Foiled

Encore Club $10K NLHE

Last Thursday night, I ran up a 3x chip stack in the first level of a $10K guarantee by getting very lucky, then had nearly 100BB at the first break, only to have the whole thing come crumbling down twenty minutes after break when I screwed up getting [ax ax] and [kx kx] in the same orbit. I resolved not to make the same mistakes in today’s Memorial Day special event.

I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to make it until just before starting time; by the time I got to NW Portland, things were already starting, and there was a line up the stairs and out the door, so it was nearly the end of the first level before I was seated and our newly-opened table got going.

Hand 1 [7c 8c] UTG T15,000 100/100
I opened to 300 and got three callers, including both the blinds. The flop was [ac qc 5c], SB bet 1K and I re-raised him to 2.5K. Everyone else dropped out and we got all-in before the turn. He had an out, with the [2c 4c], but the [3c] didn’t come and I doubled up.

Hand 20 [ah 9s] BB T30,100 200/400
I called a raise to 1K from UTG but folded after the flop.

Hand 21 [ah 2h] SB T29,100 200/400
Limped into the pot with several others. The flop was all black, I folded to a bet but would have chopped with a 6-high straight on the river.

Hand 27 [kd qc] UTG2 T28.7K 200/400
I raised to 1.2K and got 4 calls. The flop was [qd jh 9d], I called an all-in who had [qx jx] but a [tx] came to complete my straight had I took a big pot just before break. With the optional rebuy and add-on (25K total), I had 72.6K.

Hand 32 [kh jh] BB T72.2K 300/600/100
I checked pre-flop to several limpers, then called 2.2K on a low flop with two hearts and had to fold to a bet on the turn with no pair. Should have raised pre-flop.

Hand 36 [ad js] HJ T68.7K 300/600/100
I called a raise and bet an all-diamond turn with the nut flush draw to take the pot.

Hand 37 [8c 8s] UTG4 T75K 300/600/100
I raised and called a 3-bet from HJ which ended up being [5d 7d] who got it all in with a straight flush draw against my set. Second straight flush I was up against in less than 40 hands.

Hand 43 [js 9s] SB T114K 400/800/100
I limped into a flop of [td 7d 6c] then folded to a 2K bet. The turn was [8c] and the winner had a [qx 9x] for the ten-high straight that I would have beat.

Hand 44 [ad qc] BTN T113.1K 400/800/100
I raised over 4 limpers, then called an all-in for 12.3K from [kx qx]. I made a flush on the river.

Hand 50 [ad jd] UTG2 T130K 400/800/100
Pretty much the peak of this game for me. The Mutant Jack! I raised 2.5K, got 2 calls, c-bet 3K and then checked down to the river with BB who won with [kx 7x].

Hand 52 [ad jh] BB T124.2K 400/800/100
I would have played this but I folded to a pre-flop 3-bet of 12K.

Hand 55 [kh kd] CO T122.7K 400/800/100
Raised to 6K over 3 limps and took the pot.

Hand 59 [kc jd] UTG1 T127K 400/800/100
I open-raised to 2.5K, but folded pre-flop to a re-raise of 9.5K. A player who’d called my raise got all-in and lost to a flush made by the 3-bettor, who had [qx qd].

IMG_2135

Hand 66 [as 6s] UTG2 T122.5K 600/1.2K/200
I raised to 4K over a limper and took the pot.

Hand 71 [ts 8s] BTN T122.5K 600/1.2K/200
I should have played this hand but folded to a UTG1 bet of 5.5K.

Hand 76 [ad jc] UTG2 T121.5 600/1.2K/200
Raised to 3.5K and won.

Hand 89 [kc 9c] SB T119.8K 1K/2K/300
Called an 8K raise and saw a 3-way flop of [ts 9s 2h], then folded my middle pair.

Hand 92 [ks ac] HJ T110.1K  1K/2K/300
I called a bet of 6K pre-flop, then raised a c-bet of 12K to 25K on a [kx qx 6x] flop. Okay, so maybe this was the peak. I went into break 2 with 133K.

Hand 103 [ad 9h] UTG1 T129.5K 1.5K/3K/500
I raised to 9K, then folded to a 3-bet. He showed [ax ax] in a showdown that knocked a player out. The next two hands, players on either side of the winner in this hand had aces and won.

Hand 110 [6d 6h] UTG2 T110.1K 1.5K/3K/500
I called 6.5K pre-floponly to have a pantheon of high cards spread on the flop. Folded to a turn bet.

Hand 116 [kh qh] CO T94K 2K/4K/500
Raised to 12K and won.

Hand 129 [jd 7d] BB T90K 3K/6K/1K
Action folded to SB and he shoved 30K. I should have called this (see my final hand) but chickened out.

Hand 130 [8d 6d] SB T83K 3K/6K/1K
Guy on my right shoves again and I have to let it go. I get moved to a new table and hit break with just 61K.

Hand 144 [ax tx] SB T51K 4K/8K/1K
Two all-ins ahead of me and I fold, then get moved again. 36 players left and I’m 15 from the money.

Hand 146 [as ac] HJ T44K 4K/8K/1K
Chip average is around 184K and there are a couple stacks well above that at the table. I shove over a raise, BB calls me, and the original raiser gets out of the way, which is too bad, because I go up against [jx jx] and win, and the other guy says he didn’t hit the board, either, so I could have tripled up plus some. Still, the chips are more than welcome.

Hand 149 [jd qs] UTG1 T114K 4K/8K/1K
UTG goes all-in and I fold.

Hand 154 [ac jc] CO T97K 4K/8K/1K
Another Mutant Jack. I shove and win.

Hand 155 [qh th] HJ T117K 4K/8K/1K
I would play this, but UTG1 goes all-in and I have to fold.

Hand 156 [qh jd] UTG3 T116K 4K/8K/1K
I should have shoved here, but I just raised to 25K. UTG3 calls me with a big stack, the flop is king-high, a queen hits the turn and he goes all in. I fold.

Hand 157 [8s ts] UTG1 T89K 5K/10K/2K
I’d like to call the short stack next to me, but I can’t.

Hand 170 [ac ts] UTG2 T33K 5K/10K/2K
I go all-in and get called by [kx qx], hit a ten and double.

Hand 171 [jd 7d] UTG T100K 5K/10K/2K
I hit my jack on the flop versus [ad kd], but the ace gets there on the river (thanks a lot, Barry Greenstein!) and I’m busted eight spots short of the money.

The VPIP is a feeble 12.8%—I really hit a stretch of bad cards in the final three or four hours. Pre-flop raise is 8.8%, I’m was raising two-thirds of the hands I played, and I went to showdown with more than a third of the hands I played, winning 6 of 8. Just not many playable cards in the critical middle of the tournament.

Six-and-a-half hours. 171 hands. 29th of 176 entries.

20150525 Encore

 

This marks the latest in a bad run of live poker for me. I’m hoping to get all the run-bad out of my system before I make the trip down to Vegas for the summer. Good luck to all my buddies playing the Colossus. I’d been hoping to be there for the fun (if not the actual tournament), but this bad spell is poorly-timed.