First, the Good.
I’m sitting at a full table with just over 24K in chips, 4K more than the second stack at my table and 10th overall in the tourney. Blinds are 400/800 with a 50 ante. I’m in the SB with Ah8s and I make it 1600 when it’s folded around to me and the BB, who’s third in chips at the table with about 19K, calls. The BB has been nursing this same size stack since I got to the table, while I have almost doubled up, and we’re three from the money, so I’m thinking he/she is going to play tight. Flop comes T43 rainbow, and I lead out for 2500 and get another call. A 2 on the turn completes the rainbow and I toss out 5000 and get the fold, putting me ninth in chips with two to go for the money.
The weird was a couple of hands before that and it’s the hand that vaulted me into the top 10. It’s also a pot I technically “lost,” which is what makes it so strange. I’m sitting on the button with an about average stack of 14K, which is only the fifth largest at my table, and pick up pocket Jacks. UTG+1 raises the 800 BB to 2200, the next player calls and a short stack in MP goes all-in for 1448. I’m thinking I want to drive out the early raiser and caller to isolate against the short stack, so I push. The blinds and the initial raiser fold, but the caller has me covered and calls. The caller turns over 99 and the short stack KQo, meaning that I’m a decent 2.5-1 favorite over the larger stack, but just a slight favorite over the short stack. After all the cards are turned over, the short stack takes the 7K main pot with Qs full of Ts, but I rake in a 25K side pot when my JJ holds up against the 99. (The initial raiser, who folded before the flop, claims to have had AQ. Whew! But that shows you what aggression can do to help you.)
The ugly came when we were in the money with me sitting at a new table with 28k in chips, good for ninth place overall, but another player with 37k sitting across the table. I’m UTG with Qd8d and—figuring to keep up the aggression (never mind that none of these players has seen much of anything from me, or course)—open for a 3x bb raise to 2400. The larger stack calls and a short stack pushes all-in from the SB for a total of 5251. Getting nearly 4-1 pot odds, I’m forced to call at this point, and the big stack comes along for the party. When the flop comes Kd Th 4h, I wimp out and check. The big stack checks behind and the turn comes the Qs. Sensing weakness from the big stack, I check-raise to 12800 after he throws out a bet of 6400. He reraises all-in and I call. The rest of the cards are inconsequential, as the big stack turns over AJs for the turned nut straight. I was drawing dead and the short stack was close to dead with AA in the hole.
I clearly have no chance of winning this hand no matter what the big stack has, as I’m way behind to the short stack's AA from the get go. My only hope here is to minimize my losses, which probably would best have been handled by throwing out a feeler bet on the flop. I’m pretty sure I get a call (or a raise) from the big stack based on his combination of the nut flush draw, inside straight draw and an overcard to the board. But I’ve defined my hand and can comfortably go away if I’m raised or play much more cautiously on the turn if I’m called. Since I didn’t do that and I tried to get tricky on the turn, my last best hope would have been to run screaming in the opposite direction when my check-raise was reraised. Obviously I'm not that smart.
Two lessons: First, this was not a good situation to try a check raise. It was stupid; but I suppose I was just feeling my oats after my success in running up my stack on the bubble. Second, when your opponent comes to life like that, get out of the way (of course I came to life like that, but he wasn’t going to get out of the way with a made nut straight and a nut flush draw). I’m definitely hurting with only 10k in chips if I fold at that point, but I’m certainly not crippled and would have lived to fight at least one more day.
Donkeys Always Draw Invitational
I did play in my first blogger event when I made the scene at Jordan’s and Tripjax’s DADI on Wednesday night. I’d love to say that I shined in my debut, but I didn’t. Was pretty card dead for most of the night and couldn’t get any action when I did pick up a hand early on. I even checked pocket aces from the BB, when only the SB was in to see the flop with me. He folded, however, when I threw out a token bet on a rag flop. The only hand that troubles me is when I raised with AKo, checked behind on a ragged flop and folded to a big raise from an unknown that had been playing LAG, after betting out when a K hit on the turn. Not sure what he may have had, but it didn’t smell right. I do wonder if I folded the best hand, however.
DeadMoney busted me (right after taking out two others on a single hand by getting all in with KK before the flop) in 36th place when his 44 held up to my KQo. He gets a link on my blog roll for his trouble. I'm sure that makes his day.
Other than that, it was a good time. I railbirded Will Wonka for a while and got to see him pull down a big pot when his hammer turned into deuces full of sevens, then watched some excellent play (and a few suckouts) at the final table. I was getting pretty drunk by that point, however, so I’m not sure if any of my side comments made any sense. I promise I'm really not an idiot (although I'm pretty sure that my brain works just a little bit differently than yours), if anyone came away with that impression.
Congratulations to the winner, Change100, and the runner up, Joe Speaker, and the rest of the final table.
Finished the night with a third place finish in a $10+1 SNG to offset some of the DADI buy in, so whoop de doo.
I clearly have no chance of winning this hand no matter what the big stack has, as I’m way behind to the short stack's AA from the get go. My only hope here is to minimize my losses, which probably would best have been handled by throwing out a feeler bet on the flop. I’m pretty sure I get a call (or a raise) from the big stack based on his combination of the nut flush draw, inside straight draw and an overcard to the board. But I’ve defined my hand and can comfortably go away if I’m raised or play much more cautiously on the turn if I’m called. Since I didn’t do that and I tried to get tricky on the turn, my last best hope would have been to run screaming in the opposite direction when my check-raise was reraised. Obviously I'm not that smart.
Two lessons: First, this was not a good situation to try a check raise. It was stupid; but I suppose I was just feeling my oats after my success in running up my stack on the bubble. Second, when your opponent comes to life like that, get out of the way (of course I came to life like that, but he wasn’t going to get out of the way with a made nut straight and a nut flush draw). I’m definitely hurting with only 10k in chips if I fold at that point, but I’m certainly not crippled and would have lived to fight at least one more day.
Donkeys Always Draw Invitational
I did play in my first blogger event when I made the scene at Jordan’s and Tripjax’s DADI on Wednesday night. I’d love to say that I shined in my debut, but I didn’t. Was pretty card dead for most of the night and couldn’t get any action when I did pick up a hand early on. I even checked pocket aces from the BB, when only the SB was in to see the flop with me. He folded, however, when I threw out a token bet on a rag flop. The only hand that troubles me is when I raised with AKo, checked behind on a ragged flop and folded to a big raise from an unknown that had been playing LAG, after betting out when a K hit on the turn. Not sure what he may have had, but it didn’t smell right. I do wonder if I folded the best hand, however.
DeadMoney busted me (right after taking out two others on a single hand by getting all in with KK before the flop) in 36th place when his 44 held up to my KQo. He gets a link on my blog roll for his trouble. I'm sure that makes his day.
Other than that, it was a good time. I railbirded Will Wonka for a while and got to see him pull down a big pot when his hammer turned into deuces full of sevens, then watched some excellent play (and a few suckouts) at the final table. I was getting pretty drunk by that point, however, so I’m not sure if any of my side comments made any sense. I promise I'm really not an idiot (although I'm pretty sure that my brain works just a little bit differently than yours), if anyone came away with that impression.
Congratulations to the winner, Change100, and the runner up, Joe Speaker, and the rest of the final table.
Finished the night with a third place finish in a $10+1 SNG to offset some of the DADI buy in, so whoop de doo.
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