Some Hands

So the tournament ended up starting a little late so I got to talking with a few people at my table. I recognized absolutely no one and no one really seemed comfortable, so I was pretty optimistic about the table. One guy recognized me, so the whole table knew I won Atlantis. I'm not sure if that really matters or not, I doubt it. I pretty much decided I was going to play a lot of hands early, since most people don't play very well with deep stacks and these are super deep. So, early on I raised a bunch of pots, check raised preflop raisers a couple times, and reraised a couple late raisers and won a bunch of little pots. Surprisingly there were some pretty big pots at the table, only one of which I was in.

Hand 1: 25/25, ~21,000 chips
UTG raises to 100, 2 cold callers and I call Ks6s on the button. Flop comes 662 with two hearts. Checked to the second caller who leads 300, I make it 900, only he calls. He's a fairly young guy and from the looks of it is probably half decent. Turn's a Q, he checks, I bet 1600 at the ~2200 pot and he calls pretty quickly. River's a K and brings the flush draw, he checks, I bet 3600 and he reluctantly calls. He says after that he also had a 6. This gets me up to ~27,000 and that's about where I finish level 1.

Level 2 was a super frustrating level. People seemed to always be calling me and I couldn't seem to make a hand. I lost a couple semi-large pots and finished that level around 23,000. Basically nothing happened and very little went right. Level 3 started the same way and I got as low as around 19,000. My table loved limping and I was raising a lot of pots in position. The only problem was they'd all call and I couldn't hit a flop.

Hand 2, 50/100, 19,000
The two guys to my right are both very loose and kind of calling stations post flop. Both limp and I make it 500 with KK (the first big hand I've seen all day). The big blind calls (he's a little too tight, but fairly decent) as do the limpers. The flop is J32 with two clubs. BB checks, and the first limper bets 600(???) at the 2000 pot. Second limper folds and I just call. Pretty much I think he's betting to see if I'll raise and he'll generally lose more if I just call here. BB folds and the turn is another 2. He checks, I bet 1500 and he immediately min-raises me. I have no idea what's going on and call. The river's a queen and he instantly checks. The pot's about 9000 and I bet 3500. I kind of wish I'd bet a little more but I didn't want to bet enough that he might fold a jack. He calls instantly and my kings are good.

This pot got me to about 28,000 at the break. Aaron was playing yesterday too and was up to around 45,000 at this point which was probably fairly near the top of the chip counts. The next level was a bit of a bigger jump as they went right to 100/200 with a 25 ante. With my table being pretty tight and the antes pretty big I planned to be raising a ton of pots. This went really well early, although the older guy to my left started giving me dirty looks basically everytime I raised.

Hand 3: 100/200/25, ~31,000
I raise to 600 early with Td9d, super tight guy cold calls and the loose short stack in the bb calls. Flop comes QdJx7d, short stack checks, I bet 1800. Super tight guy calls, and the bb pushes for just under 5k. I elect to call (instead of shove to get rid of the tight guy) because I'm pretty sure the tight guy will never reraise and will let me see the turn and river free. He folds what he later said was AQ(?!?!?). BB has one of the worst hands he could, Ad4d, so I'm a little better than a 2:1 underdog but I river an offsuit 8 to win the pot.

I keep raising a lot of pots and get up to around 40k before I lose my first big pot.

Hand 4: 100/200/25, ~40,000
I raise to 700 utg with AsQs, only the loose guy in the bb calls. He's generally been pretty passive postflop but is fairly readable. Flop comes Ac9c8x, he checks, I make it 1200 and he raises to 3500. Usually I'd just fold here but for some reason I really really don't believe him. I end up calling planning to reevaluate on the turn. Turn's an offsuit ten and he checks. I consider pushing his last 8500 or so but end up checking. I'm still not necessarily calling if he pushes the river, but I probably will on a blank. River's a jack (giving me a queen high straight), he shoves, I call. Unfortunately KcQc is good.

That pot hurt a lot and gets me down around 28,000 or something. I win a few more little pots and get to 30,000 before I make my first biggish bluff.

Hand 5: 100/200/25, ~30,000
Two early limpers (this is very common) and the decent guy in middle position makes it 1000. Button calls and I call in the big blind with 9d8d. Limpers call as well and the flop comes 755 with one diamond. Checked to the preflop raiser who bets 2000. I guarantee I can get him to fold aces, so when the button folds I raise to 6000. I'm quite likely pushing the turn if he calls this. Folds to him and he says "wow, you have a 5....ok" and folds.

I end this level with about 40,000 and go to dinner. Aaron at this point has built up to about 70,000 and still must be fairly near the chip lead. We eat at the buffet at the fallsview casino and it's not bad. When we get back, my table breaks pretty quickly which sucked. I get moved to a new table where the guy two to my left has a ridiculous amount of chips. I find out it's about 120,000 and he's the chip leader by a mile. To his left is Eli Elezra with some chips, then a young guy with some chips...I'm pretty sure already that this table's going to be no fun. I win a couple smallish pots with top pair and get up to about 50,000 when this happens. (The 150/300/50 and 200/400/75 levels are kind of blurred together in my head so I'm not sure what happens during which one)

Hand 6: 150/300/50(?), ~50,000
Aggressive young guy raises to 1200 and gets called. I have AA on the button and raise to 5500. Gets back to the original raiser who has about 25k total who thinks a while and raises most of his stack. I push, he calls with KK and my aces hold. Good timing Steve. This gets me up to about 75k.

I immediately lose a couple pots, one where I bluffed twice and got called, one where I flop top pair and lose to a better top pair. That gets me down to around 60k when this ridiculous hand happens.

Hand 7: 200/400/75(?), ~60,000
I raise to 1200 middle-ish with TT and the chip leader calls me in position. Everyone else folds. He's been playing a fair number of pots and is pretty aggressive. Flop comes T85r (!!!). I lead 3000 and after some thought he calls. The turn is an A, and I bet 5500. He thinks a while and makes it 20,000. I push after a little thought and he instantly calls. I turn over my tens and he grimaces and shows 88. River's a 6 and all of a sudden I'm chip leader thanks to a couple cold decks going my way.

I raise a few more pots this level and nothing too big happens. I finish the level with 130,000 and one more level to go before the end of the night. In the meantime Aaron lost a huge pot with QQ to a flush and is down around 35,000. At my table, Eli Elezra has started commenting on how much I've been raising and actually at times seems to be getting fairly upset. I decide to try to play a lot of pots with him. Also, early in this level a new guy joins the table, sitting to the left of Elezra, who has about as many chips as I do.

I continue to raise a lot of pots and people are sort of starting to play back. I fold to a couple reraises but keep raising at least twice an orbit.

Hand 8: 300/600/75
I raise to 1800 two off the button with 98o. Elezra calls in the sb, young big stack calls in the bb. Flop comes Ax5d2d, and it gets checked around. Turn's a 6 and it gets checked around. River's the 7d, and the young guy bets 3000. I consider just calling but decide that my line looks weird enough that he might pay off a raise with Ax or two pair. I raise to 10k, Elezra looks like he wants to call but ends up folding. Young guy thinks a while and raises 15k more. I unhappily fold after some thought.

Hand 9: 300/600/75
I raise to 1800 in the cutoff with 75o. Elezra in the bb says he's calling blind if the small blind folds and the whole table laughs a little. Small blind (ex chip leader who I had the set vs set against) thinks a while and reraises to 3600. While he was getting it ready I'd already decided I was going to reraise. I make it 10,500 and he calls fairly quickly. The flop is J42, he checks and I bet 14k. He thinks for a long time and folds AKs face up. While he was thinking I was kind of questioning whether he was the right guy to do this against. I really don't think he was, but it worked. I contemplated showing (just to show that they can't reraise and always expect me to fold) but decided not to.

Hand 10: 300/600/75
UTG is an middle aged guy who seems to know Eli pretty well. From what I can tell he's pretty good. He's picked a couple great spots to reraise preflop (either that or had cards at the right time) and seems pretty good. Anyways, he raises to 2000 utg, someone calls in middle position and I call on the button with Ts7s. Eli calls blind in the big blind. I'm not sure I like this call but I really thought I could take the pot away on a lot of flops. Flop comes KsQx5s and utg bets 5000. Middle guy folds and I call planning to bet the turn if he checks. I thought he had more behind than he did, if I'd known he only had ~30,000 more I probably would've raised. Eli folds and the turn is a K. He checks and I bet 11,000. He thinks a bit and pushes for 28,000 total and I have to fold.

Hand 11: 300/600/75
I raise to 1800 in the cutoff with AA, tight guy on the button calls and Eli calls in the sb. He probably called at least 40% of my raises. Flop's 853 with two clubs and Eli checks. I bet 4500, button immediately pushes something around 20 or 25k. Eli gets angry and says he was going to do that and reluctantly folds. I would've been much happier calling Eli but I call nonetheless. Button has TT and I win that to get up around 140k.

I raise a couple more pots as the level winds down and finish with 144,600, good for 3rd of those that played yesterday. John Juanda ended up busting Aaron with a flopped straight and is the chip leader with about 180,000. So, overall it was a great day. It's always nice to get action both times you have aces and on the only set of the day. They're planning on having the final table on Sunday, so I expect Friday and Saturday will be very long days, assuming I make it that far.

Steve