If you’ve read about day 1 of my journey in the 2008 Irish Open, you’ll know that I had some ups and downs and finished with a stack of 19,100. As day two dawned it was time to buckle down and try to build a stack…
Day 2: Level 9 (400/800/a50)
I didn’t start on the same table as I finished on the night before, but the new table wasn’t any better. It was extremely aggressive and with my stack of 19,100 all I could do was wait for a good opportunity to double-up. The only pots I won came from blind battles. The guy to my immediate left was very tight so I stole his big blind when it was folded to me.
The next time I raised from the small blind with 8-9o into his big blind he called. The flop came A-5-7, I checked and he checked behind. I figured he had a hand and he could very well have the Ace. That’s why I opted to check since I had the gutshot draw. The turn was a Six – ka-chinngg! I checked again hoping he would finally put some money in the pot, but he declined. I was sure he didn’t have the Ace now. The river was a Ten and I knew I had to bet to get anything out of the pot. He would never bet behind the way this hand had played. Since I didn’t put him on an Ace I thought I should either bet very small, like a quarter of the pot to get paid by most pairs, or put out a bet that looked like a bluff. I felt greedy so I put out a nice chunk of chips and bet just over the pot. He sighed and folded.
The very next round it was folded to the small blind and he called my big blind. I checked and saw a flop with him holding 3-4o. The flop came 4-7-8 with two diamonds. He checked and I bet 1,100 into the pot of 1,800. He called. The turn was another Seven. He checked one more time and I bet out 2,200 to get him off a potential draw. He thought for a long time before asking me if I was bluffing. I didn’t answer, which resulted in a fold from his part.
A few rounds later I raised with A-3s from the button to 3k and the small blind shoved for a total of 7k. I had to call and his 5-5 held up. After the first two levels I was down to 18k and was starting to get really short. I needed something to happen after the break.
Level 11 (600/1,200/a100)
Something did happen… I was moved to the TV table. Whooop! Great, at least I’ll be on TV, I thought when I was carrying my little stack across the room. Roland de Wolfe was sitting there and two seats to my right was Christer Johansson with a big stack. I didn’t get any cards the first rounds so I built up a tight image. I then busted out a short stack with A-K versus his Q-Q, and I was up to 24k after that hand.
Just a few hands later I got K-K and raised it up, got a big reraise behind me and I thought for a little while. Let’s say it was a cheap Hollywood act since I pretty much knew he was committed to call if I shoved. As it happened, I moved all-in and he called with Q-Q. I felt happy with the setup, but boooom! A Queen appeared right in the door. Are you kidding me? Yes, as it happened, because a King appeared just after and to my pleasure the last King showed up on the river. After that hand I was up to a bit over 50k and felt really good. I geared up and took down a few pots preflop.
At the 800/1,600 level someone raised to 5k on my BB and I looked down at my favourite hand: the almighty 5-3s. I had to call and we saw a flop of K-T-7 with two of my suit. I decided to bet out 8.5k in front since he was a tight player and I felt he wasn’t capable of getting tricky or making tough calls. After a few minutes in the tank he finally released his hand. After that I lost a few pots and went to the dinner break with 54k after the first four levels of the day.
Level 13 (1,000/2,000/a200)
When we came back from dinner we found out that our table had been broken up and removed from the TV area. That was okay for me since I didn’t have to carry on confronting the big stacks of Christer Johansson and Sorel Mizzi. The new table was a dream. There were two other big stacks, but they were not aggressive at all, and the rest of the table was also tight and passive. This resulted in a gear change I usually never do. I played almost every pot, and with small raises of 2.5 big blinds or less I took down a lot of pots preflop or on the flop. The few times I got three-bet, which I can count on two fingers, I folded. During this two-hour period I built my stack from 54k to 108k without a single showdown. I felt extremely good about the way the tournament was going.
Level 15 (2,000/4,000/a300)
After the break I was ready to continue my domination of the table, especially now that we were approaching the bubble. Well, that plan had two bumps ahead in the form of two aggressive big stacks that were moved to the table. One of them was my stalker Christer Johansson who had been following me all day! The first three hands I raised I got three-bet back, two times from the new big stack and the last time from Mr. Nit in seat 3. So I decided to tighten up my play and nothing happened to me before the bubble hit. Then I got involved in two tough situations…
Hand 1
Remember we were on the bubble. A tight player had just busted out Mr. Johansson in a mega-pot and was now sitting on a big stack. He raised to 12k. I looked down at A-K in the big blind. What to do? My first thought was just to flat-call and play it safe in case I hit. But somehow I decided to make a three-bet to 30k with 60k behind, since he had been tight all day and would fold unless he had a big hand. And he could very well be stealing with his big stack. He asked me how much I had left and then put me all-in! I went into the tank. Was he pushing me around on the bubble? I thought for a long time and realised he had been tight all day. I took a good look at him and it seemed like he felt pretty comfortable with the situation. I ended up folding and he told me he had K-K. LOL! Yeah right! A year later when I met him at a party in Vegas we talked about that hand and he then told me he had J-J. There you go – never trust a poker player (unless he is drunk in Vegas).
Hand 2
Just two hands later (and this was probably a stupid spot since the very next hand two big blinds would have been forced all-in), it was folded to me and I looked down at A-To on the button. I raised to 10k, the aggressive big stack in the small blind called and the big blind folded. The flop was T-5-6 and he shoved in front. GEEEZ! Was I going to be the bubble boy? I felt 95% sure I was ahead so I called. He turned over K-T and my hand held up. The very next hand the bubble burst.
I didn’t get any hands in the last level so I ended the day with 98k. There were only 52 players left to fight for the first prize of €800k. I felt pretty good but after two days of play I still hadn’t had Aces. But then I thought it would be better to get them in a later stage of the tournament.
Read days three and four…
Kai 'kingkai84' Paulsen is a member of Team PKR Pro. To find out more about him and to read more articles written by Kai, please click here