After the Famine

I have meant to update this several times since I actually have, but better late than never. The last time I updated things were very different for me. I was living 20 mins from the Fitz, I couldn't make the money in a tournament to save my life, and things were just ticking along.

Business has picked up though, and that most cruel of mistresses - The River - is being kind to me.

Let me take myself back to the weekend before last (Sunday 2nd). I came in late into the Fitz after the football and sat straight into the 50 Omaha game. It was a well stacked game but not maniacal. I sat in with 250 which is about my standard sit in amount. Things were going fairly slowly until a Hold'em player (Hughie - never seen him play Omaha before) sat into the game. He proceeded to pump 100 into 4 pots in a row, 3 of them preflop. One of them I call the preflop action for 100 with KKJTds from the blinds. The flop (600 in pot) comes fairly raggy but with 2 spades on board. I have only 150 left so I go all in and get 3 callers. The turn blanks and the river comes a lovely spade and with no one on the nut flush draw I take the lot for over a grand in the pot, so happy days. I stick around for another couple of hours, and get rivered horribly by a middle pin straight (he had no other outs) in a fairly big pot, but I pick up enough others to recover to leave with about a grand in total, so not too bad.

I played the Monday night tournie then but I can't remember much about it, and was probably out early. I played cash games as well and my records show that I made about 100 from that, so I left pretty much even for the night. Details are great, aren't they?

The next time I played was in the 150 FO on Thursday. Before this tournie I noticed that I was on my worst run ever (since I began keeping records anyhow) without cashing or 10 tournaments to put it another way. The previous worst had been 7. This made me determined to make the money and I did that, but only just, reaching the final table as one of about 4 terminally short shortstacks. I exited in 8th when my Kd with a mystery card (5d as it turned out) got called by Dennis' TT. Only 50 profit, but at least my duck was technically broken.

I played the scalps tournament the next night and there was a huge turnout of 112 runners thanks to a load of English guys over for the Charity Headsup match the next day in the Fitz, and also due to a last longest bet posted on boards with Dave Masters generously adding 200 to the pot for this. I never threatened the last longest though. Before the break I won a few pots early on but I kept getting my raises reraised near the break. This was very frustrating, especially as I was out of position most of the time and I never had a premium hand to play back with. I always held AJ/AQ/middle pair or some such, not what I want to be calling an all in reraise with. After the break I went fairly card dead, and at one stage after losing a few chips in a pot I got dealt KK in EP. I decide to limp as there had been raises every hand, but no, not this one. I was shortstacked and tried to get cute (3k with blinds of 200-400) 6 players to the pot and up she pops, the dirty A. Needless to say there are interested parties and I run away with my tail between my legs. I go out a few hands later when on the blinds and I enter into the spirit of it, by playing blind (in 2 hands), and of course I lose. Cash game please!!!!!

Cash game (round of each) starts off badly for me when I hold 99xx on a board of 982 (with 2 clubs). I bet pot (only 10), get 5 callers. Turn is Ac putting the flush out there. checked all round, and the river is 2, filling me up. I bet 50, and get reraised to 120. Hmmm thinks I. I have about 150 back, and 70 more to me. I am suspicious but still call, and he turns over 22 for quads. Typical. I reload to 200 after losing the rest of it and the following pot happens.

Me 185
Button ~400

I limp in MP with A9o in the holdem round and it gets raised by the button to 10 (regular player, we know each others game reasonably well) and only I call. Flop comes 984r. I bet 25 into him and he calls. At this point I am fairly sure he is on a big A but doesn't believe me. Turn is the perfect card - A. I bet 50 into him, and he reraises me to 125. Since I only have 150 left I go all in fo course and he calls and is disgusted with my hand, and he has AK as I figured. No K and I win a decent pot. I play for another while and leave nearly 200 up in the cash game for a small profit for the night.

The next day I turn up for the Charity rebuy game in the Fitz, and it is sheer madness. I rebuy 5 times and topup (25 a time), but there are 2 guys who rebuy 27 and 20 times respectively. It was brilliant fun before and indeed after the break, but before the break it was sheer madness with allins on every hand practically. I had 11500 at the break after quadrupling my rebuy up (blind) on the last hand and topping up for 3500. There were loads of chips in play and after the break it settled into a really good tournament. There were pretty much only decent players left after the break when the madness ceased, and I was doing ok. A few hands in particular stand out for me, all happening on the second last table.

Hand 1: 5 or 6 handed I hold A9o in the SB (500/1000). Folded to the BB who raises to 4000. I know a lot of the time4 he is doing this with air as he had just tripled up recently and I got the feeling he was just pulling a move. This being the case I push with A9 for 21k, confident that I would take the pot there. I hadn't counte on the BB thinking and counting and then thinking soem more. After a few mins he eventually folds, and as I suspected the button raiser folds quickly. To my shock the BB shown his folded QQ. I have played with this guy a lot and I think he would have called me on my own but the presence of the button having open raised put him off. Thankfully for me.

Hand 2: A few hands after the first one and I have 66 in the SB. A guy who just lost most of his chips in the previous hand pushes for 6.5k. I call instantly, and he has AJo, much better than I thought, but still ok. flop of QT8 him a double belly buster with the overcards also. A 6 on the turn takes away the overcards, but a K on the river wins him the hand. I could have done without a 14k swing just then. This left me with about 17k.

I won a couple of hands in a row then, once when I flopped a set of 2's and another time betting with air. We were on the bubble with blinds of 1k/2k when the following hand happened:

Hand 3: I am in the BB. UTG raises to 5k. Folded back to me and I push for 22k. Called instantly and I cover, only just. Hands are AJd for me and AKc for UTG. Oops. I spike a J on the flop though to burst the bubble and I go to the final table with 45k and I am in 3rd place. Sorry Andy.

The final table has 6 of the e English guys on it along with myself, Mike Lacey and Mark Kenny. I don't make a move for the first while and I think 3 players are knocked out before I decide to raise with 78h from MP. BB goes all in and I think my original raise covered. He had overcards, but I hit my flush out he goes. When 4 handed there is only 1 of the 6 English guys left along with myself, Mark and Mike. I am in the SB at 4k/8k and it is folded to me. I have KQ off and raise to 24k (I only have 66k total). Mike instantly goes all in, and I call getting around 3-1 for the remainder of my money. He has A3 but I flop a K to win the hand. Mike busts out after losing the next 2 hands also, but in each hand he was ahead each time when the money went in, unlucky Mike. At 3 handed we played on for a while but with the blinds at 5k/10k and chips fairly even (I had about 140k to about 120k each) and the time at nearly 4am we split it 3 ways. So after deducting for dealers and for a donation to the charity fund I left about 600 in profit for the night so not too bad, and I really enjoyed the tournament, both the banter and the play.

The next time I played was on Wednesday night. I have not played this tournament lately, but since I was able to come into town in a borrowed car I thought why not. I was going to go to the SE but in the end decided not to and stuck with the Fitz. There were 44 runners so not too bad. I was playing fairly well but couldn't accumulate a mot of chips. An example of this is when AQ rivered a T to split the pot with me on a board of KQJ3T when I held AA. After the break (no rebuy, only topup) I was again not getting many chips. Turning point came when I had 77 in the SB, and Button had pushed. I also went all in and another shortie called. I was up against QJ and KJ and the first card seen on the flop was a nice 7. Despite 4 spades on the board I still held up as neither had a spade. Several of the people on my table were weak/tight players. They would call a preflop raise then fold almost every time on the flop. I gained a good few chips this way and was well stacked when I knocked someone out on the bubble.

I was second in chips on the FT at the start, well behind big Stuart who had been on a different table to me all night. A few hands into this I raise, Stuey calls and folds to a flop bet. I show AA as it is the first hand I showed on the table. I had won one decent pot before that. 3 crucial hands happen then.

Hand 1: I have AQo in the BB. 1.5k/3k, 1 limper 5 handed and the SB raises to 10k. She had been very aggressive and raised about 5 of the last 8 pots, showing a low pair, a raggy ace, KJ and a couple of no shows. I feel I am well ahead of her range, and would be very unlucky to be behind here so I push for 35k. Folded to her who calls quickly with 66?? Long story short I hit A on the river to cripple her.

Hand 2: Very next hand there was an UTG limper. I raise to 16k from SB with 88. UTG goes all in for about 22k, and I make the call. He had AQ this time. A on the flop isn't looking great for me but I hit 8 on the river (again) so knock him out. I soon knock out player from Hand 1 also.

Hand 3: This is the biggest luckbox hand but again not anything I was going to do differently. 3 handed, I am on the SB with AJo and button limps. 2k/4k. I open raise to 14k, BB folds and then button (Stuey) raises to 40k. This being Stuart could mean a monster or could mean a small pair or a raggy A. I cover him by about 40 so I push allin and he makes the call. Monster pot and I am not loving it at this stage. Sure enough as luck would have it he has AA and I am in big trouble. 3 hearts on the flop gives me hope though as I have Ah, and when turn and river both bring hearts too I win a monster pot and dog Stuey. AJ, 3 handed, against Stuey, I dare anyone to play it differently.

Heads up and I have about 150k to about 20k. This guy barely played a hand apart from doubling up early on the FT. I think it lasts about 5 hands when my JJ (slowplayed) beat his T7 on a K74 board. Turn and river blanks and I outright win for the first time in a while. Good feeling, and even though the competition was not exactly that strong in the whole there were some decent players there. I was hapy enough anyways, 1k for first.

I am in profit for the year now again, and hopefully this run will continue for a while, I could do with it.

On a side note I have purchased 1% of both Oscar Fred and Dave Masters for the World Series, so I would like to say good luck to them.

Hopefully I will still be in a happy mood the next time I post.