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 A
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 7
I opened to 300 and got three callers, including both the blinds. The flop was A
Hand 20 A
I called a raise to 1K from UTG but folded after the flop.
Hand 21 A
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 K
I raised to 1.2K and got 4 calls. The flop was Q
Hand 32 K
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 A
I called a raise and bet an all-diamond turn with the nut flush draw to take the pot.
Hand 37 8
I raised and called a 3-bet from HJ which ended up being 5
Hand 43 J
I limped into a flop of T
Hand 44 A
I raised over 4 limpers, then called an all-in for 12.3K from K
Hand 50 A
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 K
Hand 52 A
I would have played this but I folded to a pre-flop 3-bet of 12K.
Hand 55 K
Raised to 6K over 3 limps and took the pot.
Hand 59 K
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 Q
Hand 66 A
I raised to 4K over a limper and took the pot.
Hand 71 T
I should have played this hand but folded to a UTG1 bet of 5.5K.
Hand 76 A
Raised to 3.5K and won.
Hand 89 K
Called an 8K raise and saw a 3-way flop of T
Hand 92 K
I called a bet of 6K pre-flop, then raised a c-bet of 12K to 25K on a K
Hand 103 A
I raised to 9K, then folded to a 3-bet. He showed A
Hand 110 6
I called 6.5K pre-floponly to have a pantheon of high cards spread on the flop. Folded to a turn bet.
Hand 116 K
Raised to 12K and won.
Hand 129 J
Action folded to SB and he shoved 30K. I should have called this (see my final hand) but chickened out.
Hand 130 8
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 A
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 A
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 J
Hand 149 J
UTG goes all-in and I fold.
Hand 154 A
Another Mutant Jack. I shove and win.
Hand 155 Q
I would play this, but UTG1 goes all-in and I have to fold.
Hand 156 Q
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 8
I’d like to call the short stack next to me, but I can’t.
Hand 170 A
I go all-in and get called by K
Hand 171 J
I hit my jack on the flop versus A
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.
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.