Desperate Attempt Or Canny Move?

Aces Players Club $10K Guarantee Satellite (3,000 chips)

I was just planning to buy in at full price but I got there early and there was a game about to start, so I joined up. I could have saved my money.

First hand I was SB, with [kx 7x]. About five players limped in, I dropped another 25 to call, BB checked and the flop made me two pair with (I think) [kx 7x tx]. I checked (probably a mistake) and that went around, with [9x] on the turn. I opened with 400 and UTG went all-in. I called and she flipped [jx 8x]. It was not to be the first jack-high straight that caused me trouble this evening.

2 minutes, 1 hand. Finished 9th of 9. -100% ROI.

Aces Players Club $10K Guarantee (10,000 chips)

Had a hard couple of early rounds with every move I’d make just not connecting with the cards. Mucho folding involved. By the middle of round three, I was down to half the starting stack when I played [qx tx]. By the turn, I had Broadway, there wasn’t a flush in sight, and I was all-in. A caller doubled me up to about starting.

Played [5c 7c] aggressively with two clubs on the flop and ended up with 3,300 in the pot before I shut it down. Two other players stayed in and the winner connected for a pair of jacks with [ac jc], so I’m rather glad there wasn’t a club on the turn.

Just after the break I got [6x 6x] in CO and managed to steal the blinds, which put me up to just about even (15,000 chips, including the starting stack and 5K add-on).

The bottom card of my [ax tx] hit top pair on the flop and I managed to pick off another 2K, but I lost 3,400 on [ax qx] when I folded to a bigger stack’s all-in on the [ax 4x 5x] flop. He showed [ax 5x] in a showdown with another player.

Finally managed to get some significant upward movement by calling a smaller stack’s all-in with [jx tx]. He flipped over [9x 9x] and we went all the way to the river before [tx] turned up. That put me up to 19K.

Then, of course, I picked up [Ac 9x] and raised. The flop was [9c 4c 4x] and a big stack at the other end of the table raised 5K. I had to call to see if I could pick up more clubs or better yet a [9x]. What I got was a [6x]. He raised again and I had to fold. That left me with about 12,500 chips as we went into the second break.

Blinds started at 500/1,000/25 after the break and action was moving pretty fast, both with people waiting to make their moves and with three players not even back at the table as action started. I was on my second time as SB when I got [9x tx] and called to see the flop. The flop was low and made me top pair with [tx 8x 6x], so I was all-in. My stack wasn’t enough to scare anyone off, though, and BB called me with [qx jx]. I made two pair on the turn, but that made his straight, and the river failed to float my boat.

4 hours. Finished about 40th of 80. -100% ROI (-140% buy-in, including add-on and door fee).