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 [7h 8s] in CO and limped. SB limped, BB raised to 240, and I decided to call, as did SB. I got middle pair on the [5d jc 7c] flop. BB bet 360, I called, SB called. Turn was [js]. Both the players ahead of me checked and I bet 200, hoping nobody had a [jx]. Both called. River was [2h]. Everyone checked. SB had a busted flush draw and two pair with [2c 3c]; BB just had the pair on the board and [as ts]. 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 [th jh], SB and CO called. [jc 4d 7h] 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 [kc] and both of us checked. A [7d] 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 [6d 5d]. 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 [2h 4d] and he just called, so I didn’t toss the hand, which was great because the flop was [5s 6c 3h], giving me a straight. I bet the pot—200—and he followed along. [td] hit the turn and I doubled the pot again: 600. Once again he came along. The [7s] on the river extended my straight and I went all-in for 2,395. He called and showed [9d 7h]. 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 [ah 9c] when we both put in 400 and went to the flop, which was [as jc 6c]. 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 [qh ac]. He evene paired his kicker on the turn with [qs], and then the tables were turned: 4,380 vs. 6,120.

I lost another 1,700 a bit later chasing a flush with [qd 7d]. The board was [2d jc 3d js] 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 [jd ad] 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 [td ah].

Less than two minutes after the Mutant Jacks appeared, I’m down to 1,850, on the button with [qh ac]. I open-raise to 420 and get a call. The flop is [5s th kh]. 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 [kd 3d] 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 [8s] shows on the turn and he even double-pairs on the river with [3c].

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

The Onyx Cup slips away for another year….