ThePokerResource.net: A Rounder’s blog

Ok back to reality I remember now why I stopped playing tournaments. It’s the pain, especially when the stakes are so high. However, a lot of interesting hands happened so here we go.

Level 12, 1000-2000 with 300 ante

I chip up pretty easily without much confrontation. I re-raise the button out of the SB with 2c3c and he folds after some consideration. I win another pot when I call a raise after another person calls on the button with 10d9d. The flop comes off J108 rainbow and it gets checked to me so I check as well. I have a big hand, but not huge, and don’t want to play too big a pot here. The turn comes a Qs and Mr. C (Mr. Cannon the 2^nd) bets 15k which I call and the other player folds. The river comes a brick and he checks and I check to gladly take the pot here. I’m up to 190k and Mr. C just lost a huge pot and is down to about 63k. He limps in late position, I have AK on the button and raise to 11k. He then limp re-raises to 31k total. I decide to move in here considering the situation and his range probably has an Ace a lot of the time. In this spot there is no way I have the worst of it and I decide to race for a 130k pot. He calls with 99 and the flop comes off Q10x turn x river 10 and I lose out on this monster pot. I end this level with 130k and I’m not feeling good.

Level 13, 1200-2400 with 400 ante

I raise on the button to 6800 with QQ and the BB re-raises me to 25k total. He has about 115k and I have him covered by 30k or so. I decide to move in here. He folds and I show him QQ. I sensed a bit of weakness and I really felt he was making a play anyways so I just wanted to end it there. This pot puts me at about 165k or so. 30 minutes later, I raise to 6500 with the QdJd and Mr. C defends. The flop comes off KK2 rainbow and he checks so I bet 7500 and after about 30 seconds he re-raises to 15k more. I take about 40 seconds and decide to re-raise 25k more to represent a King here. After about 1 minute he folds. He claims that he had QQ, which I believe about 60% here. I saw him lay down AA on a KQQ board between SB and BB where there were 3 bets pre-flop. I really don’t think I can lay down the AA hand there. I was actually impressed. Anyways, I’m really dialed in because I just 3 bet light on the flop where I never do. I just really felt that I could win the pot there. I chip up to 200k during this level.

Level 14, 1500-3000 with a 500 ante

This level was the death of me. It’s costing me 9k a round and I literally fold for the first 2 rounds. The third round I raise with 77 to 8k and Nam makes it 25k total. I deliberate for about a minute and decide to see a flop for 17k more. The flop comes of K62 and I check fold to an 18k bet. I have no idea what he has but I decide to just fold this hand. I blind down to about 160k and than I raise to 9k with KK and Jack Boghessian moves in for 61k. I call and he tables AhQh. The flop comes off 345 with 2 hearts. What a terrible flop for me… I’m already feeling sick. The turn pairs the 3 and the river comes the 2h to give him both a straight and the nut flush. OK so I lose my 2^nd 140k pot of the day. I’m down to 100k now and I’m already feeling the pain. A tight player in seat 9 who has been very active this level amassing a healthy stack now raises to 9500 and I re-raise to 26500 with Q10. I think this is where I made a mistake in this tournament. I’m trying to represent a huge hand here by re-raising kind of small and to try to win it obviously pre-flop. I know this player is a thinking player and so my re-raise represents so much strength. Anyways, he calls the extra 17k. The flop comes off K10x and I have 75k left. After about a minute he decides to bet 40k, essentially putting me all-in. I’m really sick and I fold here. Last year or the year before I know I would have just folded my hand here because 100k is still a manageable stack but now having 75k puts me in a crucial situation. This tournament I really played with my instinct and made some plays I never ever tried before but to do this given my chip stack is just plain stupid. I mean, it could be considered genius but the consequence is too severe. I can try this play if I still had a 150k stack or so. Anyways, this is where I really think I blew it so to speak. After this hand I blind down for 2 orbits and finish the level with about 55k.

Level 15, 2000-4000 with a 500 ante

We are really getting close to the money now and I’m nursing a short stack. I’m ok with it because playing a short stack is one of my biggest strengths. I dip to as low as 41k with 67 players left (63^rd getting 22k). I’m really in a stressful situation here. I played for 3 days and to go out here is just a really sick feeling. I move in the cut off with Q10 for 41k and Antonio Esfandiari literally takes 2 minutes before he folds out of the SB. I finally get a walk and pick up the 10500 in chips to put me at 52k. I fold for another orbit and move in the cutoff with 99 in the exact same spot the round before. Antonio takes 30 seconds this time and finally folds. I wanted a call here. 2 hands later I pick up QdJd with 51k and open push. The button calls me with AcQc. The flop comes off K9x turn Q river a blank and just like that I’m out 67^th out of 665. Good for zero dollars and a waste of 3 days of poker. Folding here is really close in fact, given the consequence of losing this pot. However, there is no insurance that I would have a better spot to get it in. There was only one shorter stack as well. The blinds were going up to 3000-6000 with a 1k ante in 20 minutes; this would mean it would cost me 18k a round. I have 51k here so I would literally have less than 3 rounds.

Overall I think I played some of my best poker in my life. Do I have any regrets? Yes, I should have folded the Q10 instead of getting too fancy. I didn’t give enough warrant to my chip count and consequence of losing that hand. Do I think I became a better tournament player? Absolutely. In fact this is the first time after busting out of a tournament of this magnitude that I can say that yes I became a better player over the last 3 days. I played with more heart than I ever have and I really feel that this time around I was in a prime position to go real deep. But after a lapse of judgment at the end I came up a tad short. I won’t let this happen ever again. Honestly, some people would say I wish I just lost in the first day so I didn’t waste my time and that it wouldn’t hurt so much. Initially I felt this way but after some reflection I’m completely comfortable with the outcome and the result. Sure there is a lot of disappointment. After running such a long race, finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel and to just come up lame down the stretch, it really hurts. All in all, I’m excited for another opportunity of playing another major tournament this year.

Thanks everyone and your support. Again I am sorry for the disappointment that we all share together. It’s extra tough when you feel that you have the weight of the world on your shoulders and everyone is hoping for you to do well. Anyways, thanks again everyone.

KK

I’m excited to play and I know I need to get off to a good start because I’m a bit below average. So I start the day in seat 5, Joe Tehan is to my immediate left with 63k. The stacks on my table are very reasonable with the low stack at about 17k. Joe has the big stack and I’m right in the middle with 27k. The blinds start off at 200-400 with a 25 ante. I fold for the first round and then I raise after just looking at a 10d in late position. The button calls and everyone else folds. The flop comes off K105 with 2 spades and I make a continuation bet of 1500 which he calls. The turn comes a Qs to put a flush out there and I look down and see another 10………wow. So I check my set and he bets pretty big 4k. Now, I’m pretty sure I have the best hand here but he could have AJ with no spade so I just call. The river comes a 9h…what a horrible card. I check, he checks behind and my set is good. SWEET!!!! Up to 33k and feeling good.

Shortly after, I raise with K7s in late position and seat 2 calls behind me. From what I’ve seen before I label him a cannon (I’ll to refer to him as Mr. C). The flop comes 10106 and I make a continuation bet of 2k, which he calls. As he calls he grabs a big stack of chips. From my experience, it’s a weak tell so I think he’s floating me with no hand here. The turn comes an 8 and now I have a gut shot draw. I decide to put him to the test and bet 5500. After 30 seconds he folds. Whew. Up to 40k and I’m feeling real good. I literally fold for an hour and end the level with 32k.

Level 7, 300-600 with 75 ante

I raise to 1700 with JJ UTG and 3 people call, including Mr. C (he definitely lives up to the billing putting max pressure and now has a 65k stack). The flop comes off 1096 with 2 diamonds and I check trying to play a small pot. The 3^rd player bets 5k, Mr. C calls and now it’s up to me. I deliberate for about 1 minute. I think folding, calling, and raising are all viable options because that flop is so bad for my hand. I just felt I had the best hand. But if I raise here I’m committing to this hand, so I elect to call. The turn comes an 8h putting a 4 to a straight on the board. I check, the 3^rd player checks and then Mr. C bets 14k. Now I go into the tank. I have 26k and I literally take about 5 minutes to decide what to do. I just felt that given his image and his range I really felt I had the best hand. At this point I gave him either 2 pair, a flush draw, or a straight. Anyways, I call the 14k leaving myself 12k left and the other player folds. The river is a 3h, I check and Mr. C puts me all-in after about 20 seconds. I call for my whole tournament and he says my favorite words in this spot “nice call.” He tables K2d for a busted flush draw and I scoop an 80k pot with the whole table looking at me in pure shock. I mean, I could’ve made the dumbest call there or the greatest, but I’m just glad I made it.

I raise to 1800 with 99 in late position and Joe T makes it 5k to go. Given our stack sizes it’s a clear call so I do. I know he’s not messing around with me and he hasn’t re-raised all day so I know he either has a big over pair or AK. The flop comes 823 rainbow and I check and Joe bets 7.5k. I take about 1 minute and call. I thought about raising it small but I decide to call. If Joe bets big on the turn I’m giving it up. The turn comes a 10 and I check and he checks. River is a 9…….BAM!!! I lead for 15k and he folds QQ. I mean that’s such a sick lay down. This guy plays so damn good.

I raise to 1800 in the cutoff with 99 again and Joe T re-raises to 5k. Déjà vu (LOL). I call and the flop comes A109 and I check and call 8k. The turn comes a 10 to give me a full house and this time I lead for 10k. I think Joe probably has AK here and I know he’s going to check the turn for pot control but I want to extract the max. He calls. Now I know for sure I have him exactly where I want him. The river is a 4 and I lead for 18k. He takes about a minute and calls me. Just like that the big dog is up to 130k going into the break. THAT’S WHAT IM TALKING ABOUT!

Level 8, 400-800 with 100 ante

This level I don’t play any pots and build my stack up to 145k pretty easily. The average at this point is only about 55k so I’m very healthy, probably top 10 in the tournament. I finally lose a big pot here. Everyone folds to the small blind who opens pushing for 12k and I look down from the BB to see AcQc. I think for about 30 seconds and call. He tables KQ and I’m pretty excited to get up to 160k or so. The flop is 10 xx with 2 clubs. The turn is a blank and the river is a Kh. So sick. He just hit a 2 outer to double up to 30k and I drop down to 125k.

Level 9, 500-1000 with 100 ante

Mr. C busts out during this level and we get Haralabos. He puts on major pressure raising and re-raising a lot of pots. I defend my BB to him with the 67 of clubs. The flop comes 598 with 2 diamonds and I check and he bets 5500. I make it 20500 and he quickly folds. I’m ok with that because that flop has a lot of draws. Nothing really materializes in this level and I go card dead, but maintain 130k.

Level 10, 600-1200 with 200 ante

Honestly, I don’t really remember playing a big pot or any pot for that matter in this level. I raise like twice every 3 orbits and limp maybe once every other orbit. I maintain my stack and finish around 130k.

Oh yeah, I remember one hand. I limp in the SB with QQ and Tad Jurgens in the BB makes it 3k more. I fully expected this and I just smooth call. The flop comes off J74 all spades, and I have the Qs. I check and call a 6k bet. I feel he is strong here and I don’t want to play a huge pot. The turn comes a 5s, I check and he checks. The river is a blank and I check trying to induce a bluff and he checks. He says “Ace Jack no spade.” I show him my queens and he is shocked (and so is the whole table). Sometimes, I play hands like this mostly to control the pot and for deception so I get free flops out of the SB.

Level 11, 800-1600 with 200 ante

Finally, the last level of the night. I didn’t play any big pots here either but I want to talk about such a sick hand between Haralabos and another player. This Asian kid opens on the button for 4500. He has about 90k and Harb has about the same. Harb has been hammering this guy, re-raising him and out playing him post flop. You can actually see it in his eyes that he wants to win a pot from Harb. Anyways, the flop comes 457 with 2 hearts. Harb checks, the Asian kid bets 6k and Harb raises to 20k. The kid calls, the turn is a Js and Harb bets 37k. This kid takes about 30 seconds then moves in for 78k and Harb insta calls. Harb shows 77 and the kid shows A8 off-suit. ARE YOU F’N KIDDING ME?! This kid played solid for 9 hours and he just blows up in a spot where there is no fold equity (and Harb has to have a hand here 100% of the time). The river is a Kh and Harb just won a 200k pot. This is so sick. I never get gifts like this. With 30 minutes left in the night I get moved to the sickest table ever. Antonio Esfandiari in seat 1, Anna Wobrewski in seat 2, Phil Ivey in seat 4, David Singer in seat 6, and David Benyamine in seat 9. Thank God there is only 30 minutes left in this level. Anyways, I fold for my first round and finally play a hand when I re-raise Anna W with 46 off on the button. She folds and I pick up this pot. 3 minutes later the day if over.

I ended up finishing with 158,800, which probably puts 23rd. Average is around 100k. I really felt I played great today. I stuck my head out with my Jacks but I really felt good about my play. I never had any big hands, I picked up QQ once and KK once. I’m just excited to be still in with a healthy stack. I hope I get a good table tomorrow. I really feel that I’m zoned in right now and playing great.

KK

I haven’t blogged in a long time and I really wanted to start writing more this year. So here we go.

Wow, what a difference a day makes. I arrived late on Friday debating whether or not to play the last super satellite of the night for many hours. This year I’ve played one tournament all year and last year I probably played about 10. The 3 years prior I would play about 30-50 tournaments a year. Last year I decided to focus more on cash games and on building a bankroll that way, while in previous years I would dream about the big score and the glory of taking down a major. I guess when you get close so many times, coming up short and ultimately losing, the disappointment starts to become too much to take. I play a fairly straight forward tight aggressive style, but when I put all my chips in I rarely have the worst of it so losing was very destructive to my mental state, especially when it happens so deep into tournaments. I guess this is the nature of tournament poker. However, I’m not going to bore you with bad beat stories.

Anyways, I enter into the satellite 30 minutes late and we start with 3k in chips (so 30k late would be the average). There were 563 entrants and they gave away 51 seats. With about 100 people left I have 55k when the average was around 15k or so and I’m almost guaranteed a seat as long as I don’t do anything stupid. And a few hours later, just like that I’m in. I have a really good feeling about this tournament, I feel fresh and have a renewed passion for tournament poker and am just plain excited.

After much needed rest I arrive about 10 minutes late for the tournament and miss my favorite words: “shuffle up and deal.” I scan the table and notice a few tournament players but no big names except Steve Brecher, an FTP pro. We start with 20k in chips and blinds are 25-50 with 1.5 hour levels. WOW, now that’s a lot of play. My table is really tight, a lot of raise and take it, and not too many re-raises. In fact, we don’t bust a player until 30 minutes before the end of the day. That’s pretty tough when everyone is playing that tight and you look around and see monster stacks everywhere.

The first few hours were pretty boring. I play through the first level and end up with about 18k. Nothing really materializes and I don’t play any big pots. In the 3^rd level (100-200 blinds) I raise on the button with Qc8c to 600 and the BB, who I already know is going to re-raise, makes it 2k to go. I played with this guy yesterday and I labeled him a cannon because he continued to raise when he had 70k and we were playing hand for hand in the super. Surprisingly, today he played pretty solid poker. Anyways, I expected this raise and I decide to re-raise to 6100 leaving myself 9k left (I never ever do this, in fact this might be my first time ever 4 betting light). After about a long minute he folds. WHEW!!!!!!! That was risky.

So now I’m back up to 18k, and in the next level with a 25 ante I decide its time to start playing faster. We have been playing for 4.5 hrs and no one has yet to bust. So sick. Anyways, I re-raise two diff times with no hands and pick up pots. So far tonight I have re-raised 4 times and twice I had air but all 4 times no one called. No huge fluctuations for me or anyone at my table for that matter. Still have about 20k.

The player I 4 bet earlier raises to 1k in our last level with the blinds at 150-300 and a 50 ante. I defend from the SB with 99 and flop comes off K25, all hearts. I have the 9 of hearts and I check, and he checked. We have played a few small pots earlier with a lot of checking and continuation bets so I’m pretty sure I have the best hand here. The turn comes a K, I lead for 1500 and he calls. The river comes a black 8 and I lead for 1500, again trying to extract value and maintain pot size, but he comes over the top for 5k total. I quickly called because I’m pretty sure he can show a bluff here a lot of the time but to my disgust he shows me AJh. He flopped the nuts. I’m feeling sick, down to 13k and not happy with only 40 minutes left in the round.

I start this hand with about 14k, raise UTG to 800 with the J10c and the BB defends. The flop is AQ9 with 1 club and I bet 1100 which he calls. The turn comes a 5c which gives me a flush draw along with my open ended straight draw. He checks, I bet 2.5k and he min raises me to 5k. I call leaving myself with 8k. I close my eyes and literally pray to make a hand. To my delight the 8d comes on the river giving me the nuts. He leads for 6k and I quickly move in for my 8k total. He calls and shows AA. OUCH!!!!!!!! But now I have 28k with about 15 minutes left in the day. I crippled the man and he busts 2 hands later.

Overall, the texture of my table was real weak tight but no one played big pots the whole night. There was only one other big pot where both players had sets in the hand. Given how the day went and the situation of playing with the same players all day I’m really excited about ending the day with 27.5k. I made a few re-raises earlier but I never really had a hand all day. Tomorrow we redraw so I hope I have a better table. I’m especially proud of my 4 bet even though that’s really risky. I want to add this to my repertoire and use once in a while in special circumstances. We lost about a 3^rd of the field today, so I’m going to be slightly below average tomorrow. Most importantly, I’m really motivated to play my best poker and am excited about playing for such a large amount of money (1^st place gets a little over $1.5 million).

Hopefully, I’ll have a lot of good things to write tomorrow.

KK