Hitting it big at charity poker, once again!

With the wife and kids occupied outside of the house for the evening, I thought it was the perfect opportunity to play some charity poker. Four Aces Poker Room inside of Continental Lanes in Roseville (13 & Gratiot intersection) was a great choice for me, on this particular evening. I played in the 9pm $35 NLHE freezeout tourney, and a great deep-stack structure made this tourney a must-play again for me. 20K chips (12K for $25, 8K more for $10) to start, and blind levels are such that you can get a lot of play in the first 1.5 - 2 hours. Dealers are quick, friendly, and the room has a great feel to it.

Anyways, enough of the free testimonials...so how'd I do? First level I was initial raiser in only one hand, which saw A-J losing on a 8-9-10-A-10 board to the SB holding 10-9. Saw a few cheap flops, whiffed badly, and folded. During this time, while people were complaining about being "card dead", I was making mental notes of the players at the table. Based on what I saw, few tight players, 4 bluffers...a couple of loose-passive players (yes!)...yup, I liked this table.

First big pot of the night for me was off some younger, chunky kid (CK) who I had played before a couple of times at other poker rooms. CK raised in MP a standard raise, and on the button I saw 9-9...decided to just call, and see what happens. 8-7-6 flop hit, and I check-called his c-bet...rather than check-raise him here. If the turn is a good one, a bet will be forthcoming. 2 on the turn seemed innocent enough, and this time I bet out 2/3 of the pot. CK thought for a minute, and just called. 7 on river paired board, but I was sure that he was holding A-10 or KQ-type hand here, so I bet out what I thought was a value bet of about half the pot (1500). CK then bumped up to 6K, and gave me pause for thought...but then I remembered him doing this twice to me in the past with snow (and getting caught), and confidently re-raised him up to 12K, which got a quick fold from CK.

Flopped a Q-high straight the very next hand, and got paid off by 2 players on the river(!), and now stack was about 35K...feeling very good about things at this point. Big hand occured at start of 3rd level, and I got a very important lesson in Michigan Charity Game Law, at the same time. Blinds at 100/200, and UTG raised to 800. UTG was a bluffer post-flop, but had raised with solid hands before. As UTG+1, I look down see the beautiful pocket aces - this will be an interesting pot. I raised to 2500, solely to keep the loose riff-raff (the ones that will call any raise with any two cards) out of the hand. Cutoff raises to 6500, and I am thinking that someone got unlucky to have QQ or KK here...UTG folds after thinking for a minute, and after pausing for a couple of seconds announce all-in, which is followed by a quick call...with the dealer yelling "WHOA WHOA...!" as both of us flip our cards over (AA vs KK).

Apparantly, in cash and tournament games only 3 raises are allowed per round in a no-limit game....so the last action I could do was call his last bet, and we see a flop. Rag flop hits, I shove all-in, and guy with KK folds. KK guy is pretty happy, all things considered...while I am kinda pissed at the State. Government fukkin' up things again!

Give away some chips (about 15K) when I'm forced to fold on river after missing a couple of monster draws, but gain 25K soon after when bust a player with A-J on a 10-10-8-A-9 board, with player trying to semi-bluff with 8-3 here. Guy is mystified that I had an ace, but after he left the player on left said, "Why was he surprised? You've shown nothing but solid hands the entire night.", which was correct.

Right before the break I bust the same guy on my left, who jammed UTG with K-Q, but ran into my A-K in BB. A couple of hands later I SPFR with 10-10, but was re-raised by female player who had played few hands...I put her on a bigger pair, and was proven right when she showed A-A after I folded 10-10 faceup. I think this read helps me pick up a few blinds later on in the evening.

After first break, blinds are 500/1000, and we get a period of card-deadedness for a while, although I manage to pick up a few of the blinds in this period. At 2K/4K level, I get JJ UTG, and raise to 12K, and am called by UTG+1. The next player, who's only shown solid cards since he was moved to our table, pushes all-in, and while he doesn't have me covered, he would have me covered...makes this a tougher call with 18 players to go. I go in the tank for a couple of minutes, try to decide if he has A-K or big pair, and ultimately I much my Jacks. I was not happy to see A-K and A-J flipped over - a chance to bust 2 players gone. Only real bad read I would have all night, as it turned out.

Last hand before 2nd break, and I bust out KK-guy to get us to our final table. 3K/6K blinds, and I'm in BB with 6-5. KK min-raises to 12K, and SB goes in for his last 6K. I figure I am getting 4-1 here, so I'll see a flop with a measely 6-5. 6-6-5 is a dream flop, and after I check flop KK goes all-in for last 15K (more on this at end of paragraph) with A-Q or A-J, which is followed by my insta-call...off we go to break! I get in a nice discussion with the guy who pushed my off of J-J, and he was wondering if that was really the right play with that hand. A discussion of "squeeze plays", odds, position, and other matters took place while burning one outside - clearly, dude was one of the more solid players in the room. KK guy asked us if he misplayed his hand, and 2 of us said he should have just jammed preflop, since I wasn't calling off chips with 6-5 in that spot.

I go to final table with about 100K in chips, which is just above chip average (about 90K). I chip up to 160K with a big blind special and couple of blind steals, then at 7-handed my hand of the night takes place. At 10K/20K On the button, I watch the solid player from earlier go all-in for last 70K, with player on my right (who will make a loose-call with A-rag) calling. I look down and see A-K, and I am certain I am not folding here...and after pausing a few seconds, push all my chips in the middle. Folds to homeboy on my right, who thinks that I have small pair, and calls off all by 40K of his chips with A-6. Board hits nobody, but A-K beats K-Q and A-6, and we get down to 6, and me with almost half the chips in play. 2 players bust out shortly after (but not by me, unfortunately), and we're down to 4.

Lady on left gets busted by BB, and we're 3 handed. A series of blind steals take place for the next level, and 2 minutes before blinds are 20K/40K, 3 of us agree to chop up and take $290 each. 4.5 hours of play, and we're going home happy tonight!