ThePokerResource.net: A Rounder’s blog

PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, Bahamas, Jan. 4 - 11, 2006

Day 1 Bahamas Jan 06…
As I scan the table I notice a lot of young internet qualifiers. I have already amassed a simple game plan for this tournament. I intend to build my stack pretty safely trying to avoid big pots and big confrontations and since we start with 10k in chips and the blinds at 25-50 there will be a lot of play. I am hoping to over bet my huge hands like aces in hopes to represent AK or a smaller pair in essence I want to get max value from this hand pre-flop as opposed to post flop. There is a negative to this strategy which of course would be to pick up a small pot but I think it is worth the risk, these new young breed of poker players always assume AK with an over bet pre-flop. My only other real strategy is to find “situations” during the tournament and pick up chips this way. I could go in detail and give examples of methods that I personally use but this would take too long, and I will have to save it for another day. Anyways, on to the poker:
Shuffle up and Deal…..I love those words

My first big hand…
I pick up KK in early position and open for 200, and so far the table has been pretty tight. However, a big pair can be very dangerous so I want to try to protect it as much as possible. An older European gentleman calls my raise and we see the flop heads-up which comes Q-7-2, rainbow, so I lead into the pot for 350 and he calls fairly quickly. Now, I am a little concerned because there is always a possibility of him flopping a set, but I definitely do like this flop: there is no straight or flush draws. The turn: 10c, putting two clubs out there. Not the best card, but ok. I bet 625, and he calls. Here comes the money card…Qc, putting three clubs out there and completing a back door flush. This is pretty much the worst card in the deck, the only other card worse than this would be the Ace of Clubs. I wouldn’t even mind an off-suit ace as much, so I check, and he bets 1k. Now, if you review the hand he called a bet on the flop and turn, where there is no straight possibility, the only hand he could have is a Q, and the only legitimate hand I can beat is JJ. He also could of slow-played a set. I don’t think he would smooth call me with JJ pre-flop, so I reluctantly fold. Damn…down to 8600…not the start I was looking for.

My 2nd big hand…
I raise to 200 with A-Q, and get called by a pretty aggressive player in the small blind position. The flop comes good again, Q-7-3 with two clubs. He checks, and I lead for 375 which he raises to an even 1k. About 5 minutes previous I saw him bluff on every street, so his image is not good. Anyways, I call fairly quickly. I am pretty sure I have the best hand, but I don’t want to re-raise to reopen the betting for him to move in (this is a very important tournament topic) and possibility take this pot away from me. The turn comes a red 4 and he bets 800, and I quickly call. River pairs 3 (which is a good card for me), he bets 800, and I call again. He turns over KQ, so I scoop this pot and bam, I’m back up to 11,500 and feeling good.

My 3rd big hand…
Blinds are still 25-50, 4 people limp in, and I limp in the Small Blind with 4-4. The flop comes beautiful: Ks-7c-4c. So I check, one player bets 150, the button calls, then I raise to 650, and only the button calls. The turn comes a 3s, so I lead 1200 into this pot. He deliberates, and calls. At this point, I give him a flush draw and a gut-shot straight draw, which is the only real hand that has the right price to call if he is on a draw. So the river brings the 6c, which is pretty much the worst card in the deck again. This puts a 4 card straight and completes a flush so I again reluctantly check, he bets 1800, and man, I again have to fold. The day is just not going as planned.

My first real bluff…
Now I am hovering around 8k and not too happy about it. I decide to limp in with 10J off-suit pretty early, and this real tight player makes it 375 to go, so I call and we see a flop heads-up. The flop comes K-10-8 with two hearts, and although I have the J of hearts, this flop is very bad for me, because even if I make two pair he could very well have AQ. So I check, and he bets 400. At that price I have to call. The pot is already 1300, and I am getting 3.25 to 1, with a pretty passive player. So the turns brings a 7 of clubs, which sort of improves my hand. I check and he bets 800. Now I know for sure he has me, but I am getting better to 3-1, and this player is pretty passive, so if the right cards comes off, I can bluff (I’m hoping for a heart so I can represent a flush, or the 9 or 10). The river brings a 4 of hearts….so I deliberate, and bet 2200. I think this is a number that would get him to lay down. He studies for 35 seconds, and finally folds…whew, that was a close one, and I’m back over 11k.

The next few hours were pretty slow. I miss a few draws, and called a re-raise with AK hoping to flop something, and then folding on the flop. I also call a few raises with pocket pairs in hopes of flopping a set to no avail. I get no hands, and now I am down to 6800…not too happy about it.

I bust someone…
The blinds now are 100-200, and the same gentleman earlier with KQ vs. my AQ limps in Under The Gun (UTG), but he only has about 2k in chips, so I am assuming he has a pretty decent hand. Earlier he limped, re-raised me when I held AQ, and I had to fold. I look down at A-K off-suit and open for 1k straight. Now, I already assumed that he is going to go all in, which I am perfectly ok with. I am hoping that someone calls my 1k, and after he re-raises all-in, I can move behind and get some more dead money. With that being said, the optimal raise would probably be 600, so other people would call. But given my short stack, I didn’t want him to just see a flop, or let others see a flop and him to just call the raise for me to flop nothing, allowing this player to move in on the flop, and would force me to fold AK if I miss. With this reasoning, I opened for a big raise. Anyways, it gets back to him, and he of course goes all-in. I quickly call. He turns up 9-9, and we race. Flop comes 5-2-4, turn 2, river K…Sweet, now I am at 7800, and feeling better.

The hand that ended me…
I start this hand with 8300 in chips, and the blinds are 100-200 with a 25 ante. Another short stack player UTG opens for 650, and I look down at two beautiful Kings. So I re-raise to 2k. Everyone folds to the BB who thinks for 5 seconds, and re-raises to 7k. Now the player UTG folds, and it is up to me. I start to think, I’m pretty sure that the money is going to go in on this hand, but I need to review the action. This player has been playing pretty fast, and built his stack to about 16k. The two players behind me and the UTG player were both pretty short with about 7-8k in chips. Now, you never want to go out with KK vs. AA, and as I began to study, he just seemed weak. Realistically, the only two hands he could have is AA, QQ or maybe AK (because I have KK). I could tell he really wanted me to fold, so after about 30 seconds of time on me, I move in for my whole 8300, re-raising his 7k + 1300 more. We turn them up and he has JJ and I am pretty excited, because this would put me at 18k, which would be well above average. The flop comes A-J-10, and I am stunned. The turn comes an 8, the river comes a 4, and just like that, I’m out.

Over the course of my short tournament here I am very pleased with my play. I made some big lay downs, picked up a few chips here and there, and just ran pretty bad. Actually speaking, the hand where I flopped the set of 4s, the gentleman came up to me at the break and said he actually had 56 of hearts. He said that he knew I had a big hand, and he wanted to take one shot at the straight because he could win a huge pot. Of course, he hits the 3 right away on the turn. I am inclined to believe him, he did approach me and I never asked him. Anyways, I’m overall happy with my play and just got unlucky…it’s poker, nothing you can do. But I’ll be back: the LA Poker Classic at Commerce begins in the middle of January, and I am prepared as ever.
Until next time,
KK