Kicked off today at 3pm as advertised. Three stacks of 200k+ on my table which is less than ideal. Tons of players in this thing still, som many that the screen still says 2400 entrants. Some tables are eleven handed, and they are still accepting alternates!
Crazy stuff. I'll be screwing down and doing very little for the time being. Blinds are 300/1k/2k.
My 46k is now 40k. Two orbits of the table with nothing spectacular so surrendered the blinds and antes.
Found a hand on the button with which to raise. Two red soxes. The big blind with over 120k calls.
Board runs out Ac Kc Qh 10c, and the big blind wants to bet 20k. Sigh fold.
My stack is getting eaten into pretty quickly and blind on blind I get raised by the woman on my right. I look down at 5d4d. I call the small raise and the flop comes JJ3 with two diamonds. She bets again for 5k and I call on the draw.
The turn is a five, giving me two pair and still a flush draw. I have about 18k left. She bets a weak 5k again and I decide she's full of it, so I shove. He calls like its the most natural thing in the world with AK off suit...
Blank on the end and I'm back up to 55k. She's grumbling like she got unlucky or something.
Blinds up. 400/1500/3000.
A weird table today. Chatty but semi hostile at the same time. It's always funny when one player or dealer doesn't like the patter, tries to out-funny me with predictable remarks about not being able to understand what I'm saying, or the Civil war or some crap. They always laugh at their own jokes and they always end up getting burned and ripped to bits. Very odd, and not really what I like but if that's how it's got to be so be it. I move the button and say "button moved" THREE times, and the dealer still says "well I didn't hear you", speak English. Ho ho ho. Weird how the guys who can't do their job properly (he did three misdials and somehow blamed the players for them) always have some kind of attitude.
First break and I'm on 44k.
I never want to do the ranting thing, and to be fair at the table I never would or do. But it must be said that the OVERWHELMING majority of poker players are utter douchebags. The "small-time pros" are the worst by a country mile. They ask the waitress for two or three drinks and tip a dollar, they complain about everything, from not being able to see a tournament clock properly, to the lighting, to not having food service at their beck and call within 2 minutes of asking for them. They stand in corridors or sit with their cronies endlessly critiquing hands and explaining how the game should be played, and whining about how some donkey got lucky, and they all seem to think they are the centre of the universe. Generally I cannot bear these people. I'm not one of them and never will be. Don't bleat when you lose and don't act like a boorish twat when you win and start giving out lessons. Fro all the boom in poker so many of these people seem to have learned so little, and I guarantee you most delude themselves about both their success and their own ability being way above everyone else who is talking and thinking just the way they are. Very sad.
Sorry. Went off on a tangent there. Listening to music on the 20 min break and colour-up to avoid hearing the poker stories all around me.
Back from the break and I raise to 8500 with 66. My neighbour moves me all in for the rest and I don't even think I'm close to flipping so I give up. If I'm going to get the money in it'll be me putting the chips in first.
Down to 22k, blinds and antes are brutal now if you have a shorter stack so I need to get busy.
I get my chance to do this when there's a limp and I squeeze out AQs. Not perfect but with my stack I'll take either winning what's out there or getting action from one player.
I make it 21k, leaving myself 1000.
My neighbour cuts out a stack and looks like he's like to raise but just calls. Ok, so he has a monster.
A third player now jams about 45k behind. I'm liking my AQ less now but it's already in there so let's go. I toss in the 1k and my neighbour completes and tables KK.
The other player shows 10 10. Ok, he'd put nothing in to begin with. We're all different!
Just an ace then.
Flop comes A28. Lovely.
King. Sigh.
3 on the river and that's that.
The ten seat pipes up "I folded a king". Thanks buddy.
That was my pot to put me comfortably on about 75,000. So I got lucky to hit the ace, then got one outed and no money. Welcome to tournaments. Screen shows the final numbers were 2,656 players and I've just busted about 560th. Probably not far from the money.
Can't or won't grumble. There's no point. Thanks for the sweat, messages and texts made me smile. Next post coming once I get out of here and figure out what I'm doing.