POKERadical
Jason's Poker Blog
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2009-05-06 23:58:05
Random Weekend Poker Happenings
I played in a deep stack tournament this weekend at Dub's. The game is always well run, and always a blast. We get shrimp, sandwiches, Coronas, and when Brent is there, plenty of Tequila :) This was the first time in a long time that I was able to fully commit to playing the whole night and I wasn't disappointed.
I'm writing this for two main reasons. First, I gotta give props to Dub for the game and to all the players that make it a great time. If you aren't in on these games, you should be jealous :) It's tough to get an invite, and sometimes even harder to RSVP in time to be able to participate. The second reason is there are a few hands I just don't want to forget. I think I played pretty well, and I want to be able to remember this when I'm feeling down about my play ability.
The Setup
12 players, mega-deep stacks (100k) and small blinds (100/200). Most people are very experienced, but a lot of players are playing for fun or have ulterior motives to get points for the end-of-season free-roll. The deep stacks allow for a lot of maneuvering. All in all, it's a great time.
I started the game in 11th place on the leaderboard. Only the top 9 make it to the freeroll, so I had plenty of work to do. There were 3 players at the game that were all competing for these last spots and a couple other players who didn't make the game. I forget to mention that this was a "double points" game, so players who skip this game are at quite a disadvantage.
Two more notes: there are 2-3 rebuys at each game, but they count against your points standing. Rebuying is as if you finished two places worse than you actually did. And taking out a player (bounty) is as if you finished a place higher.
The Hands
Bluffaroo
I had a fair amount of good hands early on, and did not hesitate to show them. That allowed me to pull of some pretty good bluffs. One in particular was against the Salt-man.
I ended up seeing a flop with
from the big blind.Flop:
I flopped the dumb straight draw and called a small bet (there were 5+ people in the pot).
Turn:
No bets - awesome!
River:
I check and Salty makes a substantial bet. I decided that, based on his flop bet, he could easily have a flush draw or overcards, so I raised about 4 times his bet. After a lot of deliberation, he folds and uses his "show me" chip to force me to turn my hand over.
When he saw the bluff, he (of course) was not pleased. It turns out he had
and had turned the full house but though he was counterfeited on the river! Wow.Nemesis
I don't like using real names unless I have permission, so we'll call my nemesis "C". We were fighting for that 9th place and seem to get into hands frequently, so this hand was really important. Especially considering what a rebuy/bounty point differential would mean to the standings!
I picked up
under the gun. I limped in because I usually get called, so I don't like building a big pot when I'm going to be out of position. One or two people limp in from middle position and C limps from the button.Flop:
Bingo! Well, it was little ugly, but fine. Again, since people tend to call me, I decided a check-raise is a better way to get people to pay the most for their draws (or build the biggest pot if I'm against a big ten). The pot has about 2k and C bet out 1k or so. I raised to 4k and was called fairly quickly. Heads up.
Turn:
Current pot: 10kThis was not exactly a card I liked, but if I was "crushed" by a straight, that hasn't changed, because I don't think she was playing KQ. However, I decided it was time to put a big bet in to keep charging old draws and start charging the potentials new draws. I bet out about 10k and she called.
River:
Current pot: 30kThat was pretty much the worst river possible. Ugh. I was hoping C didn't hit any of that and would be scared to bet, so I checked. If she was on
, I don't think she would bet.C shoved all in for 80k! Oh my...
There were so man conflicting emotions. If I call and take her out, that's huge for my chip stack and points. If I call and lose, I'm almost out and she'll surely outlast me and get more points. But something in the back of my head would not let me fold. I don't know if it was just me being stubborn, or if I was smelling something. I took a while (2-3 minutes?) and Dub called time on me. 30 seconds... What should I do? 20 seconds... A shove is so weak there... 10 seconds. Ugh, I call.
C turns over
She had top pair with a gut-shot and turned the second pair. Wow. Had the
come on the river, could I have folded? Would she have shoved? Who knows. I have observed that sometimes when people make a "weakish" hand, they tend to overbet it, thinking that the strength will push a better hand out. Perhaps that's true. I did almost fold. Or maybe she was really value-betting me. Maybe she'd shove with the straight or flush there. I don't know.Chip city. Point city. Awesome!
Return to Bluffland
At this point I had a couple drinks, and a lot of chips, so why not limp in with
, right? Who cares if I'm UTG.Salty limped in and made a comment "only for Jason", so I immediately put him on a middle suited/gapped hand like
or . The latter is one of my many "favorite hands" with this group, and I do tend to limp and raise with those hands in late position here.The flop came
I checked and Salty bet about half of the pot. I had him on a single pair and I had overcards, as well as the back-door flush draw, so I called. I figured I could take it away on the turn if any overcard came and perhaps even make the better hand. I might even see a river for free if he was being more creative. I called.
Turn:
At this point, I gave up. One of the hands I put Salty on was
, so it's over. I checked. Salty checked. At this point, I should have figured he didn't make his hand (straight or two pair), because he would have bet. The last hand I bluffed him, he didn't bet when he made his hand here and I was able to take it away from him on the river. However, I guess history shows he will check the turn with the near nuts when he's in late position against me. I don't know. This matters more on the river, anyway.River:
I actually had to look at my hand to verify that this was for real. Holy crap! I still put Salty on the straight (error?) so I decide I'm going to play the hand the exact same way the previously bluffed hand played out. I checked, he bet (yes!) and I thought for about 5 seconds and put the stack of all my 10k chips into play. I was too dumb to make sure it was enough to cover him (remember, bounties), but it turned out it was enough. After a couple minutes Salty begrudgingly called and was not happy to see my nuts on the table!
I still don't know what he had. I second-guessed my "straight" read, especially after he took so long to call the river. Maybe
would be a closer guess? If so, why did he not bet the turn? I guess that's what he does? The only other thing I could think of is . That explains the bet on the flop, the check on the turn, and the bet/call on the river for a straight-forward player. Any ideas?It was awesome how the hand played out exactly as the previous bluff hand. Wow, how "lucky" for it to go down like that, right?
Endgame
Eventually, it became 3-way and the stacks were pretty small compared to the blinds. I got it all in with
. From the small blind 
called and the big blind shoved with . I was in and the small blind folded. I missed and finished in third :(The Result
I'm in 8th place on the leaderboard with 2 more games to go. Woo woo!
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