Hand 138. The lowest I'd been able to get the other player was around 6000 chips but then they started building back up so that by now they had 21,580 chips. Blinds are 600/1200. I'm SB w/Ac Ks. I bet 2 BB (2400) and BB calls. Flop Qh 7d 4s. Nothing good in their for me. BB bets 3600 and I decide to call. No real good reason for that, mostly I'm hoping to hit an Ace or K. Turn 10s. Well that gives me a gutshot straight possibility. BB bets all-in w/15,580 chips. I do think about it a bit but decide to call. The only reason I can figure there is that I'm hoping to hit the gutshot straight on the River. River 3c. Rats. BB hits a straight and now has 43,160 chips. MORE THAN ME!!! OK calm down, deep breaths, deep breaths. It's not over yet!!! Just a few hands the tide turns again.
Hand 141. We are just about even in chips, he has about 500 more than me. Blinds are 600/1200, I'm SB. I have pocket J's (Js Jc) and open w/a 2 BB bet (2400), BB calls. Flop Kd Jh 4h. I hit my set!!! BB bets 1200 and I raise to 8400, BB calls. Turn 4s. I have a FH. Wonderful!!! BB bets all-in w/29,960 chips. I wonder what he could have. I don't see anything that could beat my FH, except now looking at it, if he had quad 4's, that I did not think about at the time. My thought was maybe he has another FH, such as 4's full of K's. Anyway I decide to call him. He shows 2h 8h. He has a flush draw, but those are pretty weak cards even if he hits it. Maybe it was just a bluff to try and get me off my hand. River Qc. I win and he has 520 chips left.
The last hand is anti-climatic. I have Ac 4s and he has 7s 8s. The board shows Ad 3c Jd 8h 3h. I win, game over!!
9 SNG $5 +.50 End 3rd 136 hands
At least I made the money. Not a lot to say as nothing that spectacular happened. When we got down to the last four there wasn't a big difference between 1st & 4th. I had my ups & down, Lucky draws and not so lucky. I played mixed aggressive and passive play. I'll just cover the last hand here.
Hand 136. Blinds 250/500, I'm in 3rd w/2472 chips and am BB. I have Ad 3c. BT folds, SB bets 1500 and I go all-in w/my last 1972 chips. If they're just trying to steal they might fold, tough another 472 chips out of their 3796 chips isn't much, so likely they'll call. They do and show Ks 2s. At least I have two overcards. Flop 9c 2c 9h, pairing their duece. Turn 7s. River 8s. I lose and come in 3rd.
Hand 136. Blinds 250/500, I'm in 3rd w/2472 chips and am BB. I have Ad 3c. BT folds, SB bets 1500 and I go all-in w/my last 1972 chips. If they're just trying to steal they might fold, tough another 472 chips out of their 3796 chips isn't much, so likely they'll call. They do and show Ks 2s. At least I have two overcards. Flop 9c 2c 9h, pairing their duece. Turn 7s. River 8s. I lose and come in 3rd.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)