How it went - part II

In my last post, I described how I made the money, having 10k chips at that point (average 8k). This was (for me) the first half of the tournament only - there was still a lot of play to come!

A couple of hands later, I got 76s as SB, the button pushed for 1355. The blinds were still 250/500, so it was 2:1 for me to call. I could expect the BB to join me (he would only need to put in 855 into a 3000 pot), so I guess my odds were in fact better. Nevertheless, I folded. Why do I even mention this hand? The BB called, the turn was a 6, and the flop was another 6. However, the BB had K8 and the flop was JT9, so he would quite likely have bet on the flop, forcing me to fold.

Next time I was BB, I got A6, the hand was folded round to me. On the next hand, two limpers wanted to see a flop, but I didn't like my hand of Q6o so I folded. However, unbeknownst to us, the BB had actually gone to the bathroom, and the other two players were both very short-stacked (it was ridiculous that they limped) and did not dare to make a move. Eventually the hand was checked down all the way to the river, and the BB won with 24 by completing an unlikely straight on the river! I had made second pair on the flop A62, I probably would have made a move at some point...

A few hands later, we were 7-handed and I got A9s in 2nd position. I decided this was good enough to raise, the very short SB called with nothing, and this brought me up to 11700. I was then quiet for a round, and then got KQ UTG. I raised to 4xBB = 2400 and nobody took the bait. On the next hand, there was a minraise and a call in front of me, and I felt I had to call with KTo. However, I missed the flop (532), and after it was checked around once, the BB bet out on the turn 9. We both folded.

Another round later, again UTG, I got QJo. We were (still) playing six-handed and I minraised to 1600. The players in the blinds were the same as the previous two times that I raised (except for the one I eliminated the first time). I don't know if this was a factor, but the SB pushed for 4000. This gave me better than 2.5:1 odds so I called, but I did not like it much. He held KJ... but I flopped a Q! This put me up to 14600.

This turned out to be extremely lucky for me, because I got AA on the very next hand, in the BB. The button raised to 1600! I reraised to 4000. This is perhaps too much, actually, I definitely want a call here. Fortunately I did get the call and what's more, when I pushed on the flop 944 he was confident that his top pair was good, so he put in the rest of his stack (7000) with K9s... The cards were both clubs, and I got a scare when the turn put a second club on the board as well, but that was the end of the clubs: 25600. Had I lost the hand before this, I only would have had 11k now!

This hand also put me into the top 10, where the real prizes started. I was amazed to see how aggressive people kept playing, they were getting eliminated left and right. My M was 15 now, so I was in no hurry to join the fun with mediocre cards. However, the first time I was BB on the final table I got AT, and only the SB called for 1000. I raised to 3000, he called and I bet another 3000 on the flop 754. He only had 9k left at this point and decided to try his luck another time.

I did not play another hand until a round later, when I got KK on the button (I could not complain about the amount of nice hands I got in this game). However, my minraise scared them away. I guess this is an OK result at this stage, my M was still 10, there were 6 players left now. I don't really like to limp here.

Another round later, with 5 players left now, I got JJ as SB! I open-raised to 4BB = 6000 and the BB called. The flop was 977 and I pushed. This was a really bad decision on my part (he folded). Here I think I need to take a risk and check it, representing AK. Then I can checkraise him all-in. The risk is of course that he checks. What do you think is best, dear reader?

A mere three hands later, having 34k chips, I got JJ again! This time I was UTG and I again raised to 6k, which the player to my left again called. The flop was low cards again, and this time I "only" bet another 6k. Yet again, he folded. I suppose that this bet looks even scarier than the all-in from before. Anyway, now I had 42k!

I did not play another hand until we were 4-handed (this happened only 3 hands later!). I open-raised from the button with Kx and the blinds folded. On the next hand, I limped for 2k with 87s (stack 40k), and was rewarded by a flush draw + second pair on the flop. The others checked it to me, I bet 4k into a 6k pot, and they folded like good little boys. Shortly after that, I limped Q2 on the button (varying my play) and got rewarded in a big way: the flop was KQ2! It was again checked to me, and while it was tempting to slowplay, I did not like the two diamonds on the flop (there were two opponents) so I did a minbet. Both players folded :-( 45k.

I got no action from AQ UTG, but as BB I hit top pair and finally checked it instead of betting out. He bet, I raised, he folded: 55k! This made me the chip leader! On the very next hand, I got AK, open-raised and the BB, who was really very accommodating, once again called and folded to a c-bet on the flop, which I had missed completely: 62k! However, on the next hand, the player to my left demonstrated how to play JJ by raising it preflop and check-calling the flop. His opponent pushed with 55 and was eliminated, so that that player suddenly had 87k! On the plus side, there were now only 3 of us left, and I was already assured a payout of $160.

In fact, I was counting on at least $320 here already, because I had 60k and the third player had only 11k, with blinds at 2k/1k. However, things would not turn out to be so straightforward...

To be continued - another tournament is starting in three minutes :-)