Friday night I was itchin' to play some live poker, so I headed over to Benny's over on 22 and Van Dyke for their $30 freezeout tourney. Seeing it starts at 7, I race to get there on time, only to find out that I'm the first person on the list....sonofabitch! They delay the start til 7:30, and by the time the tourney starts, we have 19 players. 3rd gets $30 back, 2nd gets about $150, 1st gets about $275. Cheryl, the lady who runs our Monday game at Dino's, is playing, as well.
What's nice about this structure is you get 8000 chips to start, and 20 minute blinds...gives you time to survey the field, play patient, and actually play some poker. Yup, I'd say I'd be back, and already glad I did.
2nd hand of the night I look down to see 9-9 on the button, and raise to 225. The blinds (older gentlemen) both call me. Flop of 9-5-2 rainboy hits, and I bet out 500 after the blinds check. Now, people will ask at Dino's game why I usually bet out sets, and the answer is simple: Because you get more value out of those hands betting this way. Both blinds called, but check-folded on turn when a 10 came out. I'm guessing "weak-ace" for both of them...but I'll take a nice pot early.
Sick hand of the day for me occurred when I was in the BB. 3 limpers (50/100 level), and I looked down at Q-Q in the BB - raise to 350. All 3 limpers calls, hoorah! :-\ Flop of J-6-5 rainbow hits, which I like - SB checks, I c-bet out 800, and UTG + 1 takes a couple of seconds before min-raising me, which causes me some pause when it's my turn to act. Blinds who are chasing straights or have top pair stay in, but the min-raise gave me the sick feeling that I was waaaaaaaaaaaay behind here. After going in the tank for over a minute, I hold my Q-Q up so the punk kid who directly on my left can see, and throw them into the muck.
I get up for a second, punk kid (Romeo was his name) sidles over to me where I'm standing and calls me an idiot for making that fold...and I look at him and tell him "Dude has pocket 6's, check it out" - Romeo looks at me with bug eyes a short time later when hand is over and min-raiser flips over 6-6...an absolutely ridiculous laydown at this point in the tournament (and yes, I actually give a quick pat on the back to myself at this point, heh), no matter how you look at it.
I get Romeo to short-stack status in quick order after my 10-10 wins on a 9-4-6-7-7 board...Romeo asks, "Are 9s good?", to which I snorted, "Hardly!" as I flipped them over rake the pot. This put Romeo on tilt, to which another youngster was happy to take advantage of the next hand...and youngster was smart enough to give me a little credit for good fortune soon afterwards.
Get to the break with over 21K in chips - kinda nice when I don't have to put them all at risk to get there, either. When we get down to 7-handed, I give away 75% of my chips on an all-in call when I was looking for nut-flush against a made straight and didn't hit...time to play short-stack poker for a while!
Cheryl tried to pump me up to these guys, warning about short-stack abilities here - first hand after blinds go up to 1000/2000, I get AA in middle position and put my last 2500 in the middle. SB folds, BB calls in the dark for 500, and my AA holds up against his AQ to get me to 6000 or so. Get another double-up soon after when 8-8 hits set against A-J on flop - to 13K or so now.
Pretty much stayed on this status for another round or 2 - I'd get raised on my blinds, get them back the next hand with open-shoves (including UTG 5-handed with 3-2), just trying to figure out how to get to the money. Gotta get there before you get 1st, anyways. Cheryl is fighting as a shortstack, herself, and holding her own.
Cheryl and I get our break we were looking for when the top 3 stacks butt heads for a hand. Button open-shoves for 26K, SB yelled all-in for who knows how much, and BB insta-calls...putting him at risk. Button has 8-6, SB has A-Q, BB has K-K - and I look at Cheryl and say, "Root for the ace, baby!", since we'd be in the money. Ace on flop hits, turn gives button a pair of 8's, blank on river, and we've cracked the bubble in stunning fashion!
First hand of 3-handed play (2000/4000 chips - 8K left), I get J-J in BB, and when button raises, I get my chips in the middle. Hit boat on flop to win hand (err, become a 99.9% favorite), and get to hang around a couple more hands...maybe Cheryl will bluff her chips away here for me.
Wishes come true, and Cheryl gets knocked out 2 hands later, and I'm HU with about 10-1 chip disadvantage...oy! Oh well, see what happens here - 2nd is more than gravy at this point. HU lasts 3 hands - we fold SBs the first 2 hands, then opponent calls out of SB and I check my 9-5 rags. 9 on flop and I open-shove the pot to put me at risk, and opponent calls and flips over J-J - no help for me, and I happily take 2nd place here.
Good run, time to continue this tonight at Dino's game.
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