Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Multi Success - Oct 25, 2005

If you look down to an earlier post you will notice a freeroll tournament from PokerStars. Well, I was knocked out in the first 20 minutes as I wrote in the comment field under that post. I wasn't prepared to play and it was free so I didn't take it seriously. So last night, I got home and had some time before my wife returned home. I decided to fire up a couple 2/4 games and then I noticed that there was also a $30 Multi set to start in 4 minutes. I didn't have any plans for the evening so I sat down to play.

The first hour I looked for a chance to double up but was selective about my hands. I only played great hands or big opportunity (flush/straights) from late position. My first big hand came about 20 minutes into the tournament. A real aggressive player raised to 100 (5x the BB) and got 3 callers. I had KK on the button with 900 chips left. I reraised all in to isolate. I got one caller and my KK held up against 44.

About 4 hands later I get all in with QQ preflop against a loose player with 88, but lose the hand when an 8 hits the flop. After that I won an occasional pot here and there and was at about 1400 when I was dealt AJo in MP (middle position). I decided in big Multi's to take the Doyle approach and limp with AJ and AQo. The more I think about this I think it is the appropriate way to play these hands. You are not going to get much action by raising. You may pick up the blinds or since you are not in LP (late position), you may get raised and be isolated against AQ or AK. This is a second best hand, one of those hands that you are going to win a lot of small pots, but lose a lot of big pots. UNLESS, you limp. So I limp and the flop is J76 rainbow against 5 players. I bet a little over 1/2 of the pot and get one caller. Next card is a 2. I was a bit worried about the set but wanted to chase away any straight draws or flush draws. The guy I was up against wasn't the best player and I really think he would have raised the flop with any pair (he had previously done that more than a couple times). I bet the pot, which was about 3/4 of his stack. He raised all in with JT and I called and won a big pot.

This was a huge pot for me. I was double the average in the tourney and now I was the chip leader at my table. For those of you who have played with me before, you know what happens next. I became a big table bully. I started reraising with good hands to put other players all in. I also tried to keep the pots small and betting at nearly every flop or picking up the blinds. I was very active, but not enough for people to really adjust their play. I wasn't a complete maniac.

By the time it got down to about 200 people, I had shut down the 2/4 limit tables I had been playing (up around 15BB/100 on average) and was done cooking dinner (my day of the week to cook). It was time to start concentrating a bit more. My wife had returned home by now and she was watching me play. Some people are very distracted when people are watching them. I can be distracted at times but it really depends on the person. I tend to actually play better if the person watching me is still learning poker or doesn't know anything about it. I tend to question myself a bit if there is an experienced player watching me. I had a really good time playing with my wife watching last night. Once we got close to the bubble I looked at her and said, "We are not playing this tourney just to win $20. We are playing to get to the final table where the real money is won. Time to be aggressive."

By playing aggressive on the bubble I found out who was there to win and who was there to cash. I had probably the second or third highest chip count at my table. So as soon as the big stacks folded I raised the blinds. If someone called, I bet the flop. I was very aggressive because I had nothing to lose. This helped build my stack. In fact, right before the bubble hit, the big stack raised in EP. I was in late position and called with 22. Flop 7A2. This was a monster flop. He bet the flop and I called. Turn was a blank and he bet half my stack. I was playing against a guy that refused to fold in a big hand. He had built his stack by sucking out on a couple guys. I was confident I had the best hand and at this point, but I was a bit worried about a higher set hitting on the river. I didn't think he had me beat at this point because I think his betting patterns would have been different. I put him on an Ace. I decided to reraise all in. Unfortunately, he didn't call, but I took over the chip lead in the whole tournament.

The bubble burst and I continued to pick on the guys that were not playing to win but playing to move up a couple levels and win another $10 or $20 bucks. It was very amusing to watch my wife as she became very nervous as I was raising with Q7 or 83o. I was sitting with A4s on the BB when another key hand came up. A weak post flop player raised his standard raise of 2x the BB. I called and the flop was 6JT. I checked and he bet a small amount. I decided to call because I had a runner runner opportunity and I think I can buy the pot on the turn. The turn card was an A giving me top pair. Here is where I made my mistake. I have top pair, but I was worried that he had a higher kicker (maybe a reason to fold the bb preflop, but it is hard to do as big stack when you have an advantage post flop). I bet about half of his stack and he called. This was interesting to me. Now I think he is scared and I have the hand. I think he would have reraised all in with a hand that beat my A4. Either that or he had a monster. I actually put him on a mid size pair 77-99. The turn was a K. I put him all in and he called with QJ and the nut straight.

This hurt a lot. I am not upset at myself for playing the hand. In fact I think I played that hand well preflop and on the flop. However, I really think I could have bought the pot on the turn. I was no longer the chip leader at my table and was near the average. I could not longer play bully. At this point we were down to about 40 people. I didn't get a hand I could play for a while and I started to lose ground as the blinds increased. I had to keep reminding myself out loud that I am playing to make the final table as the new bully starting buying people's blinds. I picked up KJs in the CO and moved all in to buy the blinds or look to double up. Unfortunately, neither of these happened. The big blind with half of my stack typed in "what the hell, I'm tired" and called with KJs. I had hearts and he had clubs and three clubs hit the board and he doubled up. Now the blinds are up to 500/1000 and I'm sitting at 8000 needing two double ups to get to the table average. At this point there are 28 people left in the tourney. The payouts for are the same if you finish 11-20 or 21-30. I could have played passive and tried to finish in the top 20 but I wasn't playing for another $50, I wanted to make the final table.

I picked up 78o in the CO after everyone folded. I still had FE (fold equity) so I moved all in and was called (my wife screamed). Luckily I had two live cards as the BB showed AQ. Flop QJ5, Turn T, River 9. I picked up the low end straight and doubled up. 8 hands later, I picked up KTs on the button. The chip leader raised 2.5 x the BB just to the right of the CO. He had been raising consistently (as he should) and I decided to play for the final table and take a stand. I reraised him all in and he folded immediately. This was a huge pickup for me and I was near the table average. I started playing a bit more aggressively and picking up blinds against the weak players. I picked up some good hands and knocked a couple short stacks out of the tournament. My TT held up against A3. My JJ knocked off 55. All of a sudden I was over the average and we were down to 15 players. No key hands for a while as I picked up some blinds but didn't play any big hands. About 20-30 minutes later I had made the final table.

When I got to the final table my goal was to get in the top five (when the prize was over $1000). This quickly changed as I knocked a couple guys out. One big hand came when I called from the CO (cut off, right of the button) with 33 against a 2.5x BB MP raise. The button also called and the flop came AK7 all hearts. The MP bet a very small amount and I called with 33 (one of which was a heart). Why did I call? Well, I thought I had a better hand than the MP and he had also been playing scared so I thought I could push him off a better hand on the turn. But I was worried about the button. The turn was the 8 of clubs and MP fired out about a 1/4 pot bet. I sensed weakness and I decided to play like I had been playing, aggressively. At this point I had got in the zone and wasn't even thinking about the money. I wanted to win the tournament, not for the cash, but because I am very competitive and want to win at nearly everything I do. I reraised all in deciding that he didn't have a heart and probably had a pair higher than 33 or an A or K. I decided that I think I can make him fold his hand and if not, I think I have some outs with my 3 of hearts. I moved AI and he folded. I was elated and jumped around the room.

I was 3rd in chips now and I continued to play aggressively. I picked up 83s in the small blind and raised to 2x BB (normally I would raise more from the small blind, because it is an easy EV call for the BB, but this was enough to get this guy to fold in the past). The big blind called (we were the only players). Flop was 459. I bet out 1/3 of the pot and got a call. I was a bit worried and considered just check folding the rest of the way. But the BB was playing scared all night. Next card was a 7. I had no opportunity to win the hand unless he folded. If I moved in and lost, I would still be alive in the tourney with a decent size stack. I decided to push. He folded and I was off and running. I then proceeded to knock two players out.

The first hand I was very very fortunate. I called a 2x raise from the BB with T7s against a timid player. It was his standard raise so I wasn't worried about a slowplay AA or KK. Flop was K75. I decided to check to get a read on his bet. He bet 1/4 of the pot and I moved him all in. He took a long time and then called and flipped over KQ. Ouch. Great play by him. He sensed my aggressiveness and I played right into his hands. Unfortunately for him another 7 came on the river and he was knocked out. The second hand I picked up 44 and made my standard raise from MP to 10,000. I was the chip leader now and starting buying pots again. However, the button reraised all in for about 70,000. Against a tight player I probably would have folded, but this was a guy who was playing table bully an hour ago at a table of mine. He knows how to play the bully which means he knows to play aggressive against the bully. He read a steal on my part and moved in. I decided to call him down and look for the coin flip. I got it when he flipped over AK. My 44 held up and I we were down to 6 players.

It was time to settle down a bit as people started to play back at me and I had to fold some steal attempts. I gained some credibility and mixed up my play. The rest of the tourney is a blur and I need to go through the hand history to critique my play both before the final three and after. When it came down to the final three I had about 400k chips. Second place to my left was the guy who couldn't get away from a big pot who I had won a lot of hands from earlier. He had about $250k and the third place was the guy who had QJ earlier when I should have raised all in on the turn with my A4. He was very timid and it became clear right away that he was playing for 2nd.

First prize was over 5K, second was $3000 and third was $1900. I can tell you this right now, but at the time it never even creeped in my mind. I was there to win the tournament. This is both good and bad. If I finish 3rd I lose the chance to win 1100 dollars (difference between 3rd and 2nd). However, I got to this point by playing aggressive, not by playing weak poker. If you start to play scared, you lose your edge and it could negatively impact your game.

We had a lot of chips now relative to the blinds as everyone was over 10x the BB. The passive player to my right was very nice and seem to fold from the sb every hand. He would raise from the button occasionally, but was very tight and weak post flop. I took this into account when I was the BB with J9s. The button called and the sb completed the blind. I checked and the flop came J33. Great flop for me, however there was not a raise so it is hard to put players on a hand. SB checked and I bet 2/3 of the pot. I had picked up a lot of pots this way. I just wanted to keep winning the small pots and staying away from any big confrontations without big hands. The button folded and the SB moved all in. He had not done this to me all day. He was basically a mouse and when mouses take a stand you have to respect it. I have a great hand three handed but I folded to the SB having to give him credit for a better hand.

This is one of three hands I remember from the final three. The next two involve me playing against the loose aggressive player who was second in chip count and now was nearly even with me. I picked up KQ suited and I made a standard 2.5 x raise. BB calls and the flop comes AJ5 with two spades. I bet 1/3 of the pot and he called. Turn was another J. I threw out a big bet (1/2 pot) and he called. River was a 7 (not a spade) and I checked. He bet 50,000. What could he have? If he had a good ace, I think he would have reraised me preflop. If he had a weak ace I think he would have raised me on the turn to see where he stood against a possible J. If he had a J I think he would have raised on the flop because he either needs to see where he stands against an A or he is giving a free card to a flush draw, K or Q. If he has a 5 or 7 he should check because theoretically he is only going to get called by a better hand. Finally, he could have a monster set or two pair that he was slow playing. This was my thought process. After all that I only had KQ but this was the best non paired hand on the board. I finally concluded that he didn't have a monster and he has a busted flush draw. It is common against loose aggressive players that they will chase a straight or flush draw and then make a maniac bet on the river to try to pick up the pot if they don't hit their hand. I thought I had him outkicked so I called. He turned over J3o. This hurt. All of a sudden I was down to 10x the bb. The tight weak player to my right was about the same until he picked up a big pot against the chip leader.

The next hand I'm on the BB and needing to double up. Blinds are at 5,000/10,000 and I have 80,000. Button limps, sb completes and I move all in with QTo. Big stack calls and tight/weak player folds. I figure that I am behind and need a draw. In actuality, I was ahead as the button flips over J9 of hearts. Turn gave me a Q and a commanding lead but the Q was a heart as was another card. Turn was another heart and I was gone.

The tournament ended less than five minutes later as tight/weak got knocked out with QQ vs AA. This was a great experience and it was very fun to have my wife sitting next to me watching me play. It puts things in perspective and also allowed me to explain the game to her as I played. By talking it through with her it made me think more clearly and actually helped throughout the tourney. A very fun time that I can think about now. I was in a daze and it took over an hour for the adrenaline to return to normal levels. The crazy thing was sitting there and thinking how I wanted to win first and just speechless. After 20 minutes, it sunk in that if I had even finished second I would have won $1100 more dollars. That is a lot of money.

I think I'm the most proud of myself for continuing to play my game despite the difference in the payouts. I could have folded that hand with KQ and started playing for second place, but in a very high pressure situation I thought through all of the possibilities and made a tough decision on my past experience against my opponent. It was a logical decision that ended up being the wrong one. But I could have easily folded because I didn't have a hand instead of trying to decide if I had a better non hand than my opponent.

Maybe I will think differently about my play after I look through the hand history, but either way it was a very fun experience.

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