This is way better than a Nascar points race!

by Landlord79 on 05/04/07

Moving up in the points race!
I played in my “other” home game last night. The host set it up after my structure and it is a very enjoyable game. He is also doing a points race with a “tournament of champions” at the end. He is having 12 games and dropping your 3 lowest scores whereas I am doing 10 games and only dropping one score. His TOC will only be a 6 handed table whereas mine will be 9 handed. (I’m more interested in preserving the comradary of my game whereas he wants the competition.) Last night was the 5th game in this series and I came into it in 4th place, trailing the leader/host by 22.8 points. I ended up outlasting everyone who was ahead of me in points and finishing 3rd, which was good enough to move me into 2nd place in the points. I have never pushed all in so many times in one game in all of my life. I started off okay and was breaking even in chips, and then I lost a few hands and was down a bit only to surge and double up to take a safer chip position. I am a fairly tight player, but due to reads and a fluctuating stack, I was doing a lot of stealing last night and fighting tooth and nail to pick up some key points for the TOC and a little extra money along the way. Here is a breakdown of the key hands I played in as much of a chronological order as I can remember them:

1. K-5o in the SB, opening hand, won it with bottom pair of 5s in a multiway pot that was checked down.

2. 5-5 missed the flop and folded

3. 10-10, I flopped top set on a rainbow board and checked the flop and bet the turn when an Ace hit. I got called on the turn but folded to on the river due to the villain’s kicker concerns.

4. Q-4s, Still very early in the tournament, I limped on the button w/ this garbage hand and flopped bottom pair w/ a flush draw. I bet the flop and won w/ no resistance.

5. A-A, raised pf and won the hand on a continuation bet on the flop.

About this time the blinds started getting a little heftier and my stack had just broken even, so I tightened up and started playing TAG poker. We play with antes after the 4th level of blinds start and these really force the action, this caused my stack to dwindle and had me pushing all in a good bit more often than I would like.

6. I limped behind from the CO w/ Q-10o and flopped top pair of 10s on a 2 suited board. When I pushed all in, I got called by the LAG on my right who I tied into many times in the night. He was on the flush draw and obviously missed. He was the big stack shortly before his hand and with this hand I knocked him down into the red zone.

7. Having a bigger stack now I stole a blind w/ a 2.5x BB raise and tried it again with the very next hand, which was 4-4. The LAG on my right called me pf and donked into me on the flop. Based on how he glanced at the flop and immediately bet I put him on a decent hand. He messed up and showed me the bluff, it was a quick bet and I had him pegged. A few rounds later I had an opportunity to capitalize on this read, but didn’t stay with my gut when I flopped 2nd pair. I called him on the flop, but backed off when he fired again on the turn. He exhibited the same tell and once again showed me the bluff. I had him nailed at that point, but he didn’t bluff into me again for the rest of the night.

8. K-Qs I pushed all in when folded to in the SB and got called by the table chip leader to my left who had K-10o. She ended up making two pair, but her 2nd pair gave me my straight for the badly needed double up.

9. The LAG on my right makes another pfr but this time he bets rather slowly. This throws up some red flags but with my current stack size I don’t really have a choice. I have pocket Jacks and have to give the hand some serious thought. I pushed all in. All my mulling it over fortunately gave the guy the impression that I was very strong. I also told him that I read him as strong but that I had to go with this hand. He flashed A-10o and folds. This was at the bottom of the range that I put him on, but like I said, I didn’t have much choice and a misread at this point would be disastrous.

10. I once again start in with the 2.5x BB raise. We are 5 handed waiting to consolidate tables with the next knock out. The LAG to my right is short-stacked and once again exhibits a fast bet when he pushed All in over the top of me. Based on his style and his fast bet, I decided to call him down w/ my Kh-10h. He has about ½ my stack and turns over 6s-2s. My read was dead on! He completes a spade flush on the turn. BOO!!

11. The very next hand I looked down at Ah-Kh and put on my dejected, I’m on tilt face and pushed all in from the BB over 2 limpers. The LAG starts asking me questions about whether I’m on tilt or not, but eventually they both fold.

12. At this point, I’m still short and I started aggressively stealing blinds to stay afloat. I pushed w/ Q-9o, and 10-3s. The Q-9o was due to a read of the BB as he looked at his hand, which worked out flawlessly, but with the 10-3s I actually got called by the super short stack/host in the BB w/ A-2s. He catches an Ace on the flop to secure his double up. I pushed several more than this, but these are 2 key hands that I remember.

13. Once again, with J-J in the SB, I am put into another big decision for all of my chips. A LAG on the other end of the table limps in along with the button. The big-stacked BB on my left is talking to the host who was put out a few hands earlier and makes a comment that she likes her hand to him. She actually doesn’t lie too much at the poker table, so I look at this as an opportunity to win a big pot and take a big advantage at the table. I just complete the SB and as expected she raises the 1000 BB to 3000 total. Neither limper is dissuaded by this pot builder raise, and they both call. With 7600 more on top, I push the rest of my chips into the middle hoping to isolate the BB. She obliges and calls and the original 2 limpers just fold. She turns over A-Ko (which I put her on a big Ace) and we are off to the races. In our circle we call pocket Jacks “tournament killers.” More people seem to go out with Jacks than with any other hand in poker. The host makes a comment about my “tournament killers” never holding up and I point out the fact that they hold up approximately 55% of the time against AK. Sure enough they hold up and I am catapulted into the middle of the big stacks.

14. I guarded my stack for about 30 minutes as we got down to the final 5. I’m in a great position chip wise and mostly trying to stay out of major conflicts with the bigger stacks. With the blinds as 800-1600 and an ante of 200, a short-stacked LAG that is UTG pushes his entire stack out for 7600 total. The calling station directly across the table from me almost insta-calls for half his stack and the button between us folds. I look down at A-A in the SB and ask the calling station how much more he has left. He has about 8500 more after his call and I stack my chips up and put him all in as well. The BB folds and the calling station says that he is pot committed and calls off the rest of his chips. The LAG turns over 7-7 and the Calling Station turns over A-Jo and I am so far ahead that I have to pinch myself to make sure that I am seeing what I am seeing. If I win the hand I have half the chips on the table. If I don’t win the main pot, the side pot will put me right back to my 27k stack that I started the hand with. Unfortunately, the flop falls J-J-7. = ( I’m back down to 12k and have to start tying back up with people again.

15. Through some very good fortune, the LAG and the Calling Station tie into it on the bubble and I slide into 3rd place. I made the money and took 2nd place in our chip race. Though I was sick about the Aces hand, I am very happy with how my night turned up. I got caught stealing in a BVB situation when I pushed my 6-5o into the BB for the knock out. Not that they know the 10 to 1 rule, but I was well under this range. Hey, I was in the money and beat out everyone who was ahead of me in points, so who cares!

Hopefully, I can win the big tourney at the end, but until then I’ll try to keep you updated about the tournaments progress!

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