I'm a little bit gutted about how this tournament turned out after building a nifty stack early on. I had one of the sickest 1st levels ever, somehow managed to win only one hand after getting QQ, and both AK and JJ twice.
The very first hand of the tournament I look down at AK and I make it 150 when it folds to me in middle position. Ms. Fatfish puts out a very small 3bet to 375 from the small blind and I resist the urge to 4bet. She donks into me for 500 on a QQ2r flop and I decide to just give up and not get involved in the very first hand of a deep, slow structured tournament.
A few hands later I raise it up with AQs UTG, then I get 3bet by somebody I thought would be doing this very light and just as I start running the options threw my head, the BB 4bets to 2k. I insta-fold.
A couple of hands later, I'm in the SB with AhJx. There were two limpers and Gaz Walker raises it up to 150 in the cutoff, Rachel Costa flats behind on the button. I briefly contemplate a squeeze, but I think that would be pretty bad. QhJhx on the flop, it checks to Gaz and he makes a small bet (I think it was either 200 or 250) so I call with my middle pair and backdoor possibilities - everybody else folds. Then came the Ten of hearts on the turn. I think for a little while and I conclude that Gaz often will have made two pair and it's a scary board for the times he has AQ/AK. I check/raise to 1600 after Gaz bets 525. I don't think Gaz ever 3bets a set or a straight there and it's redic unlikely that he has a flush as I have the Ace of Hearts. This is the exact same line I would take with my flush draws which get there and I think it looks pretty strong so I raised expecting Gaz to fold a decent percentage and I have outs for the times he calls. The sexiest card in the world hits the river, King of Hearts giving me a Royal Flush. I briefly think about how to play the river and I decide Gaz checks back nearly 100% of his range, so I ship the loot and put on my most nervous face. Gaz tanks for what felt like a very long time, but was prob only two minutes. He eventually tells me that he has second nuts and I give him no reaction. Gaz obviously thinks (correctly) that my hand is polarised to a Royal Flush or a stone cold bluff and he sigh-calls. Happy days, I double to about 15k.
Still in the first level, I raise my button with JJ when it gets folded to me, both SB and BB call. SB checks, BB bets 275 on the 569hh flop, I call, SB folds. There was an offsuit Ten on the turn and the lad bets 500, I call again. I then find myself in a tough spot when a deuce comes on the river and I face a 1500 bet. The deuce completes 3-4, but I'm not too worried about that. He could have had missed hearts or Txhh betting for value, but the speed at which the bets came just about persuaded me that I was beat. I muck and find out that he flopped the straight.
I get another couple of big hands before the second level starts, I squeeze over a MP raise and a BTN call from the BB with AK and get called in both spots. Flop 789cc. I make an easy decision to c/f. I make another easy fold after flatting an UTG raise with JJ from the hijack and give up on a AQx flop. Kinda hard to moan about running bad after rivering a Royal Flush earlier though.
Midway through the second level, I win a healthy pot from Rachel Costa. She makes it 325 from the CO and I flat my button with a pair of red nines and the BB tags along for the ride. The BB checks on a 762 flop, Rachel bets 500, I call and BB folds. The turn brings an offsuit ten completing the rainbow and Rachel bets 1275. I obv have a gutshot and I think I'm good a lot of the time as I've played enough with Rachel to know that she can be barrelling with air/overcards a lot. I actually can't remember the river card, but in my head it was a complete brick and I am faced with a bet of 3200. I run the hand back through my head a few times and I decide that she could be taking this line with TT-AA a fair amount. 8-9 for a turned straight is possible, but unlikely since I have two blockers and of course there are other set possibilities. Everything about her body language was screaming that she was weak, but my hand wasn't exactly beating anything but a bluff given the action... However, I had a good stack and I decided to go with my read. Rachel tabled A8 and I scooped the pot.
At this point I was on cruise control and didn't get involved too much, my plan was to just bet when I had it and not try to steal too much as I played a shitload of hands and couldn't expect people to fold much to me.
When I got the 100/200 stage, I found myself with AJs and I got 3bet by the kid who turned out to be my nemesis (no not Ian Bertram!) for the evening. I give up and fold. A few hands later one on of the tighter players at the table opens from early position, I call with AQs and my Nemesis once again 3bets. I don't really have much of a decision to make after the tight player repops to 2.5k and the kid folds behind me.
This action kinda set me up for a bit of cooler near the end of the level. I make it 500 with AK and I get 3bet to 1500 by you-know-who on the BTN. I don't waste much time bumping it up to 3500 and he calls. At this point, I was putting him on a range of 88-QQ/AJ+ and perhaps even the odd spazzy suited connector type hand. Flop was A72. I don't think I get paid by any of the pairs in the range I assigned to him and I think he bets all of his Aces, so I tried to get a little tricky and I check. He checks behind me. I get into Phil Helmuth trap-mode and check again when 4s hits the turn. This time he bets 3500 and I call. On the river we see 6s putting out a flush draw, but I had the Ace of Spades and wasn't especially worried about that. The kid then bets 9k after I check again. My hand is redic under-repped so I call even though the bet was a bit bigger than I was hoping to induce. He shows me Aces and I simultaneously sigh and smile that my trappy play saved a few thousand which he didn't put in on the river. That's the last time I take a Phil Helmuth line!
I must have used up all of my big hands in the first couple of levels because I didn't see anything that vaguely looked playable for a long time. Towards the end of the 200/400 level, I played another hand against my Nemesis when I opened to 1k, he makes it 3k. I had 12k holding AJs. I really wanted to just stick it in his eye, but I told myself to be patient and find a better spot after tanking for what was a long time for me. I really wish I shoved now because I literally played no hands for over an hour.
I got moved to another table and was absurdly card dead, I was waiting to 3bet jam anything that looked half decent, but I could find neither the cards nor the right spot to do it. I made a nitty fold when I was down to about 14BB. Paul Nixon raises in EP, Bob The Gob ships it for about 7BB. I fold and I would have been up against the 99 of Paul Nixon and the JJ of Bob The Gob. Kind of an obvious fold for me because Paul Nixon runs so well and he of course sends Bob back to Aspers after I deal him quads on the flop... Anyway, I leave that table behind without playing a single hand and I join the table where my nemesis is dealing. I last another orbit without playing a hand, before I woke up with A9ss in the SB. I must have a tell or something because Stumpy folds the button (wtf!) and I ship. Obviously the dealer rigged the deck and gave himself Kings. Siiigghh. Thought I was gonna do well in this thing after a decent start.
There's always next month :(
