Another bink in "The Carlos" #TPEdge pic.twitter.com/J1VMNOhfo1

— Carlos Welch (@HipHop101Trivia) October 11, 2017

Everyone who reads this blog (both of you) knows that I’m a fan of the Ignition Casino Thousandaire Maker tournaments. I had the opportunity the other day to play most of my time in the tournament along with poker celebrity and renowned nit Carlos Welch. Despite the anonymous play on the tables at Ignition, Carlos posted the screen shot above so I knew his player number in the game (which is assigned in the order of sign-up). I only lasted 81 hands total, but because I was at the same table as Carlos and Ignition’s hand histories (released 24 hours after the tournament ends) include folded hands, you can get a small peek at the mind of the master at work.

I started the tournament as Player 9, and we were six-handed for the first eight hands of the tournament as other players joined up. By the time Carlos joined our table on hand 13 (as the result of table balancing when a third table was created), we’d been up to nine players, but were back down to six. Carlos (Player 13) came in with almost a full starting stack of 2,500; I’d already been up to 2,800, then lost 900 on a draw to Broadway and the second nut flush (neither of which came in) in the previous hand.

Carlos folded 3♠ 2♦ to a raise, on the button his first hand at the table. On his small blind, we were eight-handed and UTG (full stack and on his third hand) raised with 5♣ 7♣. The button called with 5♦ A♦, Carlos folded K♠ 9♦ and the board ran out with UTG betting every street and shoving on the river with three cards to a flush and Broadway on the board. The button called and they chopped 60 chips.

Four hands later, Carlos was HJ with J♥ Q♣ and a stack of 2,400. There were seven players and UTG1 raised 8♥ 7♠, with Carlos colding and SB calling with K♦ T♦. The flop was Q♦ 7♦ K♣, about as good as SB could ask for. He check-called an 8bb c-bet. The 7♣ on the turn flipped the script, but SB check-called a 12bb bet, leaving him about 40bb. The river 8♣ completed UTG1’s full house but SB couldn’t get away from the top pair and called off another 24bb.

At this point, Carlos’s fortunes and mine hadn’t changed much. He had 60bb (2,400) and I was down to a little under 45bb.

Another three hands and I have 2♣ 2♥ in CO. Carlos is BB with K♣ Q♥. UTG1 raised A♦ K♦ to 140, I set-mined, and both blinds came along (K♠ 3♥ for SB). The flop was J♥ 2♠ 9♥ and with position I bet 250 after three checks. The 420 chips I won made a nice boost.

The next hand, Carlos had 5♦ 5♥ in SB. UTG opened to 140, getting a call from 7♣ 4♣ (Player 17 on the button, with almost 72bb at the new 30/60 level). Carlos folded his pair. The flop came 8♥ 2♠ 4♠ and UTG bet 210 on the overpair, getting a call. UTG (Player 14) continued for another 410 on the 6♦ turn, then check-snap-called all in on the T♥ river. The two players essentially swapped chip counts.

Carlos had been at the table for about 25 minutes and we were in essentially in the same boat when he had his first big break. Blinds were 40/80, I had 1,930 and Carlos was down to 2,140. There were a couple stacks at the table in the 5K range, but everyone else was between 1,700 and 2,500. Carlos min-raised with K♣ K♦ UTG and got called by BB with T♦ 9♥. BB donk-bet 360 on the 4♥ J♥ 9♠ flop. Carlos just called. The turn was 7♥ and BB lead all-in for a bit more than Carlos’s stack. Carlos snapped and the river A♣ changed nothing, doubling up Carlos.

Forty minutes in, action folded to SB. He limped in with 8♠ 9♣ and Carlos raised to 5x with Q♠ K♦. SB folded. The next hand, I raised Q♦ Q♠ 3x and Carlos folded 9♠ 2♠ from SB. BB folded 2♠ K♦.

A couple hands later at 50/100, UTG1 raised to more than 11bb (more than half his stack) with A♥ K♠. Carlos had 6♦ 6♠ and was next to act. He folded. Nitty. My 7♥ 3♥ didn’t look so good; I folded.

Carlos had the Mutant Jack (suited ace-jack: A♠ J♠) and raised to 300 to take the hand. On the 60th hand I was at the table, he folded 8♥ A♦ preflop—actually the best hand of the seven players at the table. I lost my BB to a SB raise with 5♥ K♦ (I had 2♦ 5♦ and only 18bb).

On the next hand (with seven players at the table), Carlos opened to 300 from UTG with A♣ T♣. BB called with K♣ 9♣. BB bet 430 on the 2♣ 4♥ 9♥ flop and Carlos folded. (I had Q♠ 5♠ on the button, thanks for asking.) Carlos was still just over the 4,000 mark; I was down to 1,635.

I raised A♥ Q♥ from UTG1 a few hands later, nobody called the 300, including Carlos on the button with the only other ace: 6♠ A♦. UTG1 raised to 250 on the next hand with A♠ T♥ and Carlos gave up his 2♥ 2♠ in CO.

Carlos raised T♥ J♣ UTG a few hands later, getting past K♠ 7♠, A♣ 3♣, and K♥ 7♥ in SB.

A limp from a middle position player with 9♦ T♣ and SB with 6♠ T♠ led to a small pot with Carlos involved from BB holding 8♥ K♣. The flop of 6♣ 6♦ Q♣ elicited a pot-sized bet from SB, with Carlos and the original raiser folding. Carlos folded his 9♠ K♥ in the SB on the next hand, facing a raise from a short stack with Q♣ K♣. Next to act after the raise, I folded 3♣ A♠.

Carlos took a bit of a hit on the button the next hand with J♣ 9♥. HJ raised with J♠ Q♣ and Carlos called 230; it was heads up to the flop of K♣ 3♠ T♥. The raiser check-raised Carlos, who put in 300 on his gut shot, but he folded to the all in bet for more than half his stack.

He wasn’t deterred, however, raising 2♦ 4♦ from CO on the next hand. Was it a spite raise? I don’t know, but it did work.

I jammed Q♥ 8♥ all in from BB against a call from the shorter stack in SB (he had Q♠ 3♦ and folded). On hand 80, HJ raised 9♦ 9♣. Carlos folded the Portland Nuts (Q♠ T♣). On the button!

My time with Carlos ended on the next hand, after a couple of hours of playing with him. I shoved 11bb with Q♥ K♠ UTG1 and SB had Q♣ A♦. Carlos folded 3♦ 5♣ in CO, which would have made two pair on the flop: T♦ 3♠ 5♦ 7♠ J♥. But he made the $1K payout anyway. Me? I had to wait for another day.

8 cashes in 56 entries @IgnitionCasino #ThousandaireMaker 2017; readyfor the @WildhorseCasino #PokerRoundUp satellites the next two weeks…

— Poker Mutant (@pokermutant) October 26, 2017

I’ve played a lot of Turbo tournaments online over the years but I can’t remember ever actually sitting down into a Hyper (Turbo). I play fast enough, but the aggressive speed of the blind structures is far more subject to variance. A couple of weeks back, though, during a Wild Wednesday promotion on Ignition Casino, I jumped in and two-tabled their $12K GTD NLHE 50K Chips Hyper while I was playing my usual $5K GTD NLHE Thousandaire Maker.

Ignition’s Hyper games have 3-minute blind levels, meaning two or three hands at the most at each level; between three and four levels per circuit of the table.

Hand 2 Q♠ Q♣ SB 40/80 49,920
It’s already level 2! UTG raises A♦ 3♦ to 400 and UTG2 calls with 9♠ 9♥. I three-bet to 960 and both of the others call. We flop T♠ J♠ 9♣, I check, UTG2 checks, and UTG2 bets abut half-pot (1,640) on his set. I call. 8♥ turn is a great card for me. I check again, UTG2 bets 3,120 and I call. The river is 5♠, I bet 6,000 and he calls with the set. So I’m off to a pretty good start.

Hand 8 9♦ 9♥ UTG1 100/200 62,680
I’ve got about 9K more than any of the other players at the table, but nobody’s down below 40K yet, even though a couple of levels have gone by already. I open to 600, the big blind calls with 3♥ 2♥. The flop is A♦ J♦ Q♥ and I misclick, betting just 200 instead of my more typical half-pot. It must look fishy, because he calls. The turn is Q♦, and he check-folds to another bet of 800.

Hand 15 4♥ 4♣ BB 200/400/40 63,055
Another hand, another level! I’ve been bounced to a new table, though I’ve got the chip lead here, too. UTG2 has J♣ J♦ and opens to 1K. SB calls with T♥ 7♦ and I come along. The flop is 9♣ 3♦ 8♦. SB and I check, UTG2 bets 1,720, SB has an open-ended straight draw and calls. I dump the hand and they both check to the river after an ace hits the turn, with the jacks holding out.

Hand 24 A♥ 8♥ SB 500/1K/100 60,215
Blinds are moving up rapidly; I’ve gone from more than 300bb to 60bb in 15 minutes and I haven’t even really lost much in the way of chips. UTG3 opens Q♥ Q♦ to 3K, getting called by the button 7♦ A♣ and both of us in the blinds (BB has K♦ 5♥). The flop is 9♣ 4♠ 7♣ and UTG3 makes a bet of 9,900 getting folds from the rest of us.

Hand 32 5♠ 5♥ SB 1K/2K/200 54,515
UTG calls with 8♥ K♥, HJ raises to 6K K♣ Q♦, the button calls with A♣ 9♥, and I defend my low pair, followed by a call from the limper. I fold after a c-bet of 7,700 on the flop of K♠ A♠ 8♦ from the original raiser and a call from the button, then UTG jams his bottom two pair and wins the pot.

Hand 34 Q♣ J♦ CO 1K/2K/200 48,115
Wow. Playing two hands in the same level! HJ min-raises with T♣ 7♠ and I call. Both the small and big blinds (K♣ T♠ and [ks jd[, respectively) come along. It’s a Q♦ 9♣ 8♦ flop and HJ bets 8K for his open-ended draw. I just call, but both the blinds fold. The turn is 2♥. HJ checks this time, I overbet the pot with an all in, and HJ puts another 36K in with his draw. He misses with the 3♦ on the river, and I more than double.

Hand 39 T♦ K♠ BB 1.5K/3K/300 104,330
UTG1 raises to 9K with J♦ J♥, I defend, then check-fold to a 14K c-bet when the flop is 2♠ 2♥ 4♠.

Hand 40 9♣ T♣ SB 2K/4K/400 95,030
Action folds to me and I just call with a hand I’d usually raise with, particularly since BB has about a third of my stack. The flop is 4♦ 5♥ 7♦ and I check fold when BB jams the remaining 29K into the pot with 4♣ Q♦. He is ahead, but I wouldn’t be loving it if it was me.

Hand 46 K♥ A♠ UTG 2.5K/5K/500 88,330
I raise to 15K and everyone folds. I pick up more than 10K.

Hand 47 A♥ J♦ UTG 2.5K/5K/500 98,830
Everyone folds. Nobody has less than 10bb, but that changes so fast in hyper.

Hand 50 K♦ Q♣ CO 3K/6K/600 100,130
HJ min-raises with A♠ 8♥. I call and so do both the blinds (5♦ 5♥ for SB and 6♣ 9♦ for BB). The flop is Q♦ Q♠ 7♦, it checks to me and I bet about half-pot. Everyone folds.

Hand 53 T♦ Q♦ UTG1 3.5K/75K/700 138,930
I raise the Portland Nuts to 21K and everyone folds. I’m the only player on the table with more than 80K.

Hand 55 J♣ 9♦ BB 4K/8K/800 153,530
UTG limps in with K♥ A♥, SB is along with A♦ 4♠, and I check. We all check a flop of 6♣ 7♠ 6♦, then I chack call ona 16K bet from UTG when the turn is 9♥ (SB folds). We check the 3♣ river and my top pair holds for a tidy result.

Hand 59 A♥ 8♥ UTG1 5K/10K/1K 183,730
I’m not sure why I didn’t call the jam from UTG (51K with 9♠ K♥), but it’s probably because SB at the time had close to 150K and I didn’t want to get squeezed or called with this particular hand.

Hand 62 J♠ A♦ BB 5K/10K/1K 180,730
This hand momentarily put me in the top 20 players in the tournament, with about 100 remaining. Action just folded to SB, who limped his K♦ K♣. I raised to 40K, he went all in for a total of 123K, and I decided to call. The board ran 9♥ 2♣ T♥ A♣ 4♦ and he cracked in 90th place.

Hand 65 6♠ 7♠ CO 6K/12K/1.2K 300,404
Three players at the table are under 50K (one has just a big blind remaining), then there are  another three in the 150K to 200K range. And there’s me, but even I’ve only got 50bb. UTG goes all in with A♥ 4♥ and just 23K. I call, and BB—one of the mid-range stacks—calls with 5♥ 8♥. The flop is auspicious but the board is 2♣ 2♠ 8♠ Q♣ 4♦ by the river, and the all-in wins.

Hand 69 K♥ A♦ UTG1 8K/16K/1.6K 271,604
I raise to 48K and CO goes all in for just 4K more. I call, he shows Q♠ J♠, and the board runs out 8♠ K♣ A♣ 2♥ 4♣; the wrong color black for him, fortunately. We’re down to 70 players.

Hand 70 Q♦ tdd UTG 10K/10K/2K 350,804
I don’t know why I fold this hand here under the gun. In any case, It’s a mistake, although it may have cost me less. The fold may also have cost me more. One of the short stacks in CO goes all in with 8♦ Q♥ and 62K. I definitely would have called that if I’d raised to my standard 30K here. The tricky decision would have been when SB went all in with A♥ K♣ and 157K. Would I have called another 95K even with the Portland Nuts? If I had, I would have been nicely-rewarded, because the board was T♠ K♥ 5♣ 4♠ T♥. SB won with two pair, but my trips would have picked up a pot of 250K.

Hand 78 A♣ 5♣ UTG1 12.5K/25K/2.5K 303,304
My first actual setback for a while. I raise to 75K, CO is all in for just 16.5K with T♦ Q♥ and BB calls with A♥ 8♣ from a stack about equal to mine. We check it down to the river with 2♠ 7♠ 2♥ Q♠ 8♣ on the board, the short stack quintuples with two pair and BB get the side with a better kicker.

Hand 90 3♥ 4♥ BB 30K/60K/6K 107,304
Yeah, you read that right: 12 hands and the big blind has gone from 25K to 60K! Worse, just after the last hand I wrote up, I was in the big blind, got moved to UTG at another table, and had to pay another big blind, so even though I was only down to 225K after the loss, I’ve lost another 115K just from blinds and antes in 10 hands. The ABC of Hyper: Always Be Chippin’. Anyway, I’m under 2BB here, we’re in the money, I’ve got suited connectors even if they’re crappy suited connectors. I’ll barely be able to pay the small blind and ante if I fold. UTG2 is all in for 176K with J♠ J♣, CO is the tournament chip leader with 810K and shoves with 6♣ 6♦, and I’m all in with my last 41K. The flop is 4♠ K♣ K♦, so there’s almost hope, but the Q♦ turn and 9♥ river give the chips to the best hand and I’m out in 41st.

90 hands. 90 minutes, +58% ROI.