A little more in depth than "Holy fucking shit"

So I'd had a good weekend. Came up just shy of $1k on Friday at my usual stomping grounds on NL200 -- my god, how do I play at any other time, anyway? -- and added another $400+ on Saturday thanks to some more cash games and a small score in the Gold level Ironman freeroll. Finally out of my hole and on pace for the month, I make an attempt to build on my momentum on Sunday afternoon, sitting down for my usual 9 tables of NL200.

The tables are always tougher on Sundays than on Fridays and Saturdays. I chalk this up to all the fish losing their money early that they've designated to gamble with that weekend, and also to the fact that all the fish are busy in the Sunday tournaments. With that in mind I decide to throw two additional wrinkles into my mix: the $20+R $17k guaranteed, and the $150+15 buy-in $50k guaranteed. I noted with some wry amusement that on this particular Sunday the actual prize pool tripled the guarantee. Why bother with making a guarantee anyway if you're going to be that far off?

The $20+R didn't go well but wasn't a disaster - I only rebought 3 times, including the initial rebuy and the add-on, but crashed out with AK, getting most of my stack in pre with AK and then shoving a 5-high flop to be called (trivially) by JJ and busting.

The $50k had a quiet start. I played nice and tight for the first couple of levels, squeezing out a small pot here and there, raising a button limper and a SB that completed from the BB with A8o (they folded) and, the next hand, facing an UTG limp from the SB, completed with Q6dd (the BB checked) and betting out a 5c6dKd flop.

I pissed away some chips unnecessarily on the next round, with the blinds at 15/30 calling an MP2 raise from a LAG with AQo. The flop came KKJ and went check-check. The turn bricked (2s) and I check-called a PSB of 240, with the intent of maybe hitting a pair or else going for a CR if it didn't look like MP2 was serious about the hand. Instead he insta-potted for 720 and I decided not to risk my whole stack on a suicide bluff. I folded, my stack still largely intact at 2705.

The next hand, on the button, UTG (a bad player) limped, UTG+2 raised to 135, the CO called, and I called with 9d 7d. The BB and limper called also and we saw the flop 5 handed. It came 2h 4c 3d. The preflop raiser bet 390 into 690, which I didn't think was an overly serious bet, but I folded anyway. It took the pot down. My stack dwindled to 2570.

A round later, my stack is down to 2510, blinds at 20/40. I open to 100 from MP2 with Ah Js and the small blind calls. He bets out 200 on a flop of 4s 7d 2h and I go with the maxim of donk bets on low flops in heads up pots being generally weak and raise to 860. He folds. Stack's up to 2850.

A few hands later I catch As Qd in MP1 and raise to 100. A weak player on my left calls (he has me covered) as does the CO (who has 2460). Flop comes Qh 3c 9d for top pair for me. I check it, MP2 checks, and the CO bets 160 into 360. I call, as does MP2. Turn is the 4c, which seems harmless. All players check. River is the 3d, which also seems harmless. I bet out 500 into 840 and both players fold. I think MP2 had TJ and the CO had air. Stack is up to 3430.

That same round, in the BB. It's folded to the CO, a weak player, who raises to 120. I call with Ah 9s. Flop comes As 8d 5h. He checks, I check. Turn: 5c. He checks, I bet 140, he folds. Stack is up to 3550.

A couple rounds later. Blinds are up to 25/50. It's folded to the button, who's on a 1400 chip stack. He raises to 140 and I shove from the BB with Ah 4s. He instacalls with Ac Kh and it holds. I lose a huge pot, and my stack's back down to 2080. Not my finest hour but I figured he was stealing with ATC (his stats suggested this) and that A4o didn't play horribly against his range. Obviously it was unlucky that he woke up with a monster that had me crushed.

Next round, the blinds have dwindled me to 2035 (now 30/60). I steal the blinds from UTG with Ad Qd. Stack is up to 2095. I then steal the BB from the SB with As Ks. Stack still at 2095.

Next round, on the button with a stack of 2005. I open raise with Ac Qh to 150, both blinds call. Flop comes 2s 7h 2d. We all check. Turn comes 3d. We all check again. River: Ad. Check check to me, I fire out a small bet and they both fold. Stack's up to 2305.

First hand after the first break that I played: blinds 20/40, I'm in the BB with Qh 9d. It's folded to the small blind who raised to 230. I called. Flop came Jc 4c 7d, giving me squadoosh. He bet 285 into 460, which seemed typical for this player: when he cbet small he tended to give up; his bet sizes tended to betray his hand strength, a very novice tell. So naturally, I called. The turn was the Td, giving me an open-ender just in case. He checked, and I bet 790 into 1030. He folded, and my float/steal paid off. Stack's back up to 2820, almost where it started.

A few hands later, there's an UTG limper and I raise with As Ks in UTG+2. Everyone folds. Stack's up to 2980.

Next hand I catch 7d 7s in UTG+1. I raise to 200. The CO (a passive player) and the BB both call. Flop comes Ah 3h Kh. I drag down the pot with a cbet of 400 into 640. Stack's up to 3420.

My first showdown hand was a doozy. Blinds are up to 50/100. It's folded to MP2, who raises to 330. I'm in the SB with Ac Kc and reraise to 1150. The BB pushes and I reluctantly call for my last 2200. Probably a mistake. The BB never shows up weak here so I'm praying for a flip, and still have some chips left if I'm wrong. Big mistake on my part but I got lucky: the flop came 3c Jc 5c giving me the nut flush. Turn was bad, the 3s, but the river missed his 4-outer and I doubled up to 6970.

A few hands later, I opened the CO with Ac 9d to 250. The button called. Flop came Jc Td Kd and I went ahead and bet 450 into 650. Button (the guy I had sucked out on earlier, who was now down to 2k) shoved and I folded. Stack back down to 6170.

Couple hands later. The weak player on my right raises to 285 from MP1. I called from MP2 with Ts Kh. The BB called also. Flop came 2h 7c Td, giving me top pair. It's checked to MP1 who bets 665 into 905. I called, the BB got out of the way. Turn: Th, giving me trips. MP1 shoves his stack in for 1175 more, into 2235. I call. MP1 shows Ah 7h for second pair and the turned nut flush draw. River is the 4c and I bust him. Stack's up to 8630.

Next hand. I'm in MP1 with Ks Kd and open to 350. The player on my left (the one I sucked out on earlier) shoves for 2775. I instacall, he shows 9c 9s. Board comes 9h 4c 3c Ah 2d. He sucks back out on me and doubles up to 5700. I'm knocked down to 5855. Player on my left remarks that we're even.

Next round. Blinds are up to 60/120. I'm in MP1 with Ad As and raise to 300. MP2 (same opponent) calls, and the BB, a tight player, squeezes to 1260. I elect just to call. MP2 calls as well, and we see a big pot 3-handed. Flop comes 8h Ks Td, which I wasn't crazy about. BB checks, and I give a tiny bet of 960 into 3840. Both opponents fold. Stack's back up to 8285.

That round. I open Ac Qs from UTG and buy the blinds, and then the very next hand catch Ks Kd in the BB. The CO minraises and I 3bet, to which he folds. Stack's up to 8765 and I'm feeling good, catching cards.

Next round, I catch Qc Qd from the CO and buy the blinds.

I then sit tight for a while. Blinds advance to 80/160. I catch As 3s from MP2 and raise to 400. The BB calls. Flop comes 7d 8h 8c. BB checks, I check. Turn is the Ts. BB bets out 480 which seemed pretty transparent. I raised to 1680 and he folded. Stack's up to 9605.

I go pretty card dead for a couple of rotations, but can't complain about how I'm running! With blinds at 100/200 MP1, a decent LAG, opens to 550. I call from the button with 7h 7d. Flop comes Tc Jc Jd. He checks, I bet 900, about what I'd bet with a J and also a big draw. Unfortunately he C/R's to 2250 and I have to fold. My feeling was that he had it and I see no reason to adjust that opinion now. Stack's down to 7615.

Next round I bought the BB from the SB with Ad 9h, keeping my stack level.

The next round, with the blinds at 120/240/25, I bought the blinds and antes from the CO with Qd Th. Stack: 8175.

With the blinds at 150/300/25 I raised from UTG+2 to 900 with 9d Td. That bought the blinds and Kept me steady at 7655.

Next hand I raised to 900 with Ad Qc from UTG+1. Two callers, one in MP1 and one on the button. I checked, MP1 checked, and the button bet out 2100 into 3375. I folded. Glad I did, as MP1 shoved his 4660 stack in and the button instacalled. MP1 showed As Ac and the button showed Ts Tc. The turn and river came out Qh Jh and the tens sucked out, busting the player with AA. My own stack dropped to 6730.

I went totally card dead for about 3 rotations. The blinds were brutalizing me and my stack had dwindled to 2805 with the blinds at 200/400/50. Finally I picked up 44 from UTG+1 and shoved it, picking up a much needed 1000 chips when everyone folded.

A few hands later, desperate from short-stackedness, I picked up Th 7h from MP2. Finally not having a raise in front of me, I shoved. Much to my dismay, the CO, who had 7830 in his own stack, re-shoved behind me. I figured that for the ball game until (after everyone else folded) he showed 5c 5h. Much to my good fortune we were racing. The flop came Qc Js 4h, not great, but the turn was the 9d, giving me some additional outs. The river was the beautiful Td, allowing me to double up to 6660, and have a tiny amount of breathing room.

Next round I had Ad 9h in the CO. MP2, on my immediate right, raised to 1265 and I shoved. He folded, and my stack increased to 7985.

Blinds were up to 250/500. The next round UTG raised to 1409. I woke up on the button with Ac As. I elected just to call, and the SB shoved behind me for his short 3kish stack. Amazingly UTG reshoved for 8k. I snapcalled (duh) and to my shock the SB showed Qc Ks while UTG showed Th Qs (LOL!) The board came out 2d Jh Jd Ts 6s and I felted one player and crippled the other, bringing my stack to a healthy 17545, back above the average.

I was transferred to another table around when the blinds went up to 300/600. I bought the blinds from MP2 with Kc Kd. Stack -> 17845, so I hit a round of blinds in there somewhere.

Next round I bought the blinds from the Button, MP2, and MP1 with 7h 7c, Qh Qd, and Tc Ah respectively. After that mini-rush my stack was up to 20,470. We were nearing the bubble at this point if I remember correctly.

That BB, MP1 raised to 1800 and I defended my BB with Ah 9h. The flop came Qc 6c 7c, I checked, and MP1 overshoved 8100 into 4500. I folded.

Blinds up to 400/800, and that next button I bought the blinds and antes with Ah 8s.

The next hand was interesting. I'm in the CO with Qs Ts. It's folded to me (blinds are 400/800/100 and I raise to 2000. The BB defends. I barely have him covered. The flop comes 6c 8h 9h, giving me a double gutshot. He checks, I check. It seemed a likely board to crush a defender's range and I didn't want to have to face a CR from any kind of made hand which would then cost me all my chips. The turn is the 5s, meaning any 7 hit a straight. He bet our 3300 into 5300 and it just seemed a little too likely. Additionally, I had outs to stack his remaining 12,500 if he was telling the truth but I hit. So I called. The river came the Kh, not exactly the perfect card, but a good card to bluff my way out of the hand. He checked, which I interpreted as giving up on the hand, and I waited about 5 seconds and shoved, an effective 12,500 into 11,900. He eventually folded, but used up his entire time bank before doing so, meaning I think I pushed him off of something. I don't think he'd have folded a 7, but I do think the hearts or the possibility that I had a 7 myself may have scared him off of a hand like two pair. I breathed a big sigh of relief. My stack jumped to 26,370, way above average.

A couple of hands later. I am UTG+1 with Tc Th and raise to 2800 with Tc Th. The BB defends, and the flop comes 5s Ts 3s. He then proceeds to donk shove his remaining 6855 into the 6900 pot with 4h 5h. Oops. I snapcalled of course, and he found himself drawing to runner-runner. The board came 8c 9h and I knocked him out. My stack increased to 36,925.

My next SB, MP2, who just happened to be the player I'd exchanged suckouts with earlier, who was sitting on a healthy stack, opened and I defended the SB with 2d 2s. The flop came Ac 3c Js and I elected to check-fold.

A round later, A loose, wild player in MP1 open shoved his 10k stack and I called from the cutoff with 8h 8s. He had Ah Qs. Unfortunately the board came out Ad 4s As 5s Ac, giving him quads. Buh bye to almost 1/3 of my stack in that flip.

The next hand I played was sweet, and seemed familiar. Blinds are 500/1k/100, and I'm at a new table. UTG+1, a shortstack with only ~5700 left, open shoves, and I'm in the SB with Ac As and a 22k stack. The BB has 21k. I elect just to call the raise so as to entice the BB along (incidentally the BB's avatar was the FTOPS winner jersey). This worked like a charm as he instashoved and I instacalled. The shortstack showed Jc Qd and the BB showed 8d 8c. The board came out Kd Ts Kh 3c Jd and I eliminated both players, bringing my stack to 49,034. We were very close to the bubble at this point, and I was well on my way to dropping $700 at the cash tables. I thought making the money in this donkament might ease that pain somewhat (boy was I right!) I even bragged to one of the players at my tables that it was all right that he sucked out on me for a full stack, that I was going to take down the $50k guaranteed.

Two hands later MP1, who was the only player at the table to have me covered, raised to ~2800. I elected simply to smooth-call with Ad Kc. The flop came 3h 5c 8s. He checked, I checked. The turn was the 5s, a horrible card for either of us to bet, and it went check-check once again. The river was the Qs, and he checked to me again. I didn't feel like a bet would knock him off any pair at this point and since I had the best possible no pair hand I decided I had showdown value so I checked back. He showed Kh Jd and I took down the small pot. Stack to 53,865.

A few hands later. In the spirit of attempting to abuse the bubble I raised from UTG+2 with 8c 9c. The BB defended, and the flop came Qd 6h 6s. He checked and I checked, feeling like this was a likely board for someone to try a check-raise bluff that I couldn't possibly call. The turn came the Ks which, given that I'd just checked down AK high, felt like a good card to bluff. He checked and I bet 4000 into 6625. He instafolded. Stack to 57,615.

Two hands later I bought the blinds and antes with Qh Ac from UTG. Stack to 59,990.

A few hands later a player on my right named "donkamentking", who would go on to finish 2nd in the tournament, and had a 39k stack, opened from MP2 and I 3bet from the CO with Ah Kd. Everyone folded. My stack was up to 62,990.

Next hand, I opened from MP2 with As Qs. The SB, who only had about 14k, defended. The flop was favorable, 3c 8h Qc. The SB bet out 5k into 7k and must have been bluffing, as when I minraised him he folded. Pure bubble play, as we were getting VERY close at this point.

A few hands later I raised from MP with 5h 5d but folded to a 3bet from a player on my immediate left who had a healthy stack. I then defended my next BB to an MP open with Qh Jc but elected to check/fold a 9d Ad As flop. I then bought the blinds with Qd Qh and 9h Qs.

The bubble broke around then, and I hit what seemed like a very timely Ks Kd in the small blind, given normal post-bubble craziness. Unfortunately all I managed was a resteal on a midstack. My stack was at 73,965.

I bought the blinds with Ah Jh and went card dead for a rotation, before picking up Ad Kd on the button against a MP2 opener. He showed As Kc and we chopped. I bought the blinds from EP with Ac Td.

All through this time I was a top ten stack. After taking down a pot with a Cbet (flop was 3c 6s Ac, I held Th Qh) and then stacking a 30k stack with Ac Ah against As Td, that elevated me to a top 3 stack. Buying the blinds with Qs Kc and then winning an all-in against a tiny stack with Ad Qd against Qs Th, made me the chip leader of the tournament. I yelled across the house to Brian, "YOU ARE IN FIRST POSITION!!!!" and posted a rail call at 2+2. There were something like 33 people left at this point. Blinds were up to 1500/3000.

A huge hand then developed with one of the other chip leaders. He was very aggressive, a little wild, and opened from the CO. I defended the BB with Jh 9h and the flop came 8d 3c 9d. Good enough, I thought. I checked and he gave a normal cbet. I raised all-in and he instacalled so fast I thought I was toast. Much to my delight he showed 7c 7h, which I felt he was capable of or I'd never have gotten involved with him to begin with. The board bricked out and I dragged down a huge pot, bringing my chipstack to 192,283, way ahead of the field.

I reraised a midstack a few hands later with As Ks and was the beneficiary of a walk with Tc 8h and again with 9h Kh.

A very tight player raised from EP and I elected just to call from the button with Ts Th. I noticed that the SB in this hand was the very same dude I'd exchanged suckouts with so much earlier in the tournament, though he was by now very short. My thinking was to only get it in against this player on a favorable flop, as with his tight range pretty much any overcard was anathema. The BB joined us as well and the flop came - shall we say very favorably, 4h Tc 2s. Two checks to me and I made a big mistake, I now feel, in betting 12k. On that dry of a board I needed to let one peel and hope one or both of them improved to 2nd best hands. Instead they both folded and I took down a pot that, while decent, could have been better.

I opened the next hand with 8c Tc and to my dismay, my partner in suck-out-itude, shoved over the top of me, leaving me better than 3:1 to call. I called, and he showed 5h 5s for a race, which I won when the board came out Ts 8d Kc Qh 7c. My stack was 260,811, almost 100k above anyone else.


I won pots where I could, stealing preflop with As 3s, Td 2d, Qs Qc, 9c 9s, and restealing with Ks Kh, being restolen on while holding Kc Tc, and taking down a pot with Ac 9d where I raised preflop, checked down twice on a board that came out Jc Qs 9c Qd Ad, finally betting with my ace at the end and getting a fold.

With the blinds increasing, and us down to two tables, two psychological effects were on me. First, I realized that the payout was over $1k and that I was finally even for the day. Second, I lost the chip lead, going card dead and unable to keep up with those that were doubling up and knocking others out. That is until a 90k stack, with the blinds at 3k/6k, open shoved. I was holding Ad Qh in the BB and thought long and hard. That was about 1/3 of my stack; I was at 290k. Finally I decided that that just didn't make much sense for a huge hand and called. The dude showed Ac Jh and I had him dominated. The board came out 4s 2d Ah 8c 4h and my hand held, catapulting me back into the chip lead with 384k.

By then the whole house had crowded around me and was sweating me.

I faced a nerve-wracking all-in against a MP raiser while holding JJ. I reraised on him and he came over the top, all-in, with Ad Tc. I called, and had him dominated, until the board came out As Qs 2d. Thankfully the turn was the Jd, and the river was the Th, knocking one more player out. Unfortunately that only took me back into the 320k stack range, as the blinds and antes were really pulverizing: 4k/8k/1k.

It didn't help that I lost three contested pots in a row, completing the SB with Qc Ks but then folding to a shove, stealing from the CO with Ac 3s and folding to a shove, and defending my SB with Ad Qd against a tight opener but then check-folding a 4h 5h 4s board. Coming over the top in that last hand might have been advisable, but I just did not want an all-in confrontation at that point in time against another big stack without a hand slightly better than Ad Qd, and since the flop sucked, elected to fight on in a new hand.

I went card-dead for a few rotations before stealing with As Kh and restealing from a shortstack with Ac Jh. Then I went card dead again, had to dump 7h 7s facing a raise and big reraise, and stole with 9c 9d.

We were at the final table by now, and I was in the top 4 stacks the entire time.

Down to 7 handed, I was playing pretty tight and content to steal blinds where I could, usually with decent to good hands: Ah Qs from the SB, and 8h 8d from the button, kept me afloat. Blinds were 8k/16k by this point.

Two more were knocked out in rapid succession, and before I realized what was going on I was in the top 5, which paid out like $8k. All I was thinking at this point was "holy shit." At the same time, the blinds were so big, I resigned myself to relaxing, and recognizing that it was largely a crapshoot.

I managed to steal three out of four hands in a row, with 8d 7d, Ad As, and Kd Jh. I then went totally card dead and folded for the next 3 rotations, then doing a lot more folding while finding steals with As 8s and Ad Jd. Everything else I was being dealt was either other crap, or medium-strength hands facing a raise and reraise in front of me. Very unfortunate.

Then we knocked out our 5th place finisher, and the payout jumped to 5 figures. Once more, all I could think was "holy shit."

Not long after, a very key hand occurred. I was the shortstack with 435k, but the 2nd and 3rd place stacks weren't far ahead, at 474k and 613k. The chip leader had 1.4M. I was on the button with 9h 9s. The player on my right, the 474k stack, had been the tightest player at the table. He raised to 60k, and I reraised to 204k, just under half my stack. The other two folded and UTG called. A strange move, I thought.

The flop came 7c Tc Js and villain instantly pushed all-in for my last 429k.

I felt comfortable believing that UTG had planned on shoving any flop, from the timing, and also felt that this was a horrible flop for me. This move seems most obvious with a big pair, hoping I catch some kind of pair on the flop and shipping against AA when I might fold a trash hand to a shove pre. Unfortunately every big hand made some kind of contact with that flop, and I didn't. I have a gutshot, but only 3:1 odds to draw to it, and am not a huge favorite even against hands like AK and AQ. The only range I beat is an underpair, and I just have trouble seeing villain taking this line with an underpair. Eventually I folded. I still had 10bb left, and just couldn't conjure up a compelling scenario in which I had the best hand. Combine that with a weak-ass draw and I didn't want my tournament life to be over on that hand. It was certainly a gross spot. In a cash game I probably had the equity to call with 6 outs I have reason to believe are live, plus being up against the occasional psycho bluff, but felt that last 200k+ was worth too much.

Unfortunately, 3 hands later, I caught Ac 2c from the SB and faced a button steal from the same player. I shipped and he called with Kh Jh. I was happy that I was a decent favorite - until the flop came 3d Jd Ks. The turn gave me a tiny sweat with the 2h, but the river was the 3c and that was the ball game. Ship the $12,201.75.

Obviously there are mixed emotions about this sort of score. I felt I got lucky and ran hot when I needed to, surviving being a shortstack through the meat of the pre-bubble phases to emerge as chip leader shortly after the bubble, but also felt I played well, staying patient and pulling off a couple of big bluffs when I felt they were warranted. First place paid the realm of $37k, which obviously leaves a bit of a raw taste in my mouth as I was *SO CLOSE* and all, but that can't let me distract myself from the reality that $12k is a huge score for me that not only makes my month, but has a very real effect on my year.

The average civilian hears from the guy who finishes, like, 5th at the WSOP Main Event every year and reacts with some shock at the inevitable "Well, obviously I'm disappointed..." sort of line, but the poker players get it. "How can he be disappointed?" comes the reply. "He just won like 3 million dollars!" "Yeah, but he could have won 9." It's bittersweet. I get how they feel, although the scale of my score is still much less than the scale of theirs. This is the biggest score of my life by a factor of over 3, but the feeling isn't the unmitigated elation that I felt when I dragged down that $10+R tourney for $3975 about 18 months ago. It's still elation, but there's definite mitigation. As cool as the $12k is, god damn, how cool would that $37k be?

I can't complain. I made $2k an hour yesterday, and justified to myself why I've thrown so much money into donkaments this year.

One thing's for sure. I felt justified as all hell taking today off. Back to the grind tomorrow, though. Probably still at 1/2 :)