I'm pretty sure I'm a shoo-in, after 2 more games, of qualifying to defend my Tavern Championship in 3 months...so some great chances of getting more hardware is coming up. This past Sunday was our Winter Regionals at Overtyme, and I was feeling pretty good about my game going into it...and was looking to go on a deeper run than last Regionals, when I busted out less than an hour into the festivities.
143 players for 15 seats to the National Championship in Atlantic City in June - let's go!
Seated at one of the outer tables, I recognize a couple of players from past regionals, but most of my mates were from Western and Central bars. Luckily, there's not much of a minefield, and my opponents help me out by overbetting their made hands - betting 2x the pot with nut flushes, for example.
Started out good on the first level, going up to 16K (10K starting stack) by only showing one hand, but slowly dwindled down to 12K at end 300/600 level, when I got moved to a new table. Again, only 1 or 2 players I recognized, but before the end of the 500/1000 level, I had 19K in chips...all from preflop raises that got no resistance. While this wasn't a great position to be in, with about half the field remaining, I was still at average stack, and I figured that my natural short-stack aggression would pay off for me.
Unfortunately, my juicy new table lost 3 players in no time, and I was moved to another table. 2nd hand in, got K-K in the cutoff (blinds at 1000/2000 now), and with 19K in tow I tried to induce an all-in by making a modest raise to 6K (knowing any shove was being called by me, or any flop with no ace)...which Stacie (regular I know) obliged by shoving over me to 14K. Snap-call, and after the board stays clean, I have over 36K.
Promptly lose 10K over the next orbit, until another table move puts me next to Eve (uber-tight, but very solid player) on my left...and 2 wild cards on my right. A couple of hands in while in the BB, and sitting at 28K (2000/4000), I get J-10 sooooooted, and faced an all-in raise to 10K. Not the kind of hand I want to call off 6K with, but 4-1 odds was an easy, and I find I'm up against my bugaboo, A-9. I tell the player that A-9 is a loser, and when the flop shows a 10, I'm in great shape. Another 10 hits the turn, ending the hand...then the Jack hits the river for further insult. Player gives me good-natured grief about it, and I'm sitting decent shape at about 40K here, with just under 30 players to go.
An orbit or so later, my big hand of the tournament happens. Carolyn, a very solid player in our league, open-shoves the first hand of the 3000/6000 level for 36K, and in the cutoff I look down and see A-K...and have a decision to make for my tournament, in reality. I see we have 26 players at this point, so with 60K or so being the average stack, I figure that we're in a coinflip, so I shove all-in. After the button and blinds fold, I see I'm up against 5-5...and am very happy (but reserved) when a king is the door card. No help for Carolyn, and a big knockout for me takes place.
Build my stack up to 100K, and with the blinds up at 5K/10K, we get down to 2 tables of 9...3 more eliminations to go. 1 player goes out, and then a long 10-minute break takes place before we get down to 15. I scan the room and see 3 uber small-stacks (including 1 who only 1/2 BB left), and the blinds will be hitting them in a couple of hands (10K/20K), so I feel safe at 105K.
Me in zone-mode just before the break when down to 17:
Poor guy on my right (Gray hair and beard in pic above) open shoves UTG with J-J, and is called by one of the shorties...only to see him flop a set, then lose to A-10 on a runner-runner straight...bringing him down to 30K in chips. The very next hand, his 6-5 cannot catch up to A-K, and with another bustout on the other table, we're down to 15 - Atlantic City, here we come! Errrr, that is, if I want to go.
Uneventful few hands later (for me, at least), and we get down to 1 table of 9 - official final table is 8. After Eve busts out, we have another stoppage of play, and the final table receives T-shirts: get a group photo or 2, and then get back to action. Down to 7, open-shoved my last 100K UTG (15K/30K blinds, yikes!) with A-J, where I get called by 9-9. Flop is low, but I hit a Jack on the turn...only to see a 9 hit the river, and I'm out in 7th place. Would have loved a win (or at least top 3, where travel expenses are paid for), but I came to get a seat in Nationals, and I accomplished my main objective.
Good to see my friend, Andy, also get his seat, along with 3-4 other regulars in my Tuesday game. Congrats to Dan Park for winning a $1500 WSOP earlier Sunday, as well!
No comments:
Post a Comment