I started the year-end tournament with high expectations since I was second in chips and had cashed a whopping 63.3% of tournaments throughout the year. Unfortunately I was second out of the tournament and came in ninth place. I had increased my starting stack in the first hour and after dropping one player and going to the final table I was feeling good about my chances. There were a few players, including John F. Sr. and Randall W., on a short stack. John is notoriously tight and Randall is a tough opponent as he has no fear when making bets, so if they were to go broke I would have been very optimistic about getting back on the championship plaque.
Unfortunately I made two bad plays that cost me nearly everything. The first was when I had pocket 8s in early position and raised it up to $800 when blinds were $100-200. I was hoping to just take the pot right then and there, but at worst I would see what the flop brought if I got called by one or two players and be aggressive. However, Danny S. in the big blind re-raised to $2,400 after everybody folded and I elected to defend and see if I could hit a set on the flop.
The flop came 10-9-3 rainbow. Danny made a continuation bet of $2,400. Narrowing down his range he could have two high cards or any pocket pair. I thought there was a solid chance I still had the best hand or could draw to a backdoor straight if I got the right turn card and elected to call. The turn was an inconsequential card that was lower than my eights, but not close enough to help my potential straight. Danny made a down bet of $2,000, with $10,000 in the pot, and I decided it was still too good to not call.
The river was a king and the betting went check-check. Danny showed queens and I lost about half my stack with the lower pocket pair.
The real blow came a few hands later when I got pocket aces and raised it to $600. I got called by three players and the flop came 9-8-2 rainbow. I was second to act and made a continuation bet of $1,000 after it was checked to me feeling like that was a very safe board to bet small on as I wanted some action to get my chip stack back to an above-average amount. I was called by only one player (Wes M.).
The turn was the king of spades, putting two spades on the board. There was some kind of spider sense going off at this point and I didn't like the spot I was in any longer. I honestly don't know what changed between the flop and the turn that got me on high alert, but I no longer felt comfortable with where I was in the hand. We went check-check on the turn and saw a low third spade on the river.
I checked to Wes and he bet $2,400. I nearly made a begrudging insta-call but stopped short of saying call. The noise that came out was more of a, "I gughhhh." Wes thought I had called and nearly flipped his cards over instantly. I stopped him from showing and said I hadn't called yet. His immediacy made me feel even worse about my hand and I wanted to let it go. I even said what I had and told everyone I didn't like how things had turned out for my hand. I didn't hold the ace of spades, so having the blocker to the nut flush made it even worse to call.
I finally decided to call, but immediately regretted my decision. If I had waited a few more minutes and thought things through I might have talked myself into folding, but in the back of my mind I kept thinking Wes was trying to bluff a pot his way since I had shown such weakness on the turn and river bets. He showed pocket 2s for a flopped set.
That left me with only $1,800 in chips and I went all in a few hands later with A-6 offsuit hoping to just pick up a few limps, double up and get back in the fight, or move over to the cash game. Unfortunately I didn't hit and lost to two pair.
The cash game was much more forgiving and I ended up winning $870 from that. I cashed $100 in the tournament, so I nearly made four digits for the night.
It was extremely disappointing to not win the year-end tournament as I thought I had a really great chance of getting on the plaque for the second time. Let's hope this year is as successful as last and the year-end tournament has better results.
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