A brief bout of sickness (meaning me spending 90% of yesterday in bed) meant that I skipped day 1A of this event, and instead opted to just play 1B today. A reasonably friendly table greets me when I sit, and I've yet to properly get my feet wet, but here we go once more.
So far, the screen shows 114 entrants, which will most certainly grow as the day progresses. This event only has 2 x day ones, the first of which has already been played yesterday. Hopefully we can get a decent start and parlay someone else's chips up into a meaningful stack.
We're on level 3 already. I have nursed my stack up to 42k with a bit of shuffling, and I just avoided a car-crash moment when I folded 10 10 on a QQ6 flop with 3 way action. That might sound like a super nitty fold to the experts not sitting at the table, but I'm a big believer in instinct and going with my read at the time. Luckily, the board ran out with a 2 on the turn, and then a 5 on the river, and when the guy who had 66 and had flopped a boat got all his money into the middle, his opponent who had initially called my preflop raise with Q5 offsuit (well played, Sir) had rivered a bigger full house and managed to wreck the other player's morning pretty comprehensively. The joy of poker tournaments.
Back from the first break and up to 144 players already. I've taken a couple of knocks and dipped back down to 36k, but am not too concerned. The type of poker being played at the moment is the pretty standard min-click poker you see in these things, but the difference so far is if a player makes it 700 to play and 4 people call, a raise to say, 5,000 then still gets 4 people happy to just call. So, shark infested waters... the main thing at this stage is not to waste chips unnecessarily. At least that's my gameplan.
My past fame (and by that, I obviously mean my infamy) seems to have caught up with me. The guy on my left seems to know about as much about me as I know about myself. This may or may not be to my advantage as the day unfolds. I flop bottom set on what ends up being the scariest flushing/straightening board in history, but luckily my hand still manages to be good, and I'm back to 45k again as we approach level 5.
Gunfight at the OK Corral continues on this table, where one pair seems to be the holy grail for most of the occupants. On a 2 7 10 flop, one old boy with A 10 decides his hand is plenty good enough to put his entire 40k stack in the middle. He's called by QQ (my neighbour who seemed to know my history) and duly tables that no limit monster that is A 10, then promptly catches the ace on the turn to make two pair and annihilate the QQ creating yet another fascinating bad beat story, and one more satisfied customer.
I just decided that discretion was the better part of valour and mucked my AK when facing a 10k river bet. The board had ran out A 7 9 8 10. Maybe I was ahead, but I'd rather much conserve the chips for a spot when I can hopefully outmanoeuvre my opponent, as opposed to simply call and hope that I'm correct. Back to 39k again.
Oh balls. I just took a hit when blind on blind we both flopped a flush. I had one clean out for a straight flush (which obviously didn't hit), but luckily we both played it cute, so the damage was minimal. Down to 31k.
The nightmare continues, when, against the same player I flop 2 pair. He then proceeds to turn a bigger 2 pair, and takes another 12k off my stack as we go into level 6. Sigh.
I just flopped a decent combo-draw (straight and flush), bet out on flop and turn, and then had to bail when the river bricked and the opponent then decided it was a good time to bet out for 15k. My stack is going in the wrong direction in this level due to a flurry of pretty decent hands with pretty ugly outcomes. Not a great deal I could have done about it, but it's not a nice spot in which to find oneself. I've taken a few hits, but still find myself on around 20k as we approach the second break at the end of level 6. Currently 128/202 players remain, and blinds are 300/600/600.
Argh. Back from the break and I take (yet) another hit when my 54 makes 2 pair, but loses to 32 which makes a straight on the river. I was in the big blind... he wasn't. It feels like I'm getting kicked in the nuts today, and then politely asking if I can have another one. Not fun poker, but we just have to make the best of it as I edge towards level 8.
I'm being anted away and any raise I make is generally being called multi-way and then drawn out on if I was ahead at the start, so I decide on a different tack now I'm part of the short stack brigade. In the Big blind for 800, It gets raised to 1600, and 3 others call. I look down at Kc Qc and announce all-in, and that if I can have 3 callers I'd appreciate it. My raise isn't too much in relation to the stacks of the others, however, all fold to the original raiser, who sighs and calls, tabling Ah 8h. Not ideal, but I'll take it. The flop immediately brings an ace (boo, hiss!) but also two clubs (huzzah!), so I'm not quite dead in the water yet. A third club on the turn gives me the nuts and seals the deal, so I'm back on about 21k as the blinds go up again at level 8. 119/229 remain.
This really isn't a table that likes to fold. Luckily, I wasn't involved in the hand, but I just saw Q 10 offsuit call a 20k river bet on a board of 4 6 Q 9 8. The river bettor showed AK, but quite honestly, at this stage of the tournament, I liked the bet a lot better than the call. Crash helmets at the ready.
And... another day bites the dust. I actually had the worst hand (slightly) but I was the one raising all-in for almost 10k at 500/1000/1000. The guy who had the 23 earlier on decided that his AJ offsuit was well worth the call. Ultimately, he was right as I had A 10 suited, but I guess in his shoes I'd have folded the hand and waited for a better spot to call off 10k. We're all different. No whining, it is what it is etc. I hit the ace on the flop, so on a cheap flop it would have gone in on my part anyway... small consolation.
Today was a bit of a damp squib by all accounts, yet oddly I feel fine. I'm looking forward to the WPT events I'm playing in the coming weeks. Hopefully a bit of rungood will materialize and I can get deep in something at the Encore. We'll have to see.
So far, the screen shows 114 entrants, which will most certainly grow as the day progresses. This event only has 2 x day ones, the first of which has already been played yesterday. Hopefully we can get a decent start and parlay someone else's chips up into a meaningful stack.
We're on level 3 already. I have nursed my stack up to 42k with a bit of shuffling, and I just avoided a car-crash moment when I folded 10 10 on a QQ6 flop with 3 way action. That might sound like a super nitty fold to the experts not sitting at the table, but I'm a big believer in instinct and going with my read at the time. Luckily, the board ran out with a 2 on the turn, and then a 5 on the river, and when the guy who had 66 and had flopped a boat got all his money into the middle, his opponent who had initially called my preflop raise with Q5 offsuit (well played, Sir) had rivered a bigger full house and managed to wreck the other player's morning pretty comprehensively. The joy of poker tournaments.
Back from the first break and up to 144 players already. I've taken a couple of knocks and dipped back down to 36k, but am not too concerned. The type of poker being played at the moment is the pretty standard min-click poker you see in these things, but the difference so far is if a player makes it 700 to play and 4 people call, a raise to say, 5,000 then still gets 4 people happy to just call. So, shark infested waters... the main thing at this stage is not to waste chips unnecessarily. At least that's my gameplan.
My past fame (and by that, I obviously mean my infamy) seems to have caught up with me. The guy on my left seems to know about as much about me as I know about myself. This may or may not be to my advantage as the day unfolds. I flop bottom set on what ends up being the scariest flushing/straightening board in history, but luckily my hand still manages to be good, and I'm back to 45k again as we approach level 5.
Gunfight at the OK Corral continues on this table, where one pair seems to be the holy grail for most of the occupants. On a 2 7 10 flop, one old boy with A 10 decides his hand is plenty good enough to put his entire 40k stack in the middle. He's called by QQ (my neighbour who seemed to know my history) and duly tables that no limit monster that is A 10, then promptly catches the ace on the turn to make two pair and annihilate the QQ creating yet another fascinating bad beat story, and one more satisfied customer.
I just decided that discretion was the better part of valour and mucked my AK when facing a 10k river bet. The board had ran out A 7 9 8 10. Maybe I was ahead, but I'd rather much conserve the chips for a spot when I can hopefully outmanoeuvre my opponent, as opposed to simply call and hope that I'm correct. Back to 39k again.
Oh balls. I just took a hit when blind on blind we both flopped a flush. I had one clean out for a straight flush (which obviously didn't hit), but luckily we both played it cute, so the damage was minimal. Down to 31k.
The nightmare continues, when, against the same player I flop 2 pair. He then proceeds to turn a bigger 2 pair, and takes another 12k off my stack as we go into level 6. Sigh.
I just flopped a decent combo-draw (straight and flush), bet out on flop and turn, and then had to bail when the river bricked and the opponent then decided it was a good time to bet out for 15k. My stack is going in the wrong direction in this level due to a flurry of pretty decent hands with pretty ugly outcomes. Not a great deal I could have done about it, but it's not a nice spot in which to find oneself. I've taken a few hits, but still find myself on around 20k as we approach the second break at the end of level 6. Currently 128/202 players remain, and blinds are 300/600/600.
Argh. Back from the break and I take (yet) another hit when my 54 makes 2 pair, but loses to 32 which makes a straight on the river. I was in the big blind... he wasn't. It feels like I'm getting kicked in the nuts today, and then politely asking if I can have another one. Not fun poker, but we just have to make the best of it as I edge towards level 8.
I'm being anted away and any raise I make is generally being called multi-way and then drawn out on if I was ahead at the start, so I decide on a different tack now I'm part of the short stack brigade. In the Big blind for 800, It gets raised to 1600, and 3 others call. I look down at Kc Qc and announce all-in, and that if I can have 3 callers I'd appreciate it. My raise isn't too much in relation to the stacks of the others, however, all fold to the original raiser, who sighs and calls, tabling Ah 8h. Not ideal, but I'll take it. The flop immediately brings an ace (boo, hiss!) but also two clubs (huzzah!), so I'm not quite dead in the water yet. A third club on the turn gives me the nuts and seals the deal, so I'm back on about 21k as the blinds go up again at level 8. 119/229 remain.
This really isn't a table that likes to fold. Luckily, I wasn't involved in the hand, but I just saw Q 10 offsuit call a 20k river bet on a board of 4 6 Q 9 8. The river bettor showed AK, but quite honestly, at this stage of the tournament, I liked the bet a lot better than the call. Crash helmets at the ready.
And... another day bites the dust. I actually had the worst hand (slightly) but I was the one raising all-in for almost 10k at 500/1000/1000. The guy who had the 23 earlier on decided that his AJ offsuit was well worth the call. Ultimately, he was right as I had A 10 suited, but I guess in his shoes I'd have folded the hand and waited for a better spot to call off 10k. We're all different. No whining, it is what it is etc. I hit the ace on the flop, so on a cheap flop it would have gone in on my part anyway... small consolation.
Today was a bit of a damp squib by all accounts, yet oddly I feel fine. I'm looking forward to the WPT events I'm playing in the coming weeks. Hopefully a bit of rungood will materialize and I can get deep in something at the Encore. We'll have to see.