Since the MiniFTOPS where I made a whopping $0.15 I have been trying to get back into my nightly MTT rotation. The goal has been to try and get 6-8 of my normal MTTs back into my mix every night along with getting in my normal hours of cash game poker. Tournaments are more for the glory than they are for the money. Unless you play an insane volume you can't really make a living off of MTT poker. That being said I am certainly a profitable MTT player and since I need to grow my BR sooner rather than later I need to mix in MTT play. That being said, it was an entirely new MTT for me last night that I made my mark in, the $26 $5K Guaranteed PLO @ 21:15 FTP server time.
My typical rotation before school usually found me playing the $5.50 PLO @ 23:15 server time which is a tournament I have taken down before. The event itself barely scrapes together a $1000 prize pool on a nightly basis and there is just not a ton of value to playing the tournament on a regular basis unless you can FT it frequently. I have noticed before the $26 PLO event earlier in the night and have often thought it would be nice to play in an event that had a little bit more meat to it. My only qualm is that in terms of PLO I'm not nearly the player I am in most other games. Last night though I decided to swallow my concerns and take a shot.
Things went about as expected early on, I sat around waiting for some good spots and tried to pick up as many pots on the flop as I could. As the first 50 or so players fell (240 total runners) the stacks got a bit deeper and one thing I was noticing is bluffing in PLO on the turn is actually a very effective strategy. Forgive me if my noob-ness is showing but even in 3 and 4 way pots, when it was checked around on the flop the turn card was usually a good spot to bet at it and TID. I was able to keep a steady pace going and found myself 19/29 players remaining with the top 27 getting paid. Then this hand came about:
Full Tilt Poker Game #15064798705: $5,000 Guarantee (110324433), Table 10 - 400/800 - Pot Limit Omaha Hi - 23:53:16 ET - 2009/10/01
Seat 1: guitteau5 (35,953)
Seat 2: Jaggy42 (7,522)
Seat 4: DJ HYPES (36,881)
Seat 6: canibetnow (19,210)
Seat 7: sak1980 (22,040)
Seat 8: lifa_raul (9,045)
Seat 9: dtools22 (16,600)
dtools22 posts the small blind of 400
guitteau5 posts the big blind of 800
The button is in seat #8
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to dtools22 [Js Jh 8h 6s]
Jaggy42 folds
DJ HYPES folds
canibetnow folds
sak1980 folds
lifa_raul raises to 2,400
Now my first thought here was that his stack is pretty short so he's likely committing himself to the hand right here. In addition I have a good pair, double suited, and some straightening cards, so I have at the very least a playable hand. Given that I was in the SB and facing a short stack button open raise I decided to get all the money in here.
dtools22 raises to 8,000
guitteau5 folds
lifa_raul raises to 9,045, and is all in
dtools22 calls 1,045
lifa_raul shows [Kd 7d Ac Qd]
dtools22 shows [Js Jh 8h 6s]
*** FLOP *** [As Qc 6c]
*** TURN *** [As Qc 6c] [5s]
*** RIVER *** [As Qc 6c 5s] [2s]
lifa_raul shows two pair, Aces and Queens
dtools22 shows a flush, Ace high
dtools22 wins the pot (18,890) with a flush, Ace high
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 18,890 | Rake 0
Board: [As Qc 6c 5s 2s]
Seat 1: guitteau5 (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 2: Jaggy42 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: DJ HYPES didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: canibetnow didn't bet (folded)
Seat 7: sak1980 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 8: lifa_raul (button) showed [Kd 7d Ac Qd] and lost with two pair, Aces and Queens
Seat 9: dtools22 (small blind) showed [Js Jh 8h 6s] and won (18,890) with a flush, Ace high
I ran the numbers afterwards and I was on the good end of a 55/45 flip here. I like the play because of the hand strength, position at the table, and stack sizes. After this I felt pretty good all the way down to the final two tables where the road got a little rocky. I made a few mistakes and got run down by a few less than stellar hands. I limped along to the FT with an epic 18K in chips, was able to triple up right away to 54K, and then some run good came around.
Full Tilt Poker Game #15066047197: $5,000 Guarantee (110324433), Table 3 - 2000/4000 - Pot Limit Omaha Hi - 1:16:18 ET - 2009/10/02
Seat 1: kypokerman7 (41,623)
Seat 2: King Erik II (69,689)
Seat 3: DJ HYPES (190,247)
Seat 4: ShowDown4y (36,028)
Seat 5: n1ce_p4per (54,428)
Seat 7: ssa8rg (197,167)
Seat 8: NickNeutron (66,332)
Seat 9: dtools22 (64,486)
DJ HYPES posts the small blind of 2,000
ShowDown4y posts the big blind of 4,000
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to dtools22 [Jh 7c 7h Td]
n1ce_p4per folds
ssa8rg folds
NickNeutron folds
dtools22 raises to 10,000
kypokerman7 calls 10,000
King Erik II folds
DJ HYPES folds
ShowDown4y calls 6,000
*** FLOP *** [Jd 9d Tc]
ShowDown4y checks
One thing I've picked up playing PLO is often times to get the money in a little better you sometimes need to check on the flop with your good/very good hands. With all the draws out there I can be a dog to some big draws and I wanted to peel one here. If checked around and a blank hits the turn I'll bet out with some confidence.
dtools22 checks
kypokerman7 checks
*** TURN *** [Jd 9d Tc] [Ts]
ShowDown4y checks
That's not a blank, lol. At this point now I want to extract some value and let the draws come along kind of cheap. I figure around 1/2 the pot here gets some action more often than not.
dtools22 has 15 seconds left to act
dtools22 bets 15,000
kypokerman7 raises to 31,623, and is all in
ShowDown4y folds
dtools22 calls 16,623
kypokerman7 shows [As 9c Th 8s]
dtools22 shows [Jh 7c 7h Td]
*** RIVER *** [Jd 9d Tc Ts] [2h]
kypokerman7 shows a full house, Tens full of Nines
dtools22 shows a full house, Tens full of Jacks
dtools22 wins the pot (95,246) with a full house, Tens full of Jacks
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 95,246 | Rake 0
Board: [Jd 9d Tc Ts 2h]
Seat 1: kypokerman7 showed [As 9c Th 8s] and lost with a full house, Tens full of Nines
Seat 2: King Erik II (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: DJ HYPES (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 4: ShowDown4y (big blind) folded on the Turn
Seat 5: n1ce_p4per didn't bet (folded)
Seat 7: ssa8rg didn't bet (folded)
Seat 8: NickNeutron didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: dtools22 showed [Jh 7c 7h Td] and won (95,246) with a full house, Tens full of Jacks
Just a cooler obviously but like I said above, the run good was here. I managed to work my way into the final two and just started bludgeoning DJ HYPES HU. He was playing very passively all FT and never has done anything like a check raise or anything tricky. He's been playing his cards only and hasn't been providing much resistance, until this massive hand:
Full Tilt Poker Game #15066715143: $5,000 Guarantee (110324433), Table 3 - 6000/12000 - Pot Limit Omaha Hi - 2:10:58 ET - 2009/10/02
Seat 3: DJ HYPES (290,040)
Seat 9: dtools22 (429,960)
dtools22 posts the small blind of 6,000
DJ HYPES posts the big blind of 12,000
The button is in seat #9
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to dtools22 [2d 7d 8s 5s]
dtools22 raises to 24,000
DJ HYPES calls 12,000
*** FLOP *** [Ks 2h Ts]
DJ HYPES checks
dtools22 checks
*** TURN *** [Ks 2h Ts] [4h]
DJ HYPES checks
dtools22 bets 28,000
DJ HYPES calls 28,000
*** RIVER *** [Ks 2h Ts 4h] [7s]
DJ HYPES checks
dtools22 bets 42,000
DJ HYPES raises to 230,000
This was the first check/raise line he took all MTT. I had a few buddies of mine watching who say this SCREAMS bluff. Maybe so, but based on him not having taken this line ever before and him not really getting out of line at all I elected to make a really tough laydown here since I was just pounding him HU I knew I would get another shot to win the tournament.
dtools22 has 15 seconds left to act
dtools22 has requested TIME
dtools22 folds
Uncalled bet of 188,000 returned to DJ HYPES
DJ HYPES mucks
DJ HYPES wins the pot (188,000)
The blinds are now 8,000/16,000
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 188,000 | Rake 0
Board: [Ks 2h Ts 4h 7s]
Seat 3: DJ HYPES (big blind) collected (188,000), mucked
Seat 9: dtools22 (small blind) folded on the River
The final hand of the event made me LOL pretty hard. I regained the CL a few times before keeping it for good here.
Full Tilt Poker Game #15066826923: $5,000 Guarantee (110324433), Table 3 - 8000/16000 - Pot Limit Omaha Hi - 2:20:52 ET - 2009/10/02
Seat 3: DJ HYPES (326,040)
Seat 9: dtools22 (393,960)
dtools22 posts the small blind of 8,000
DJ HYPES posts the big blind of 16,000
The button is in seat #9
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to dtools22 [9c Jc 6d Td]
dtools22 raises to 32,000
DJ HYPES raises to 96,000
dtools22 calls 64,000
*** FLOP *** [4h 8s Qd]
DJ HYPES bets 192,000
dtools22 has 15 seconds left to act
dtools22 raises to 297,960, and is all in
DJ HYPES calls 38,040, and is all in
dtools22 shows [9c Jc 6d Td]
DJ HYPES shows [As 3h Ks 2d]
Uncalled bet of 67,920 returned to dtools22
*** TURN *** [4h 8s Qd] [6h]
*** RIVER *** [4h 8s Qd 6h] [3c]
dtools22 shows a pair of Sixes
DJ HYPES shows a pair of Threes
dtools22 wins the pot (652,080) with a pair of Sixes
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 652,080 | Rake 0
Board: [4h 8s Qd 6h 3c]
Seat 3: DJ HYPES (big blind) showed [As 3h Ks 2d] and lost with a pair of Threes
Seat 9: dtools22 (small blind) showed [9c Jc 6d Td] and won (652,080) with a pair of Sixes
Just to recap, he has no draws, no pairs, and a few backdoor outs. That being said he's still 53% to win this hand when you run it out. Makes me think that the flush hand might not have been ass good a laydown as I thought but no matter. I took the event down for my 3rd 4-figure payday and my largest cash to date of just a happy meal under $1,500. I'm looking at my birthday weekend so probably not a whole lot of MTT grinding Saturday and Sunday, but I will certainly be looking to keep the momentum going come Monday. Glasses raised, I donked my way to another won.
WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE