i made the final table at the first event of the Heartland Poker Tour‘s fall stop at turning stone, my first decent cash in a while. i played pretty well all day, with a couple gutsy and successful moves, a couple mistakes, and a couple lucky breaks.
a big turnout of 245 players showed up for a $200 weekday event. great structure for a low buyin event: 40 minute levels and nice gradual blind increases. for the 1st few hours i cruised along, chipping up slowly without playing any big pots. the only interesting hand during that time was one where i planned to run a big bluff, but didn’t. it went kinda like this:
i open for a raise from the cutoff with the trashy A♣5♣. i get called by the big blind, a guy who knows me pretty well. the flop comes J high rainbow and he checks. i bet about 2/3 of the pot with nuttin’ much and he makes a minimum check raise. i think i’ve got a handle on where he’s at: i feel that he has a medium strength hand or a straight draw, and he wants to slow me down or maybe take it down if i don’t have anything. i call with nothing, with the plan of bluffing the turn if nothing too scary happens. this is a pretty risky plan because i calculate the bluff is going to cost about 1/3 of my chips. the turn is an ace and he checks. ok, new plan! now i think i have the best hand, but i don’t want to get raised off it, so i check behind. river is a blank. check, check, and i take it down with my pair of aces. to his credit, he doesn’t give me too much of a scowl after realizing i called the flop raise with nothing. he didn’t show, but i’m pretty sure plan A would have worked if the ace didn’t come.
by the 400/800 level i had about 20k chips (we started with 6k) and i’m doing OK. i get moved to a fairly tough table with jimmy keller and another tricky player both with decent stacks at the other end. then this pot comes along:
there’s a limper for $800 and i limp behind in middle position with A♥9♥. the button raises to $3500 and keller calls in the blind. the 1st limper calls also, and now with 12k in the pot i feel obligated to go along for the ride. how did i get myself into this mess? the flop comes J♣8♥4♥, and jimmy leads for 6500. i start thinking. i’ve got at least a nut flush draw, and my guess is keller has a J or pocket tens, or possibly a draw worse than mine. i size up his stack, he’s only got 8000 more, so i don’t have much fold equity, but i’ve got him covered by a few. however, this is interesting: if i shove, the original raiser probably can’t call. if he does keller may be priced in and my nut flush is getting 3:1 odds. if the original raiser doesn’t call, i think i most likely have 12 outs against jimmy, and there’s some chance he’ll call with a worse hand than mine (he’ll be getting a decent apparent price on a draw), and there’s also some chance he’ll fold a hand that’s got me beat now, like a pocket pair or a weakish J. i hate to put my life on the line with a draw that’s somewhat likely to be called, but this seems like a real opportunity. i take it and jam my stack into the middle. the preflop raiser mucks instantly, and keller starts thinking. to my surprise, he folds. i double up without having to draw out. nice!
a while later i’ver been whittled back down to 26k or so. i’ve been moved again and blinds are 600/1200. i’m in the big blind and it’s folded around to the small. he limps, and i look down to find pocket eights. i jack it up to 5000 and he quickly jams his 14k into the pot. ugh. not the spot i want to be in with eights, but i’m getting a decent price and i make the call. he turns up A♣K♥ and i feel a little better that i’m a small favorite instead of a big dog. but a king comes on the board and i ship the majority of my chips to the right.
i survive a while with my now shortish stack, and look down to see K♣K♠, a welcome sight. i make a normal-size raise for 1/3 of my stack and hope to get played with. i get one caller from a blind with a decent stack. the flop just has to contain an ace, doesn’t it? yep A♣9♥4♠… and he checks. i hate the ace up there, but decide i’m going with my hand. i move in and he folds. i don’t realize until afterward that i played this hand pretty badly. after i make the decision i’m not folding the hand, i should check behind and give him the chance to bluff at the turn. doh!
out of immediate danger but still short, i soon pick up A♣K♣. all righty then! there’s a raise before me and i only have about 12BB, making this hand a no-brainer. i come over the top. i get called, and he shows A♠K♦. there are 2 diamonds on the flop and another on the turn, but the river blanks off and we chop up the dead money. whew!
i come from the dinner break to a stack with about 11 big blinds in it, and the antes were taking a rapid toll. near the money bubble, and i get moved again. big ben, a guy i know as an excellent limit holdem cash game player, is at the other end of the table with a very big stack, and he’s raising almost every pot. i play back at him with AJ and he folds, but i’m barely staying ahead of the blinds. i find AQ and shove 8 or 9BB and nobody calls. the very next hand i find A♣Q♣ and shove again. this time i get called by A♠K♣. he flops a K but i river a straight. sorry dude. suckout #1… yay, i’m still alive!
a while later i raise with 9♣9♦ and guy shoves all in for 20k i’ve got him covered by a few and i’m priced into the call. he’s got A♠K♥ and i win the race and suddenly i’m not that short any more.
by now we’re in the money (25 got paid) and i go on a little rush, eventually building my stack up to $170K, making me second in chips at my table with 2 tables left. i take a couple hits but arrive at the final table with a playable $100k. i take another hit and i’m a little desperate again at 60k. time for suckout #2… i get most of my money in with 9♣9♠ against Q♥Q♦ but make a set and bust the guy. with $120k i’m about average. there’s a very big stack on my right, manned by a young guy who appears to be smart and aggressive. people start talking about a chop but we keep playing.
when we get down to 8 there’s some serious lobbying for a chop. the deal is floated that we chop it up evenly for about $4500 each with each of us throwing a few hundred extra to the big stack to give him $7k (nominal 1st place money is $13k). a bunch of guys want this deal because it brings the payout in under the new $5K reporting rule, so they think they don’t need to pay taxes. good luck with that. i hate these big multiway deals, but i decide to agree if everyone else wants it. several factors argue for the deal: equity-wise it’s a good deal for me with my average size stack. plus, the big stack seems to play quite well and he’s on my immediate right. since we’re not seeing many flops i don’t really like having him there. and it’s midnight. we’ve been playing 14 hours and if we go any later i don’t have much chance of playing tomorrow. one woman who’s second in chips but not very experienced doesn’t really want to deal but she doesn’t really want to be the only objector. i try to let her off the hook by telling her that she shouldn’t ever feel bad about turning down a deal. but instead of saying “let’s play” she keeps waffling. the short stack offers to throw her a few hundred extra. eventually she agrees, but then she immediately regrets it. too late, everyone else is already out of their chairs and headed for the payout table.
i kind of felt bad that she let herself be pressured into a deal she wasn’t really happy with, but she did it to herself, and frankly she did get a good deal. she plays OK, but she was tired and inexperienced, and i don’t think she was going to be able to hold onto her 2nd place chip position for long.
i cashed for $4570 (officially $4870 but we each donated $300 to the chip leader) –Â not bad for a $200 buyin tournament! official results
i got home at 1:00 AM. i wanted to play today’s $300 event, but this morning i could tell i wasn’t going to have the stamina for another 14 hour day, so i went to work instead. tomorrow’s another day, and i’ll be there for the $500 event.
