Online Poker Tournament Rankings

I’ve been spending the last night trying to remember key hands and situations from day 3.  The more that I think about it I was basically just cruising thru not playing too many hands and just chipping up very slowly.  I ended up doubling my stack very turtle pace and without any huge pots or big all in pre flop situations.  Something I tried my best to avoid the entire tournament.  So slowly that it was hardly noticeable for the other players.  In normal tournaments to chip up this way would be close to impossible but with this structure I truly found out why that guy yells, “This is the greatest tournament in the world!”  

A very weird situation did occur on day 4 and I wasn’t even in the hand.  To set the hand up we had been playing a few hours already and the player in the one seat had come in the chip leader with the intent of steamrolling the table, like he had probably done the first 3 days to accumulate all of those chips.  I was in the 7 seat and watch him stack off about 75% of his chips in nearly 2 hours.  He wasn’t getting it in too bad he had a combination of very bad luck and relentless aggression.  You could definitely tell that he was steaming about as bad as you can be.  Two seats to my right was a Latin American player who had his Latin fan boy/ reporters sweating him all day.   They would come by and speak to him in Spanish asking for chip counts and updates quite frequently.  The dealer asked him where he was from and then spoke two sentences of Spanish to him.  You could tell that he was just happy to be using the language he had learned to speak and was kind of trying to show off a little at the same time.  Regardless it was pretty harmless attempt by him but none the less a bad decision for the dealer to be speaking a language other than English at the table.  The tilted ex-chip leader in the one seat was in no mood for joking though and was sure to let the dealer know immediately that he certainly was in the wrong and wanted to know what he had said to the Latin player.  The dealer told him that he had just asked him how his day was and where he was from.  The player player 2 seats to my left, who I later found out to be AmachaikAA on pokerstars was also in a joking mood and said, “Just watch now the dealer is going to deal him Ace Ace!”  It seemed to me like he was kind of needling the one seat for making such a big deal about it but it was clear the dealer got the point and that would be the end of the non- English speaking at the table.

I was in the big blind and the player under the gun raised all in committing his short stack.  AmachaikAA re-raised isolating the under the gun raiser and basically screaming, “I have a monster!”   I thought it was very likely he could have AA and how funny would that be after the comment he just made.  When it got around to the Latin guy it was very interesting to see that he was not so quick to muck his cards.  He thought deliberately for a moment before announcing a re-raise all in!!   When it got back to AmachaikAA he had a befuddled look on his face.  “Do you seriously have AA he asked the Latin guy?”   “This is just way too weird.”   Finally after a little moaning and groaning he pushed in his stack which was very healthy and had the Latin guy almost doubled.  The cards were exposed,  Utg had Ace Jack AmachaikAA had KK and the Latin guy had AA!   All hell broke loose at the table and it wasn’t for about another 10-15 minutes before play resumed.  The floor was called over and AmachaikAA was explaining his case to the floor and how it was just too much of a coincidence what had occurred.  I tried to calm him down a bit explaining how hard it would be to stack a deck to the point where you are dealing a player in the 4 seat AA and a player in the 9 seat KK.  It was clear nothing was going to calm him down it was just too much of a coincidence what had occurred and he wasn’t buying it.  The end result was AmachaikAA almost got a penalty and the dealer was removed and probably written up for speaking a language other than English which basically sparked the mess of a normal AA vs KK situation into an episode of the Twighlight zone.

The rest of the day ran pretty smoothly for me.  I had been playing very few hands which made a very high percentage of my bluffs go through and I was chipping up without any showdowns.   People don’t like to see you accumulate chips without showing any hands and I could tell it was kind of rattling the players at my table.  On the other hand nobody really wanted to be the first one to force me to showdown a hand.  So it continued to work out for me.

With the blinds 800-1600 I raised utg with JJ and was called by second position.  When he called I was pretty sure he had some sort of medium pair or AQ AJ type hand because I don’t think he was playing too wide of a range against me here.  With quite a few players left to act I’m fairly sure he would’ve re-raised me pre with QQ-AA and AK.   Both the blinds decided to see the flop as well and the board came out 8h 3h 3s.  A very good flop for my JJ, I bet out 10.5k a little over half pot and the first caller calls and the blinds fold.  When the turn hit a non threatening 2s I decided to check it and make my hand look like a missed AK and our stacks were perfect for me to check shove it in.  I check he bets 21k and I shove in for 60k and he thinks for a while and folds.  Another hand won without showing down and I bagged up to end the day with 220k.

My 2009 series went close to as planned.  I played a few less events then I had planned on.  Partially because I was running pretty bad which may of caused me to play sub par as well.  I had 1 cash in like 13 events going into the main event and it was an absolute min cash. 

My poor start caused me to dodge a couple of the bigger buy in tournaments that I was planning on playing like the 5k six max and the 10k plhe I dodged as well.  However my horse took 6th in a 1500 event for his biggest score to date so that definitely helped my mindset going into the Main Event financially.  After every bust from a prelim I just kept thinking "don't worry you are just saving the run good for the main event!"  I even said it to a few people.  Although I prob say that about every 10k I enter.

So it finally comes day 1 of the Main Event is here!!!  I can honestly say I was not really excited to grind out a long day of deep stacked poker even though I knew the field was going to be amazing.  I had decided to play day a because I wanted to be able to play  on Sunday and enjoy the Fourth of July.  Even though I probably wouldn't have enjoyed any of it had I busted the main already. 

When I arrived at the table I was happy not to notice any sickos seated at the table.  There was an older 70ish year old man that looked like he was on vacation directly to my left which is always a good sign.   The player to his left was a very aggro young guy though who eventually would clash heads with me on many pots.   I played pretty tight early on and was noticing that the older man was a chronic limper and everytime the he limped the kid directly to his left would 4-5x it with what seemed like any two cards.  He wasn't getting much for resistance behind it seemed to be like a pretty good strategy.  He would also raise every single time it was my small blind because it was the older mans bb and he would defend any two cards.

I had become quite friendly with the older man I'll call him Bill.  I found out Bill  was on a trip with his son to travel the world.  The son had paid for the entire trip including both of their buy ins to the main event as well as a few other events.  He told me that his son was in for the trip for a quarter mil in expenses.  As play progressed I noticed that Bill would lift his hole cards relatively high to check them before he would enter a hand.  Then I was shocked to see that the aggro kid in the 1 seat was peaking back behind the dealer to catch a glimpse at Bill's cards.  No wonder why he was playing every pot with Bill he could! He could see his cards!!

This enraged me and as soon as I saw it I notified Bill and told him to protect his cards better.  I then called the other player out on it but there was really nothing we could do because it is the players responsibility to protect their own cards at all times.   Before this had happened I had attempted to make a move on the player in the 1 seat and it had backfired greatly.  Since he was opening every utg to iso Bill I had decided that next orbit no matter what my cards were I was going to 3 bet him if he raised utg.  The blinds were 1-200 and he opened utg when it got to me I made it 2500 and he called in position.  I had 6-4 off and on the flop I caught a piece I don't remember the action but we both ended up making a pair and played a medium sized pot he had 78off so I got to see that he was calling my 3 bet outta the small blind with his whole range and made me seem very capable of making moves. 

There were really only 2 very key hands after that.  The first hand was my double up hand I had about 27k and it was the last level of the day.  I was in the small blind  and the aggro 78 guy opens utg again.  I almost very excited to see QQ and know that we were more then likely playing a big pot with the history we had.  It folded around to me and I fired about the same 3 bet I had with the 6-4 although the blinds were bigger now.  He tanked for a little bit before he announced all in.  He was at about 70k at this point and I snap called.  I was lucky to see JJ and the board ran out clean for me.  Although I had spewed earlier the spew gave me the guaranteed double where he might of been able to otherwise play a smaller pot with JJ and just like that I was up to 54k.

There was one other interesting pot that day where I opened with 88 utg and got one caller from the button.  The flop came 975 rainbow and I fired a c bet and was quickly called by the button.  The turn hit a 2 and I figured I still might be the best hand and wanted to see what he would do so I checked it to him and he fired out a bet.  I called and the river hit a 6 to fill my straight.  I thought for a little bit before I decided to fire out a big bet because he wouldnt put me on an 8 because I had raised early position and was playing pretty snug.  I fired an almost pot sized bet out and he thought for a little while.  I remember thinking in my head "please call please call please call"  Next thing I knew he pulled out a stack to make the call and I thought I was seeing double but no he was pulling two stacks out for the raise.  "Fuck"  I thought to myself he's either got me beat or were chopping.  I gave out an annoyed call but when I called his face dropped.  He showed me Td9d and I proudly flipped over my 88 to scoop the pot.   Not only did he turn his hand which had showdown value into a complete bluff but he did it against a tighter player at the table.  I guess maybe he put me on a higher pair and would get me to lay down on the river.  Yay for me I bag up a healthy 87k to end the night. 

I enjoyed the fourth of July over at my friends Frank and Elsas’ house for some pool, grilling, and beers.   Frank was playing day 1d so we spent some time talking strategy and it was a perfect way to spend a break in the Main Event.   With what seemed like no time at all I was cruising down the 215 to the Rio for Day 2.   I was well rested, mentally ready, and had some notes of who I would be playing with for the day.  The biggest threat was Luke “Iweargoggles” Staudomaire fortunately he was short stacked.  The rest of the table was very non-threatening.   I had planned on coming in very aggressive for the first level then nitting it up for the rest of the day and using my loose image to get me paid on all my big hands.

I opened each of the first 3 hands and on the third hand the guy in the 9 seat commented negatively on it which meant my plan was working.  After about an hour of playing loose I decided to tighten the screws.  The player in the 9 seat had busted and been replaced by a foreign guy seemed like he was somewhat competent.  The player directly to my right wasn’t playing any hands the entire day and that was when this hand occurred.   Blinds were 250-500 and my stack was up to 95k.  The player to my right who hadn’t played a hand the entire day ships in 50 blinds in mid pos and I look down at QQ.   I decided to call because I felt with how tight he had been playing I would look super strong here and that nobody could possibly come over the top of me with Jacks or worse here and I might be able to get off if another one of the big stacks jammed in.  I didn’t want to just jam in and lose it all on two queens with 200bbs in the best tournament structure in the world.   The newer player to my left with 75k who was in the 9 seat thinks for a while before jamming in!  It folds back to me and I just feel certain that I must be beat.  Well my read was way wrong and end up folding and seeing him flip up TT and the first shove showing me QJ suited!  I have never been so steamed at the poker table that I can remember.  I threw my headphones and see the flop of 222 and the T never comes and I wave goodbye to 100k of free money!  I was very upset and the table breaks the very next hand which was probably the best thing that could’ve happened.  I grind the day out and finish up with 165k after losing a 50k pot all in with KK < AJ.   

part 2 on the way

played 540 at Wynn today was very fun...  couple key hands

First orbit I play maybe 3 hands all small and my stack hasnt changed much I have around 10k...

folds to me on button i have ajos and a loose image i make it 125 blinds 25-50 sb folds and bb makes it 350 I have no reads on him but he knows im loose and could be restealing light.... so I flat not trying to play a huge pot... flop comes out 222 and he grabs 600 and fires out.... I feel like i could have the best hand.. he might have a pocket pair or aq ak but im not willing to give up right away and decide to call and see what he does on the turn... 

Turn card is a 6 and he says "whos full house is bigger?"  and looks kinda nervous at me..  I dont have any reads on him so im not sure if he is being honest or not but i know he doesnt like his hand he fires out 500....... The pot is now at 2kish and I just feel like he does not like his hand at all and I am ahead a lot and its 500 to win 2k out there so If Im wrong I may be able to hit a hand or bluff him off....

River is a king...  he instantly reaches for his stack and throw out 1k yellow chip.... I decide that this is a blocker scared bet and now change my read thinking he has like 88 or 77 and hates seing the king.   I dont want to call and see a junk pair so I decide to make it 3k cause i feel like he cant call without a king.  he thinks for a bit says "you got a 2? or AA"  obv now i know he hit that king and had air the whole way finally calls and shows me KQ.....  rigged....

So im playing like half the pots semi tilted and either want to get back to a starting stack or go home and play a full session online.   The table is playing very passive so I'm chipping up pretty well.  I flopped a set of fives and doubled on a j57 board vs aj and am back up to 11kish.

I get AcJc in late pos and a semi active player limps in at 1-200 no antes on a 10k stack and I make it 600 cause i dont mind playing a pot with him with my hand in pos.   The guy with kq from previous hand flats on the button and it gets back to him and he flats the blinds had folded.   Flop comes out  7c6c2h so its go time for me.  check to me i fire 1200 and the button quick calls ep folds...  I feel like he has either a week pair maybe 8s or 9s or like 87 or 89 maybe a worse club draw but def not a set or two pair cause he would raise everytime.  

turn is a 5s so a bad card but i feel like if i bet hard he will fold most of his range so i fire 4k into his remaining 7500.  The pot was around 5k he thinks for a second and gives a douchey look then calls..... Im thinking wtf and praying hes drawing.  River hits a 8s making the board 7c6c2h5s8s and i desperatly fire all in for 5kish he has 3500 he gives another douchey look at the board and says i call im all in... He shows Qc9c for the straight....... fuck  clubs..

So I have 1100 left and am ready to go home ship all in blind the next hand double up to 3k then ship in 2 more times and am back at around 8k....

I work my stack back up to 30k at dinner break and havent showed down many hands picking my spots very well.

After dinner the blinds amp up to 8-1600 with 200 ante I have blinded down to 25k...

A player on 16kish makes it 4200 to go i get AK and send it to 12k and a nitty guy at the end of the table shoves in for 17k opener folds back to me I hate life and call expecting to see aa-qq.... A miracle he shows me AK off as well..... until he runs out a flush with his Ac. fuck clubs..

I have 8k left same blinds and I shove blind under the gun... folds around to big blind and he tanks and folds saying "i had 55"  LOL he folded my 4 bb shove with 55 in the big i had Q3 off.

Im back at 11k after the ship and a loose opener opens hijack i look down at a7 off in the sb shove it in.  he tanks..... for 7k more..... im thinking damn he must have absolutely nothing then calls with 43off and pairs his 4 gg...

Tommorow 1k weeee

So starts out to be another bloody Sunday as always.  As I usually do I get a few stacks going toward the end of the majors and have prospects going in the 100r the 500 buy in mil on FTP and  the 65k on FTP. 

The first tourney I bust is the 100r when my AK runs into Aces for half my stack.  Then literally 6 hands later I am down to 20k stack on the bubble and my AK runs into Aces again!  Now I'm down to two tournaments left.  I build my stack up to 155k in the FTP (running pretty well).  Average stack is around 80-100k with 80 players left.... AJKHoosier is 4 seats to my left and has the table chip lead with 220k.  I am in 3rd I believe...  I have been opening pots but I'm not playing super aggro.  Just chipping up slowly and trying to avoid big confrontations. 

I pick up aces utg +2 and make it 9999 with the blinds at 2-4k.  It gets to AJK and he sends it to 25k.  I think about my options and decide he is probably 3 betting me fairly wide and I dont want to scare him off by 4 betting this deep and essentially telling him I have a monster.  So I elect to just flat.... I know im going to be leading most flops to make it look like I'm weak here and get him to come over the top.   Flop comes K34 rainbow.  I lead out 28k to make it look like a scared bet with a middle pair and hopefully get him to come over the top.  He sends it up to 90k or so don't remember the number but it basically was putting me all in.  I snap ship in for all my chips and high five the monitor.  He calls and flips over As5s........ there is 1 spade on the flop..  I go thru my normal sweat ruitene and stand up from my chair and slowly back away from the screen until I fade all the outs.  The turn bricks off a garbage card and sure enough I can barely see the 2 on the river to knock me out.......

Now keep in mind while all this is happening I still have 100k chips with 20ish players left in the 65k.   Most of me wants to go on monkey tilt spew off my stack get in my car and drive off a bridge.  But I don't I tell myself the only way to make your night ok at this point is to win this tournament!!!  So I focus in but the cards arent cooperating.  I blind my stack down to 50k and shove in with AQ on 4-8k blinds and get called by AJ!! I fade a jack and am back up to 100k.  I blind down to around 75k with about 11 players left... blinds are now at 6-12k and I ship in my stack with JToff from the c/o  the button reships fold fold and I see my death AJ!!!!!  I feel dejected and completely waste of a day until bam a 10 comes on the flop!!!  I manage to fade an ace and am up to 160k in chips!!!!! WEEEEEEEEEE.

I manage to chip up on a hand I flop top pair vs the spewy chip leader and find myself in third at the final table at 330k.  It is then that I realize what table I am at!!! The softest table ever.  They are all nits and the massive stack is really bad and directly to my right.  He is the only aggro player and is super easy to play pots with.  I chip up to an even stack with him and its basically over.  I 3 bet him a few times and have the chip lead and never look back. 

When we got to 6 handed I had 1.2 mil with the other 5 ppl all having 150-250k and the pot is like 50k a round.  I am basically shoving every hand and they all begin playing for 2nd.  By the time I get HU he has 400k to my 2.3mil. He manages to double Q8> my AQ but I finish him off very quickly after with 99 to his 44.  WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!! 

Ship the 3rd win of the last 4 days (didn't play the 3rd day) and 30k!!!!!