Despite walking away from the game last night in Weatherford up $1,100, I was still disappointed that my name isn't going on the plaque this year. I ended up finishing in third place, good for a $500 payday, and profited another $600 in the cash game afterward. Yet, based on the amount of good luck I had going in the tournament finishing third is a huge let down.
There were ten players in the game last night who qualified and I started off sixth in chips. The first four knocked out would win lotto tickets and starting at sixth place we started paying cash. The top winner got $1,400. We broke the players up into two tables of five and I had the median stack in my group. Darrell was our chip leader and had approximately $2,000 in chips more than me. The low man was Scott F., and he started about $3,000 less than me.
It was a great start for me as about ten minutes into the night I flopped a set of nines and was able to nearly double up when Danny rivered two pair. I bet nearly everything I had by the river and it essentially took me from $8,000 in chips to $15,000. About 30 minutes later I finished Danny off when I called his check-raise all in with pocket queens. The board was 9-3-2 rainbow, so it was a pretty safe board for my queens. I did think about it for a bit as he called my pre-flop raise and could have flopped a set like I had done to him earlier that evening. However, even if I called and was wrong, it would have put me back to my original starting stack and I figured Danny was just being too aggressive, which he can certainly be. It turned out he had pocket fives and didn't get any help on the turn or river.
With Danny knocked out first, we combined to one table of nine and I was the chip leader with about $21,000 in my stack. This was nearly a quarter of the total chips on the table and I was way ahead of the average starting stack.
The worst part about combining to one table was I ended up pulling the seat to the right of Troy, which is not where I want to be. I need as much advantage as possible against him and table position is key to helping with that.
I did have a fortunate hand that took Troy down to a minimal stack. He raised in early position while I was in the big blind with J-8 off-suit. I hadn't planned to call, but I had a large stack, as did Troy, and two other players called his raise. I decided I would call and only proceed if I hit two pair or better or an open-ended straight draw. Well, as luck would have it, I ended up flopping bottom two pair when the board came K-J-8 with two spades. I elected to check and have Troy make a continuation bet. I would then proceed from there based on what the other two players did. Troy did exactly as I had hoped and made a continuation bet that was slightly smaller than his pre-flop raise. One player behind called the bet and the other one folded. I decided to strike while the iron was hot and not play it passively. I committed to a check-raise and made the bet four times as large as Troy's flop bet. Troy decided quickly to call and the other player folded.
The turn was a red 4 that was no help to anyone. I felt pretty confident I still had the best hand and made a strong bet. I don't remember the exact amount, but it was approximately a third of the pot. I figured I could slow down if a bad card came on the river completing the flush, a big straight, or potentially two higher pair than my jacks and eights. Troy didn't hesitate too long and called.
The river was a beautiful red 3 and I now knew I had the best hand. I made a bet slightly larger than my turn bet, hoping Troy would come along with a good king or get sticky with just the jack. It turns out he had a dream draw with 10-9 of spades. He had flopped a flush draw and an open-ended straight draw. Luckily it didn't complete and I built my stack up to over $30,000.
I felt really confident at this point that I would be a strong contender for winning the tournament, especially with Troy on the ropes and nearly out of the tournament. Unfortunately, he got extremely lucky with pocket aces when two other players tripled him up. This put him back in the running and I no longer felt like my lead was going to hold.
Although I didn't take part in the side bet of high hand for the night that some of the guys did, I would have ended up winning that. I was holding J-9 suited on the button and after Darrell limped from middle position, I decided to just see what came and called. The two blinds also came along. The flop came 9-9-9, so I elected to slow play my four of a kind. We all checked through and the turn was an ace. It again checked to me and I should have made a bet here. The idea behind betting is that anyone with an ace is obviously going to call and think we have the same hand. A small bet of half the pot or less would build it up a little for a nice river bet. If nobody has an ace, even if somebody hits their random card on the river for a smaller full house, it is doubtful they put much money in thinking any person betting the river has either the fourth nine or an ace for the best full house (minus pocket aces, which is unlikely since nobody raised pre-flop).
By not betting the turn, I feel like I missed a bet that could have potentially set up a bigger payday on the river. It also could have resulted in somebody check-raising me thinking they are trying to push me off if I am bluffing the ace since I am on the button and it was checked to me. Simply put, I should have made a smallish bet on the turn and see if anyone came along with the full house.
Instead I just checked and we saw a jack hit the river. The two blinds checked and Darrell bet $500. I almost instantly took a stack of $500s and put it out there for a raise, trying to make him think I'm pushing somebody off with another ace and I don't want to split the pot. It turned out my raise was another $3,500. Darrell didn't like it and was ready to flip the table over if I showed the fourth nine, but he reluctantly called with his ace.
I was coasting along just fine until we got down to the final four. I had about $27,000 in chips and was second behind Michael. However, Troy was right around that amount as well. The shortest stack at that moment was Wes B., who had about $8,500. I was the dealer and gave myself pocket kings. I made a standard three-bet re-raise after Wes bumped it up ahead of me. It didn't quite put Wes all in, but he elected to push it and I instantly called. He showed A-9 off-suit and all I had to do was avoid an ace or some weird run out that gave him a straight or flush. I was looking really good until the river when an ace spiked.
With Wes B. doubled up, the very next hand I was dealt pocket jacks. First to act I made it seem like I was making a tilted raise out of frustration and it folded around to Wes in the big blind. He re-raised me and I decided to keep the illusion of frustration, anger, and tilt going by pushing all in. Wes thought for a long time and wasn't sure if I was lucky enough to wake up with strong hands back to back. He finally made the call with pocket nines. It turned out he had only $300 less than me, so this was his tournament life on the line, but a loss for me essentially ended my night as well.
In the window, a nine was shown for the first card on the flop. I was drawing very thin after he hit a set on the flop. However, I hit my miracle two-outer on the turn and we went to the river with Wes needing the final nine in the deck. It didn't come and I got all my chips back from the previous hand, with interest.
Once we were three-handed I never really made any headway. Troy simply kept building his stack and Michael was trying to fold his way to second. After a long time of going up and down, I had approximately $20,500 when I was dealt A-K off-suit. I raised it to $2,500 when the blinds were $400-800. Troy called me while he was the chip leader. The flop was medium to low cards with two diamonds. I knew I had a diamond, but wasn't sure which card it was and I really wasn't banking on going runner-runner for a flush. I simply wanted to hit an ace or king on one of the next two cards. I bet $4,000 and Troy came along for the ride.
The turn was another low card that was a diamond. So now I do have the potential flush in play. I didn't take long and pushed my remaining $14,000 into the pot. It was essentially a pot-sized semi-bluff. I was very happy to take the pot then and there, but even if he called with something worse than two pair I had a lot of outs. What I didn't expect was to be called by a pair of twos. Troy held pocket twos, with one of them being a diamond. With any ace, any king, and any diamond, I would end up doubling up and becoming the chip leader.
Unfortunately, my night ended when a black nine showed up. I took away the $500 third place winnings and moped my way over to the cash game. Things went really well there and I made another $600. Overall, the night put me back in the black for the year, so I shouldn't be upset. Yet, I felt so confident with how I was playing along with the luck that seemed to be on my side. Troy seems to be my nemesis when it comes to our weekly Thursday night game and I am committing myself to really studying ways to become good enough that he no longer has the inherent edge against me.
I have to wait another year for the chance to get my name on the plaque and it really seemed like this was my year with the way things were falling my way last night. I'll just have to keep at it and continue learning.
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