Dec. 5-22
Start: $157.62Hit a bit of a bad run in the Triple-Ups. During this stretch, I entered 16 of these Triple-Ups, and cashed in just 5. Slightly worse than 33%, for a loss of $7.80. Not terrible, but not the rate I was hitting at.
Here are some brief notes I took on these losses:
- Finished 7th, lost 2 hands back-to-back, holding KQ on board of 88K8K, then with 35 on board of 58945 v. K5.
- Got a run of strong hands in middle of tournament, cruised to easy 1st place finish.
- 8th, lost with JJ v. QQ on pre-flop all-in.
- 5th, lost with KQ v. AQ on Q32 flop.
- 8th, lost with AQ to J5 to a guy who was trying to get rid of his chips and leave.
- 6th, crippled by putting small stack allin with AT v. Q8, 2 pair flopped for him.
- 8th, flopped 2 pair with KJ, lost out to pre-flop raiser who was holding KK.
- 6th, lost 4 coin flips to smaller stacks after being in dominant 2nd place.
- 6th, held QJ with J of hearts, flop was KQT all hearts. I bet, was raised, I went all-in with Royal Flush draw and lost to A8d when JK completed the board with no more hearts coming.
- 4th, lost with J9 to K5 when 3 diamonds flopped, he went all-in with K of diamonds and won on river.
- 5th, lost an all in with AJ v. J9 on flop of 789.
I placed 3rd in a standard SNG I played for some reason.
I crapped out of 2 additional MTTs, 24th of 87 in a tourney where 18 paid, lost shoving AQ vs. AK in a battle of the blinds.
Lost in the other MTT in 389th out of close to 1000 players, when I pushed with AA post-flop on a board of J9T, other player was holding TT. That was probably not a smart play, considering how many potential hands beat me on that board.
Not a great run... except for one more MTT that I played last Friday. This was another $4.40 "beginner" tournament that pays more places than a normal MTT. Typical enrollment for these is somewhere between 50-100. This was the same tournament I won 2 weeks prior, on 12/4.
Here are some highlights of this latest MTT cash, starting stacks of 1500:
Hand #22: QQ on button, blinds 30/60. I raise to 231. Get one caller, flop is 7T2 rainbow. UTG+2 bets 284. I raise all-in, remaining 1089 chips. He calls and shows 9T. Remainder of board is 45, so I move up to 2700 chips total.
Hand #27: AQd in big blind, UTG+1 raises to 180, SB raises all-in to 520. I call, UTG+1 calls. Flop is Q69 rainbow. I put BB all-in for 800, he folds. SB shows KQ, and I win again and move up to 3700 chips. (UTG+1 was holding KJs).
Hand #32: ATs UTG+1. I raise to 177. Button and BB call. Flop is 382, one spade. Checked around, Ah comes on turn. I decline to bet, checked around. River is Kh, 3 hearts on board. BB bets 240, I call, button folds. I win, as BB was holding A9. Move up to 4300+ chips.
Hand #35: QJo in SB. UTG+1 min-raises, I call, BB calls. Flop is Q44. I bet out 249, UTG calls. Turn is 2s. I bet out 419, UTG+1 calls again. River is 8h, I decide to check call the river... but UTG+1 checks. I fail to get value, as he mucks TT, but I do move up to over 5100 chips and near first place now.
Hand #51: A9o on button, blinds at 50/100. UTG+1 calls, I raise to 340. BB goes all-in for 902 total. I am left to call 562 into a pot of 1392, and do so. He shows TT, and maybe not such a no-brainer now. But I turn an Ace and get up to 6500+ chips.
I hang around that area for a while.
Hand #96: AQd UTG, blinds at 125/250, with 25 ante. I raise to 751, BB calls. Flop is T49, BB checks, I bet 980, BB calls. Turn is Q, BB checks, I bet 1500, BB calls. River is a 7, I decide to check behind on the river, and I win vs. BB's KQ, and move up to 9200+ chips.
Hand #99: AJo on button. Cutoff min-raises to 500, I re-raise to 1470, CO calls. Flop is TQA, 2 clubs. Action checked to me, I bet 1902 and take it down. CO mucks 22.
We are into the money at this point, as 18 pay and sometime around hand 100, the bubble bursts.
Hand #106: J2 in BB, blinds at 150/300, 30 ante. UTG+1 and UTG+2 call. Flop is 9KJ, 2 clubs. No one bets. Turn is 5h. I take a stab holding a pair, and everyone folds. Move to over 11500 chips.
Hand #107: I complete the SB with 69o. Just me and BB in this hand, flop is 83T... I check, BB bets 300, and I call. Turn is another 3, it's checked around. River is a J, and I decide to take another stab and win it. Move up to 12300.
Next hand I raise with K8 on the button, and it goes uncalled, so I steal the blinds. About 10 more hands, and we are down to the final 10, one more out and we go to the final table.
Hand #120: AJ in SB, blinds are 200/400, ante of 40. Button calls to 400, I raise to 1424. He calls. Flop is Q6T, I bet 1500, Button mucks A8o. I break the 15k chip barrier.
Hand #121: QQ on button. UTG raises to 1500, I re-raise to 4825. He mucks 77.
I go a while with no action, as we get down to the final 9, then players are picking each other off. I am hanging around the 12k-15k chip area with 96,000 total chips in play.
Down to 5 players, then 4 before I finally stick my nose in the action again.
Hand #171: A8 in BB, blinds are 400/800 with 80 ante, I have 13k chips. Button raises to 2400, I re-raise all-in figuring a steal. He calls me with AJ, and I am dominated. Board comes 35826, and I suck out and double to nearly 27k chips, while crippling button down to less than 2 big blinds.
Hand #180: QQ in SB. UTG raises to 4k, button raises all-in… he is the chip leader. I, perhaps stupidly, call. Board comes KJ248, UTG has KT and wins the main pot, but I win the side pot vs. the chip leader who was holding A2c. I move up to nearly 39k chips, and the chip lead.
Hand #191: A8o in BB. Button raises for his last 9200 chips. I call, he shows QQ and I lose down to about 28k.
Hand #192: We drop to 3 players, as I stay out of the action.
Hand #193: Blinds are now 500/1000, ante of 100. I have 66 on the button, and raise to 3216. BB calls. Flop is T24, 2 clubs. I bet 5590, BB calls. Turn is 3 of clubs, I bet enough to put BB all-in for his final 10k. He decides to call, and shows A9d. No idea what he is doing there, he basically needs an Ace or a 5. River is a 6, and my set is good enough to get us heads up.
Hand #202: I get A9 heads up in BB, in a slight chip disadvantage, 43k to 53k. He raises to 3k, I re-raise to 9200, he calls. Flop is T75, it is checked around. Turn is 9d. He bets 8k, I raise all-in. He calls and shows K9. I win, and now have the lead 86k to 10k.
I lose a couple of all-ins, and we’re back to even.
Hand #231: I hold AJs with a deficit of 37k vs. 59k. I just try a sneaky call. BB raises me all-in, and I call. He flips over AKo, and I’m going to lose. Except I don’t, as my saving Jack comes on the river and I take another dominant chip lead.
Hand #236: I hold A8o and put him all-in for 20k. He calls and shows A5. Board makes it interesting, flopping 249, but no other help comes, and my 8 kicker holds up for the win.
1st place is worth $78.09. I bust the $200 barrier for the first time.
Finish: $216.51
(+65.99 in 3 multi-table tournaments, +.70 in 1 standard SNG, -7.80 in 16 Triple-Up SNGs)