Back-to-Back
My second Final Table appearance in a row in the $5 HORSE, coupled with meal money from Midnight Madness (and ohmygod what ridiculosity that was) made it a double-cash night.
Lost a third of my stack to shorties in Razz, the first rotation at the Final Table, but was chip leader (six remaining) by mid-way through the Hi/Lo round thanks to trips and jacks up against a flush chaser.
Down to 5, the top 4 sacks were within 6K of each other. And I figured bed time was a long way off. Everybody just trading chips back and forth. Then one guy (mad flush chaser) went donktastic during hold 'em and suddenly had half the chips (raising and calling with an OESD that came in).
Me? I just folded my shit cards either pre-flop or after whiffing the flop and stalled for O8. Not easy to do 4-handed I tell ya, and the Mad Flush Chaser raising every hand on my right. I made it. As the short stack. Flopped a set on the first hand and then saw the turn bring both a flush and straight card. That was disappointing.
I was all in with 6542 and flopped a wheel, but guy rivered a flush to keep me from scooping. Then I was all-in pre-flop on two straight hands, one okay, one good and scooped both. Then I scooped another with AAJ3 and I was back to second in chips by a pretty good margin. Until the Big Stack doubled up both the shorties.
Lost one early in Razz and we were 3-handed where nothing got solved except I got pummeled by bring ins. Basically tied for 2nd with half the chips of the leader.
My jacks in the pocket were not enough to out-last the chip leader who made two pair on 6th. I lasted one more hand and then got in with a pair of deuces, eventually making two-pair, but losing to a rivered straight. Sure would like to win this effer, but it's certainly been profitable. Heck, I might even move up to $10. Nah, $7.50. Baby steps.
See ya at The Mook.
posted by Joe Speaker @ 11:54 PM
4 comments
4 Comments:
Nice work!
Methinks back-to-back final tables can justify moving up to the $10 buy-ins.
I predicted this.
I will use my new found power so I can predict tonight's powerball numbers and buy Lindsay Lohan to use at my disposal.
Well done - let me share my own most memorable final table experience with you playing at Foxwoods the other week.
There were 78 players with 74 re-buys. Total tournament chips in play was $152,000. I started the tournament and won a small hand in level one. When we started level two I made a re-buy giving me another $1000 in chips. I had the worst luck as I have had in any previous tournament. I raised with pocket jack only to get beaten out by Kings. The next hand I had pocket sevens and lost that one. I also raised with pocket Queens and had those beaten. At the end of level two I had only $700 left. I thought I would be lucky to make it to the first break.
I did nothing in level three but came back with a big hand before the break. I had 2,175 in chips at the break. I was moved to two different tables after the first break, I held my own in levels 5 and 6 and 7. My last move was to table one where I had $8,000 right before the second break. At the second break there were 12 players left. Nine would make it to the final table. The blinds were $1,000 and $1,500. I stole the small blind. Two players were knocked out the next hand and the final table was set. We drew numbers for seats. I drew the five seat. I had $9,000 starting the final table. I was number seven out of nine for chip position. The chip leader was a woman who had stacks of thousand dollar chips. I honestly thought she had a lock on the number one spot. I remember thinking I would play tight and hope the two players with fewer chips would get out before me. A funny thing happened.
One of the players with fewer chips was named Phil. He had $3,000 and drew the number one seat making him the small blind. He has to post $1.500. He folded the first hand and I did the same. The next hand I looked at my cards and found Pocket Rockets staring at me. I thought to myself, this is it. I'm either going out with a blaze of glory, or taking it to the bank. The player under the Gun called all in and I raised. Everyone folded to Phil who went all in. The Small Blind called and John the big blind re-raised me. I capped it all in. The flop was Ah 7c 8c. The Turn was Jh. The river brought a Th. John turned over pocket kings. I had three Aces to take the side pot. Phil turned KQh for a Royal Flush. He won the smaller original pot and got a free Foxwoods jacket for having a Royal Flush. This was the turning point of the game for me.
I got a few powerful hands in a row. I played them aggressively and started hitting the flops. As the blinds went up the players all became more cautious. I was accumulating chips and started to get more aggressive. As I did I was winning more hands. I may have been in a zone because all of a sudden I remember someone saying, "Looks like a new chip leader. I looked down at my stack of thousand dollar chips and realized it was I. One player made another comment about me grabbing all the chips. I smiled and said I must be a "Chip Magnet." That moniker stuck with me the rest of the match. Being the chip leader wields a certain amount of power. I was able to take a lot of hands by bullying my way with raises. I did use a certain tactic. I made sure that I would occasionally show my big winning hand after everyone folded. This way they were never sure if I was bluffing or had the power to back up the bets. Now I was able to coast a little and let a few other players knock each other out. When we started the final round I was hoping to be able to outlast a few of the players to gain more of the prize money. By the time we got down to four I had only one thing on my mind. WINNING!! At this point I did not care about the prize money I did not want any deals cut. I wanted to be able to walk away with the win.
We were finally down to three players. I had six or seven times more chips than the woman who was the original chip leader had when we started the final table. Dale, the number three players was a little behind her and asked her if she wanted to chop the money for second and third. She said no way. She eventually lost to him. Now there were the two of us. Dale asked me if I wanted to make a deal I said, "No thank you." I had him by a substantial lead and I had to see this through. We battled back and forth but the cards were holding out for me. The blinds were $5,000 and $10,000.
On the final hand I posted the small blind and Dale posted the $10,000 big blind, leaving him with four thousand. I was dealt pocket eights. I called and he raised all in, and the dealer dealt the final cards. 4Q4 2 T.
He flipped over an Ace and said, "You better be able to beat this." I turned over my pocket eights. I extended my hand and said, "Nice Match." He shook it and congratulated me on my win. It's hard to describe my feelings at the end. The adrenaline rush and excitement of winning will stay with me for a long time. It is definitely one of the most memorable experiences I have had in the casinos in a long time.
I have the utmost respect for all the players that competed. I did not see one incident of poor sportsmanship. Hats off to the entire staff and dealers at Foxwoods. They run a first class tournament.
Thanks for listening :)
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