1. 2008-03-14 08:18:23

   Wynn Classic Tournament - Part 2

   When I arrived at the Wynn to play it out on day 3 I discovered I had been bumped to 4th in chips because of stacks that were built on the 2nd day-one. But I was still quite close to the chip leader and that was all that mattered. There were less than 70 people because the other day wasn't as big as ours. That meant there were still 4 places that weren't going to get money. Everyone voted to skim money from 1st, 2nd, and 3rd to give them each $600. So they got their money back and a little profit. We were all guaranteed money. Woo.

   When the clock started I was still feeling a bit lethargic. The coffee hadn't really worked, but I was determined to really think my decisions through despite not feeling 100% aware of my surroundings yet. I was the biggest stack at my table. Everyone noticed how many purple (5k) chips I had. And then we were off. Short stacks were already busting right and left. I was getting complete garbage for hands and just kept folding. After a few revolutions I looked really tight, but it was just the burst of crappy cards that molded my image.

   I finally got something playable in late position and took the blinds and antes. I noticed the player two seats to my right had raised at least twice per revolution when he was in the 3 latest positions. With as much stealing as he was doing it seemed like a good opportunity to resteal from him at some point, especially because I had such a tight image. The blinds passed me once more and I was on the button. He did it again. It was a smallish raise (less than 3x) considering how big the pot was with all those antes. He seemed to favor the smaller raises whenever he entered the pot. I looked down to see . Not the greatest hand to put a move on since it's so easily dominated, but I was a big stack and wanted to put pressure on these medium stacks around me. People tend to clam up without a premium hand in that spot in a tourney when you put their stack at risk. And as I mentioned, I had been very quiet. So I made a move and reraised him. It made sense in my mind because I needed to build a stack if I wanted to make any real money in this thing. Cashing a couple thousand is not what I was looking for. That's just another good session at the cash games. I wanted my first real cash. That meant at least the final table. OK, so I'm done making excuses. Back to the hand. He didn't look too happy about my raise, which is what I was looking for. Then...you guessed it, the guy in the SB behind me sat their for about 30 seconds...and then moved all in. He was another medium stack, but it was still enough to cut me down in size. The BB and original raiser fold, and now I'm left with a decision. Obviously I can assume his range is beating me, but is it beating me by enough to warrant folding when I'm being laid nearly 3 to 1 pot odds? In a cash game it would be a no brainer call with those odds, but you can't rebuy in a tourney. I still have a good stack. Is it worth it? Well, I decided he wouldn't be shoving in with A9, AT, or AJ with the stack size he had. He might even fold AQ sometimes considering my image. So that eliminates many of the hands that are crushing me. After thinking about his likely range for about 30 seconds I decided I needed to call. There are too many pairs that he might shove, that I'm just not far enough behind to fold. So he flips up . Ugh. Not what I wanted to see. Man...it's only . How did I get into this mess? What a tourney donk I must be...I feel so in control in a cash game...and so out of my element here. I feel choked by the restrictions of my stupid finite stack. A King flops and all but seals the deal. No lucky suck out for me. Sigh.

   I had just lost more than a third of my stack and was feeling stupid/unlucky, but I shook it off and focused on the task at hand. Another revolution, the round ended and the blinds went up. Thank God the antes didn't. Now my "M" was less than 10. UGH! Then I look down to see . Alright, a hand. There is one limper, and I raise from late position. The BB and the limper call. Flop comes with an Ace. Of course. The BB bets, and the limper raises him. Ok, so much for queens. I fold. The BB thinks for a while, shows an Ace and folds. The limper shows his set for some reason, and we're off to the next hand.

   Another revolution and my "M" is now 5. Damn it. This sucks. I pick up on the cut-off and it is folded to me. This is a clear shove with my stack size. I make the shove and it folds to a medium stack on the BB. He thinks for what seemed like forever. At this point I'm thinking he has something like or and isn't sure what to do. I'm hoping he'll fold. I'd rather not have to risk a coin flip, or even worse. He calls and turns over . What the hell were you thinking about, dude?! Drama and false hope just to see that damned hand again. And once again the King flops to seal the deal with no diamonds. I'm out in 47th place.

   Wow. How the hell did this happen? But I know exactly how. I can't help but think what would have been if I had just folded the stupid to the initial smallish raise. Or even just called. I wouldn't have had to shove that and would still be in decent shape...Damn tourneys. I received $900 and change for a profit around $400. Needless to say I was disappointed. But I was awake now. The Wynn's poker room was full of busted tourney donks from this event and the $1k event that was running simultaneously. I took a walk around the slightly raised "high stakes" section, and the games were great. There were 2 10/20 NL tables going with no cap (all Wynn games have no max buy-in). The average stack must have been at least 10K. Good. That meant that the 3 5/10 NL games were mostly free of the toughest players. It was time for some deep stacked 5/10 NL. At least I felt like I knew what I was doing here. And I had the freedom of the 200 BBs (2k) I bought in with.

   Next entry I'll be talking about a couple of my live 5/10 NL sessions. I want to run some of the hands by you guys and talk about some of the seemingly crazy plays that often make sense in a somewhat higher stakes game with decent competition. And while I'm at it we can talk about some of the differences between live and online games. Until next time.

   Posted by uzjedi at 2008-03-14 08:18:23

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Comments on “Wynn Classic Tournament - Part 2”

1. • Posted by uzjedi g 2008-03-17 08:23:23
   • 

   • I remain of the opinion that my resteal was well timed against the right player. But I should have thought about it before doing it with the hand I did. I am usually very good about staying away from Ax. Something like would fair better in a spot that is relying so heavily on folding equity. And that quick turn of events is why tourneys get under my skin. I must admit though, that most of the journey up to that point was quite enjoyable.

2. • Posted by Jason M g 2008-03-17 07:13:55
   • 

   • Wow, dude. A9 and A8 vs. AK. Ouch. It's terrible how such a good (resteal) play ended up practically forcing a call and then you QQ losing ended up forcing your all in. Oh yeah, and then the fact that you ran into AK both times :/

     Nice showing, either way, game.

3. • Posted by Nick L g 2008-03-16 19:40:27
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   • Very unfortunate on how the tourny went. I will be looking forward to talking to you about your play and how you were able to build your bankroll into a huge number.

4. • Posted by uzjedi g 2008-03-15 00:46:55
   • 

   • Yeah, Krishna. My preflop equity was probably only 30% or so against his range. That gave me the marginally profitable pot odds I thought I had. But looking back, I think a small ball approach would have been much better considering I still had some breathing room. I could have picked a much better spot to put money in. Of course the tightness of the medium stacks is exactly why I put a move on the initial raiser. Just didn't count on one of the blinds waking up with a premium hand. :-/ Live and learn.

5. • Posted by uzjedi g 2008-03-15 00:32:53
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   • Damn it, Graham! That's it. I should make a thread about "The Game." Gotta get everyone else losing. :p

6. • Posted by Graham g 2008-03-14 23:23:07
   • 

   • Well, I think I speak for everyone when I say that's not what we were hoping for. But at least you came away with some knowledge and a couple bucks. Beats making soccer balls in Indonesia. Also, you got yourself a poker page... See you soon. Until then I'll leave you with this

7. • Posted by Krishna (unverified) g 2008-03-14 21:15:48
   • 

   • Generally speaking, the tightest in middle stages of the tournament are the medium stack players.
     Your opponent (if decent thinking player) will not want to gamble with a big stack unless he has premium hand.
     So your equity against his range which I estimate as
     TT+, AQ+
     is very poor.

     Of course it is easy to say after the fact not knowing the exact situation (hands he played, your image, etc).
     It also depends on what you want to achieve - cash well or win the tournament. You were probably playing to win it all.

     I am curious to see your posts about 5/10 game.
     Yes, we should discuss live vs online because. May be we should do that in the forum.