Tag Archives: straight

Just Can’t Get Enough

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Aces Players Club (5,000 chips)

I played quiet and slow during the first hour. I’d picked up a couple of big pots, then lost a bunch when I chased down the top pair on the flush from the big blind. Unfortunately, the flush was 345, and a couple of major over cards showed up on the turn and river. I’d called about 1,600 in raises but when the guy to my left raised 1,000 on the river I let him take it down even though there was several thousand on the table and a call would only have cost me another 20% or so of my stack. He flipped over A6 for ace-high just to rub it in for everyone who’d contributed.

The last hand before the first break, one of the guys across from me was itching to rebuy and I picked up a respectable T♣ J♣. Blinds were at 200/400 and there were several callers but the itchy guy raised to 1,200. A couple dropped out, seeing where this was going, but I matched the raise. The flop was a dreamy 8♣ 9♣ Q♠. He bet another 1,200 and I called. The turn was the Q♣, giving me the first straight flush I can ever remember getting in live play. I was pretty sure I’d won the hand by that point, so when he went all-in it was an easy call. He was pretty flabbergasted with his Q♥ 9♠. After he’d rebought and returned to the table after the break we were talking about the hand and one of the other players had to point out to him that I’d had him beat from the flop; he hadn’t realized I’d made a straight to beat his two pair which turned into a full house.

Sadly, my last hand was well before the final table. I picked up A♣ K♣, a couple of actors in the hand before me limped in for 600, then the player to my right went all in. The count was 6,900, leaving me with 100 behind. I called and we were heads-up. He turned over K♠ K♦. There was an ace in the window on the flop. There was an A♠ on the turn. I was crushing this dude’s kings! Then the river was a spade. A fourth spade on the board, to be exact, and that gave him a flush, which beat my set of aces. The 100 went in on the next hand for a pair of nines but a pocket pair of jacks scooped that up.

The Landing On Step 3

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Full Tilt Step 2 (1,500 chips)

Playing with the ticket I won earlier, I don’t manage to get ahead in the first fifty hands. A 3BB raise with J♣ A♠ early on just gets me the blinds; I pick up 150 with a 5♥ 7♦ in the big blind when a couple of players limp in and the flop of 8♣ 6♣ 9♦ gives me a straight; A♣ A♦ in the small blind gets me 240. But when I push a smaller stack’s all-in with an all-in of my own holding A♥ Q♦, he turns over T♥ T♣ and neither of my over cards connect. I manage to double up and get back as high as 1,150 before my 9♥ A♦ all-in is called and out-kicked by T♦ A♣ and I’m back at the foot of the steps.

Full Tilt $2,500 KO Guarantee (2,000 chips)

I like this little bounty tournament althoughI’m at a loss as to why. I’d have to check to see if I’ve picked up any bounties, and I know I haven’s cashed in it. It’s cheap and it’s there if I’m not playing Midnight Madness (or if I’ve busted out). I came into this edition late, with blinds already at 50/100, lost 333 on my first contested hand, and the rest of it only fourteen hands in when my K♣ T♦ got clobbered by Q♥ Q♠ that would have had me beat even if my straight draw had come through.

Full Tilt Step 1 (1,500 chips)

I caught a very lucky K♠ K♣ just four hands in. UTG limped in for 30 and I raised from UTG+1 to 120. UTG+2 called, then everyone but UTG folded. The flop was 2♥ 9♦ T♦ and UTG opened with 405. I shoved all-in, +2 folded like a good boy and UTG called for slightly less than I had. My kings beat his tens—although he was one card from a straight by the river—and I eliminated a player.

I stayed up over 3,000 as chip leader with some small induced folds, then had 8♠ 7♠ on the button with five players left and blinds at 50/100. I’d slipped to second place, the big stack was in the small blind. UTG called, I called, and the small blind called for four players to the flop, which was T♠ 9♠ Q♣. After checks from the blinds, UTG made a pot-sized bet and I doubled it. Straight flush here I come! The blinds dropped out and UTG went all-in for an amount that would leave me with only about 1,400. Naturally, I called. I got a straight with a 6♥ on the turn. The A♣ still didn’t give me a flush but I was up to 5,300+. My own K♣ T♣ knocked another player out a little later when I flushed to beat not only his 6♦ 6♠ which tripped up in the flop but a straight on the board: 7♣ 3♣ 6♥ 5♥ 4♣.

I tried letting the two remaining players battle it out but they were taking so long the blinds ate away 1,500 of my 9,000 chips and I figured I’d better make my presence known when I could. I had about 6,600 in the small blind at 80/160, the big blind had 4,200 and the button had 2,700. I was dealt K♦ A♥, the button made a min raise, I re-raised to 640, big blind folded, button called. The flop was a rather ugly 6♣ K♣ Q♣ but I raised all-in and got a call. I had the better made hand but with Q♦ A♣ it was far from over. Fortunately, diamonds are my best friend and the rest of the cards were 6♦ 4♦. No flush, no more queens. Just a Step 2 ticket for me and guy in the big blind.

Full Tilt Step 2 (1,500 chips)

An early J♦ J♥ pops me up to 2,000 but I nearly get felted 34 hands in when I get over-confident and call an all-in with A♠ J♥. The all-in turns out to be A♥ K♥ and I drop to 530 chips. It doesn’t help that the other ticket winner from the previous game is in this one and is either an ardent admirer or has a novel method of making me a target by appearing to be a sycophant, praising every win and warning people getting into hands with me that they’re going to be sorry. I manage to double up twice in the next eight hands, with a K♦ 5♦ that pairs the top card on the flop and then 8♦ 8♥ in my pocket, each of which sets off a barrage of admiration and my own attempts to deflect.

I lose another big pot to the same player as before with an out-kicked king (he’s got K♠ A♥ this time) and have to build my way back up from the sub-1K region again. We’re down to five players, I have 1,160 in the big blind at 100/200 and I’m dealt A♣ Q♣. The guy who’s been beating me is first to act with a call. My fanboy’s on the button with 1,925 and raises to 900. The small blind folds and I shove all-in. UTG raises all-in—he’s the largest stack by far with 5,875—and the button preserves his remaining 1,025 with a fold. When the cards flip UTG has T♣ T♠ but he’s in a bit worse shape when the flop shows Q♠ 8♦ 9♠. Another Q♣ on the turn closes just means he has fewer chances for a straight, but the 8♣ on the river makes my full house instead. I move from fifth place to second, with 3,320 chips. Another 8♠ 8♥ gets me 600 more chips.

Then I spend twenty-five hands waiting for a good opportunity as my stack shrinks from 3,800 to 1,700. I have to make a move at 120/240 and get very lucky with an all-in from the small blind holding 2♦ A♥. By the turn I have a six-high straight and the A♠ 9♠ of my nemesis is busted. (My fan is gone by this time, thankfully). After my double-up, nemesis and I are relatively even at around 3K while the chip leader is at 7K.

I’m able to push a little better with a larger stack and—frankly—a better run of cards. I creep slowly up through the 4,000s and into the 5K range while meanwhile my nemesis doubles through the chip leader. Now we’re even at about 5,250 while the former chip leader is just above 2,500.

I manage to bump up to more than 7K with 8♦ 7♣ in the big blind at 200/400 with a rivered nine-high straight. The two other players are now at about 3K. The non-nemesis opponent goes all-in from the button when I have A♠ Q♣ and I go all-in. He’s got just 2♠ A♣, the Q♥ shows on the turn, and the match is over after seventy minutes including sixteen just three-handed (there are two winners, so there was no heads-up play).

Full Tilt Step 3 (1,500 chips)

This game looked rather grim. I’d made it to Step 3 before only to crash and burn. Sixty hands and thirty-five minutes in, with blinds at 50/100 and only five players left and I was under the starting stack. Then a K♠ J♣ in the big blind met up with a Q♠ A♥ T♥ flop and I pushed everyone away from 1,850 chips with an all-in for my straight. On the small blind the next hand my J♠ Q♦ double-paired on the river of a A♥ K♠ J♦ 9♣ Q♣ board. A little scary but the all-in forced another fold for a profit of 1,350.

Three hands later I had the same combo in slightly different suits: J♠ Q♥. I was the first to act and limped in for 120; I was heads-up against the big blind. The flop was a pretty safe 6♥ Q♠ 2♣. Big blind bet 180 and I called. The 9♦ didn’t look scary to me and I matched the bet of 400. I figured a KT could have me beat on when J♥ showed on the river, but I matched the 1,570 all-in bet and when he showed 9♣ 6♦ it was mine.

I maintained top position three-handed at about 7K, hoping my two opponents with 3,500 each would weaken each other, to no avail for ten minutes. Then I matched a 480 raise from the small blind while I was in the big blind holding T♦ 8♦. The 3♥ 8♥ 3♠ flop gave me two pair but I should have been more leery of the 480 post-flop bet. I raised all-in and was called by A♦ 3♣. An A♣ on the turn just made it worse and I was reduced to 3,700. A couple of hands later my all-in call with J♦ Q♠ failed to improve and was beat by 6♥ 6♦, putting me out with another chance at Step 3.

Full Tilt Step 3 Turbo 18-Player (1,500 chips)

I re-raised a 3BB raise with A♦ A♥ ten minutes into this two-table match, inducing a three-bet all-in that I called. I was up against Q♥ Q♣ and another ace showed on the flop, putting me in an early lead. I kept the lead as the table shrank through elimination and balancing to six players, then ran my T♣ A♥ into J♦ A♠ and lost 1,200 chips. A freak river 7♥ paired my A♦ 7♦ to wipe out a J♣ A♠ and put me over 5K. Then another four-flush struck when I stupidly contested the big stack’s big blind and I dropped from third place and a sure Step 4 ticket to sixth and Step 3 again.

Be My Poker Valentine

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Full Tilt Crestline Gate

I’m up, I’m down, I’m up, I’m down, I get J♦ J♥ and get busted by a backdoor flush.

Full Tilt Flash

285 hands per hour. Is that too many? I play for 16 minutes, I hit 17.5BB/100 but I’ve been underwater most of the time.

Full Tilt Mach 10

I never manage to get above even over 12 minutes and a double-ended flush draw on the flop goes nowhere to knock me out.

Full Tilt Midnight Madness! (1,500 chips)

My first hand and I can’t resist going all-in with K♦ T♦ on a flop of 6d 4c 5d]. Of course no more diamonds show and the best I have is a match to my ten on the river against pocket queens. I buy in with another entry and try to play it a bit close to the vest but when people are beating your K♠ 9♠ with 6♠ T♦, it’s time to hang it up. OK, maybe I deserved to lose pushing with my 9♠ 9♥ on a J♠ 6♦ 6♥ board, but not to J♦ 7♣.

Full Tilt $2,500 KO Guarantee (2,000 chips)

Had a couple of successes but I was determined not to suffer the fate of my brash Madness! attempts. Unfortunately, after flopping a king-high straight in my first half-hour the cards dried up and I was blinded off from 4,000 down to about 2,500 over most of the course of my 100 minutes of play. A large stack with A♥ J♥ put paid to my A♠ 5♠ and another player’s A♣ K♣ in one swoop.

Full Tilt $10,000 Rush Guarantee (1,500 chips)

I got into this half an hour in, at the 30/60 level but half the field had been eliminated already. That made the top stacks a bit difficult to catch but potentially my standing was closer to the money. I think that was probably an illusion though. Got knocked out with 8♥ T♥ in my hand and A♥ 5♥ K♥ on the flop. Guy to my left had 9♥ Q♥ for the nut flush.

Full Tilt Step 1 18-Player

First out. Straight got me.

Full Tilt Step 1

Slow and steady wins the Step 2 ticket. I need to figure out what I’m doing here that I’m not doing elsewhere.

Put a Spade In It

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Full Tilt Step 1 Turbo (1,500 chips)

Trying to get back on the track. Aces in the first three hands and I win only the very first (A♣ K♣) and that’s just 30 chips. Another ace with a lower kicker pairs. I have to back off 6♣ 6♥ when triple paint shows on the flop, and A♠ Q♦ loses out to a pair of sevens.

Full Tilt Step 1 Super Turbo (300 chips)

I will never enter another Super Turbo so long as I live. You might as well just roll dice.

Full Tilt Step 1 Turbo (1,500 chips)

Lost 600 on the first hand when an ace showed up late, doubled up from 395 only because a guy with 3♥ K♠ stayed in for absolutely nothing against my A♣ J♠ all-in, then lost the whole thing with K♥ K♠ when 8♥ A♠ paired up.

Full Tilt Midnight Madness! (1,500 chips)

Entered into the tournament twice and neither went anywhere. Got knocked out the final time by a Mutant Jack that paired over my eights.

Full Tilt Step 1 Turbo (1,500 chips)

Played pretty conservatively for twenty minutes until I got A♥ 5♥ at 60/120 when we were down to six players. I raised to 240 from the cutoff and got a call from the big blind. The flop was 3♦ 4♦ 8♣ and I bet another 240 after a check. He raised all-in and I called for everything I had. His 7♠ 8♦ gave him a pair and the K♣ K♥ after the flop didn’t improve me any.

Full Tilt $10,000 Rush Guarantee (1,500 chips)

Another conservative game until the last hand. I got Q♥ Q♦ and raised from the big blind of 30 to 210 in the hijack seat. The button re-raised all-in for 1,410 and UTG+2 went all-in to 2,385. Either one put me in and with Q♥ Q♦ I took the plunge for 1,493. I saw K♠ K♥ and K♣ K♦. Neither would improve but they didn’t need to. A pair of nines and a pair of aces on the board with an errant 6 and it was over.

Cake $1,000 Guarantee (1,500 chips)

Reasonably good going for fifteen minutes until I was dealt J♥ Q♦ in the small blind at 25/50. UTG+1 raised to 100, UTG+3 called, and both the blinds went along for the ride. I got top pair with T♦ Q♥ 5♣ and bet 150. UTG+1 called but UTG+3 raised to 1,000. I wasn’t about to let him get away with that. But I should have. I called and the 9♠ on the turn gave me an up-or-down straight draw. I put in my last 280 and he went all-in to call, 40 short of my stack. The 3♣ didn’t connect with anything and when the cards turned over he had a a pair of queens, too, but with K♥ instead of an ace for the kicker. I managed to quad up on my next hand but somehow that’s not so satisfying when you’re doing it with only 40 chips.

Aces Players Club (5,000 chips)

I’d managed to almost recover from some early losses with a 6♦ 7♦ that turned into an 8-high straight on the flop. On another hand I double-pair A♦ 3♦ and push all-in to drive off an A5 that only connects on the top. Then I got J♦ J♣ and raised to 250 with the blinds at 50/100. Several players came along and the flop was somewhat disturbing, with a Q♣. Everyone checked through that and the K♠ on the turn. J♠ on the river gave me trips but at the far end of the table a player bet 1,000. I came over the top for 2,500 and everyone but him dropped out and he called. It wasn’t until he turned over his 5♠ 7♠ that I realized there was another spade on the flop. A little while later I had A♣ 9♣ and bet hard but the big stack two places to my left got three spades (including 9♠) on the flop to flush out his K♠ 5♠, which I saw after I tried to bluff him off. I had a small chance with runner-runner 9s or aces or any combination thereof to make a full house, but it didn’t happen and I was out in less than an hour.

That’s nine losses in a row. I think the streak is off.

I Never Flush

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Full Tilt Midnight Madness (1,500 chips)

Three hands in and there are four after the flop with 390 chips in the pot. I have 8♣ A♣, there’s 2♣ Q♥ J♣ on the board and I’m first to act in the small blind. I bet 200, there’s a fold and two calls. The turn’s 4♦ and I push out another 200. UTG+1 calls and UTG+3 goes all-in for 1,180. Everyone calls. The last card’s 8♥ and UTG+3 with Q♦ T♣ loses to UTG’s straight made with T♥ 9♥ (as do I).

Full Tilt $2,500 KO Guarantee (2,000 chips)

I win exactly one hand during my four minutes in this match and it does not come with a knockout bounty.

Full Tilt $10,000 Rush Guarantee (1,500 chips)

Ten minutes in and I get J♥ K♥ as UTG+1. I raise to 120 (4xBB) and get a re-raise to 405 from a stack with twice my chips in the hijack. I call. The flop is 5♥ 2♠ A♥ and I check, then he bets 625. I call and the turn’s 7♠. I’ve got nine possible draws to an ace-high flush, just like I did in Midnight madness. I bet 120 with 865 behind and he raises all-in. I call. The river is T♦. He’s got K♠ A♦ and I’m out.

Full Tilt Step 1 Turbo 6-Max (1,500 chips)

I did a little better here than in my last attempt. I managed to get up to 4K, then was busted back to 1.5K, with a last-minute double-up before I busted out in third place. No step up but I didn’t lose any ground.

Full Tilt $10,000 Rush Guarantee (1,500 chips)

A slightly longer run into the $10K than the one above but nothing to be proud of. I got beat down on a couple of hands where T♥ A♠ and K♠ T♣ failed to connect, then managed to pull off a triple up. I was in the big blind at 20/40 when I picked up A♦ A♠. UTG raised to 155, action folded to the button, who called, the small blind folded and I raised to 640. Both of the others came along and the pot had over 1,900. After the flop of Q♥ 6♠ 7♠ I went all-in for 1,270. UTG called. The button went all-in for 2,525 and UTG gave up. There was 5,750 in the pot, the button flipped over Q♣ 8♣ and with T♠ on the turn and 4♣ on the river it was mine. I managed to blow it with another ten combo—T♦ K♣—just seven hands later when trip sixes beat my pair of kings and straight draw, taking 4,630 off of me. I lasted about 20 minutes after that but never made it back over 1,200 chips.

Full Tilt Step 1 Turbo 18 Players (1,500 chips)

I had a couple near-fatal setbacks in this tournament, but in the 18-player Sit & Gos Steps the top four spots all step up. I’d been up over 3K, then back down to just over 2K when I played 9♣ A♠ from the small blind. There were four to the flop, which was an intriguing 7♠ T♠ 2♠. I made a pot-sized bet of 800 after the flop and the button raised all-in to 1,240. After my call, the turn made my nut flush with 3♠. Then the whole thing fell apart with a 2♣ on the river and a T♥ T♣ in my opponent’s hand. I managed to build up to 5K by the end of the tournament, about 75 minutes after the first hand.

Full Tilt Rush Flash

It had been a while since I sat down at a ring game and even longer since I hit the Rush tables. I played for about half an hour, losing my entire first stake on the second hand with pocket 9s against pocket kings. I bought back in and rebuilt, eventually coming out ahead with a BB/100 hands of 11.

Cake $1,000 Guarantee (1,500 chips)

Stupid moves on my part knocked me out here in 106th place out of 161 players. Another ATo I shouldn’t have played, and an obvious pair of kings on the board that beat my pocket 9s, even without another king in my opponent’s hand.

Full Tilt Rush Mach 10

A quarter hour at a slightly higher stake, I managed to pull out of a trough and make it into profitability before the end with a ten combination but only because my cards were higher than the other player who followed the trip sevens on the board. BB/100 of 3.5.

Full Tilt Rush Mach 10

This 77-minute excursion managed to eradicate the gains of the earlier sessions. After the seventh minute, I was never in the black. A Q♠ K♠ made it to four spades by the turn but no flush. T♦ J♥ paired the ten on the flop for both myself and the guy holding Q♣ T♥. K♥ A♣ paired but couldn’t beat trip fives. BB/100 of -15.5.

Full Tilt Step 2 Turbo (1,500 chips)

Turbo it was. Thirty minutes from start to finish—even with only nine people—is pretty fast. I got knocked down to 1K fairly quickly but managed to double up after a dozen minutes with an all-in move and K♥ A♦ that matched the king on the turn. Another lucky A♥ K♣ only ten hands later breathed some more life into my stack. I ended up going out in third place with a K♠ 9♠ that failed to connect with anything. Didn’t lose ground but no step up.

Puffmammy Tournament 18 (1,500 chips)

Lost a couple of early pots that hindered my play in the first rounds. Managed to build things back up but had a huge chip stack on my right for most of my night. I was in decent shape going into the break but just didn’t get the right cards at the right time as I was trying to outlast D. Didn’t work. Lost the POY point lead for the first time since mid-October, going out 6th of 8. Only down by a point, though, since D went out on the bubble (4th).

Cake $1,000 Guarantee – Bounty (3,000 chips)

Took two bounties in a three-way ace-off three-quarters of an hour into the match. I had A♥ Q♥ on the button at 75/150. UTG+3 goes all in for 1,959. Cutoff is all-in for 1,123. I’ve got 4,560 and call, the blinds fold. The cards go over 9♦ A♣ for UTG+3 and A♦ 7♦ for the cutoff. The board delivers K♦ 5♣ Q♠ A♠ T♣ and I’m up to almost 8K. I lose most of that running pocket queens into pocket aces a few minutes later, build back up to more than 5K, then end up with less than 2 big blinds when my A♥ Q♣ is beat by A♦ 4♥. Someone takes my bounty on the next hand when I go out 37th of 96.

Full Tilt Step 2 (1,500 chips)

Nine players in another Steps outing, hoping to get far enough during FTOPS to play a game. J♦ J♥ in the big blind puts me over 2,500 chips and into first position a dozen minutes in when the chip leader and I play chicken with our pocket pairs. It’s a scary board for me with 4♥ 9♥ A♣ Q♣ 5♦ but I would have assumed it was even more so for his 7♥ 7♣. I mostly rest and slide (with a couple of wins) down to 1,950 when I get A♦ T♣ in the big blind. There are seven players left, the hijack raises to 300, and the button foes all-in for 1,385. I call and so does the hijack. A tantalizing 2♦ 4♦ 7♦ shows on the flop, I check, and hijack raises to put me all-in. There’s nearly 5K in the pot; I’ve got nine outs to the nut flush; I call and each of my opponents turn over a pair of queens. Their hands aren’t going to improve. Mine doesn’t with a J♣ on the turn, but the river is 6♦. At 40 minutes in I’m back in first place (top two win Step 3 tickets).

I take a flier on K♦ T♦ a few hands later and lose 1,000 so I decide I’d better cool it. Ten minutes later we’re down to five players and I get A♥ 5♥ on the button. I’m down to 3,830 chips, the blinds are 80/160. I call after two folds and the small blind is in. Three to the flop of 3♥ 4♦ 3♦. Once again, very tantalizing. Everyone checks for another card, the 2♥ which makes my straight and gives me a flush draw. Not to mention a straight flush draw. The big blind bets 160 when it’s his time and I raise the 640 chip pot to 1,600. Big blind goes all-in and there’s 4,860 in the pot when the Q♥ shows on the river. He’s got J♠ 3♠ for trip threes but no 2, 3, 4, or jack shows to save him from fifth place.

I clamp down hard on myself. With 6,100 chips, I have twice what any of the other three players do. I do push an A♥ T♦ hard on a 2♦ 8♣ 7♦ 9♥ turn to push two players off and pick up 1,200 but mostly I let the rest of the players fight amongst themselves. The final hand I get 5♦ 5♣ in the small blind and follow the short stack all-in for about 2K. I have enough behind that I’m still the chip leader if I lose. He has A♥ K♥ but the flop is 4♦ 5♥ Q♣. Even A♠ on the turn doesn’t help him.

I guess I do flush once in a while.

Short Tournaments

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Nothing elaborate, just a couple of short tournaments since the last post.

Full Tilt $10,000 Rush Guarantee (1,500 chips)

Came into the Rush game I’ve played before ten minutes late but near the beginning of the second level (15/30). No problem there. Didn’t lose any huge hands until the end but never managed to crack 2K.

Picked up K♦ K♣ after 15 minutes of play (at 30/60) and raised to 180 from the cutoff after everyone ahead of me folded. Big blind called. The flop was 6♣ 9♥ J♥ and he put me all-in. I called and was ahead of his A♣ 6♦ until the A♥ turned over. No king on the river for me and I was out 344th of 1,210.

Full Tilt Step 1 Turbo (1,500 chips)

This was downhill from the first hand. I literally did not win a single pot, losing the last hand holding T♣ 6♣ on a glop of 3♣ K♠ A♣ to a pair of jacks that wasn’t made until the river.

Cake Poker Irish Open Quarter-Final Freezeout (2,000 chips)

Another bad start here. There were three tables when I began and we were five-handed on my first hand as I was in the big blind with 2♠ 3♠. The cutoff raised to 70 after a fold from UTG. The small blind came along and a I didn’t throw my hand away as I should have. The flop was 6♦ 5♠ 5♦. Action checked to the cutoff and he bet 125. The small blind folded but I decided to chase the straight and called.

The 4♠ was the turn. I had my straight. I had four to a flush—I even had two outs for a straight flush—I bet the pot for 460 and got a call. Then the 5♣ landed on the river. I checked, my opponent bet 380, and I paid him off to see his T♠ T♦ make a full house after pulling a 9% chance out of his pocket.

I maintained at around 900 chips for about ten minutes until I pulled J♦ J♠. There were six players at the table and I was back in the big blind (still at the 10/20 level). The cutoff, button, and small blind limped in and when I raised to 100 everyone called.

The flop was T♣ 6♣ 3♦, pretty safe for my jacks. I bet 790 all-in after the small blind checked and the button was the only caller, flipping over T♠ 9♣. And, of course, the 9♦ was the next card to flip, with a useless Q♠ on the river, and I was the second player eliminated from a pretty small field.

The Hand 130 Curse Again

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Man, do I feel stupid.

Yesterday’s Irish Open Semi-Final got off to a decent start. With direct buy-ins, forty players were in the competition, and the prize pool had seven tickets to the final (which was set to begin two hours after the start of the semi-final).

AX 4X was the hand of the day. I made my first two wins with 4♠ A♣ and 4♦ A♦ before a T♦ Q♥ popped me up to more than twice the 3K starting stack. Then I took my first hit from an A♠ 4♠ that turned into a 5-high straight flush.

I had a dry card spell for a while and slipped back down to near the starting stack until things kicked into gear just before the break at the end of the first hour, with blinds at 50/100. I had a sketchy J♣ 8♣ but called a raise of 200 from UTG+1. The big blind called and there were three of us to a J♠ T♣ 3♥ flop. Action checked to me in the cutoff seat and I bet 300 with both other players calling. 7♠ showed up on the turn, giving me top pair and a gut-shot straight draw. I put out another 300. The big blind called but UTG+1 gave up.

The 8♠ hit on the river. I had two pair but there was a potential flush on the board. I had 2,800 chips, covering the stack in the big blind by about 900. He went all-in and I called, and I was glad a 9 hadn’t showed because he had K♣ Q♣ for an open-end straight draw. That was all he had, though so my two pair cleaned him out.

Ten minutes later, after the break, I got the Mutant Jack: A♠ J♠. Blinds were at 75/150 and I raised to 300 from UTG+1, leaving 7,500 behind. The button, with about 6.150, re-raised to 1,050 and both the blinds folded, leaving me heads-up. I called. The flop was a somewhat worrying J♣ 9♣ 9♦ and I checked. The button put out nearly half his stack as a bet and I raised him all-in, seeing it as an attempt to push me off. He called and showed T♣ T♥, giving me a one-better two pair. The 7♣ on the turn was very unwelcome, whaat with 12.5K in the pot, but the river Q♠ meant I was up to more than 14K, or 11.6% of the chips in play in the tournament. More on that later.

Another bluff attempt gave me my next bump in another ten minutes. I was dealt A♥ 7♥ in the small blind, at the 100/200 level. The only caller was UTG and when action got to me I raised to 400. The big blind folded, but UTG called and I was rewarded with a flop of 6♥ 4♥ J♥. I wanted to try to get as many chips out of this as I could and checked. So did UTG. The 3♠ showed on the turn, which gave straight possibilities to anyone playing some low hands. I tapped the gas with a bet of 400, which was called. The flop was a somewhat unwelcome 5♥, which made it possible that my ace-high flush could be beaten by someone holding 2♥ 3♥ for a 6-high straight flush, but that’s pretty unlikely (although I saw a straight flush the other day). Since I had the 7♥ he couldn’t be straight flushing the other direction. I put out 1,000, figuring that he’d fold. Much to my surprise, he raised to 4,800. He either had the straight flush or a good fifth heart or a lot of bluff. I knew I had the best regular flush and took the chance he hadn’t bet out 400 on 2♥ 3♥. I raised all-in (I probably should have just called, he had  me covered by several thousand) and he folded.

Eventually I was up to nearly 20K in chips with just under 1/6 of the chips in the tournament. I was the chip leader (and I’d been the chip leader for a period earlier, as well). I should have been satisfied. With seven tickets to the final, the average stack at the end of play would have about 17K. All I had to do was make safe bets to stay in the mid-teens—or in all likelihood, just fold—for the rest of the tournament. But what time was it?

It was hand 130, or close enough. On hand 120, I picked up K♦ A♠. Great hand, much of the time but did I really need the chips? There were only seven at the table at 125/250/20. I was in the hijack seat and UTG+1 raised to 625. Me with my big, manly AK raised to 1,000. Everyone but the original raiser folded. A Q♥ 6♥ A♦ flops and he, impressed by my magnificence checks, as do I. An 8♣ turns up, he checks and I bet 1,000, which is called. A 2♥ shows on the river and he pretends to have a flush, betting 2,775. I call. Not only does he have a flush but at best I would have been splitting the pot because he’s got A♥ K♥.

Bad, sure but recoverable. I still have nearly 15K in chips. I’m still in the top three in the tournament. Five minutes later we’re still in the same level. I’m holding K♠ Q♥ in UTG+1 and raise to 500. The hijack (with 6K in chips) and big blind (8K) both call. The flop falls 7♠ 2♣ K♥ and I bet 500 when it’s my turn. Hijack raises to 2,000 and the big blind folds. The hijack only has 3,333 behind and I raise him all-in. Lucky him, because he’s holding K♣ A♠. No queen shows up to save me and I’m down to 8.5K and in seventh place on the leaderboard, which means unless I can climb back up I’m probably out of the running for a finals ticket. That was hand 129.

Of course, my attempts to climb back up only submerge me further. The Mutant Jack fails me at one point to the tune of several thousands chips, dropping me below the starting stack. I manage to claw my way back into relevance with a Q♣ A♣ and 9♦ 6♦ (which I wouldn’t usually play except I was in the big blind.

My last big hand came down to me in the small blind with A♥ 7♣ and the big blind with A♣ J♥. The board was 5♣ 4♥ K♥ K♦ 8♠ and it was the jack that decided the outcome. After that it was just a couple more hands before I was out in tenth place with the smallest of the cash prizes.

As it was, we didn’t finish before the beginning of the Final. My elimination came tw0-and-a-half hours into the tournament and anyone who got a ticket to the final would have had to enter after that point. Nobody from our semi-final seems to have won either of the two packages awarded in the final.

The chart below shows my chip count throughout the 179 hands I played. The green line is the projection of my chips if I’d done nothing but fold after reaching the my peak, which would have been about 13,750 at hand 180. At the time I was eliminated—with just two more eliminations to go before the tournament was over—only three of the ten players had more than 14,000 chips.

Chip count chart for Irish Open Semi-Final 30 January 2011

Chip count chart for Irish Open Semi-Final 30 January 2011. Red line shows actual chips; green line shows projected chip stack based on folding only.

After W put me out with the A4 last week at the Catsino, I ran across this report from the Aussie Millions $250,000 buy-in event‘s final table:

[Sam] Trickett was responsible for much of the mayhem during this stretch, eliminating four of the six players who fell during the bustout bonanza. He took 3.2 million into heads-up play against the 1 million of David Benyamine and the 700,000 of Erik Seidel. It wasn’t long before he scored a fifth elimination at the final table. Trickett moved all in with the board showing A♦ T♠ 8♣ A♠ and Benyamine made the call. Their cards:

Trickett: A♥ 4♠
Benyamine: A♣ 6♣

River: 4♥!

Cashing

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Somehow I missed two whole days, but in the meantime I managed to cash for small amounts several times.

Things didn’t start off well, however, with a $3K guarantee Cake R&A game on Wednesday evening. My biggest pot ever was in a $5 re-buy (in which I did not re-buy) but generally I try to avoid both re-buying and playing in re-buy tournaments. I never managed to get my poker legs, re-bought twice, but even the add-on couldn’t save me.

I entered a $1K turbo tournament at the 75/150 level with 1,500 chips, gained a little ground, then managed to double up with K♥ K♣. Then I almost lost it all and things were looking grim with less than 1,000 chips at 200/400/40 until I managed to arrest the tailspin and get up over 8K, then settle down to about 5K at 400/800/75. By the 600/1200/120 level I’d been whittled down to 2K when my A♣ J♥ ran into A♦ Q♥ on my all-in and I went out in 21st place of 181, with 81% ROI.

A $1K turbo 6-max put me out on hand 23 when I called the all-in of a K♣ J♣ with A♦ K♦. Naturally, the jack paired on the turn.

A bounty tournament with a $1K guarantee was the last game on Cake in this series. The only bounty I saw was the one I generated, though. Blinds were 75/150 and UTG+1 had limped in. I raised to 550 from UTG+2 with A♠ Q♠. Action folded back around to UTG+1, who went all-in for 3,875, more than my 2,617. I called and was just a little behind his 5♣ 5♠. Two spades hit the board but the pair held up and I was out.

Late Thursday night I moved over to Full Tilt and played the $36K Rush Guarantee which was about 20 minutes in. It’s both re-buy and multi-entry but I didn’t do either and was felted after about half an hour when my K♦ J♠ came one card short of drawing to a king-high straight to beat a pair of kings.

Last night it was back to Midnight Madness. It was a slow and steady climb without any real setbacks from the starting stack of 1,500. I think the one real mistake I made was my final hand, calling a larger all-in with J♦ T♦ which had served me well earlier in the tournament. With 15K and blinds at only 250/500/50, I could have given up the $1K bet I’d made, then made a deeper run than 560th and better ROI than 23%.

Despite not having had the best of luck playing simultaneous tables in the past, for most of Midnight Madness I was also participating in a $5K guarantee KO game, with a $0.50 bounty for each player. I don’t know if I was less inclined to take fliers of dodgy hands because I had two games going or if I was just playing well or lucky, but I hit the money here as well. This game was a bit less even than Midnight Madness. I did take in six bounties but at one point I lost more than 6K in the space of five hands with A♦ K♦ and A♣ K♠ (picking up 9,400 with A♥ J♦ over A♣ Q♣ did sort of make up for that). I lost half a 23K stack with Q♠ T♠ when my queen paired on the board but so did that of a player with A♦ Q♦. I managed to get up to 36K by the time the blinds were 500/1,000/125, then lost a chunk when my A♣ T♥ paired the top card on a T♦ 5♥ 8♠ flop but lost to pocket Q♠ Q♣. Nothing connected after that and it was A♣ J♦ running into K♥ A♦ that put me out with four hearts on the board—6♥ 2♥ A♥ Q♥ 2♣—and a flush for the better hand. 226th place and my bounties was good for an ROI of 184%.

Tomorrow morning is the weekly Irish Open semi-final qualifier. Only about twenty people registered so far and at least three tickets to the monthly final, which is in the early afternoon and will have more than thirty folks chasing a single $7K prize package plus about $3,850 in cash for second through fourth place.

Too Busy

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No post yesterday does not mean that there was no poker played. This is what I’ve done since the last post.

Got into a 3FPP Hyper-Turbo Steps Special for an NAPT ticket. You only start off with 500 chips. Second hand in I get K♣ K♠ and call an all in. Two more callers makes it me versus: 9♠ A♣, 7♠ A♠, and 9♥ 9♣. The board rolls out T♣ 2♦ Q♠ J♠ 5♠ and I’m gone.

$15K 6-max guarantee on Full Tilt and I’m cruising along with a couple hundred above the starting stack of 3K. I’ve got T♠ J♥ and paired the board with the jack. There’s a Q♥ on the flop. I pushed the first bet and called 500 on the turn which was just a 7♦. There’s 1,500 in the pot when the K♠ shows on the river and my 120 bet is met with a raise to 1,860. I could call it but fold and the guy shows his 8♦ 9♥ for nothing better than a busted nine-high gut-shot straight. Grrrrr. I lose another 1,000 to see the flop with a pair of sevens a little later but the fold’s a good one. I make it back on the next hand but three hands later I push too hard with J♣ Q♣ and I’m down to 5 chips. I manage to make it up to 45 before elimination.

Another 6-max, this time with $8K guarantee. It was actually doing quite well with a Q♣ K♥ giving me an ace-high straight on hand 5 and netting a couple thousand chips. Another five hands and J♠ 9♣ turned into a full house, putting me at nearly three times the starting stack. Pairs of tens and queens had me over 11K half an hour into play and in the top 20 chip stacks. Ten minutes later, I was over 13K with K♥ A♠. I took my hits with the blinds and lost a couple of hands with decent cards but was over 10K when I called a cutoff bet of 566 with 9♣ 8♣ from the small blind (100/200, with only five seated at the table and the button calling). Three of us to the flop and I got a straight right away, with T♦ 6♣ 7♠. First to act, I bet 1,500. Cutoff had me covered by about 4K and called, with the button folding. 7♣ shows on the turn; I’ve got a flush draw in addition to my straight and I bet 1,600 but I should really have pushed. The cutoff calls. Then 7♥ shows on the river. I check and my heart sinks when the cutoff bets 4K. I call, he’s got the T♠ for a full house, and I’m down to 2,360, which goes all-in on the next hand with A♦ Q♥ and loses.

The midnight game yesterday morning had 2,200 players and $4,400 in guarantees. I was in the big blind for 40 chips (out of 2,000 to start) on hand 7. The hijack—who was up 1,200 chips—bet 80 after action folded to him. The cutoff folded. The button raised to 160 and the small blind three-bet to 240. I called with my T♣ T♦. Hijack called. Button went all-in for 1,790. Ten things got real crazy when the small blind called. I called, leaving 260 behind. Hijack got out, probably wondering what the hell was going on. The flop was 7♥ 4♣ 8♣ which meant nothing to me. The small blind put out a bet large enough to get me al-in to call. In for 1,790, in for another 260  I always say. The turn was the T♣. After a 3♠ showed on the river, I saw that I was up against Q♥ Q♠ (button) and A♠ A♦ (big blind]. I tripled up but a couple of subsequent losses brought be down to 687 a dozen hands later. An hour into the tournament, I’d managed to built back up to 7K. Blinds were at 350/700/85 and a stack half my size made an all-in move. I had A♠ J♣ and called but the cutoff—with a stack twice my size went in for enough to put me all-in. I called and was fine against the smaller stack’s A♣ 3♣ but seriously in trouble with the big stack’s J♦ J♠. Nothing bigger than a nine showed on the board and I was out 50 places short of the money.

The first of my attempts at yesterday’s Irish Open quarter-finals had a slow start but a third of the way in a pair of sevens miscalculated against my A♦ J♦. The turn and river put three nines on the board giving him a full house, but the J♠ on the flop gave me a better one and I doubled up from the starting stack of 2K. A♦ 6♦ in my hand earned another 2.5K with a flush just past the first hour of play. Then a pocket pair of sevens worked in my favor with a 7♣ on the flop and I was up to 8K and the chip lead shortly thereafter.

There were enough players in the tournament that there were three tickets to the semi-finals as well as cash prizes for the next four spots. I managed to stay in contention for the tickets until a little past the 90-minute mark (125/250/20) when I raised to 625 with T♠ T♥ from the hijack position and was met with an all-in for a little less than I had from the big blind. I should have been thinking “position maintenance” but called instead to see A♦ Q♠, leaving me with 350 behind. An A♥  on the turn mostly sealed my fate.

I say “mostly” because I’m never one to say give up and die at the poker table. I doubled up with J♦ K♠ four hands later and did it again three hands after that with J♦ Q♥ (where were these cards when I needed them before?) Eight hands after my lowest point of 290 chips I had increased that by more than 1,100% to 3,645 and I was in contention for fourth place out of seven remaining players (the top three stacks were between 10.6K and 16.4K).

I played fairly tight from here on out, never managing to get above 5K but never falling below 3K. I took out one player with a small number of ships, another player fell victim to the blinds, and the last of the other small stacks tried to make a move with Q♥ 4♥ and was beat by king high. My own move came with an A♣ 8♠ that I tried to rep a flush to a big stack with on a 5♦ 2♣ K♣ 4♠ 7♣ board, but since he had 2♥ K♦ and four times more chips than I had, that didn’t work too well. I got my buy-in and another $8.50.

Mutant Catsino

The Catsino was up and operating last night for the 17th regular game of our home league, although turnout was light. It was not operating well for myself or K, the POY leaders going into the night. I bled chips left and right, having to rebuy fairly early (only once, though). K rebought a bit later. I only made it to round 7 when I went up against W, who was short on chips, thinking he was trying to make a move. I only had A6o but thought I had him. I was right, too, until his A4o caught a 4 on the river and I was down to just a few hundred chips. He took those soon enough. K went out in the next round. I’m still point leader but I do mean point leader because it’s only by one. D’s almost caught up to me (although he had me tied a couple months back and I managed to pull away again) and he’s moved back ahead of Kent.

We were talking before the game began about the WSOP schedule, because the agreement is that the POY goes to play in one of the $1K events at this year’s series. Apparently it was released yesterday afternoon, so now we need to finalize the league schedule and final date. The first of the possible events is 4 June.

After I got the Catsino operation put away, I entered the 11PM Irish Open quarter-final. These late contests are a little harder because there aren’t as many entrants—particularly on Cake Poker—so they either get cancelled or there’s only one ticket.

I suffered an early setback when my K♥ 2♠ was out-kicked on a juicy 8♥ K♣ 8♦ 7♠ 7♦ board by K♦ 9♥. I worked my way back up to the starting stack and then to 2,400 within about 10 minutes.

By the 75-minute mark—about 130 hands in—I’d made it to 10,000 chips, playing very conservatively. We were already down to four players and I was the chip leader, with the other three at 7,300, 4,100, and 600, and blinds at 75/150. Despite my best efforts and a couple of premium hands (particularly so for short-handed play) I lost a couple of pots and slipped to second place. Then one of the smaller stacks took a big chunk out of the top man and I was back on the throne. The same player shortly eliminated the other short stack and had about as many chips as I did.

I managed to keep myself over about 7K through the 90-minute mark (hand 170), although I was back in second place. I was on the button when I picked up K♣ K♠ and raised to 1,000 (with blinds at 100/200). The small blind (with the smallest stack) folded and I got a call from the big blind. The flop was J♠ K♦ Q♣ and the big blind was first to act with a bet of 1,000. An AT or even T9 had me, but I re-raised to 4,000 and got a call. The turn card was 6♠. The big blind’s bet of 400 was pretty inconsequential compared to the 10,100 in the pot already, so I called. The 6♦ on the river put me in mind of the hand that beat my straight in the $8K game, but I’m the one with the full house this time. My last 1,865 go in and he folds.

I’m up to 12.565 chips, with the other players at 5,545 and 3,590. Five hands later and I’ve eliminated the small stack and I’m sitting on 17K. The remaining player and I are swapping blinds and making test bets. No time to be complacent; there’s almost nothing in the prize pool beyond the ticket for the first-place finisher.

I suffer a setback with A♣ 5♣ when it runs into 6♥ 6♦. I call his all-in, hoping to take him out after 25 hands of heads-up, but all I get is a pair of nines on and a busted wheel draw on the board, so now he’s the chip leader by almost 2K.

At one point he has a lead of nearly 3,000 but a lucky river draw of a queen gives me queens and twos to beat his pair of sixes on hand 218, bringing me back within 1K of his stack. I’m back in the lead (by 130 chips) on hand 223, then he’s on top the next hand. Hand 229 drops J♥ J♣ on me, with the button. I call the big blind and he pushes to 11,040. That’s got me covered by 120, less than a small blind. When I call he flips over 8♦ 8♠. A J♠ is the first card on the flop, and while there’s three hearts and a K♠ A♥, too, it’s all mine. 21,880.

The next hand puts him all-in for the ante and small blind. I mate a T and he does a 2 but that’s the end of it. The semi-final is Sunday morning, followed by the Final (for those who make it).

Tomer reports that he busted out of Day 1 of EPT Deauxville earlier today.

Min Cash

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A busy day (for me) at the virtual tables yesterday.

I started off in a morning turbo game that had over $34K in guarantees. I took a big hit on hand 7 laying down Q♥ Q♣ after an ace and a king showed on the flop and turn respectively and a doubled-up stack bet big. I only lasted five more hands.

Didn’t do much better in the $5K guarantee I entered next after calling a short-stack’s all-in with Q♦ K♦ halved me. It was a coin toss but I never recovered.

Entered a couple of freerolls without getting very far; ditto with a couple more EPT Steps Special tournaments. The last of those was extra-short. With 200 of 1,000 chips in pre-flop and Q♦ Q♣ in my hand, I bet 300 on a flop of 7♦ 9♣ 6♥ and the only caller goes all-in. I call and he’s got T♥ A♦ and a 28% chance of winning, which he does when 8♥ shows up on the turn giving him a straight. An 8♣ on the river rubs it in just a little more.

I went 71 minutes into another $6K guarantee but only made it about halfway through the field of 2,100.

My singular win of the day was in a $9.5K guarantee. I made it to 71st place for an ROI of 136%. So that was nice. It’s three cashes in tournaments between 1,100 and 2,500 players in three weeks. Not big money but not big buy-ins, either.