Late update today as I was uploading a vid, which is painfully slow.
Feeling fresh and ready for it as we kick off the $25K guaranteed event. There are 106 players at present and 96 remain, though folks can buy in or rebuy for another 90 minutes at present. The arm in the pic belongs to the lovely Mila, from Russia. She's very sweet, and has given up trying not to smile now when I speak to her.
The table is kind of wild. Older Asian (I hope the lovely individual who has a problem with me using the word "Asian" is reading this) lady is hyper aggro. She gets the money in with AK versus AA and the aces flop a set against her. Of course that's no good, and she makes Broadway to smash the aces to bits and go up to 25k. Shortly after she plays a 52 draw aggressively against a set of kings and gives most of it back. That's one steamed plate of Broccoli right there now.
You are allowed a single $100 add-on for 5k at any point, and I take it early to get my 10k starting chips up to 15k. I splash around and hit 17500, and down to 1400, then back to 15 again. Always good to get your feet wet.
I'm looking for good early spots but the standard (comparatively) isn't great, with people overplaying big cards and stacking off pretty light. I don't learn my own lesson of course. I play a pot with 8h7h, and the flop comes out Jh 9h 5s, giving me the monster that is a double gutshot and a straight flush draw. I bang it hard on the flop and again on the turn when he checks showing weakness. I miss everything as it runs out J952J, but am forced to bet 4k on the end to try to steal. sadly the guy with J10 off wasn't folding and my 15k dips to 7200, which is a royal pain in the ass.
I find some love, when I look down at two black Kings. Crazy lady looks like she wants to raise so i limp and pray I'm tuned in properly. A few people limp for the 200 blind and as predicted she makes it 1400. I stuff the 7k in and hope she calls, but also not, the way she's running. Everyone folds and she calls tabling QJ of spades. Eek.
She bricks everything and I'm back on 15k ad starting over. She rebuys.
I make the first break on 14k. I'm not going mad today on this table. There's easily enough money left in the tank to splash around a bit and bloat each pot, but that doesn't mean you have to do it. 21 minutes left to rebuy if needed, I've dipped to 11500, but I'm biding my time.
Nice Dutch guy on my right is building slowly. Most people are overplaying their hands and I feel like we're both waiting to get paid right now. Different game once the rebuy period ends.
Argh. Car crash television.. I was hoping not to have to get into this but the hand kind of played itself. I flop bottom two with 76 on an A67 flop multi way with a bet and a call ahead of me. I play it fast as there's draws out there and a lot of players. I push for 9k to win about 6, and Holland calls me tabling....A6. Shit. The best two pair wins and I have to rebuy for $200. Ho hum.
I've already had the single add on, so am on 10k and lose 1200 of it seeing a QQJ flop with 99. Shortly after I am in the blinds with 62, and the flop comes 346 heads up. The other guy is short and jams for 3900. I reluctantly call and he shows K4, hurrah, I'm winning.
Until he catches a king and knocks me below 5k.
Last hand for rebuys, and being below 5k I have the option, so I take it for another shell to put me around 15k again as the rebuy period ends. 99/120 left. I think the standard isn't amazing so I'm digging in. The Asian woman plays ay two suited or slightly connected cards and plays them aggressively. She's on 25k or so but I would expect her to either win this thing or implode very quickly. More likely the latter as she only has the one gear.
I just refused a shot when a beard who could easily be a young Michael Moore jammed 8k on my big blind and I look down at AQ offsuit after everyone else has folded. I have 13k and to call and lose puts me in a really ugly spot this early. I'd rather jam with 5 high and give myself two ways to win than call and have to just win the hand at showdown. This is a fundamental of tournament poker that a lot of people either don't understand, or don't want to understand, and a reason why you often see awful players amass huge stacks early. They will say "well, I had AK/AQ/55 etc...I had to call, what else can I do with this hand?". Question asked, question answered. I could agree with them of course, but then we'd both be wrong.
The older Asian woman just wanked away a 40k stack in fine fashion, and is out. Just like that. On a 589 flop her 98 ran into the flopped straight with 76. I'd far rather she had won as she was always going to go broke, but now she's gone and the line up is unremarkable.
New players fill up the table, and I lose a small one with 99 when a king and a jack flop and a newcomer advertises his hand. Keep tight and move on. 86 players left.
Just had another pot with Michael Moore. This time I raised with AQ and he jammed. This time After my raise I'm not folding as I have too much committed. He shows AQ as well and we chop.
Sigh. Better than losing.
Mr Moore and I play a THIRD pot. Guess what? He jams again. This time I limped JJ, and snapped his 99 off. He's crippled down to 3k and I'm back up to 18 again :o) He busts shortly after.
Feeling fresh and ready for it as we kick off the $25K guaranteed event. There are 106 players at present and 96 remain, though folks can buy in or rebuy for another 90 minutes at present. The arm in the pic belongs to the lovely Mila, from Russia. She's very sweet, and has given up trying not to smile now when I speak to her.
The table is kind of wild. Older Asian (I hope the lovely individual who has a problem with me using the word "Asian" is reading this) lady is hyper aggro. She gets the money in with AK versus AA and the aces flop a set against her. Of course that's no good, and she makes Broadway to smash the aces to bits and go up to 25k. Shortly after she plays a 52 draw aggressively against a set of kings and gives most of it back. That's one steamed plate of Broccoli right there now.
You are allowed a single $100 add-on for 5k at any point, and I take it early to get my 10k starting chips up to 15k. I splash around and hit 17500, and down to 1400, then back to 15 again. Always good to get your feet wet.
I'm looking for good early spots but the standard (comparatively) isn't great, with people overplaying big cards and stacking off pretty light. I don't learn my own lesson of course. I play a pot with 8h7h, and the flop comes out Jh 9h 5s, giving me the monster that is a double gutshot and a straight flush draw. I bang it hard on the flop and again on the turn when he checks showing weakness. I miss everything as it runs out J952J, but am forced to bet 4k on the end to try to steal. sadly the guy with J10 off wasn't folding and my 15k dips to 7200, which is a royal pain in the ass.
I find some love, when I look down at two black Kings. Crazy lady looks like she wants to raise so i limp and pray I'm tuned in properly. A few people limp for the 200 blind and as predicted she makes it 1400. I stuff the 7k in and hope she calls, but also not, the way she's running. Everyone folds and she calls tabling QJ of spades. Eek.
She bricks everything and I'm back on 15k ad starting over. She rebuys.
I make the first break on 14k. I'm not going mad today on this table. There's easily enough money left in the tank to splash around a bit and bloat each pot, but that doesn't mean you have to do it. 21 minutes left to rebuy if needed, I've dipped to 11500, but I'm biding my time.
Nice Dutch guy on my right is building slowly. Most people are overplaying their hands and I feel like we're both waiting to get paid right now. Different game once the rebuy period ends.
Argh. Car crash television.. I was hoping not to have to get into this but the hand kind of played itself. I flop bottom two with 76 on an A67 flop multi way with a bet and a call ahead of me. I play it fast as there's draws out there and a lot of players. I push for 9k to win about 6, and Holland calls me tabling....A6. Shit. The best two pair wins and I have to rebuy for $200. Ho hum.
I've already had the single add on, so am on 10k and lose 1200 of it seeing a QQJ flop with 99. Shortly after I am in the blinds with 62, and the flop comes 346 heads up. The other guy is short and jams for 3900. I reluctantly call and he shows K4, hurrah, I'm winning.
Until he catches a king and knocks me below 5k.
Last hand for rebuys, and being below 5k I have the option, so I take it for another shell to put me around 15k again as the rebuy period ends. 99/120 left. I think the standard isn't amazing so I'm digging in. The Asian woman plays ay two suited or slightly connected cards and plays them aggressively. She's on 25k or so but I would expect her to either win this thing or implode very quickly. More likely the latter as she only has the one gear.
I just refused a shot when a beard who could easily be a young Michael Moore jammed 8k on my big blind and I look down at AQ offsuit after everyone else has folded. I have 13k and to call and lose puts me in a really ugly spot this early. I'd rather jam with 5 high and give myself two ways to win than call and have to just win the hand at showdown. This is a fundamental of tournament poker that a lot of people either don't understand, or don't want to understand, and a reason why you often see awful players amass huge stacks early. They will say "well, I had AK/AQ/55 etc...I had to call, what else can I do with this hand?". Question asked, question answered. I could agree with them of course, but then we'd both be wrong.
The older Asian woman just wanked away a 40k stack in fine fashion, and is out. Just like that. On a 589 flop her 98 ran into the flopped straight with 76. I'd far rather she had won as she was always going to go broke, but now she's gone and the line up is unremarkable.
New players fill up the table, and I lose a small one with 99 when a king and a jack flop and a newcomer advertises his hand. Keep tight and move on. 86 players left.
Just had another pot with Michael Moore. This time I raised with AQ and he jammed. This time After my raise I'm not folding as I have too much committed. He shows AQ as well and we chop.
Sigh. Better than losing.
Mr Moore and I play a THIRD pot. Guess what? He jams again. This time I limped JJ, and snapped his 99 off. He's crippled down to 3k and I'm back up to 18 again :o) He busts shortly after.
There was a minor lull whilst my laptop/tablet charged up. The surface is a great piece of kit, but if you want something with great battery life then it sucks.
I've seen nothing while the device was charging, and my stack has eroded from 18k down to 11k. Not fun at all.
52/120 remain, we're at 600/1200/100. I find AK and jam against two players. They both call the 9500 bet. Sigh.
They check it all the way and I feel like they are collectively trying to bust me. An ace hits the river, but i was winning anyway...they both have A 10, and I am back to 29k with average chips at 39k. Not great, but better.
The guy on my table who busted the Asian lady is TERRIBLE. Of course I'm never going to say or even insinuate that at the table, but he clearly has little idea about pot odds and situations. He just looks at his own hand and plays it like a bull in a china shop. Not a dig, it's his money. But he's spreading it round when he plays a pot and I'd like him to be my double up ticket as I've seen him turn over some really questionable holdings. He just called off 20k preflop with QJ.
Our table broke, I'm moved to a whole new line up. 42 left, and I've dipped to 18k as we are at 800/1600/200. I whittle down to 14k and get into a pot blind on blind with a woman on my right. She has a few chips and raises me to 4k preflop. I feel it's a steal but with 97 I'm not loving it. I call anyway as I have 1600 in and it flops 873. She bets all-in and my chips are in the middle before hers. She flips over K9 and I fade the horror and am rewarded for a good read by doubling up to 30k or so. Shortly after I win another and get to 40k, maybe my peak on the day. An older guy moves to my left and I make it 3500 with 77. He jams and if I call it leaves me with about 11k. I let it go. Those situations I was talking about earlier...
Five minutes to the dinner break, and there are 32 left. Today has mainly been about avoiding trouble spots. Soon it'll be gear change time. For the moment I'm on 36k and lying in wait.
Back from dinner and I lose a hand with A10 vs AJ and dip to 27k. Blinds are now 1k/2k/300 so I'm not ideal as the average is around 70k. I can't really steal on this table, but will play aggressively if I get the chance to hit a flop.
I get my chance.
I raise with J 10s and get one caller, flop is 89J rainbow. Not perfect but pretty decent. My opponent bets 6k and I jam. She calls...
Showing AA. Cute.
Brick brick and that's that. I maybe had a rush of blood there. i bust in 30th place. With more chips I don't go so crazy, but I'm not going to agonise too much. I was proably shortest chips on the table, and if that one wins then I can get busy. As it doesn't, I can get packing instead. Exit Kevin.
I've seen nothing while the device was charging, and my stack has eroded from 18k down to 11k. Not fun at all.
52/120 remain, we're at 600/1200/100. I find AK and jam against two players. They both call the 9500 bet. Sigh.
They check it all the way and I feel like they are collectively trying to bust me. An ace hits the river, but i was winning anyway...they both have A 10, and I am back to 29k with average chips at 39k. Not great, but better.
The guy on my table who busted the Asian lady is TERRIBLE. Of course I'm never going to say or even insinuate that at the table, but he clearly has little idea about pot odds and situations. He just looks at his own hand and plays it like a bull in a china shop. Not a dig, it's his money. But he's spreading it round when he plays a pot and I'd like him to be my double up ticket as I've seen him turn over some really questionable holdings. He just called off 20k preflop with QJ.
Our table broke, I'm moved to a whole new line up. 42 left, and I've dipped to 18k as we are at 800/1600/200. I whittle down to 14k and get into a pot blind on blind with a woman on my right. She has a few chips and raises me to 4k preflop. I feel it's a steal but with 97 I'm not loving it. I call anyway as I have 1600 in and it flops 873. She bets all-in and my chips are in the middle before hers. She flips over K9 and I fade the horror and am rewarded for a good read by doubling up to 30k or so. Shortly after I win another and get to 40k, maybe my peak on the day. An older guy moves to my left and I make it 3500 with 77. He jams and if I call it leaves me with about 11k. I let it go. Those situations I was talking about earlier...
Five minutes to the dinner break, and there are 32 left. Today has mainly been about avoiding trouble spots. Soon it'll be gear change time. For the moment I'm on 36k and lying in wait.
Back from dinner and I lose a hand with A10 vs AJ and dip to 27k. Blinds are now 1k/2k/300 so I'm not ideal as the average is around 70k. I can't really steal on this table, but will play aggressively if I get the chance to hit a flop.
I get my chance.
I raise with J 10s and get one caller, flop is 89J rainbow. Not perfect but pretty decent. My opponent bets 6k and I jam. She calls...
Showing AA. Cute.
Brick brick and that's that. I maybe had a rush of blood there. i bust in 30th place. With more chips I don't go so crazy, but I'm not going to agonise too much. I was proably shortest chips on the table, and if that one wins then I can get busy. As it doesn't, I can get packing instead. Exit Kevin.
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