My Time is Coming: Week 16 or My Time Is On Hiatus

Another unimpressive week of (mostly) tournament poker. This is my last regular update for a while. It’s not that I’m going to take a break from writing, I’m just going to be doing so much writing, I’m not sure how much I’ll be writing here, and my poker playing is going to be limited a bit over the next couple of months as I prepare and then head down to Las Vegas to cover the World Series of Poker as a live reporter for the WSOP. I wasn’t expecting that to happen when I started these collations (which I think are mostly read by me, anyway); hopefully anyone who misses them will find solace in the stuff I report from Vegas. If you’re going to be in the Rio between Memorial Day and mid-July, drop me an email at pokermutant at mutantpoker.com or @pokermutant on Twitter.

Bovada $5K NLHE Turbo

Hate-regged a tournament after busting out of the Final Table $20K. Deep stacks with 50BB when I got into it. Raised to 600 from 200 UTG with [jh 8h] and got 3 calls. [8c 4c 3s] on the flop, I checked, UTG1 bet 2.7K and got called by HJ and D. I shove to 9.7K, UTG1 goes all in for 6.7K, HJ is all in and D calls. I make two pair by the river, but UTG1 has a set of queens on the turn. I get a small side pot and go out in the next hand.

Fifteen minutes. 10 hands. 324th of 398 entries.

Bovada $500  PLO8 Turbo

When I play turbo, I play turbo! First hand I’m CO and pick up [kh 9h 5c kc]. I limp after UTG, D goes all in for 610. BB pots to 2.3K. UTG is all in for 2K. I don’t really think I should fold here, so I’m in for 3K. BB puts a last 170 in. I’m the only one of the four players with below-average equity. Yay! The board runs our [6h 2c td qs 4d]. I pick up a little equity by the turn, but end up with just the kings. UTG’s queens and fours take the high main and secondary pots, BB makes the best low on all pots with 7642A. I get a <2BB high second side pot and go out on the next hand. I’m not always this bad at Omaha (see below).

Two minutes. 2 hands. 33rd of 44 entries.

Bovada $1K NLHE 6-Max Turbo

Got up to four times the starting stack in the first forty hands, then this. The table was five-handed, I was on the button with 17K (34BB) and [tc ad]. I raised to 1.5K, SB called with [8c 9c] and BB shoves 12K. I read it as a squeeze and re-raise all in (SB has more than twice my stack). BB turns over [8s 6h], the flop is [kd 5h 7d]. You can probably guess the rest. [kh] on the turn to make it seem like maybe I’d escaped getting sucked on, then [9s] for the coup de grace. I’m down to less than 10BB and out four hands later.

Thirty-eight minutes. 60 hands. 36th of 75 entries.

Bovada 0.02/0.05 NLHE Zone 6-Max

Two big hands. The first is [jc qd] in BB. D raises to 2BB after three folds. SB re-raises to 6BB, and I 4-bet to 13BB. D folds, SB makes the call. The flop is [5h 7h 6c] and SB check calls my 41BB all-in with [kd ah]. [jh] on the turn puts it away for me.

Second was in SB with [8s 9h]. Three folds, D calls, I make an out-of-position raise to 3BB and get called by BB and D. The flop hits me hard with [8h tc js]. I check-call a 3BB bet from D, BB folds [kc 8d]. The [qc] on the turn makes my straight. D has about 50BB left and bets 4BB. The pot has 20BB in it and I raise to 25BB. D makes the call. [ts] on the river and I put 50BB in, more than D has left. He calls with [jd 5h].

Thirteen minutes. 34 hands. +120BB.

Final Table $1K NLHE

I’m up a little bit and open to 500 with [as 6s]. Jack, one of the regs, re-raises to 1.5K and I make the call. [6h 6c 4s] on the flop. I bet, jack looks at me and shoves all in, and I call. He has [qx qx] and binks the queen on the turn.

Thirty minutes. 14th of 14 entries.

Bovada $500 PLO8 Hundredaire

I double up on hand 4 with [kc 9c th ah] as UTG1. I limp, then go to the flop three-ways after a raise to 160 from D. I’m wrapped around the [qd js 6c] flop, and check-call a bet of 280. The [ts] on the turn makes my straight, D bets 550 and I raise to 2K. D is all in for another 225 and I make the call. He has the flush draw but not much else, and the river [3c] knocks him out.

By hand 21, I’ve been up to 7.5K then slipped down to 5K. With [kh jc 5s ks] as UTG2, I follow another limper, then get into a four-way pot for 2K total after a raise from SB. I end up in pretty much the same situation as D in the hand before, with a nut flush draw against a straight. I’m out not long after.

Fifty minutes. 31 hands. 32nd of 42 entries.

PDX Poker Club $2K NLHE

Took an irregular shot at a noon tournament (they tend to run too late for my schedule). Got as high as 130K at a point when that was more than two times the chip average, then lost 40K on a hand with tens against aces. In a SB v BB battle, I raised [qx 9x] and make top pair on the turn, didn’t bet it, and let [kx tx] get there on the river and take me for another 25K. Then I shoved [qx tx] into [ax ax] when I had less than 10BB while we were still at two tables.

Four hours and five minutes. 13th of 34 entries.

PDX Poker Club $8K NLHE

Got in late because I was called into work unexpectedly. Took a couple hits, then shoved 11BB over a mid-position raise with [qx qx] in the BB. Got called by [ax 8x] and he hit the ace on the turn.

One hour and fifteen minutes. 79th of 124 entries.

Bovada 0.02/0.05 PLO8 6-Max

The first bonanza came on hand 8. I bought in for the 100BB max and was already up 16BB. In SB with [8c 4d kd kc] I limped in with UTG and HJ. I hit middle set with the nut flush draw on the [jc ac kh] flop and potted to 5BB. UTG and HJ called. [js] on the turn and the only things I’m worrying about are [jd jh] and a pair of aces. Not even a chance for a split pot. I pop to 20BB and UTG goes to 40BB. HJ is all in to call for 38BB. I have both players covered and pot to 110BB, HJ calls for his remaining 42BB. The river is [qs]. UTG has [jd as 2h 9d] for a full house but not one as good as mine. HJ has the straight with [qh 8s td 7c].

Bonanza 2 took a little longer. Hand 23 we’re five-handed and I get [ts 7c qh td] on the button. UTG and I limp. SB has been a regular pre-flop raiser and puts in 5BB, which UTG and I both call. Once again, I make middle set on a [4c tc qd] flop, this time with top pair, as well. SB pots to 16BB, UTG folds, I re-pot to 64BB, SB is all-in for a total of 122BB, and I call. He has bottom set with [ac 4h 2c 4s], as well as the club flush draw and a backdoor low. The turn crushes him, though, as I get [th] for quads. There’s an irrelevant [7d] on the river.

Bonanza 3 on hand 30. In CO six-handed with [7d ac ad 7h]. HJ raises to 3BB and I pot to 10BB. D calls, SB calls, HJ calls. 55BB in the pot pre-flop. I have everyone covered by 200BB, so even if everything goes wrong with this hand, I’m in good shape. The flop isn’t auspicious: [tc 3c 5d]. The best that can be said for it is that I have [ac]. SB and HJ check, I go with my over pair and bet 40BB. D is all-in for 38BB. SB goes all in for 125BB. I make the call. SB turns over [6s 8c 2s 4c] for the club draw and tons of straight draws. D has [2h td 4d 2d] for one of the straight draws. Pre-flop against the other two hands, I have 50% equity. Post-flop, I’m down to 27%. The turn is [kh] and the river is [js], and somehow my pair of aces holds, to scoop a pot of more than 175BB.

Forty-six minutes. 43 hands. +425BB.