Tag Archives: flush

Roots

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Portland Players Club $1,000 Guarantee Freeroll (4,000 chips)

I hadn’t been in PPC since the middle of last May, preferring the comfier chairs of Aces, but a Facebook invite from their new owner and the potential for nearly-free money lured me in. The format allowed for re-buys during the first hour and an add-on, all for 4K in chips. About 70 players started.

I caught a big break early on in a four-way all-in holding Jx Jx. Two players had drawing hands but the guy in seat 1 had Ax Ax. The board had other ideas, however, and drew out to a jack-high straight, giving me a pot of about 17K. By the time of the first break I was at 19K.

Playing J♦ Q♦ and the board turned up some more diamonds. A king-high flush gave me another win that put me up to 30K. At the 140-minute mark, I was up to 40K.

I thought I’d lost a big stack with Qx Qx when an all-in matched the cards in his hand for two pair, but a pair of twos on the board gave me a second pair, as the dealer pointed out. He got a good tip later. That hand put me up to 75K and I was starting to dominate the table. I took a look around during the second break and I’m pretty sure I had the biggest stack in the room.

An hour after I was at 40K I hit the 100K mark. We’d started with eight tables; by the time it was consolidated to two I had 101K.

The blinds were getting up there and several of my hands failed to connect, with me just letting my raises go rather than trying bluffs, but at the four-hour mark I was down to 89K and there were a couple of other stacks at my table that were close to or possibly even larger. I lost another 6K to the woman on my left when I tried to play bottom pair on the flop from K♣ 5♣.

At the third break, I was down to 83K, but still one of the larger stacks. Not dominating any longer. The first hand after the break, though, I picked up Ax Kx and managed to bust out two smaller stacks, boosting me up to 110K.

Got into it with the big stack on my left with 5♥ 3♥ that double-paired on the turn. The woman on my left was all-in, I had called and had 30K in the pot and was ahead of her 8x 8x until she made a set on the river and took it down. Even so, with some more wins I was sitting on 170K when we redrew seats for the final table four hours and forty-five minutes into the match.

The woman who’d doubled up through me earlier had been seated directly on my right for the final table and had a healthy stack. She went all-in with about 70K and I called her with Jx Jx. She flipped over 9x 9x, I made a set on the flop and I was up to 247K.

I caught another player all-in with 9x 9x while I was holding Tx Tx, then took out the second-largest stack at the table when he shoved with Ax Kx and I had Ax Ax in the big blind. Incredibly good luck.

By the fourth break I had about 475K in chips. The blinds were 4,000/8,000, we were down to three players, and I was raising every hand I could with opening bets of 25K, which was over half the stack sizes of either of the the other two players. Barring a double-up, they had only a few hands each left before they were blinded out, and they proposed a chop that left me first place with them splitting second and third. I had no problems with that.

After paying the door fee, an add-on, and a tip for the dealer (plus a couple of Diet Cokes) my ROI was +450%.

Portland Players Club Shootout

Since I’d already paid my door fee for the day, I figured I’d go back over to PPC for the last tournament, but while their 7pm game was going strong, I was only the second person signed up for the 9pm turbo when I got there at 8:45. It wasn’t promising and I waited around for one of the shootouts to start, playing Tonk with the owner and a couple of the dealers.

Supposedly, you buy into the shootouts for 25-50BB but it seemed as if some of the players re-loaded above the top level after the game had been going for a while. Just sayin’. I bought in for 30BB. The game was set to play for 90 minutes.

Took a massive hit on my first hand holding 2x 2x in the BB. Hit a set on the flop, got into a bidding war with a 50BB stack at the end of the table and he beat me holding 6x 6x when his set made it on the river. I lost about two-thirds of my stack right there.

Not too long afterward, though, I played 7♥ 9♥, went all-in after making middle pair with the nine, made a set on the turn, and got back up to 20BB.

Another suited gapper (6♣ 8♣) made two pair for me but another player’s pocket Qx Qx tripped on the flop and cut me back down to less than 8BB.

I slow-played Jx Tx on a flop of Jx Jx Tx and managed to get two callers for a triple-up on my full house.

Another Jx Tx doubled me up against a two-paired Ax Kx and Kx Kx when I hit a Broadway straight.

My hand of the night was Jx Jx but it beat me when someone else played it against my Ax Qx. I lost 20BB but was still had over 25BB in my stack after the previous windfalls. Lost another 5BB on A♦ 8♦ when I missed the flop completely and utterly.

Three spades on the flop and K♠ Kx in my hand meant I was all-in against a big stack. He called, the A♠ hit on the turn and I was way ahead for the night, with a half hour to go on the timer I had nearly 90BB, triple my buy-in. I should probably have just sat on it, paid my blinds, and waited for the buzzer.

I was sort of intending to do that, and dumped Ax Kx with two all-ins ahead of me. Pocket 8x 8x took it down, but there was a Kx on the flop and I could have made more. That’s probably what got me antsy.

I called a 30BB all-in holding Qx Qx, they showed Ax Kx, pulled an ace, and I was still ahead of where I’d begun but not as much.

Time ended soon after. I’d paid my door fee earlier, after a tip to the dealer and a Diet Coke I had +85% ROI.

Overall for the day: +262% ROI.

A Piece of Cake

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Cake Poker Rome Turbo 6-Max

Had 5♣ 5♥ and the bottom end of four to a straight but got caught by sixes that made a set.

11 minutes, 20 hands. -30BB.

Cake Poker $2,000 Guaranteed Rebuy & Addon (1,500 chips)

This went bad quickly on the third hand when I got greedy with 6♣ 8♣. There were four player in for 167 each pre-flop. The flop was 3♣ 9♣ 6♥ and I bet half the pot (349) after UTG checked. HJ called, but CO raised all-in to 1,183. That forced out UTG but I called and so did HJ. Amazingly enough, I had the best had of the lot; HJ held T♠ K♣ and CO had A♦ Q♥. My sixes and flush draw were in the lead 7:3 over the other players. 4♥ for the turn gave me an even better lead. But the Q♠ on the river yanked it away and dropped me down to 130 chips. That was gone in another couple hands.

I bought back in but it was only marginally better.

23 minutes, 22 hands. 2 buy-ins.

End of An Era, Pt. 4

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Full Tilt Round 1 Freeroll (1,500 chips)

Another run at a freeroll. Doubled up on the second hand with T♥ A♦ in SB. UTG2 was all-in for 1,605. I called with 1,470. He showed Q♦ K♥, the flop had A♥ in the middle, and it was over by the river.

Fifth hand grabbed me even more chips. Q♣ 3♣ in CO. Five of us limped in, A♠ 2♣ K♣ gave me second nut flush draw, I called HJ’s bet of 30, the blinds folded, and UTG1 called. 8♣ made my flush, UTG1 checked, HJ bet 30 again and I raised to 100. Both UTG1 and HJ came along. A scary K♠ hit the river, making several full house possibilities, but I didn’t think either of them had it. UTG1 checked, HJ was all-in for 1,325, I went all-in (UTG1 only had 15 more than HJ), UTG1 folded. HJ had a set of kings, but that didn’t touch my flush. That popped me over 4,700.

My 3♠ 3♣ that made twos full of threes by the river was bested by T♥ T♣ a few hands later, though, costing me 1,200, and on the very next hand an ill-advised all-in call with A♣ J♠ burned me for nearly 3,000 chips when K♦ K♥ showed up for the showdown. I was down to 910 after that.

I managed to briefly recover two hands later with something similar to what had gotten me started: T♠ A♥. I had 1,000 even on BTN, we were still at 15/30. HJ raised all-in to 935. I went all-in. BB—who’d taken me down with the kings a minute earlier, called. We flipped the cards over, BB had kings again: K♥ K♠. HJ was in bad shape with K♦ Q♥. The flop showed some promise: 2♦ 3♥ 5♥. Any ace, any four, a couple more hearts…I could even still get a straight flush. The turn 7♠ didn’t do me any good but I got my A♣ on the river (h/t Barry Greenstein). The pot netted me nearly 2,000 chips.

All of which I lost three hands later with A♣ K♣. Blinds were 20/40. I raised to 100 from UTG1. The guy with kings was CO and re-raised to 360, getting a call from BTN. I re-raised to 1,020; CO and BTN were in. The flop looked good: A♥ Q♣ A♦. At least so long as he didn’t have a Qx. I bet my last 1,900 and got a call. He had the Mutant Jack: A♠ J♠. Nearly 7K in the pot, I was a 4:1 favorite to win. 8♦ for the turn. J♦ for the river. Nobody named their book for that.

18 minutes, 14 hands. Placed 4,564 of 6,983 players.

Full Tilt $1 Main Event Satellite (1,500 chips)

BAM! Out of the gate, picked up steam with a win holding K♦ 8♦ on BTN. Four of us to the flop after a raise to 80 from UTG. K♠ 6♣ T♠ and everyone checked to me. I bet 180, getting a call from only BB. 9♣ on turn and I bet another 700 (with only 540 behind), driving off BB and netting me 440.

K♠ 8♠ was mine again in CO, five hands later. Action folded to me, I raised to 100. BTN and SB called. I made top pair on the 6♠ 8♦ 2♥ flop, SB bet 200, I called, BTN folded. An 8♥ for the turn made a set but SB (who had me covered by thousands) bet 550. I raised all-in for 1,515 and he called, showing a weaker kicker: 8♣ 5♣. harmless 7♠ on the river and I was up to 3,780.

That was my apex, though. I raised a limp by UTG1 to 200 as UTG2 at 40/80. 4 callers. Low cards on the flop: 9♠ 3♣ 6♠. UTG bet 700 and I raised to 1,500, putting him on a pair to the board, which I could beat. Three folds, then a call from UTG. 2♣ for the turn and UTG checked. I bet 1,960 all-in. UTG called with just 130 behind, then dropped 9♣ 8♠. I was just about there, but then 8♦ showed up, giving him two pair and knocking me out.

18 minutes, 21 hands. 85th of 201 players.

End of An Era, Pt. 3

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Full Tilt Satellite to the $200K Double Deuce (1,500 chips)

Two of the players at my initial table were eliminated in the third hand by the guy on my left, then a couple hands later I falled him down to the river with a pair of jacks and took over 600 chips from him when his busted straight was exposed. He got moved to a new table right after that and I was left as chip leader for a bit with 2,700 chips.

Got J♦ A♣ on SB at 30/60 fifteen minutes into the game and three-bet to 400 after a raise and a call to 150. There were three of us who saw the flop of J♣ T♠ K♣. I bet all-in for 2,550, getting a call from a small stack of 1,015 who then showed the straight with 9♥ Q♥. Fortunately for me, Q♦ came on the turn and the 8♥ river card went nowhere. That put me up to 4,800. Got moved to a new table for the next hand.

There were seven players at the new table; I was in third place behind stacks of 7,500 and 5,250, with another stack about my size and the other three running from 1,000 to 2,600. Got 7♣ 7♠ in BB and when action folded to the SB who went all-in for 1,797 I called. He showed T♦ J♠ and I was in trouble on the flop when it came out T♥ 6♠ 4♠. Then the turn 5♣ game me hope and 3♠ rier sealed the deal for my straight. Not exactly how I would have expected to win that hand, but I’d take it. Up over 6,600.

Back in the BB at 50/100 ten minutes later and I had A♣ 9♣. UTG called. The big stack at the table with 13K was UTG1, who raised to 450. I called and UTG called. The flop was T♣ K♠ 8♦, I bet 450, UTG went all-in for nearly 4K, UTG1 called and I gladly folded. UTG held top pair with K♦ Q♦ and UTG1 had crap with 7♠ J♥. Who knows what he was doing.

Another ten minutes, another BB. 80/160 with K♠ 4♣. I’ve got about 5K, with the two larger stacks at the table of 9,700 and 8,100 on my right in SB and BTN. HJ, CO, BTN, and SB all limped and I checked to see what would come of this not-promising hand. 8♦ 7♠ K♥ hit the flop and after SB checked I made a pot-sized bet (800) on my kings. Everyone folded to the SB, who called. 9♠ on the turn, check from SB, pot-sized bet (2,400, now) from me, call from SB. 9♥ on the river, check from SB, check from me, he shows 7♦ J♥ and I take in 3,840. He’s the same player I took my first pot from. Life’s different in non-cash games.

I was over 8K at the 100/200 level when I had a serious turn-around with K♣ Q♣ as HJ. UTG limped, I raised to 500. BTN, BB, and UTG called. The flop wasn’t auspicious: 9♦ 2♣ 5♥. Action checked to me, I bet 300, BTN folded, and the other two players called. A♣ on the turn gave me the nut flush draw. BB checked, UTG went all-in for about 3,200, and I called. UTG had two pair with 2♥ A♥. My club didn’t show and I was down to 4K.

I was down to less than 3K ten minutes later at 150/300/25, in SB with T♦ A♠. UTG1 raised to 1,500, I went all-in, and he called, showing J♥ J♦. It was a nail-biter after the Q♣ J♣ 7♥ flop, with his trips and my straight draw. The turn 9♣ gave us a chance of a chop. But pairing my ace with A♦ for the river didn’t do me any good.

58 minutes, 67 hands.

Full Tilt Satellite to the $200K Double Deuce (1,500 chips)

One hour later. Got chopped down to 950 chips in the first fifteen hands, then managed to parlay T♠ A♦ into a win of 1,175 when a pair of fours didn’t believe I had an ace.

Lost 1,300 playing 6♦ 7♦ and a straight draw from BB against a set of tens, then won 2,300 two hands later with K♦ J♦ going all-in and flopping two pair against callers with A♣ Q♥ and A♦ 4♦.

Proceeded to lose nearly 3,000 over the course of two nearly consecutive hands shortly thereafter when a Mutant Jack beat my A♦ 7♦, then a pair of fives became a set on the turn after I’d flopped a pair for my jack. That put me on life support, down under 1,000.

Everything went into the pot with 5♣ 7♣ in UTG. BB with 9♥ 9♠ called, there were no clubs on the board, my only concession was a 7♦ for the river.

38 minutes, 47 hands. Finished 30th of 76.

End of An Era, Pt. 2

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Full Tilt .NET Onyx Cup – Round 1 (1,500 chips)

Spent some of my FTP points buying into the entry level of the Onyx Cup ladder. Given the way things went at the end of last week, I guess it’s all for the best that I didn’t get too far and get very invested in the process.

13 minutes, 15 hands. Placed 118th of 360.

Full Tilt .NET Onyx Cup – Round 1 (1,500 chips)

Five minutes after the first attempt. I’m back. This one’s more brutal than the last as pocket aces suck me down fast.

3 minutes, 4 hands. Even so I was 243rd of 360.

Full Tilt Satellite to the $200K Double Deuce (1,500 chips)

Fifth hand got me off to a quick start with K♠ 9♠ in the SB. I saw the flop with four others for 120 after a raise from UTG1. Got top pair with K♥ 7♥ 2♠ and pushed all-in for 2,380. BB raised nearly his entire stack, for 4,880. CO called all-in at 1,335. BB had a flush draw with T♥ 6♥, CO’s kicker was better: K♦ A♥. Turn 7♣ didn’t change anything but the K♣ river gave me and CO kings full of sevens, and I got the bulk of the pot since CO’s contribution was smaller than mine.

Took a huge hit not long thereafter with T♦ K♣ in UTG. I limped in for 60, SB called, BB raised to 240. I called and SB called. Flop was J♥ A♠ 6♠, BB opened with 360, I called. BB kept pushing and I kept calling until the river when for some reason I pushed all-in with nothing more than a bluff for a flush. BB had top two pair on the flop but not quite as many chips as me; I lost more than 3,200 chips and had 155 left. That was gone in two hands.

20 minutes, 21 hands.

Full Tilt $1 Main Event Satellite (1,500 chips)

If I can’t get to the WSOP through the home league POY, I thought I’d try the even more difficult path through a massive qualifier (via FTP point buy-in). Another tournament without much traction, went out with A♥ 4♥.

17 minutes, 18 hands.

Full Tilt Round 1 Freeroll (1,500 chips)

Wanted to build my bankroll up and I really hadn’t been taking advantage of the freerolls. Got off to a great start on the first hand with J♠ A♥ in CO. I raised to 600, expecting a couple of callers since it was a freeroll, and sure enough both the blinds came along. The flop was T♥ 6♣ 3♠. BB bet 30 more and I raised all-in to 900. SB folded but BB called and showed A♠ 2♦. The turn was Q♣ and river was 6♥; I ended up at 3,630.

The ninth hand put me over 5,000 chips but on eleven I had 9♥ 9♠ and was beat by 6♠ 8♥ that made a full house by the river.

18 minutes, 11 hands. Finished 4,213rd of 7,179.

End of An Era, Pt. 1

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Full Tilt KO Sit & Go (3,000 chips)

Didn’t last long here at all. Got caught with a stupid call holding K♠ Q♥ with K♣ on the board against pocket aces.

13 minutes, 12 hands. 75th of 90 players.

Full Tilt Mach 10 Rush

Got up as high as 125% of my buy-in but put my flush up against a full house on the fortieth hand and lost my all-in.

10 minutes, 40 hands.

Full Tilt KO Sit & Go (3,000 chips)

A lacklustre showing here, I feel. I did briefly get up as high as 8K, but was quick to lose that and get knocked back down to about 4K. My J♥ T♦ didn’t quite make a straight on the last hand.

46 minutes, 44 hands. 31st of 90.

Full Tilt Flash Rush

Never got ahead at all here. Three hands near the end wiped out my buy-in: Q♠ K♥, J♥ K♠, and A♠ J♦.

6 minutes, 26 hands.

The Midwest

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Cake Poker Daily $800 PLO/8 Guaranteed (3,000 chips)

Tried this for a lark. First online cash play since Friday.

My first hand was T♣ J♣ 6♥ Q♦ as UTG in ten players at 10/20. I raised to 45 and there were three callers. Flop was J♠ J♦ 7♠ making me a set, and I half-potted to 105. One call. 3♥ on the turn, I bet the pot (420) and got a call. 2♥ for the river, we both checked, my set was the high hand and the other guy got a low. Most of the money in the pot belonged to us, so we only made a 60 chip profit.

Got 5♠ J♠ 4♣ 6♣ on the big blind. UTG raised to 70 and got three calls. SB re-raised to 440. I called and everyone already in the hand stayed in, so there were six players to the see the A♣ 8♥ 7♥ flop. I had a low straight draw, when SB went all-in for 2,540 I called. UTG went all-in for less than the bet, UTG1 called, there was a fold, and BTN was all-in for another 10 chips. I called and UTG1 called. Turn was J♣, which didn’t do much of anything for me, but UTG1 raised his last 70 chips and I called with mine (he’d been the low I split the pot in the last hand). BTN showed A♠ K♠ 6♥ 5♣ for a pair of aces and one of my straight draws. SB had 3♠ A♦ J♥ T♦ for aces and jacks and an inside straight draw to the Jx. Things were looking grim for any real hand for me. UTG, with 3♥ Q♠ K♣ Q♥ had to hope for a Tx to make Broadway to win. UTG2 had 9♣ Q♣ T♣ K♥ to fill in the gap between the nut straight. The river was 4♥. Amazingly enough, I had a low hand with A♣ 4♦ 5♠ 6♣ 7♥ and took back my 70 chips from the last round of betting. BTN had the same low, and we split the rest of the low pots, with me taking a total of 3,905.

The fourth hand, I picked up Q♣ A♣ 5♣ 3♠. I raised to 70 from BTN, SB re-raised to 120, UTG2 three-bet 460. Both SB and I called. 8♣ 2♦ T♣ on the flop gave me the nut flush draw. I potted it to 1410, SB called for less, UTG2 went all-in for more than 5,500 and I called all-in. SB had J♦ 7♠ 6♦ A♦ for not much of anything, UTG2 showed 4♣ 8♠ A♠ 2♣ for two pair. The turn and river were unclubbed: Q♥ K♠, turning SB’s not much into Broadway. He got the main pot of 5,130; the two-pair took 4,210 (a good bit less than he’d started the hand with, but then I got nothing).

5 minutes, 4 hands. First player of thirty permanently out because I refuse to rebuy.

Black Friday Freeroll

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Encore Club $500 Guarantee Freeroll (5,500 chips)

I don’t know if this freeroll noon-time tournament was planned ahead of the Black Friday shutdown of the big online poker sites in the US, but it seems like an auspicious time for the local card rooms to try to step into the rather large void left by PokerStars and Full Tilt. Me, I’d  have played it anyway.

The game was at least 20 minutes late getting started, and about seven tables were full when one of the staff came around to drop off an extra red 500 chip for everyone in their seats. A couple table’s worth of stragglers came in during the first hour but for the most part everyone started with the bonus.

Ducks were all over the board during the game, and in fact my first win was holding 2x 2x in BB as several of us limped to the flop, which was 5x 5x 2x. I stepped up the pressure with my full house and everyone folded.

My second take came with 6♦ 7♦. The flop was a Qx 8x 5x, and apparently my open-ended straight draw was more awe-inspiring than anything anyone else had because another raise took it.

Flopped top two pair holding Ax Kx and grabbed some more. Forty-five minutes into the game at the 75/150 level I was holding 8,325 chips.

Pushed with A♥ 3♥ and won a pot of 1,400, which I promptly lost speculating on Ax 6x.

The last hand before break 1, I had Ax 6x again. The flop was Tx 5x 8x and there were several of us in the pot, with me leading out for 500. The turn was 9x and I was almost there, leading out with another 500. Finally, the 7x showed on the river and I bet 2,500 (keeping in mind that Jx could beat me), getting a call from the woman sitting to my left. We flipped our cards and the dealer called her as the winner, pushing out the 5x and 7x for two pair. The chips got pushed over to her and she started stacking before I got it together to ask what she’d won with, and I pointed out that my 6 should have been good for the straight. A couple of players backed me up and they and the dealer tried to reconstruct the pot, so I ended up with about 7K, which gave me 9,400 going into the break. I opted out of the add-on.

Once the action got going again, I had a couple of good hands. Ax Kx again and I raised 2,500 in a pot of 1,000 to pick that off. Confident play of A♥ T♥ managed to take down a pot of 8,000. By the end of the fourth level I had 18,900 chips.

Picked up Ax Tx again and raised 2500 on a queen-high flop with middle pair. Took in 6,600.

There’d been a discussion at the table about how Kx Qx was a losing hand. Another player and I went to war with me holding Kx Qx and Qx on the flop. I won a pot of more than 20K, then pointed out to the guys who’d been the biggest detractors that I’d just used their least-favorite hand to win the biggest pot at the table so far. Even though we had a different dealer than the previous hour, he managed to nearly screw this up for me, as well by forgetting to count the chips I’d put all-in after matching the raise until I prompted him.

ESPN poker commentator Norman Chad‘s least-favorite hand is Ax Qx, and indeed, it promptly lost me about 8K of my big win. Still, with seven-and-a-half minutes to go in level 6 (400/800) I had 26,000 chips.

Lost 12K on a flush draw with K♦ Q♦ but still somehow managed to finish the level and get to the second break with 22,800 chips.

After the break, we started up at 500/1,000. Promptly lost 6,500 with Jx Jx after an Ax showed on the flop. Took the blinds down with a 2,500 raise holding Ax Kx. Same raise on the next hand took the blinds but with Ax Ax I was really hoping for some action.

Won another hand with A♣ 3♣ with two more clubs on the flop and a raise. Wasn’t exactly making any headway, though because I still had only 22,000.

Tried to see the flop with 5♦ 7♦ but just lost 2K at the 1K/2K level.

I opened with an all-in holding A♦ 5♦. Slightly larger stack called with 6x 6x, then flopped a set. No diamonds for me.

About 190 minutes of play. Didn’t count the hands. Out about 30th of 75 players. More than $1,100 in the prize pool by the time re-buys and add-ons were made.

The Rock

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Full Tilt Onyx Cup Turbo Super Satellite (1,500 chips)

There were only two entrants to this game when I ran across it and it had a guaranteed ticket to the Onyx Satellite, so it was awfully attractive. It only allowed registration for the first two levels, by the twentieth hand a total of seven players had joined, although a couple were already gone by that point.

I malingered near the starting stack size for over thirty hands, briefly holding the lead when 1,700 chips could hold the lead, but down to 1,295 at the twenty-minute mark. There were five players at the table with the chip leader (BB) at 3,185 and blinds were 30/60. I held 7♥ 8♠ in CO and limped. SB limped, BB raised to 240, and I decided to call, as did SB. I got middle pair on the 5♦ J♣ 7♣ flop. BB bet 360, I called, SB called. Turn was J♠. Both the players ahead of me checked and I bet 200, hoping nobody had a Jx. Both called. River was 2♥. Everyone checked. SB had a busted flush draw and two pair with 2♣ 3♣; BB just had the pair on the board and A♠ T♠. My better two pair won the pot of 2,400 and made me chip leader with 2,895.

The chip lead had shifted to the player on my left nine hands later at 40/80. CO limped, I raised to 200 with T♥ J♥, SB and CO called. J♣ 4♦ 7♥ made me top pair on the flop, and I bet 350 after checks from SB and CO. CO was the only caller. The turn was K♣ and both of us checked. A 7♦ for the river induced a bet of 800 from CO but I wasn’t convinced and made the call. He showed four to a straight with 6♦ 5♦. I took the pot and he was left with just 325 chips. I had 3,695, just 130 chips behind the lead.

The two smallest stacks were both eliminated just three hands later by a pair of queens held by the third-ranked player. The field was close, ranging from only 3,000 to 3,700 for the three of us. Shortly after that, the same player took out the player who’d had the chip lead the longest, with a set of nines. We went into heads-up at 50/100 with stack of 3,295 (me) and 7,205.

The first hand of heads-up couldn’t have gone better for me. I was BB, holding 2♥ 4♦ and he just called, so I didn’t toss the hand, which was great because the flop was 5♠ 6♣ 3♥, giving me a straight. I bet the pot—200—and he followed along. T♦ hit the turn and I doubled the pot again: 600. Once again he came along. The 7♠ on the river extended my straight and I went all-in for 2,395. He called and showed 9♦ 7♥. If a 4x or an 8x had hit the board, I would have been in deep trouble (or chopped the pot, at best) but instead I took the chip lead with 6,590 vs. 3,910.

I only managed to hold onto the lead for about eight hands, though. I had the button and A♥ 9♣ when we both put in 400 and went to the flop, which was A♠ J♣ 6♣. He bet a modest 100 and I raised all-in, which was what he was hoping for. He called with 2,660 and flipped over Q♥ A♣. He evene paired his kicker on the turn with Q♠, and then the tables were turned: 4,380 vs. 6,120.

I lost another 1,700 a bit later chasing a flush with Q♦ 7♦. The board was 2♦ J♣ 3♦ J♠ and I’d opened after the turn with 1,000, but  he went all-in and I just couldn’t pull the trigger to hope for a diamond. That brought me down to just over 3,000.

Even the Mutant Jack two hands in a row couldn’t stop the relentless chipping away of my stack. I had J♦ A♦ on the button at 60/120, raised to 300 and he folded. Same exact cards on the next hand, he raises to 360 and I go all-in, then he folds. All told, I profit just 480 chips off the diamond Mutant Jacks. and I lose that profit a couple hands later with T♦ A♥.

Less than two minutes after the Mutant Jacks appeared, I’m down to 1,850, on the button with Q♥ A♣. I open-raise to 420 and get a call. The flop is 5♠ T♥ K♥. I have an inside straight draw, a backdoor second-nut flush draw, an over card, even the potential for a royal flush. I go all-in after a check from the big stack, and he shows K♦ 3♦ after he calls. There’s 3,820 in the pot and I’d still be at a 7:4 disadvantage if I win. Of course, I don’t, an 8♠ shows on the turn and he even double-pairs on the river with 3♣.

Seven players. Finished second. 33 minutes, 79 hands, ROI -81%.

The Onyx Cup slips away for another year….

The Slice

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Cake Poker $25,000 Guaranteed Semi-Final, 20 Seats Guaranteed (2,000 chips)

I decided to play this tournament because it looked as if from the early stats that the overlay would be pretty good for twenty guaranteed seats. I’d intended to use this part of my Cake bankroll to make another run at the Irish Open Semi-Final but the last couple of weeks of March it didn’t look like there would be enough people playing the satellites to actually award a seat in the monthly final. So, go for the money.

My second hand I was on the BB. UTG3 opened with a min-raise to 40. Action folded to me with J♠ 4♠ and I called. The flop was spadey: 7♥ K♠ 8♠. I bet 60, getting a call. Q♦ hit the turn, which wasn’t helpful, but I continued with a 60 bet. UTG3 raised to 120 and I called. My flush came through with a river 6♠ and I made a pot-sided bet of 450. UTG3 called, showed a pair of queens with J♦ Q♠ and I took in a 680 chip profit.

Ten minutes later I picked up the same amount, this time from SB with A♥ 9♦. Three players limped in and I raised to 50. BB folded but all of the limpers called. 8♠ 4♠ A♣ on the flop gave me top pair and I bet 200. Only UTG called this time. The turn was 2♦, and I checked but UTG bet 310. I called. The river card was T♣. I checked again and this time UTG didn’t try anything. He showed 8♥ K♥. I was up to about 3,500.

My next hand on the button was Q♦ K♥. CO limped in for 30; I raised to 75. BB called and CO folded. Top pair on the flop again with 3♥ 8♠ Q♥. BB checked and I bet an amount almost the size of the pot: 175. BB raised to 448, with only 877 behind. I re-raised to 721 and BB called. It was a 6♦ on the turn, BB went all-in for his last 604. I called and he showed Q♣ 9♠. The 3♣ on the river paired the board and gave us both queens and threes but my king gave me the win and a total of more than 4,900 chips.

Things went to hell at the half-hour mark. Action folded around to me in CO at 25/50 holding T♠ T♣. I raised to 200, was re-raised by B to 650, and both the blinds folded. I called and the flop was Q♥ 5♥ 4♦. I checked, B bet 800, and I called, thinking B had something like Ax Kx and was trying to push me off. 4♥ on the turn and I stepped into it even further, with a 580 bet. B called. The river was A♦, I checked, B bet 650, and I called, only to see him flip Q♦ Q♠. I lost almost 2,700 chips, taking me down to 1,618.

Fortunately, I was able to recover within less than ten hands. I was in SB with A♥ J♣ at 50/100. Action folded to the button who went all-in for 3,006, twice as many chips as I had and about half the stack of BB. I called, then so did BB. B had 7♥ 7♠, BB held J♦ J♥, so I had a chance. I got my ace on the 2♦ 9♥ A♠ flop, nothing came through for the other players, and I tripled up to 4,629.

My pattern for the next sixty hands was to maintain at about 4,500 or 5,000 chips for 15 hands, get busted down to 2,500 chips for a few hands, double up, and repeat. Not exactly where you want to be when the blinds are running 300/600/50. I finally broke out on a hand where I was CO. I raised to 2,000 holding A♥ A♠. BB went all-in for 4,010 and I called, with 146 behind. BB flipped J♠ J♦. He came one 8x away from getting a straight, but the aces held up and I made it to 8,866.

Three hands later I had a pair of tens again but this tie they didn’t get shot down by queens. BB was all-in with only 137 chips. I had T♦ T♠ in UTG1 and min-raised to 1,200. Everyone folded and I was heads-up with the all-in. The board looked familiar—Q♣ 6♥ 4♦ 4♥ 5♣—but the BB had 7♣ K♠ and was out. I was pretty solidly in the top 20 by this time.

A walk on my big blind a couple hands later netted me 850 with 2♦ 6♥ and put me over 10K just before the second break.

It took about twelve more minutes to get the final elimination. I got down as low as 8K but finished with just over 12K.

132 minutes, 138 hands. Tied for “1st” with 19 out of 86 players.

Cake Poker $25,000 Guaranteed (5,000 chips)

Fifty minutes after the end of the Semi-Final, the real match began. The first half-hour was uneventful, with my stack bumping between 5,000 and 5,500 chips.

Blinds were 25/50 and I was UTG3 with 7♦ 7♣. Action folded to me, I raised to 125, B called, and SB raised to 413. I called and B followed along. The flop put two over cards out—J♥ T♠ 2♦—and it got checked all around. The 5♠ on the turn didn’t change things much. SB checked again, I put out just 100 into a pot of 1,289. B and SB came along. 7♥ on the river gave me a set and when SB checked again I bet 500. That forced B out but got a call from SB who showed 9♠ 9♦. I was up to 6,851.

I was the only caller on the next hand, holding J♠ T♦ heads-up against BB. The 8♦ K♥ 9♣ flop gave me an open-ended straight draw, so I bet 200, which bought me the pot.

In UTG1 on the next hand I had an unimpressive 4♥ 4♠. I limped in, UTG2 raised to 400, UTG3, B, and I called. The four of us saw a 8♦ 2♣ 4♣ flop. I bet 500, UTG3 was the only caller. An A♠ turned over next, I bet 1,000 and UTG3 followed along. 9♦ for the river. I checked, wanting to see if he’d bet out more but he checked as well, then showed K♥ K♦. That put me up over 9,800.

On my next BB, I had the Q♣ 7♦ “internet hand.” There were two limpers, I checked, and the flop was 5♦ 9♣ Q♦. I bet 200 on my top pair, UTG2 called, and HJ folded. The turn was 3♥ and I bet another 200 and got another call. I felt fairly secure with the river 6♣ and bet 101 to leave an even 9,000 behind. UTG2 raised all-in for 2,889 and I called. He only had a T♣ J♥ and my queens were good enough to bring me up to 13,140.

I promptly lost 2,400 on the next hand with 9♦ A♦. I had top pair on the A♥ T♠ 7♦ flop but BB picked up two pair with T♥ 7♥.  6♦ on the turn gave me a flush draw but it didn’t come through.

I spent the next fifty minutes ranging a couple thousand chips on either side of the 10K mark. I was down to my lowest point just under 8,300 when I got fours on the button at 150/300: 4♠ 4♣. UTG1 raised to 600, action folded to me and I made a big raise to 2,000. That pushed the blinds out. UTG1 went all-in for 9,862, and my all-in call was about 1K less. He turned over A♣ K♦. The board was Q♦ 8♠ Q♥ 3♦ 3♥, and I doubled up to just over 17K. This briefly put me in the top six.

Over ten minutes I slid down to 12K, then popped back up to about 17K with an A♦ 7♦. I was at about 16,500 at the end of the second hour.

Just after coming back from the break, I thought I was in pretty good shape when I got K♣ K♦ in UTG. Blinds were 200/400/40, and I opened with a raise to 1,000. I got calls from UTG4, HJ, B, and BB. The flop was 8♣ 9♥ T♠ and I bet 2,000 after BB checked. That got a call from UTG4, HJ folded, then B went all-in for 19,171, about 6K more than I had. BB folded, I called, UTG4 folded, and B showed 9♦ 9♣ for a flopped set. Q♦ showed on the turn, making Jx good for me as well as Kx but the last card was 7♦. Could I have raised enough to keep the nines from playing the hand? Could I have been smart enough to have folded the kings after the all-in raise? Maybe next time.

124 minutes, 117 hands. 67th place out of 159 (30 places paid).