A Weird Tournament

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Good morning.

I got a call last friday from a friend who told me of a poker tournament in Charlotte, NC. I'm still unsure about the details but these guys donate to some zoological group or something so they have these legal poker tournies and cash games on a regular basis. So I was offered a stake in saturday's tourny and at around 2:00pm I sat with 76 other players, quite a few of whom were from G-vegas. The total buy-in was $180 and 8 got paid with 1st cashing in for about $3100.

The structure was ok and I started with 17,000 chips. We played the first four levels before a break and during level four, I played my first hand. UTG min-raised to 400 and I called with 66 and BB called as well. The flop was Q62 rainbow. BB checked, UTG bet 700, I called and BB called. The turn brought and ace and when it did, I was staring hard at UTG. BB checked and as UTG looked at the board and reached for chips to bet, I could easily tell he loved the ace. He bet out 1500 and I elected to just call. BB folded and the river was blank. UTG bet out 2500 and I had about 7500 in my stack. I thought about what he could have and I couldn't shake the sick feeling that he either flopped a set of queens or turned a set of aces. I really felt like he loved the ace on the turn and there were a couple reasons he may have loved it, the main one being that he flopped the queens and was hoping someone hit the ace. With so much play left, I decided to just call. He turned up the one hand that, for some strange reason, never crossed my mind... AQ. I drug the pot and we went on break.

When we returned from break, the blinds were 100/200/25. I didn't play a hand until the next level with the blinds being 150/300/25. The BB had been raising alot. He was loose and agressive and he happened to be a G-vegas player named Brian. The UTG lady had been quite tight and she raised it up to 1000 with a single yellow chip. I was two to her left and I looked down at KK. I decided to raise to 2000 and all else folded to the BB. He chattered a bit about my raise and overcalled and the lady called. The flop hit QTx with 2 spades and Brian took a minute to look at UTG's stack and my stack and while he was doing this, I watched the lady get excited and fidget about in her seat. She held a monster and I knew it. Brian finally verbalized "I'm alll in", and this was quite a bet considering the stacks. He had both UTG and myself covered and I had about 19K. But as soon as he could get the words out, the lady called faster than she's probably done anything in 10 years. It took me about 1 second to uncap my kings and fold face up to the gasps of the table. Brian flipped up AsTs for a pair/flush draw and UTG flipped up what I already knew, pocket queens for a flopped set. She held up and I, while proud of my fold, felt gypped.

I played on until the dinner break which was after three hours of play. When I left to eat I had 14K in my stack and upon our return the blinds would be 500/1K/100. I knew that the game would really have to start for me but I was prepared as this is where I play my best. I also had an image and knew that most of my raises/shoves would be given to me, especially when I'm so good at picking the spots. I wouldn't be shoving on Brian too much or the guy on my right, and I knew who would likely fold. With that in mind, I hit the buffet.

Here's where the day took a ridiculous turn. I scarfed down a plate of mediocre lasagna and spaghetti and then decided to rush down to a Starbucks about 4 miles away and grab a coffee to fuel my assault over the next couple hours. I made it there and got the coffee just fine, but with about 5 minutes left before the end of the break, I lightly bumped the rear bumper of an SUV as I pulled out onto Park Rd. What the fuck? I hadn't hit anyone on over 17 years. Well, the lady insisted on a police report. I didn't care about my car, I just had a small dent on my passenger door and I don't even have collision insurance, but she had a scratch on her bumper and I don't blame her.

We pulled into a gas station and she called the cops. I sat in my car and thought about folding the kings and I thought about the $3100 first place prize. How in the name of Hell does this happen right now? I hated to, but I accepted the fact that the tourny was over for me. But then, to my surprise, the cop arrived rather quickly. It turned out that he was headed to that gas station anyway to get a coffee for himself. Not only did he make the report quickly, but he didn't even ticket me for my expired registration. I'm lazy on that type of stuff. He handed me my copy of the report and I sped back to the tourny.

I walked in and found that my stack still had 7K in it. The blinds were about to move from 600/1200/100 to 800/1600/100 and I went through the blinds and then shoved AJ on the button and picked up the pot. With 7K still in my stack, the 1600 BB hit me and I was dealt 65o. Brian, who was still up to his LAG monkey business, raised from the cut-off to 4200. It folded to me and I thought about his hand. I know I want to be shoving and not calling, especially with rags, but with Brian on my right, I knew that the opportunies to shove without his raise in front of me would be few and far between. He could have just about any two cards that included at least one face or ace. If he had two overs I'd just be a 3-2 dog and I figured to be at least that good or better so I decided to gamble in this spot while the pot would still be worth it. If I fold my 1600, then shove the next hand or even later than that, I wouldn't gain much and I'd have to shove again pretty quickly. Given all those factors, I said, "If I win this pot I win the whole thing," as I slid my remaining 5400 or so into the middle. Brian said something about having to call (duh) and he showed me QT, about what I figured. I flipped my cards and the dealer put out JJ7 for a flop. I pointed at the board and called for a 6 and the dealer peeled a 6. I pointed again and called for an ace and the dealer obligedly peeled an ace for me. It was, of course, fun to call the turn and river cards while the table laughed in amazement, but it was so much more fun to drag in the 16K pot.

I rode my stack down to the final three tables where I dwindled down to 9K with the blinds being 1K/2K/200. UTG, I looked at 5h2h and shoved with what would surely be live cards. It made it all the way to the BB and he found KQ and called. The dealer proceeded to flop me a 5, and then turn a 2 to give me the pot. Then, in the SB, I picked up 66. One guy limped so I limped and the BB checked. I flopped a set and managed to double up against second pair and found myself sitting on a 40K stack. We broke down to 2 tables and I fought hard. I found a couple spots to shove and survive but finally, with 15 players left, I shoved and ace, got called in two spots, and drove back to G-vegas empty handed.

Considering everything that happened, it was a weird day. In the end, I just couldn't find a hand. The structure was long in the beginning, but the blinds got nuts towards the end. Went I busted, we were at 4K/8K/400 and the dealer at my new table was slow as shit. I had fun playing and I feel like I fought pretty hard, especially after the debacle on Park Rd. Maybe next time.

I'm back at the tables in Cherokee by the way. Stay tuned...