Getting the Bug Again
I feel like I'm really starting to get the poker bug again and it feels pretty good.
Sunday morning I was trying to decide whether to stay up until the Bengals game or sleep for a couple of hours and I opened up a 2/4 table on FullTilt at about 9:30. Well, I quickly got down almost $50 by playing bad and getting coolered and I felt like I couldn't just quit, so I decided to play my way back to even. I stayed at that 2/4 table and started up the $4k guaranteed $24+2 tourney that started at 10 am. Things didn't get any better at the 2/4 table and I ended up losing $100 before calling it quits there. After I went broke on the 2/4 table I was still in the tourney and didn't want to 1-table just yet, so I sat down with $60 at a .5/1 blinds CAP NL game (CAP is $30). I don't really remember what happened and I was pretty tired so I don't think I played very well, but I ended up losing that $60. So, at this point I'm down $160 in cash games and I'm assuming (as I always do) that I'll also be stuck the $26 tournament buy-in. At that point, I was getting a bit depressed, it obviously wasn't my day and I'd dropped somewhere in the neighborhood of 1/6th of my bankroll. Things, would turn around in a big way though.
I managed to stay alive in the tourney for a long time and I don't remember a ton, but I'm pretty sure I was never all-in for my tournament life before the money bubble except maybe once when I was a big favorite. I built my stack well, except for one hand that I feel like my opponent misplayed pretty badly. With a fairly large stack in the middle stages I raised in EP with KTs (we can debate the merits of this play, but it's a pretty standard blind steal for me), dude to my left cold-called and we took a flop heads-up. The flop came down JTx rainbow and I of course bet out about 2/3 - 3/4 of the pot (again, pretty standard and I'm doing this pretty much whether I've flopped anything or not). He calls my flop bet, then proceeds to call of the rest of his stack (I believe on the turn) with ATo. I think his play of the whole hand was pretty bad, but he definitely should have folded pre-flop and I can't imagine a situation where I'm ever calling off my entire stack with 2nd pair. Anyway, that hand left me short, though not terribly so (I had like 10 big blinds left), and I managed to battle back and work my way down into the money (27 cashed). From there the most excited hand was when I was getting short and I open-shoved in LP with 87s, got called by AKs (same suit also) and thought I was done. Fortunately I flopped an 8 for my only suckout of the tourney.
I actually played quite well and caught decent cards at the next to last table and went into the FT with a solid stack near the top. Unfortunately, it just wasn't my final table. Things started off bad when it folded to me in the SB early on and I raised with K7o, shortstack BB shoved and I was getting 2-1 so I called was actually ahead of his QJ. Unfortunately, he spiked his pair and things were not off to a great start. After that, I did have A3 hold up against KQ and I busted another player on a hand I can't remember and managed to get the chiplead. Then, I lost all-in pots with JJ vs. AT and 88 vs. K7, doubling people up. Then, the real defining hand of the tournament came up. I raised with 77 and the somewhat shortstacked BB thought for quite a while before moving in, I was getting pretty good odds and decided to call, but he had JJ and I lost that one also. I battled back from my shortstacked once again and we went to a break with 5 players left. I was the shortstack with like 45k and blinds at I belive 4k/8k, but I felt like I wasn't in terrible shape, especially considering all the hands that I'd lost. Then, first hand after the break I'm in the BB with K9 and the SB open-raises (he had a big stack and could have done this with anything I thought) so I moved in. He thought for a while and called with K4s, spiked a 4 and it was gg me. I ended up cashing $497 for 5th though and I wiped out my earlier losses to turn in a $300 win, so that felt good. I also really felt like I played the whole tourney and the final table well, just didn't catch the luck when I needed it. To recap, at the Final Table I lost all-in pots vs. shorter stack with K7 vs. QJ, JJ vs. AT, 88 vs. K7, and 77 vs JJ...then I lost a pot for all of my chips with K9 vs K4. Like I said, just wasn't my day.
I feel pretty good overall about my game right now though and the combination of my success in Sunday's tourney and in my recent trips to the boat has me planning to for sure play in the WSOP Circuit Event in Louisville on the 26th. It looks like I may end up with backing for 20-40%, which would be pretty perfect for me. That will leave me with plenty left over to take a solid shot at 10/20 while I'm there as well (though hopefully I won't get much chance to play cash games).
Sunday morning I was trying to decide whether to stay up until the Bengals game or sleep for a couple of hours and I opened up a 2/4 table on FullTilt at about 9:30. Well, I quickly got down almost $50 by playing bad and getting coolered and I felt like I couldn't just quit, so I decided to play my way back to even. I stayed at that 2/4 table and started up the $4k guaranteed $24+2 tourney that started at 10 am. Things didn't get any better at the 2/4 table and I ended up losing $100 before calling it quits there. After I went broke on the 2/4 table I was still in the tourney and didn't want to 1-table just yet, so I sat down with $60 at a .5/1 blinds CAP NL game (CAP is $30). I don't really remember what happened and I was pretty tired so I don't think I played very well, but I ended up losing that $60. So, at this point I'm down $160 in cash games and I'm assuming (as I always do) that I'll also be stuck the $26 tournament buy-in. At that point, I was getting a bit depressed, it obviously wasn't my day and I'd dropped somewhere in the neighborhood of 1/6th of my bankroll. Things, would turn around in a big way though.
I managed to stay alive in the tourney for a long time and I don't remember a ton, but I'm pretty sure I was never all-in for my tournament life before the money bubble except maybe once when I was a big favorite. I built my stack well, except for one hand that I feel like my opponent misplayed pretty badly. With a fairly large stack in the middle stages I raised in EP with KTs (we can debate the merits of this play, but it's a pretty standard blind steal for me), dude to my left cold-called and we took a flop heads-up. The flop came down JTx rainbow and I of course bet out about 2/3 - 3/4 of the pot (again, pretty standard and I'm doing this pretty much whether I've flopped anything or not). He calls my flop bet, then proceeds to call of the rest of his stack (I believe on the turn) with ATo. I think his play of the whole hand was pretty bad, but he definitely should have folded pre-flop and I can't imagine a situation where I'm ever calling off my entire stack with 2nd pair. Anyway, that hand left me short, though not terribly so (I had like 10 big blinds left), and I managed to battle back and work my way down into the money (27 cashed). From there the most excited hand was when I was getting short and I open-shoved in LP with 87s, got called by AKs (same suit also) and thought I was done. Fortunately I flopped an 8 for my only suckout of the tourney.
I actually played quite well and caught decent cards at the next to last table and went into the FT with a solid stack near the top. Unfortunately, it just wasn't my final table. Things started off bad when it folded to me in the SB early on and I raised with K7o, shortstack BB shoved and I was getting 2-1 so I called was actually ahead of his QJ. Unfortunately, he spiked his pair and things were not off to a great start. After that, I did have A3 hold up against KQ and I busted another player on a hand I can't remember and managed to get the chiplead. Then, I lost all-in pots with JJ vs. AT and 88 vs. K7, doubling people up. Then, the real defining hand of the tournament came up. I raised with 77 and the somewhat shortstacked BB thought for quite a while before moving in, I was getting pretty good odds and decided to call, but he had JJ and I lost that one also. I battled back from my shortstacked once again and we went to a break with 5 players left. I was the shortstack with like 45k and blinds at I belive 4k/8k, but I felt like I wasn't in terrible shape, especially considering all the hands that I'd lost. Then, first hand after the break I'm in the BB with K9 and the SB open-raises (he had a big stack and could have done this with anything I thought) so I moved in. He thought for a while and called with K4s, spiked a 4 and it was gg me. I ended up cashing $497 for 5th though and I wiped out my earlier losses to turn in a $300 win, so that felt good. I also really felt like I played the whole tourney and the final table well, just didn't catch the luck when I needed it. To recap, at the Final Table I lost all-in pots vs. shorter stack with K7 vs. QJ, JJ vs. AT, 88 vs. K7, and 77 vs JJ...then I lost a pot for all of my chips with K9 vs K4. Like I said, just wasn't my day.
I feel pretty good overall about my game right now though and the combination of my success in Sunday's tourney and in my recent trips to the boat has me planning to for sure play in the WSOP Circuit Event in Louisville on the 26th. It looks like I may end up with backing for 20-40%, which would be pretty perfect for me. That will leave me with plenty left over to take a solid shot at 10/20 while I'm there as well (though hopefully I won't get much chance to play cash games).
posted by TheCinciKid @ 5:47 AM
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