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Blogs, Events/live poker, Team PKR
Event 56 $5K Six Handed NLHE - 30 June 2009
Or maybe I just need to play better. But honestly, apart from my low two pair donk-out in my first tourney, I am pretty happy with how I have played, but a combination of crappy cards and running into the nuts with decent holdings has so far accounted for my exits on Day One of everything I have played so far. I'm hoping we can change all that today.
At midday, I sit down (with the other 600 odd entrants) and find that we're actually starting four-handed as one player has yet to tip up and another place is vacant (tickets are still being sold up to 2pm.) Next to me is Jennifer Tilly - I'm a big fan of both her film and poker career and make a not of doing my best to get hold of her stack.
However, sadly, things dont go quite to plan. My not-so-good start involves me donking off a third of my stack to her within the first hour. No, I wasn't distracted by the cleavage, honest... I have to give Tilly great credit for an excellent call when I put a belting bet on the river with my missed straight.
A poor start is soon forgotten when I call down a couple of bets with pocket 9's on a flop of Q 8 8, a 7 on the turn and a 9 on the river for a full house. I shove in a big raise and get called. Sweet. Then I limp with QQ UTG and flat call a big raise in mid-position. Flop is xxQ. I check-raise and get a call. Turn is a blank and I bet big and get another insta-call - I think my oponent must have a monster, maybe KK or AA - I am therefore ultra cautious (especially with my recent luck) and check the river K. I take down a big pot but lament a missed bet.
A couple of hours in and one poor soul has left the table in a huff after some fella calls a massive re-raise with J 10 off and flops the nut straight against trip Kings. I very much have my eye focused on his now impressive chip stack which he builds further when his Queens hold up against Jennifer Tilly's AK.
Sad as I am to see Jennifer Tilly leave the building I feel more confident against the other players who are left - one of them 3-bets EVERY time and I am gagging to hit a flop against him and call him down. I get my chance pretty soon when I limp with A 7 clubs, call his raise, get a couple of clubs and hit my flush on the river and see my opponent bet big. I slam in a fancy coloured chip on top and he calls, making my chip stack a thing of beauty. It gets better: I call an UTG raise from the J 10 off-suit dude with QJ and see a flop of Q J 5. He bets out and on a draw-heavy board I have to raise here. He re-raises and, sod this, I instantly shove all-in against the only guy on the table who out-chips me. Bad move: he has trip 5's. FFS!!
Can I run this bad forever? Answer: No. The turn is a thing of rare a beauty: another Q. Thank Christ for that! No case 5 for quads on the river makes me....OMG!...makes me....Holy Smoke!!...makes me CHIP LEADER OF THE ENTIRE TOURNAMENT!! Wahey! I RULE!
A few more pots and I consolidate a cracking great chip stack before I go card dead for a while. The important thing though is that I am not leaking chips, staying calm, keeping my head. My table then breaks up and I am sat next to 'Cowboy' Kenna James. It seems like a far tougher table and I keep my head down for a while. I call a raise from James (on the button) with A 7 and he bets out when the ace hits on the flop. I call and then, sensing my ace is good, I lead out on the turn. When he calls I sense my ace may be bad so I check the river and am glad to see him check it down and muck when he spots my ace.
Only an hour to go before we break for the day. I win a couple of pots pre-flop with big re-raises holding AK and QK. I have well over 100,000 chips from a start of 15K. Then mistake number one: with 9 T suited I call a raise from mid-position from a guy with 20,000. If I hit the flop I will move in. The flop is 8 T 2 and I duly move in. He calls with one of the few hands he can call with - trip 8's. Damn. I'm a bit gutted so I lay down a few niceish hands pre-flop to stay out of trouble.
Mistake number two: I call in mid-position with KQ suited after an UTG raise. The flop is Q 7 3. He bets out about 5K. I raise to 12K. He calls and checks the ten on the turn. Hmmm. I hate his call so I check the turn as well. River is a blank and he bets out another 7K. I think I have to call in this spot and he shows AQ and I call myself a bell-end and fold the remaining three hands of the day.
I have gone down to 75K but I can't grumble: I've made it to Day Two for the first time and I am in the hunting pack of a remaining field of 150. Day Two begins and on just the second hand of the day I am on the button and see JJ. Blinds are 800/1600 with antes of 200. I put in a deliberately crappy raise to 5k to make it look ultra-suspicious and invite the re-raise. Sure enough, the small blind re-raises to 20k. I rule out AA or KK and think it's now or never and move all-in. He lays his AK up on the table. 'Is that a call?' I say. The dealer looks over. he answers 'Yes, I call.' I think I could have had his hand declared dead there and then but I let it go, and in retrospect I dont think he was ever going to lay the hand down, but still....
The flop is 4 5 Q. I am standing up leaning on the table praying for two more blanks, but the turn is a disaster. KING. I HATE that king so much it is unbelievable. No Jack on the river and I am out. I have NEVER EVER been so disappointed as I am right at that moment. It's been a tough series, a deeply frustrating, infuriating time for me in Vegas, and that king has just meant I am going home with zero cash. I am mad and unhappy, I will re-run that hand a zillion times in my head and it will give me moments of real despair but of course, I wouldn't have missed it for the world.