ThePokerResource.net: A Rounder’s blog

2006 LAPC, NL-Hold’em Championship (Feb. 16-21): Day 3

Seriously, I have played so much poker this past week, I really don’t remember too many hands. I can say this though: that today I played the best poker of my life. I never got over 200k, and got as low as 87k. Given the size of the blinds, that small of a fluctuation is a feat in itself.

I get to my table and see that I have the worst draw, period. I have Amir Vahedi two to my right, JC Tran to my left, and CK Hua to his left. Talk about a monster lineup…and all have monster-sized chip stacks too. I start the day with 150k, which is good. The blinds at 1200-2400 with 400 ante. I pick up AK twice, and KK twice. You would think I amass some chip stacks with these hands, but I don’t. I re-raise with AK and get a walk. The 2nd AK, I raise and get two callers. The flop comes 1086, all diamonds. I check and fold because I have no diamond at all. The first time I get Kings, Amir opens for 8k, and Scotty Nguyen re-raises to 20k straight, leaving himself 20k left. I make it 40k total and only Scotty calls. We both turn up KK and chop. A little later, I raise with KK again, and JC Tran smooth calls. The flop comes A25. I lead pretty small and he calls. The turn a Jack, I check and so does he. The river a 3. I check-fold to a 30k bet on the river. I manage to maintain my 150k stack.

I bob and weave for hours. I really don’t know how I maintain my stack at all. Anyways, we are down to 47 players, two from the money, and I have about 120k. I open for 19k with QQ UTG, and JC immediately raises to 44k total. I take about 10 seconds and fold. He shows me two black Kings. This is so sick. What a sick laydown on my part. I will not go out on the bubble, and I know he has a hand here. He is playing well, but the deck is running him over. He picks up Aces 3 times, Kings twice, and gets action. Still, he is pretty impressive.

I seriously take a brutal beat. I open for 21k with AKs, the blinds at 3000-6000. I get called in 4 spots. The flop comes K72, and I move in for 108k total. David Chiu calls, we turn them up, showing KQ for him. The turn pairs the deuces and the river pairs the kings. Are u kidding me? I waited all day to get in this spot, to double up or even triple up. He gets saved and we chop a 330k pot. What a joke.

We are now playing on 4 tables. I raise to 25k with J10s in early position, and someone moves in for 76k total, only 51 more than my raise. I do the math, and I am getting sick odds. I am certain that I am not a big dog, but I elect to fold anyways. I would still have 117k vs. 57k. That’s a huge difference. I can still get a move in on someone and have them fold. When I finally get in the BB, everyone folds to SB (Chris Bigler) who opens for 36k total. I count out and move in for 74k more with A4h. I know he is going to raise any two cards here, so I decide to take a stand with A4h, and he only has 250k total. Surprisingly, he opts to fold. Next I fold the SB hand. Now I’m on the button, and CK opens for 29k. I move in with AK and he folds. Back up to 150k. This is why the fold with J10s was so key.

I bob and weave some more, and end the day with 173k. We are down to 27 players, and I believe I am the 23rd smallest stack. I’m still excited…it’s no limit, and anything can happen. I hope I pick up some hands. The last two days I never had Aces once. I picked up queens twice today and lost them both. I picked up Kings twice today, which resulted in a chopped pot and a lost pot. Like I said, I don’t know how I survived this long. It is unreal. I am getting so unlucky.

I guess I’m not too unlucky, because with only 27 players left, I have a shot at $2.4 million. And I now have 40k locked up. So life isn’t too bad.

KK