(cont.)

Our few weak spots bust, and guys get put at my table that I do not recognize but handle themselves really well. I'm officially at the table from hell. All around me I can hear dealers declaring all-ins. Insanely terrible novices I played with earlier in the week are walking off. Damnit, who got their chips? Why couldn't I get put at their tables? Grrr…

Another hand develops between myself and weaker players at the end of my table. The weaker Italian player two to my right limps and so does the German fellow. I look down at my hand while the German guy gives me his best Terminator impression. I see 9-9. The blinds were 100/200, and I decided to make a larger than normal raise due to my being out of position and there already being limpers in the pot, to 1200. The big blind folds, the first limper folds, and sure enough the German guy comes with me. It's okay though, I feel comfortable playing a flop with him, even out of position.

The flop comes A-6-4. Puke. A-baby is one of the most likely hands I think he could have here, since many novice players limp/call with those kinds of hands. Still, he could also have small pairs, unpaired big cards, suited connectors, and other holdings that missed this flop. I continuation bet for 2,000 and he calls me really quickly, and goes back to undressing me with his eyes.

The turn is a 7. I check and he checks behind. The river is a queen. I take my time, then check. He quickly puts a bet out there over the size of the pot. I tank a little, but really there really isn't any reason to. If he was floating me on the flop he would have fired the turn. His insta-check screamed an ace to me, possibly two pair. When I check the river again to him and he instantly fires out a bet I feel like that more often than not is a value bet. If he's bluffing me and my read is wrong well then good luck to him.

Steve Zolotow gets moved two to my left a little later. It's becoming a joke how tough this table is. Steve Zolotow plays a very good no limit game, very snug, and unfortunately isn't spewing his money like some name pros do in the first day. Unlike many of the name pros too Stevie Z is actually pretty nice to me and young players in general.

A few of us loosen up a bit, in an attempt to alleviate the monotony of being at such a nitty table. Schaeffer gives me some recommendations on what to see in Amsterdam. Daut tells a joke. Stevie Z discusses his upcoming plans. It's all pretty dull, but compared to the silence we had for several hours it's Tony-winning dinner theatre.

I continue to suck unfortunately. Another pot comes up where I raise from earlier position with K-Q suited. A fairly solid player from the cutoff re-raises me, but doesn't throw in as many chips as he meant to, barely min-raising me. I feel like he has a big hand, we're both pretty deep, and despite being out of position I'm hoping I can snap him off for a big amount if I flop gin.

The flop is A-Q-x. I check to him and he checks quickly behind. What could he re-raise me with that checks that board? K-K seems most obvious. A set of aces, a set of queens, A-Q, or perhaps J-J could just be giving up with two overs. I think A-K bets. A-Q might. This guy doesn't strike me as the slow-playing type. He seems to be an intelligent internet player and often you will see internet players lean towards playing their hands fast instead of slow-playing. The turn is another blank. I check here again, not really seeing what I'm getting value from if I bet and what I am getting to fold if I'm behind. I think if I bet K-K still calls me with position, and hopes I check river, and I'm really not prepared to double barrel the river.

He checks again. Now I safely can assume he's not slow-playing anything. It'd be very weird for many players to not try to get anything in the pot. The river is another blank. I check and he puts a really baby bet out there. The first thing that goes through my mind is K-K is getting thin value, but for some reason I stuck the call out there anyway. He shows me K-K, and I'm annoyed with myself.

Frustrated I try and relax. I open a pot a few hands later, only to get re-raised by Schaeffer, and decide to bring it in and play a more solid game. If I'd stuck to that plan too I probably would've avoided the hand I felt I played worst in this tournament, and probably the worst hand I'd played live in a couple months.

It got folded around to me and the German fellow again in the blinds, and he raised to 3x from the small blind. I felt at this point he was just raising any two because every time he had limped previously I had raised him. I looked down at 5h-7h and decided to flat call.

I think a good portion of the time I re-raise here and win the pot outright, probably enough to make it profitable since he's raising so much of his range, but I also think he'll call me OOP too and I will end up playing a large pot with 7-high. Even in position this guy's main error was he called too much, so if I'm going to launch a bigger bluff I have to be prepared to fire multiple shells. It's just like when you play a low stakes cash game online like $1.00/$2.00 No Limit. You will get many players who will call you on the flop with close to anything but will fold a lot to the second bet on the turn. You can bluff but you'll have to be prepared to invest more.

Given that I felt better just calling. I think I will be able to control pot size pretty well and get value if I really hit the flop hard. I also will still be able to probably bluff him off of a number of hands.

The board comes J-4-7. He leads out for 900 and, I wish I could tell you I had a plan for the entire hand, but I just raised him to 2200 automatically because I just felt he was so weak. People can say whatever they like about live and online being close to the same, it's not true. There are definitely times live if you've been paying attention you can know if a guy is weak or not, and I felt he was weak here.

The problem is many live players go off one single read and approach hands in a vacuum, and don't prepare for further streets. That's exactly what I did here. Before I raised him I should've considered that he is calling me with pretty much everything, out of position even. I only have about 8k behind, so if he bets the turn, which he will a large portion of the time just because he is a live donkey and he'll feel like it, I am going to be defending for my whole stack with second pair no kicker. Not to mention the fact no card on the turn is really a good one. I am just creating a large pot with no idea where I am at.

He calls me very quickly, the turn comes a 9 and he fires 3k, and I tank. I'm pissed at myself for how I've played the whole hand. Calling down would've been much better. I get value out of a lot of bluffs and I avoid this spot. Now I can't call here and leave myself 5k behind. I've created a large pot with third pair no kicker, with no idea where I am. I feel like I still have the best hand, but for whatever reason I fold, bitterly mentioning if I had 20k I would shove so fast on him, blaming other people for my own stupidity. The statement is dumb because I didn't have that much to start the hand, and I shouldn't have played it like I did.

He turns over 5-6 and greedily grabs at the pot. If I'd just gone with my initial read (even though he probably plays a J or 9 with the same line I just felt he didn't have it here) and stacked off on the turn I'd be fading eight outs. If I'd just called down I win a large portion of the time. If I'd folded pre-flop I don't lose much. If I re-raise pre-flop I win. I have found the absolute worst way I could've played this hand. I made a hand with showdown value and turned it into a bluff against a guy who is not folding.

The blinds go up and I am barely above 15 big blinds. It's a good thing too because apparently I can't play a deep stack worth a shit and I'm still a tourney donk, and I should feel more comfortable in re-steal stack territory.

I begin shipping it in on the opens of the players to my right with my decent hands, and chip up a little, stay afloat. On one occasion, I found it interesting. The weaker Italian gentleman two to my right opened the cutoff. I felt he wasn't calling hardly at all, so I shoved 13 BBs on him with Q-J from the big blind. He folded right away, and told me 6-6. Obviously, online this is a call against me a lot, but I don't expect a live player to really understand re-steal ranges as well as guys who play 30 tournaments a day.

What I found interesting was, less than a couple orbits later, a very solid player opened from early position and this same guy 3-bet him. Schaeffer, out of the blinds, 4-bets. Schaeffer has not played a big pot like this at all today – you have to give him a big hand here. The initial raiser folded and then the Italian gentleman shoved on Schaeffer. Schaeffer calls and turns over A-A (real shock there) and the Italian turns over…6-6. Apparently 6-6 was good for a 5-bet shove against Schaeffer but not for calling a re-steal. Not that calling me with 6-6 in that spot is correct every time, but it just seems odd to me how live players tend to freak out at the end of a long tournament day.

Another orbit goes by and I can't really open without the intention of stacking off. I'm playing with too many good players who will make me defend for my stack. The German gentlemen then opens from the hijack to 3x. I have about 15ish big blinds. He has a bunch of chips now from a big pot he won earlier and seems to be opening more frequently. I decide 6-6+, A-J+ are what I am reshipping on him with. I look down at 6-6 and put it in, he calls me with K-K, I bust with maybe twenty minutes left in the day.

I'm not really that angry. Disappointed? Yes, but I'm more unhappy with how I played. That 5-7 hand was atrocious, I'm not positive the range I'm sending it in with on the final hand is correct, and while I played well otherwise those were the two biggest pots really. I just never felt in the zone. I'm mad I even went out the night before. It probably would've been better to have a quiet night and insure a good night's sleep.

* This is Part 3 of Assassinato's San Remo Trip Report. Part 1Part 2Part 4 The next part will talk about Alex's post-tournament activities.

Alex assassinato Fitzgerald is a professional poker player who specializes in multi-table tournaments. You can read more about Assassinato's adventures in the poker world by visiting his blog, www.assassinatopoker.blogspot.com. His online accomplishments include a win in thePokerStars $200 rebuy for $50k, along with a victory in theFull Tilt Poker $100 rebuy for another $22k. For more poker-related content from today's top online players, readers are encouraged to visit ourPoker Articles section here at PocketFives.