WOP (Weekend of Poker) 2005

Well, I was sick on Friday, ruining my plans of going to the city for Karen's roomate's birthday party. They even got a Hummer Limo and everything. Saturday, Karen came out early on the train and we headed to Ditty's for a 12pm tournament, specially added for the SPT Season 2. Still not feeling very well, I pulled the usual "alternate" table. I've only started at the actual table once this whole season. Kudos to Tieds though for bringing his card table though, it was better than usual.

My opening table went something like this. Me, Lehman, Artem, Bob, Simpson, Moneymaker, Tieds, and Rich. I had to say I was pleased with my spot, and the table overall. Actually, whoever sat in my seat was going to get my cards, so I guess I just got lucky. Here's how the first 2 levels went.

I put alot of pressure on other people with good hands and didn't bluff once. I was hoping people would think I was at some points, but my hands were too good to bluff. For instance, I had built up some chips when the blinds were 25/50 and CK raised UTG to 200. I decided to take a flop with 33. Bob also called. I didn't care who was in the pot when the flop came QJ3 with 2 spades. CK bet out 300, and I raised to 700. Bob folded and CK called. Turn came another spade, and CK checked, and I wasn't sure what to do. CK is definitly capable of pulling a check raise bluff here, but I figured I had to bet something here to see if I could win it here, or if he really had a big hand. Now how much could I bet? He had about 2K left, so I bet 600. He called. The river brought a red 10 and he fired out 700 real quickly. I couldn't raise him without the best hand cause now a straight was out, and the flush was out there too. So I called and showed my set, and he mucked, but told me later he had AQ, which is the only thing he could've had if he was in the hand that long.

A few hands later I picked up KQ in middle position and called a raise from Bob with Rich also calling. Flop came AJx. We checked to Bob who bet 200 and Rich called. I called because it was not heads up and IF I hit a 10, I would get alot of action I'm sure. Also, I was using my big stack effectively here and I wanted to represent a strong hand. The turn came the perfect 10c and now Rich bet out 400 into me. Again, how much could I raise where he'll still call? Rich is a notoriously tight player so I had to be smart about this. I raised to 900 and Bob folded and Rich called, albeit reluctantly. The river came a Q so I felt like we might chop it up, but Rich checked and I bet 1K. He folded and Tieds said "you couldnt' have had KQ, how could you call the flop?" So, I advertised that hand.

Karen went out in the next few minutes. She hit her flush card on the river which also gave DGlove his full house. Tough times when those things happen. I applaud her efforts and she gets an A+ in my book just for showing up, only having played a few times prior.

Around now I had about 8K or so in chips, more than doubling up from our 3K start. I was UTG, blinds 25/50 still and Lehman opens HUGE for 500 after I fold. Everyone folds to him and he collects 75.

NEXT hand. I'm in BB and Lehman opens again for 400. Not having looked at my cards yet, I said that I can't play this hand for that much unless i have Aces. When it was my turn, as fate would have it, I had AA and raised it to 900. Lehman just called, leaving himself with 600, which I bet on the flop of I Don't Remember. Lehman called and was out and I added some more chips to my stack which was the biggest of the tournament at this point, hovering around 10K.

I limped into a 4 way unraised pot on button with 7c8c and got a flop of 776. Bob, who was in the BB, bet out 200 and I raised to 500, he called. A K came on the turn, and this time he checked, and I bet 600. He called again, and now I expected a huge bet on the river with a better hand than I had. The river brought a J and he checked. I should've bet here, this was my mistake, but I didnt' think he would call anything I bet so I announced trip 7's and he mucked. I wonder what he had.

One of the last hands before the final table, after Rich was taken from our table to even up the other one, Tieds was now directly to my right. Blinds were 75/150 I think, and he raised on the button to 450. I find 66 in the SB and decide that I likely have the best hand so I'll re raise, which I do to 1175. Tieds called and we saw a flop of K87 with 2 clubs. We both checked the flop and it was now that I put him on AJ or AQ, wasn't sure which one yet. A blank came on the turn and I bet 1600. After much deliberation he folded and I showed him that I did have a pair, we're friends and I didn't want him to think I was being a jerk with my big stack, and that I was actually playing back at him with the best hand. We broke for the final table and I had a commanding chip lead with about 15000 of the 51000 starting chips.

Going into the final table I wanted to avoid situations with marginal hands. In middle position and with blinds at 100/200, I raised to 650. DGlove, directly to my left, calls, and Jack after watching Celebrity Poker during the break, said that the TV told him that when he felt like he had to, to go all in. So he did just that for about 2400 or so. I called and DGlove folded. He showed A9, I showed AK. Flop came 10 high and Dennis said he folded pocket 10's. Whew. Turn A....good...river 9.....bad....So, I double Jack up on the first hand of the final table.

I stay kinda quiet for a little while and eventually get some hands here and there that are all won preflop. Then, the action limps around to me in the SB where I have A9s. Simpson on the button had just called as had 4 others. I raised to 650 again and it folded to Simpson, and after thinking he pushed all in. Based on what he had been doing earlier in the day I put myself on the best hand, and called very quickly. He had Q3o I believe. Flop came 345 of spades. YES I flopped the nuts. Turn comes a 7s. Hmmm...Simpson on a 1 outer to just chop the pot, yes we get the miracle 6s on the river to have a straight flush on the board. I've never seen that happen before.

Myra and I got into an interesting 2 hands in a row. First one she was in the BB and saw a free flop of 9 6 4. I had A6d and she bet and I called. She went all in on a turn of a blank and I thought about it, and for some reason called. She had 9 3 for top pair, and I got no help and doubling her up. The very next hand, I get 88 and bump it up to 700. She thinks about it and goes all in again! Ugh...now what to do...yeah yeah, fold sounds good. But I put her on AK for some reason and decided to "race" for my chips back that I had just given her. Well, she flipped over QQ and I was in a world of hurt. I got no help and just like that I had lost 12K of my chips in just a few hands by doubling people up, and Myra back to back!

It was at this point that my head got completely out of the tournament and I started to think that it wasn't meant for me to win this one. For about 20 min, I gave up all hope until Tieds got pushed around in a hand by Pete and went all in on his button for 2100. I had 3600 left and had Q10d in the BB. I felt like he was on a steal, and I needed chips too at this point, so I decided to gamble. He flipped over 5 7 and I hit a 10 on the flop to get some much needed chips back in my stack.

From here I was kind of unstoppable hitting hand after hand. I eliminated Simpson with AK when he had QJ, and even took out Pete with 108h when he had 2 undercards. Finally it was heads up with me and DGlove. With the table full of railbirds and the blinds at 400/800, the following hand came up.

I had 64o and was first to act on the flop. Flop came 10 6 3. I bet 2000 and Dennis called after a while. (Each move Dennis makes is very deliberate, and thus can take a long time to complete.) The turn hit a 7, and I had a big decision to make here. Now, 2 times before this, Dennis and I had gotten to the turn and I had checked and he went all in after I led out on the flop. I felt like he might do this to me again, and the only way I was going to win this pot was if I countered his bluff with a semi-bluff of my own. So I went all in on the turn before he could go, and just waited. He eventually folded.

On the button I raised to 3K. Dennis re-raised me another 4K. I thought about how to play this hand, and decided to go all in right there. I had Dennis covered so I knew I'd see another hand if this one didn't hold up. He called and said "YES!" when I flipped over A6 and I felt like I was dominated. But he had 22, so let's race!!! I ended up catching a 6 on the turn, and winning the tournament! My first win of SPT Season 2 and it was the biggest game of the year so far, putting me in 4th place if my calculations are right. After getting into the money on Thursday and a win on Saturday, it renewed my confidence in my playing, and I look forward to hopefully participating in the Championship table. I will post later about Hall's rebuy tourney and my lack of appreciation of it. Later. Thanks for reading.