#13 - A roller-coaster of a grind...

...or, alternatively, "Why You Should Never Give Up".

Got to Dino's much earlier than expected, and after talking to Kid Dave for a while over dinner, decided to try to get some more good karma by setting up the chip stacks for the night. Sat down with Sharon and Harry for a few, did my little weekly "I feel an early bustout tonight!" spiel (where more players are amused by it every week), and got my seating assignment....Jennifer, two fairly new guys (wild cards, as to what hands they'll play), Andy, and Eric. Only the last 2 are players I'll watch myself with.

Came out swinging early by having my rags hit straight on the turn and picking up 600 chips (starting stack 2400) after Jennifer paid me off with top pair. Promptly started bleeding chips for a few hands, then got involved in a hand that cost me most of my chips:

Limps in from the cutoff with 3-4 (love my low suited connectors when I can get it cheap), and with 4 to the flop we see K-4-4 come out. Steve (new guy - wild card) bet out pot-size of 200, and I smooth-call, putting him on a low king. Turn is a J, 7, and with a flush draw out there, I bet out 400 after Steve checks...then calls my bet. A deuce on the river makes no flush, and at this point Steve bets out 1000, which surprised me, and not in a good way. The sickening thought that I have been behind the whole way hits me, but after thinking it over, I make the crying call and find out Steve has 9-4, so his kicker plays, and I lose a monster pot. Get what you ask for, sometimes, I suppose.

The next hand, Jennifer busts out to be the first one out for the night, and at least I don't get to have that status on me for this week. Down to 700 chips, and still at 50/100 - yup, I smell an early bustout happening, and not happy that it's me.

Big hand of the night started a monster rush by me. Dan (or "SAG", from past writings) moves to our table and needles me about my short stack as he heads to take a smoke break. I look at 5-7 off in the BB, and after one guy min-raises to 100, with 2 callers in front of me I have to call. Flop of 5-7-(paint) is gin for me, and I shove my 500 in the middle...only to have 3 callers. This could be really, really good...or really, really bad. Ace hit on turn, and nominal betting occurs. 7 on river gives me a boat, and after hand is checked down, I flip over my 7-5 to quadruple up.

Take down the next hand with a standard pre-flop raise, then win another 1500 or so after value-bet bluffing the river with a pair of 2s...made Wild Card Steve (who calls almost everything) actually sit back and make the remark that "You must really want a call here" before folding the best hand. 2 hands later, my Q-10 hits on an A-Q-Q board. Opponent bets, I call. 10 on turn gives me boat. Opponent bets 500 - I briefly think about putting him all-in, but just smooth call here. Q on river gives me quads, and after opponents puts 1000 of his remaining 1150 in the pot, I raise him enough to put him in....and he calls with 9-6 for a busted flush draw.

Dan comes back from his smoke break, looks at my chip stacks, shakes his head, and says something along the lines of "Guess I missed some action here, eh?", as I stack my 6700 in chips at this point. Yup, nearly ten times more chips in 4 hands...nice heater.

After Eric and Andy bust out, at 3 players we move over to the other 2, and just need 4 players to bust out for final table. Nothing majorly exciting here, except for getting Wayne-O to make a horrible call when he was chasing a gutshot and hitting on the river. At least it didn't cost me too many chips.

Merge to the final table and I have about 4400 at this point. Not where I'd like to be at this point (6K is usually average stack at this point), but I can maneuver around here. Fireworks on the second as 3 limpers to me in the SB, and after seeing A-K I decide to shove. Wild Card Steve calls me with K-10 (really?), and after an A-2-4 flop, the hand is pretty much over. A 3 gives outs for a wheel and a split pot, but another Ace spikes on the river and I get to nearly 10K in chips, just like that.

On the very next hand, the biggest hand of the tourney (to date) takes place. After WC Steve and Volcano Ron limp in pre-flop, I decide to join the fun with J-10 of diamonds. After Wendy-Donk pumps in another 500, with 1 caller in front of me, I figure I have to see a flop. Flop of 9d-8d-5h hits, and after Wendy-Donk bets out 500, WC Steve min-raises to 1000...I figure that I have so many outs here, this is as easy a call as I can make. Wendy-Donk calls, and we see a turn....3 of diamonds, gin! Errrr, I hope. Checked around to me, and since my flush is not the nuts, I have to bet this out strong and see where I'm at, so I put 3000 in. Wendy-Donk deliberates for a few seconds, then reluctantly folds. WC Steve quickly calls. Blank on the river, and after WC Steve checks, I bet out 4500....or what I thought was enough to put WC Steve all-in. Steve quickly calls (leaving 200 behind), and after I flip over my flush, he flips over K-8 of clubs for a measely pair of 8s!

As I'm stacking the chips, Volcano Ron, Fred, Harry, and Sharon (I guess we need to include me in this group, as well) are talking about how strange that play was by Steve to just call all the way down with just that, and take yourself out of the tournament. The other thing that was pretty funny was that pretty much everyone at the table BUT Steve had put me on a flush or a straight...it was just a matter of how good it was.

Next hand, Steve goes down, and Wendy-Donk is out on the next hand. Wayne-O busts out soon after, and we go down to a very tough table of Me, Harry, Sharon, Dan, Volcano Ron, Nicole, and Fred (all very solid players)...the winner will have earned it this week.

Dan comes out of the basement to take a monster chipstack advantage, highlighted by calling Harry's all-in, flopping quad 4s, and then post-turn having Fred go all-in with a straight...Harry is out in 7th, Fred is crippled. Ron and I chop the next pot to take Fred out. I double Sharon up when her K-K hits a set against my A-Q, and my 22K stack is dwindling now. Dodge a bullet a few hands later when Sharon makes a raise with 3-3, and after hemming and hawing decide that I am not playing A-J out of position, see Dan reraise Sharon with A-A...and after Sharon calls and is eliminated we are down to 4 players.

After Nicole busts out in 4th, blinds are traded for a few hands, until we raise blinds to 1000/2000. With 9K in chips, I open-shove with J-10, only to have Dan call me with A-10. Luckily for me, I hit a Jack on the turn and double up, and now we have a ballgame. Ron doubles up through Dan, and soon afterwards this hand hits:

6-4 of diamonds in the BB, and after a flop of 7d-3d-4s, I bet out 4K. Dan calls, and a 3 hits turn. Check-check....5d hits the river giving me a straight flush, and after I bet out 4500 solely because I can't check a straight flush, Dan makes the crying call with the wheel.

2 hands later, make my best call of the tournament after making a PFR to 7K with A-8 of hearts. Dan comes over the top with his last 11.5K, and I have a decision to make here...I lose the hand, and I'm down to about 7K and nearly crippled. After doing the math here, and knowing that Dan is capable of pushing with any 2 face cards, I do what is customary after I call when I am positive that I am ahead: Flip over cards before opponent flips them over. Dan sees the A-8 and says, "Nice hand", and shows Q-J. K-10-6 flop is not good for me, and the 2 on the turn gives Dan a flush draw. 8 of spades on the river gives me a knockout, and it's now Volcano Ron and me heads-up.

Ron takes me to the woodshed for a few hands, and then after we trade stealing blinds from each other, the final hand takes place. PFR to 7K is followed by a reraise of 10K or so more by Ron. With 10-10 in my hand, easy call...and Ron flips up A-6. No help for Ron, and victory is mine! Win #13 in the Dino's Tourneys!

56 points for the season gives me a big 14-15 point lead over Volcano Ron for the year...only target now is seeing if I can get to 70 points for the season and put a monster season total up before the final.