Final Round

So all day they claimed that the tournament was spaced out properly and that we would reach the money tomorrow... but, if worst case scenario, we got down to a certain number of people left today, they would end early to make sure that the money was tomorrow (For ESPN - Day Three is not ESPN worthy, but Day Four, The Money Day evidently is).

At any rate, round four ended up being the final round for today,  which was nice because i got out early and can get a decent nights sleep tonight.  On the other hand,  it was a brutal and unforgiving round. 

So i fold for awhile until i get pocket tens in a middle position and raise for antes and blinds. 

Then i folded.

For awhile.

A lot of folding. 

Then i called a raise with king jack suited in one of the blinds.  Flop comes K 7 5... with two diamonds.  So i bet it...  and he calls.  The turn is a 3... and not a diamond.  So i bet 16,000... a good size bet.  And he calls.  The river is the 9 of diamonds and he's giddy.

I didn't want to show too much weakness on the river,  but i didn't want to spend any more money on the hand... and I didn't want to have to fold,  so i laid out a little 6,000 bet hoping he might call and not raise.

 

He raised me to 35,000. 

Ugh.  He's got the diamonds.  

So i folded.  Top pair.  i folded.  

Because there were three diamonds on the board and he made a big bet. 

But you know what?  He had it.  He chased straights and flushes all night and even said that he had both a straight and flush draw and wasn't going anywhere when he said he had it three hands later.  So losing the 30k is awful,  but at least i didn't compound it by calling and losing 60k.

Moral victory aside, I'm down under 100k.

So i fold for awhile,  just hemorrhaging chips,  and get pocket sevens in the big blind that i played to a raise.  Flop came 2 Q 8 and we both checked.  Turn was another 2 and i bet,  he called.  The river was a 9, i checked,  he bet,  i folded. 

Ugh.

More folding.

More chip bleeding.

A10 off in the blinds with a raise and a call...  i call.  5 6 7. Check around.  K. I put seat four on KQ and he leads out betting it.  Ugh,  if i'm right about his pair of kings, i need one of three aces in the deck on the river to win... sigh,  fold.

River was an ace. 

Dammit.

They showed..  seat four had KJ, i knew he had the kings.  

Still,  that hurt...  i lost 10,000 instead of picking up 50,000 (More betting after the river)

Tilting... kid draws a flush...  KA instead of it coming AK. Folding.  Losing chips.

Then...  jacks!  First time all tournament!  So i raise...  everyone folds... and i win antes and blinds.

Winning one round of antes and blinds every three or four rounds is no longer cutting it because I'm losing more chips in the other 2 or 3 rounds than I take in and I'm running out of chips.  

But then i limped from the small blind with A5 and wound up betting the turn of a paired board...  but he called... bet me on the river and i folded away the 10k my jacks got me in one hand. 

And then,  with about forty five minutes left in the level,  seat four raises my big blind.  Everyone else folds.

Kings.

I've played with this guy all day...  i just called his hand on the pair of kings...  I know this guy... and he has almost 600,000 in chips...  this is it... this is my chance. 

I'm down to about 65,000 in chips,  a M Ratio of high seven for the current level,  low six for the next level.  I have to find a way to double up here...  antes and blinds aren't going to do it.

I've got this guy...

So i call and the flop comes 4h 8h Jc. I'm first to act and i want to bet it and either get more money in the pot or take down the 20k or so already in there. 

But i don't,  the hard part is over,  i missed an ace on the flop.  So i check to let him bet it,  which he does. 

Now i want to move all in. If i call his 10k and move down to basically 50k or less, I'm pot committed anyway... why let him draw? 

Because i need it all...  

So i call... after a nice rendition of "I'm going to agonize over calling to chase this flush" act. 

The turn was the 5c... excellent,  i don't want a third heart to spook him (or give him a flush)

So now i really want to bet,  but i don't...  i check.  And he bets 15,000.

I make a showing of counting my chips and realizing that if i call,  i might as well move all in...  so i shove,  and he calls.

He has AJ... a pair of jacks,  no flush or straight draw.  

He's shocked by my kings,  i played them perfectly and got every last dime in on them.  Doubling up gives me over 140,000 and a M Ratio of 15 heading into the final round before the money day tomorrow. 

As long as he doesn't get one of three aces in the deck on the river, of course. 

I mean...  that wouldn't happen,  right?

And the river was...

An ace!  Just kidding,  you should know me better than that - i never get knocked out by the things i see coming,  it's the ones i don't even think of... like the Jack he spiked on the river to hit a set and knock me out of the tournament for the second year in a row on a hand that i was over 88% to win when i got my money in. 

Yeah, so that happened.

Again.

Ugh. 

So round four was my final round.  Two to three rounds away from the money.  The board said 902 people left out of the 6,683 that started when i left... 690 got paid. 

I was 88.6% to win going into that river.  88.6% for 140,000 in chips and a M Ratio of 15 with a couple more levels until the money.

And one card later, i was one of the 210 people that were between everyone else and the money. 

That's poker. 

Quick Update

Everyone at the table has at least 100,000 and I'm 7th or 8th in chip stack.

Also,  they are now filming my table because of seat four.

After Dinner

I have 140,000 in chips, which is great, but the blinds and antes will be relentless now - 9,000 around the table. A preflop raise will probably be to 8,000...a three bet could be 15 - 20,000. Poker just got expensive.

So, I think the last two rounds of the evening are going to be a challenge, especially since some of the stacks at the table have gotten quite large. Seat seven has 350,000. Seat four has 550,000. The new guy in seat two has at least two hundred thousand I think. I'm probably 6th or 7th out of 9 in chip count. Maybe 5th, but doubtful.

But, if I can pull through tonight, then it's only a round or two until the money tomorrow. 13 rounds and 26 hours are down, 3 or 4 more until the money and a field of less than ten percent. Only twenty or so more rounds until the final table - about the time we hit the money tomorrow, we'll be halfway there!

Anyway, strategy for after dinner is to just keep on playing my game, be mindful of M Ratio instead of everyone else's chip stacks, and see what the poker gods have in store for me. And try not to do anything incredibly boneheaded.

Incidentally, I did spend some time on dinner break trying to appease the poker gods for my earlier comments about being sick of poker - it's not true!

Day Three, Round Three

I folded for about twenty minutes before raising with sevens under the gun to pick up some blinds and antes. That's how desperate i was for a hand,  i raised with pocket sevens under the gun,  i usually fold them. 

Then i folded for another forty minutes.  Each time around the table costs me 7,400, so my chip stack has been decimated by blinds and antes.

After an hour,  I'm at 76,000 and approaching a M Ratio of ten for the current round.  And next round,  antes go up yet again and i need at least 90,000 for a M Ratio of ten.  And that's in an hour.  Ugh.

At just under an hour,  everyone folded to my small blind so the big blind and i limped to a flop.  My J 9 caught a pair with a 9 8 4 flop,  i bet it,  and won some antes and blinds.

A couple hands later i had A 10 off and was one off the button when i raised to win some antes and blinds. 

So those two hands are nowhere near what i need,  but at least stopped the bleeding a bit.

There's been a ton of action this round,  i just haven't been involved with it...  i get raised and seemingly have A3 off on every hand...  just enough to tease me that i can get an ace,  just not a good enough one to play.

I did get AJ off in a late position and raised,  but it only bought me antes and blinds.  I'm somewhat concerned that when i do get a good ace that everyone folds... but the last two times it has been with the same big blind and he's short stacked. 

With about thirty minutes to go,  those last two aces that bought me antes and blinds were about all i played and i was wondering if i was playing too conservatively and wouldn't be able to get calls.  Then i got AQ suited under the gun,  raised,  and watched everyone fold and i was assured that i would need to change my style of play because i can't get anyone to call a decent hand. 

Except not everyone folded,  the big blind three bet me big.  So i call and the flop comes 8 2 7 with a single spade. Ugh,  i missed and missed bad.  So he bets big and i have to call the continuation bet.  I'm certainly under 60,000 in chips now.  Turn was a two and ruled out a possible flush.  He checked.

I can't win this hand.  I have like 20,000 chips in the pot,  and my only prayer to win is hitting an ace or maybe a queen on the river.  When i lose,  my M Ratio will be a 6 or 7.

So i shoved.  100% full on bluff...  my first and only of the tournament like this.  If he calls,  with anything,  I'm done.  I couldn't afford to lose the hand and,  quite frankly,  smelled weakness on his check,  so i just shoved.

He folded and i took down a much needed big pot. 

Three hands later,  I'm on the button and everyone folds - I've got AQ off. Small blind folds, but big blind,  perhaps sensing a position raise,  three bets me to like 15,000. So i call and the flop comes 9 4 Q... top pair,  top kicker. 

He leads out with a 18k bet and i dumped on him raising to 35,000. He folded and i won another big hand. 

On one of the last hands of the round,  i had AJ off in a late position to a raise and i folded it.  I'm still not sure why,  other than there was a Jack exposed during the deal and it freaked me out knowing there was one less Jack out there.

Anyway,  i have 141,200 at dinner break,  good for a M Ratio of 15.7 heading into the next round.

Coincidentally, there are 1,053 players left,  or 15.7% of the field...

Third Day, Second Round

Well,  seat six continues to be the life of the table.  Now that seat three is gone,  seat six has decided everyone needs a nickname and that it's his responsibility to give them out.  Seat two is now "Rock "... or,  more precisely,  "Rok"... as in,  right of killer.  Get it?  The new seat three is simply "new guy".

So,  at any rate,  my second round started about as well as this guys humor...

Oh,  before we get into some hands - antes jump again at the end of the level and i need to be at least at 72,000 heading into the next level for a M Ratio of 10... yikes.

So i start with AJ off in a late position,  raise and get big blind to call.  Flop comes  3 4 A, i bet it,  he folds, i got a nice little pot.

I had fives on the button and raised from position,  but big blind defended his blind and we went to the flop - Q J 10. Ugh.  We both check.  Turn was a 7, he bet,  i folded.

You know,  none of my position raises are working out.  And many of my bets and raises are getting raised.  And seat eight continues to position raise my big blind every time.  I'm most unhappy with my stature at this table.  Yesterday i had a lot more respect...  although today i did pick up a new nickname - Legend.  Thanks seat six.

Anyway,  i had tens in a late position and three bet seat eight.  The blinds folded,  as did seat eight,  and i picked up about 10k in blinds, antes, and seat eights bet.  About 101,000 forty five minutes in...

With an hour left,  i picked up antes and blinds raising with A5 suited...  so finally a bit of a position raise finally paid off. 

And Tiffany booked a church for a May 2, 2015 wedding,  so we are making progress on that front... which is nice because trading emails with wedding planners and reception venues from the poker table hasn't been ideal.  And we may be able to get cheaper hotel rates on that day because unlike June 13, it's not the Chicago neo-con convention.

Seat seven just knocked out seat six with aces over kings preflop,  so i won't have the pleasure of his company anymore,  pity. 

With about twenty minutes left,  my chip stack continues to dwindle...  i haven't gotten any hands,  i just keep folding.  A stretch like this was always inevitable,  but i hope it ends soon...  I'm down under 90k and feel like there is no depth i can't hit.

I'm also a little sick of playing poker.  We're coming up on twenty four hours at the table and about thirty total hours invested since Monday at noon.  i don't think oversleeping helped - i didn't have any time this morning to decompress before starting up again. 

Only 1,332 people left out of 6,683 with fifteen minutes left,  so we have officially hit the top twenty percent!  I wish the top twenty percent got paid instead of the top ten :)

I just folded sixes under the gun...  which was probably the right move,  but they looked like such a great hand compared to all my 6 4 and 8 2 hands.  A 6 hit the flop too  - ugh, my inner Greg Rydz is so upset.

With less than ten minutes left,  i got a couple chances to lose more chips! 

A5 suited in the big blind so i called a raise.  Flop came 3 3 9, and we both checked.  He bet tiny on a 6 on the turn,  but there was no reason to call...  i wasn't even drawing to anything.  He showed pocket nines,  he had flopped the boat.  Phew.

Next hand,  A7 suited in the small blind,  so i called a raise from the button.  5 4 2 flop.  Three players check.  K. We all check.  Q. Seat two bets,  seat nine calls,  i fold.  Seat two was playing A6, seat nine AQ.

Then with five minutes left,  AJ off one off the button.  So i raise,  the button calls,  and so does big blind.  Flop was A 2 3 so i bet it and took down the pot. 

And on the very last hand of the round,  i got pocket kings i over bet because i wanted to get to break and took down blinds and antes.

95,000 exactly at the break,  M Ratio of 13 heading into the last round before dinner.

First Round, Third Day

Ok, so i woke up,  cursed whoever would allow screaming children in the hallway of a Vegas hotel so early in the morning,  and checked what time it actually was - 10:47.

Egad! I like to be out of the hotel by 10:30 usually.  So this morning was a bit of a cluster.  As i went to bed after 2am last night i thought about getting a wakeup call but decided who needs one,  I'm 36, how late could i actually sleep?

Now we know.  For those of you on the east coast,  think about what you were doing at 1:30 today and the day you had up until that point...  yeah,  i was still sleeping.
Anyway,  mad rush to get ready and get out here...  thanks to Hacker for doing some internet recon for me on my table during the drive over. 

So i did get here on time,  but it's been a brutal start.

On one of the first hands i had A8 off one off the button so i raised,  but big blind called and led out on a flop i missed,  so i folded. 

But a couple hands later i got queens in the big blind.  i got raised,  so i three bet and two of us went to the flop.

7 7 A. An ace?  Ugh. So i bet it with a continuation bet,  which he called.  A 10 on the turn didn't help me,  and we both checked it.  I led out with a little 4,000 bet after an 8 on the river (i tried to confuse him with such a little bet so he wouldn't bet more and my queens could see his cards). He called and showed A4 and i lost a big one...  down under 90.

I stole some blinds and antes raising A10 off.

I had AJ off in a later position and called a raise.  Flop came K 4 5. We all checked.  The turn was an ace,  first to act bet it,  i called,  third guy folded.  We both checked a nine on the river and i won a good pot  - up to 110 again.

But then came A10 suited in a late position,  i called a raise,  but missed a KQ7 rainbow flop that he bet and i folded to.

I tried a position raise with J5 suited on the button,  but seat two three bet me and i had to fold.  That's two failed position raises thus far.

Anyway,  blinds and antes are getting to be killers,  I'm  down under 100k.

Seat three is a handicap guy without a good range of motion and has to nudge all of his bets with his knuckles as he leans over from his wheelchair.  Seat four has been helping him stack his chips and put bets out,  which is nice and speeds things along,  but seat six is this gruff,  new york /new jersey guy who thinks he is the coolest guy ever.  Anyway,  everytime seat three wins a pot (Which is a lot since he's hyper aggressive and bluffs a lot), seat six has to congratulate him and call him killer... which is a quickly emerging table ritual i find both annoying and patronizing. But i digress...

Oh,  and seat three is pretty funny...  we all folded to his big blind and he feigned pure joy and said he doesn't get to walk a lot. Seat six laughed like it was the funniest thing he had ever heard...  for five minutes.  "That's a good one killer...  ha ha ha"

Anyway,  out of the 6,683 that started,  1,638 are left... so i made the top quarter. 

Plus one,  there goes seat 3... seat 4 just knocked him out with kings over queens. 

On the very next hand,  i raised with KJ off under the gun,  seat four called,  and i threw in a continuation bet with a A 5 7 flop.  He raised,  i folded,  he showed an ace. Ugh.  Chips dwindling again,  blinds and antes are hurting, as are my losses ... down to about 85,000.

For my last hand of the round,  i had QJ suited in the big blind,  which i defended to a raise from the button.  The flop came 2 3 6... i checked,  he bet,  i called.  The turn was an ace,  which we both checked.  The river was a queen,  i bet,  he called,  and mucked his hand.  Got lucky catching that river and picked up a much needed pot.

So,  I'm at 98,300 on break,  which gives me a M Ratio of 17.2 headed into the next round - antes just went up again...  the pace of the tournament is quickening.

Final Round

About twenty minutes in,  I'm in a late position with A 10 suited and seat five raises...  shocking.  So i call and we go to the flop. 

5 7 8. He bets big...  but he always bets large continuation bets and i have two overs so i call.  Ace on the turn!  And he bets it huge - 18k or so? And I've already got 12 or so in...  and i call.  Maybe i should have come back over the top, but i didn't know where i was in the hand, so i called. 

Queen on the river and he puts me all in for 54,000... i have about 30k in the pot.

Ugh.

How do i fold top pair with a decent kicker to a guy that i know plays loose when i have over a third of my chips in the pot?

Conversely,  how do i call and go home by calling with a single pair,  without a top kicker? A set.  Two pair.  A higher kicker.  There are a ton of hands that beat me. 

So i agonize forever.  Forever.  I'm shocked no one called clock,  but it was a monster hand.  Twice i decided to make a hero call and buck the odds to take down the monster pot.

Hero call! 

But i just couldn't do it.  I folded.  I kept my tournament run alive. Albeit on life support as my M Ratio dropped down under 15.

He said i was way behind and he should have bet less to get a call,  but he didn't show,  so who knows.  Maybe he'll tell me before the night is out... maybe i will believe him.

Tilting with an hour and a half to go...

Still tilting fifteen minutes later.  The Russian in seat one just made a huge all in bluff that seat six made an amazing call on and he's going home..  much to the chagrin and dismay of Kentucky. 

So,  anyway,  i asked seat five if that's what he did...  a big all in bluff.  He said he had AQ. When that queen hit the board,  my gut screamed he hit two pair,  although i dismissed it as paranoia at the time.  And he could have been full of it,  poker players usually are,  but i mentioned the queen on the turn and he corrected me that the queen hit the river...  remembering the order it hit twenty minutes ago lends some credence that he at least had a queen... maybe.  But we did bond because I'm wearing an Illini hat and he's from Springfield and a die hard illini fan.

So who knows, but I'm going to have to stop dwelling on it soon though because i need some chips back,  I'm hurting. 

So i get AK in an early position,  which is great because i can make it all back on this hand.  Right here, one hand. So i raise and seat nine calls.  Flop comes 8 J 10. Turn wasn't any help,  it was a 3. I can't remember if i bet and he raised me to 6,000,  or if he just bet it..  but with two overs,  a gut shot straight draw,  and a need to win this hand,  i called to see the river. 

A nine.  That gave him three nines and i lost another ten thousand. 

Is there a bottom?

The guy to my right raised when i had AQ so we went to a flop - A 7 Q. I checked it, as did he.  The turn was a ten,  he bet,  i called.  The river was a 2 and guaranteed no flush...  he bet,  i raised,  he folded.

Bleeding momentarily stopped as i climb back to 44,000... a shell of my former self when this miserable round started. 

I got AJ suited from a late position,  raised,  and won some much needed antes and blinds to bring me up to 48,000. Yay - 48,000.

Beats being busted i suppose. 

Anyway,  then i don't see another hand for seemingly forever...  just keep watching my stack dwindle to antes and blinds.

With about fifteen minutes left,  I'm in a late position with about 40,000 in chips left realizing that I'm going to start day three with a M Ratio of about nine if the last fifteen minutes are anything like the first 105.

So seat 3 raises and i call with AJ off.  Flop comes 4 6 K... i missed it.  Ugh.  So he bets...  and i call because he is a continuation bet champion.  Ace came on the turn,  he bet,  i raised big,  he folded.  I showed him what i had because it was the end of the night and he said he had me on the flop. 

Whatever,  I'm up to 50,000!!! And a couple hands later,  they announce that we will play three more hands and be done.

If i fold all three hands ,  i will make day three and do so with a M Ratio of just over eleven...  certainly not good,  but in the clear. 

So with three hands to go,  seat six raises,  seat seven calls,  and i look down at queens. So much for folding my last three hands.

So their bet was 3,000... i raised to 8,000... and seat six thought about it for a while and put me all in.  Seat seven folds.

End of the night for day two,  pocket queens,  where have i seen this movie before?  Oh yeah,  the exact scenario i got knocked out on last year.  Awesome. 

So,  with my last 42,000 i called his all in. He had pocket jacks,  i had queens.  Now I'm all in with queens as an overpair and really getting deja vu.

No Jack,  i double up,  over 100k with two hands to go.

Now i just need to fold these last two hands... no reason to play them...

Next hand,  9 2. Fold.  Great. 

Last hand,  seat six raises.  I look down at big slick.  Ugh. Sigh...  I've got to play this.  So i call and hope to miss the flop and fold. Nope,  K 10 7.

Dammit... top pair top kicker.  And he bets into me!  I came back over the top to end it,  which that did,  and took down the last pot of the evening.

So,  heading into Day Three,  119,100 in chips, a M Ratio of  28.

Ok,  gotta try to get to bed,  no day off tomorrow - i start at noon pt.