Happy New Year
Hope you all had a great New Year and a chance to rest up over the holidays. I did not. I have been working my tail off for the past several months (yes, I still love my job). Over the holidays I was able to do some work on the side, the work was not difficult, but it consumed a lot of my hours. I was working until 2:00am Thursday and Friday of last week and then again all day on Saturday. Why do I tell you this? Because I had my poker tournament Saturday night... I was so tired when I got there for the 5:00pm start that I thought seriously about just going all in on my first few hands and either double up or go home.
I stuck it out though and did the opposite, I played good solid poker for 4 hours and took down the table, one by one. I think there were only 3 players I did not personally take out. I was not glamorous, I just picked my spots well and made some key folds that I think saved me. I was never the chip leader until the last three players, but I always had enough to be a pain.
Tournament structure:
10 player sit and go freeze out
$50 buy-in
30 minute blinds w/$100 Ante first 4 rounds and $500 Ante's next four rounds
Winner take all
I was surprised by the lack of good starting hands I had that night. The most memorable starters I had were two pocket pairs. The 3's I was dealt I folded on the flop and then I got Kings and they took out 1 player who went all in with me and my hand held up. I never saw AK.
The best hand I played that night was a JTos one off the button when blinds were still relatively low. The flop came AKQ rainbow and I thought I was going to swallow my tongue because 4 people saw the flop (including me). There was some confusion on the hand as the big blind who was still in the hand had his cards covered up so we didn't realize he was first to act, so two people checked to me and I bet at the pot (3x the blinds) - that is when he realized he was skipped. I was devastated because I thought I gave my hand away. So what does he do? he bets at it FOR HALF OF WHAT MY BET WAS!.. Ummm - duh? everyone called and so did I, playing it off that I was just trying to steal the pot on my "out of turn bet". The turn is a 10 and I figured I was splitting this pot with someone. The big blind bets about 1/3 the pot, 2nd seat folds, 5th seat calls, I raise putting both the BB and the 5th seat all in. Both Call. Good night and thanks for playing... The second best hand was pocket Jacks. I am still mystified by those callers.
As I mentioned earlier, I was tired. Going on about 7 hours sleep over 3 days so I was anxious to get down to 2 players and offer a split. The third player was short stacked and kept trying to put him all in, but he wouldn't bite. It took over 30 minutes to blind him out, but finally he was gone. I immediately offered a chop to my opponent who quickly accepted and that was that. It was a sizable return on my money 4.5-to-1 so I was pleased.
The guy who runs the tournament called em the next day to offer me a seat in their regional tournament (they play an annual tournament against another poker league in the area). Both leagues take their top 10 players and play against each other for a trophy. it turns out that one fo the league's top 10 can't make it that day, so I was offered the open seat. I was very surprised and a little concerned that someone else from the league who played all year should get a shot at this, but I was still happy to oblige. I will be playing in the regionals on 1/13/07.
'07 - that feels weird.
I stuck it out though and did the opposite, I played good solid poker for 4 hours and took down the table, one by one. I think there were only 3 players I did not personally take out. I was not glamorous, I just picked my spots well and made some key folds that I think saved me. I was never the chip leader until the last three players, but I always had enough to be a pain.
Tournament structure:
10 player sit and go freeze out
$50 buy-in
30 minute blinds w/$100 Ante first 4 rounds and $500 Ante's next four rounds
Winner take all
I was surprised by the lack of good starting hands I had that night. The most memorable starters I had were two pocket pairs. The 3's I was dealt I folded on the flop and then I got Kings and they took out 1 player who went all in with me and my hand held up. I never saw AK.
The best hand I played that night was a JTos one off the button when blinds were still relatively low. The flop came AKQ rainbow and I thought I was going to swallow my tongue because 4 people saw the flop (including me). There was some confusion on the hand as the big blind who was still in the hand had his cards covered up so we didn't realize he was first to act, so two people checked to me and I bet at the pot (3x the blinds) - that is when he realized he was skipped. I was devastated because I thought I gave my hand away. So what does he do? he bets at it FOR HALF OF WHAT MY BET WAS!.. Ummm - duh? everyone called and so did I, playing it off that I was just trying to steal the pot on my "out of turn bet". The turn is a 10 and I figured I was splitting this pot with someone. The big blind bets about 1/3 the pot, 2nd seat folds, 5th seat calls, I raise putting both the BB and the 5th seat all in. Both Call. Good night and thanks for playing... The second best hand was pocket Jacks. I am still mystified by those callers.
As I mentioned earlier, I was tired. Going on about 7 hours sleep over 3 days so I was anxious to get down to 2 players and offer a split. The third player was short stacked and kept trying to put him all in, but he wouldn't bite. It took over 30 minutes to blind him out, but finally he was gone. I immediately offered a chop to my opponent who quickly accepted and that was that. It was a sizable return on my money 4.5-to-1 so I was pleased.
The guy who runs the tournament called em the next day to offer me a seat in their regional tournament (they play an annual tournament against another poker league in the area). Both leagues take their top 10 players and play against each other for a trophy. it turns out that one fo the league's top 10 can't make it that day, so I was offered the open seat. I was very surprised and a little concerned that someone else from the league who played all year should get a shot at this, but I was still happy to oblige. I will be playing in the regionals on 1/13/07.
'07 - that feels weird.
posted by Sponge at 12:35 PM
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