February 8, 2005
Come with me if you want to live
Tuesday night's Stacy Poker Tour event was big for many reasons. For one, I was coming off a second place finish last week, as well as a first on Thursday, so I really wanted to continue my momentum. Also, I needed to set the tone early in the Player of the Year race. Right now, some of the strongest players, namely Aaron and Dan, haven't been able to put together any really strong finishes, so I felt like if I could jump out to an early lead, I'd be able to run away with it this semester. Gibby and Joe, the two guys currently at the top, are much improved from last semester, but I don't think they have the staying power that I do. I've also been getting good cards for the most part, and I've been playing everything extremely well. Everything is feeling more and more natural now- whereas in the past I had to focus on focusing, now I'm more relaxed, and I'm able to maintain that same level of focus without making a concerted effort to do it. I think that comes with playing so much- eventually you've been in almost every situation, and you have a wealth of knowledge to call upon.
A few new guys came out on Tuesday, so we had 18 players all told. I got put in the lounge, which seems to be my home this semester, and the seating went me, this new kid Matt, Gibby, Donald, Aaron, Will, Joe, a new kid named Grayson, and Pete. I absolutely loved this seating arrangement, as I had the tight players, Matt and Gibby, seated to my left, so I could be sure to feast on a steady diet of blinds. The more aggressive guys acted right before me, so I could use position against them.
In the first round, I played my share of pots, but didn't hit anything big, and I was about even as we neared the second round. I woke up to see aces on my big blind after Grayson limped from the button and Pete limped from the small blind. This was my first time playing with Grayson, but he was your prototypical terrible player. First of all, he was Greg's friend, so that's all I needed to know, but he also calls any amount of money after he contributed to the pot. He never raises preflop (limping from the button?), but he showed a tendency to throw out huge overbets on the flop without necessarily having anything. With the blinds at 100-200, I figured an overbet was in order. I didn't think Pete would call any kind of raise, so I had to dust off my Grayson ATM card here. I raised 1000 into the 600 dollar pot, and Grayson predictably called without much thought. Pete folded after giving me an angry look, and we saw a flop of rag rag rag with two hearts. I checked it to Grayson, hoping he'd throw out a massive overbet again and I could trap him for all his chips. He bet 3000, leaving himself with about 800, and I raised all-in. He then started thinking and shaking his head. First of all, there was about 9400 in the pot right now, and he was getting almost 12-1 on his money. He said, "You may have a couple hearts, and I'd hate to lose to a flush." Everyone at the table was telling him to call, but I told them to shut up and let the man play his hand. I knew I had him by far, but if he had just a pair, he could still draw out on me, so I was fine with him folding. Eventually, he folded and said he had ace 9, for ace high, so he would have had to hit 9 9 to beat me, just a bit of a longshot. This pot put me up to about 13,000 going into the next level.
Joe, last week's winner, was the chip leader at the time, as he had taken a monster pot off of Matt, and he was up over 20,000. This, of course, didn't make me happy, as I wanted my revenge on him. On his big blind, with the blinds at 200-400, I looked down to see pocket aces once again in early position. I raised it 1200 on top of the blinds, and both Will and Joe called. Will looked like he wanted to reraise, but decided not to. The flop came jack 7 5 with two clubs, a very good flop for aces, and after Will checked, Joe bet out 1200. I didn't figure him to be drawing, and I smooth-called it to trap him later. Will said, "I don't like Terrence calling here," then folded. The turn was a king, and I figured the only thing that could hit me was king jack right now. Joe bet out only 1000 this time, and I raised him 3000. This threw him for a loop, as he knows I wouldn't call with just overcards, and he called. The river was an ace, giving me top set, so now the only thing that could beat me was queen ten, and the only way he could hold that was if he had queen ten of clubs, and remember, I had ruled out a draw for him. Much to my surprise, Joe fired out 5000. I'm assuming he saw the ace as a scare card for me, and he thought I would lay down a lower pair. I raised all-in for another 2450, and he called pretty much just to see what I had, as I think he had just jacks. I was hoping someone would jump up and yell, "Does this look like a man beaten by jacks?!" but it didn't happen. This pot was monstrous, and I was up near 30 grand with a monster chip lead.
Once I got the lead, I started raising like I had a plane to catch. There was $600 of blinds laying out there at all times, and Matt, Gibby, and Donald weren't defending their blinds at all. Will was the second chip leader after he took out Aaron and Grayson on a huge hand (pocket queens for Will, ace king for Aaron, king ten for Grayson. Matt actually quadrupled up on this hand with pocket aces, but Will still took a huge pot off of Aaron to more than make up for it), and he was the only one that could do any damage to me. Grayson was gone, and Gibby had gotten a rough break when his kings didn't hold up against Matt's queens. Pete lost a rough hand to Joe when Joe went all-in on a flop of queen 9 10, Pete called with bottom two pair, and Joe hit an ace on the river to make aces up. This got Joe back in the game, but knocked Pete down to the felt.
My next big hand came against Will. I picked up ace king in early position, and came in raising 1200. Will called from the small blind, and the flop king 8 2, two spades. Will bet out 1500, and I smooth-called, figuring a raise would scare him off, and I could induce a bluff later on with a weak-looking call. If he had something like king queen, this could be a gold mine. The turn was the 5 of spades, putting the flush out there. Will checked. This was a little suspicious, as Will tends to stay strong if he isn't raised, but I thought he could have easily concluded my call meant I was fishing for the flush. I checked, too, again trying to induce a bluff, plus I had the king of spades if another one fell. The river paired up the deuce on board. Will came out betting 6000, a seriously big bet at this point in the game. No one else at the table had too much more than 6 grand. I tried to figure out what the hell he could have to make this bet. I started to worry that he had hit the flush and tried to trap me with a check on the turn. I wasn't worried about the deuce pairing too much, if he had a set, he had me from the get-go. Still, I had top pair, top kicker, and he may have been hoping I would call with something less than his king queen. The bet was just so big, though, that it seemed to be a bluff. I had played it weak throughout with the intention of inducing this bet, but when it came it still scared me. I called, and he flipped over pocket 10s, so my kings were good, and Will was now crippled, as well.
The entire table wanted no piece of me at this point. I was raising, raising, raising, and everyone else was getting whittled away. Donald was the only one that managed to get me, taking a few small pots to get himself healthy again. Joe was the next one to go out, after doubling up a couple times, his luck finally ran out.
I could have taken Pete out at one point, but I laid down pocket 8s preflop after Joe limped in early position, Pete went all-in, and I had a lot of people behind me to act. Pete only had ace 6, and I would have flopped top set then rivered quads. This didn't make me happy, but I was hitting everything else under the sun, so I can't complain.
We merged into the final table with 9 of us left. I had the chip lead, and seating went me, Dan, a new kid named Dave, Andy, Will, Donald, Matt, Alex, and Pete. Most of the pots early on got taken by a raise and a bet on the flop, and it seemed most guys were playing cautiously to make their way up the ladder for points and cash. With the blinds at 500-1000, Andy, who had been staying pretty quiet as his stack got blinded off, came in raising 2500 under the gun. I looked down to see queen ten of spades on the button. Normally, I wouldn't call this raise, because I'd give Andy credit for having a big hand under the gun, but he seemed to be getting impatient, plus I had position on him, so I figured I might be able to bust him with a favorable flop, as if he has one weakness, it's that he tends to overplay his hands when he's out of position. I called, and the blinds folded. The flop came 10 6 3, and Andy went all-in right off the bat for another 8 grand or so. I started thinking, and felt pretty sure that he didn't have an overpair, because he would figure not to get called in a spot like this. I thought he had a mid-pocket pair between 6 and 10, or just overcards. There was as much in the pot as there was in his stack, and I knew he needed to take it. I called with top pair, and he tabled ace queen, which was beautiful, because he only had three outs. He was shocked that I had called his raise with queen ten, and he derisively said, "Nice flop," but I don't see anything wrong with how I played it. For one thing, I'm the chip leader, so I can afford to gamble a little bit more, and for another, I knew he overplayed his hands and that's exactly what he did. The position paid off beautifully. He couldn't hit an ace on the turn or river, so we had our first casualty of the final table.
All of a sudden, the room got dark and a crackling, electrical sphere appeared out of nowhere. I appeared out of it, naked, but with giant muscles. I slowly rose as some mean-sounding music played in the background. I then went to find some guns.
OK, that didn't really happen, but what followed really seemed like a scene from Terminator. After taking out Andy, I got Alex on a hand I can't remember for some reason. Hasta la vista, baby. Then came Pete. He made one of his silly raises right before me for about 3/4 of his stack, and I looked down to see ace queen of spades. I reraised something like 6000 to drive out the others, and Pete called after saying that he didn't want me to "push him around." He had king jack, and I hit a queen on the flop to finish him. Pete's problem this semester is that his ego is getting in the way of his play. He doesn't want to be bullied, so he's calling every bet I make. I, of course, love this because I just keep coming at him with big hands. Next was Donald. I have to confess, this was my one bad read of the night. Donald had just doubled the blind preflop, and I called from the big blind with queen 7 of hearts. The flop came down ace queen 6, and after I checked, he went all-in. I thought that my queen was good, and I called him, but he had ace 5. I got extremely lucky and hit a 7 on the river for two pair to take him out.
Now that we were one off the money, here's how the stacks looked. I still had the big stack, while Dan had lost a fair portion of his stack when Matt got lucky and moved all-in with 8s on the flop. Dan called him with 10s, and Matt hit an 8 on the river to win. This was the third time he had cracked a higher pocket pair, and now he had a huge stack. Will was getting shortstacked, as was Dave.
Nobody really wanted to die on the bubble, and most all-ins didn't get called. Dave's only move was all-in, and he kept going down as a result of it. Honestly, I don't know why you play if you don't know how to. I don't see how moving all-in for 10 times the blind is any fun. Oh well. Anyway, Will came in raising 4 grand under the gun, and Matt went all-in over the top of him for another 35 grand or so, a monstrous bet. Matt was the second chip leader behind me, and I looked down to see pocket jacks. It was clear that Will wasn't going to call the bet, so I just had to worry about Matt. I really didn't want to get my money in against him with a coin flip, because I would have taken a huge dent to my stack if I did it and lost. Judging by his previous play, though, I figured him for a mid-pocket pair, as he had really been pushing hard whenever he picked one up. I also knew that he kept drawing out on people, too, so I was in a tough spot. His bet really seemed weak to me, though, and I called. He showed pocket 7s, so I was a 4.5/1 favorite, and the jacks held up to knock Matt out in 5th.
I limped in under the gun with ace queen, hoping to trap someone and reraise all-in if I got the chance. Unfortunately, no one raised, so I saw a three-way flop with Dan and Matt. It was all low stuff, something like 5 7 2 with two spades, and after Matt checked, I bet 5000 to try to take it down right there. Dan moved all-in for another 2500 or so, and after deciding that a pair would be good if I hit, I called. Dan had 8 9 of spades, for a flush draw as well as a gutshot. The turn was a king of clubs, but the river gave him his flush, so he doubled up. He got shortstacked again, though, and Will took him out a little bit later.
Will had been going all-in like a maniac, and he kept taking the blinds to build his stack up nicely. Finally, a hand came up between Will and Dave. Dave limped on the small blind, and Will checked. The flop came queen 10 4. Dave checked, and Will bet 8 thousand. Dave moved all-in and Will called immediately. It was only about 6 thousand more. Dave had pocket aces, and Will had 10 7 for a pair of 10s. The river brought a 7 for his two pair, though, so Dave was done. I don't think I saw the kid win one pot except for the times he went all-in preflop. I don't know how he made the final table.
Heads up, I was brimming with confidence, as I had been outplaying Will in our few encounters, and I had pretty much gone wire-to-wire up to this point. I also had about a 2-1 chip lead. On the first hand, Will limped in and I had jack 7 of clubs. I checked, and I threw a bet out on a low flop to take it down. The blinds were at 4000-8000. The next hand, I picked up ace king, and I raised it 14,000 on top of the blind. Will went all-in, and I called. He had king 8, so I had him dominated. The flop had an ace, so it was all over. I had my first Stacy Poker Tour title of the semester, and I launched myself into first place in the Player of the Year standings. I also grabbed $80 to put my bankroll over $900. And I did my best Arnold impression. Next week, "I'll be back."
Quote of the day: "Oh, look at that look on the defending champion,"- said by Will during a hand with me (borrowed from Rounders and the 1988 World Series, of course.)
Terrence's bankroll: $854+$70=$924
A few new guys came out on Tuesday, so we had 18 players all told. I got put in the lounge, which seems to be my home this semester, and the seating went me, this new kid Matt, Gibby, Donald, Aaron, Will, Joe, a new kid named Grayson, and Pete. I absolutely loved this seating arrangement, as I had the tight players, Matt and Gibby, seated to my left, so I could be sure to feast on a steady diet of blinds. The more aggressive guys acted right before me, so I could use position against them.
In the first round, I played my share of pots, but didn't hit anything big, and I was about even as we neared the second round. I woke up to see aces on my big blind after Grayson limped from the button and Pete limped from the small blind. This was my first time playing with Grayson, but he was your prototypical terrible player. First of all, he was Greg's friend, so that's all I needed to know, but he also calls any amount of money after he contributed to the pot. He never raises preflop (limping from the button?), but he showed a tendency to throw out huge overbets on the flop without necessarily having anything. With the blinds at 100-200, I figured an overbet was in order. I didn't think Pete would call any kind of raise, so I had to dust off my Grayson ATM card here. I raised 1000 into the 600 dollar pot, and Grayson predictably called without much thought. Pete folded after giving me an angry look, and we saw a flop of rag rag rag with two hearts. I checked it to Grayson, hoping he'd throw out a massive overbet again and I could trap him for all his chips. He bet 3000, leaving himself with about 800, and I raised all-in. He then started thinking and shaking his head. First of all, there was about 9400 in the pot right now, and he was getting almost 12-1 on his money. He said, "You may have a couple hearts, and I'd hate to lose to a flush." Everyone at the table was telling him to call, but I told them to shut up and let the man play his hand. I knew I had him by far, but if he had just a pair, he could still draw out on me, so I was fine with him folding. Eventually, he folded and said he had ace 9, for ace high, so he would have had to hit 9 9 to beat me, just a bit of a longshot. This pot put me up to about 13,000 going into the next level.
Joe, last week's winner, was the chip leader at the time, as he had taken a monster pot off of Matt, and he was up over 20,000. This, of course, didn't make me happy, as I wanted my revenge on him. On his big blind, with the blinds at 200-400, I looked down to see pocket aces once again in early position. I raised it 1200 on top of the blinds, and both Will and Joe called. Will looked like he wanted to reraise, but decided not to. The flop came jack 7 5 with two clubs, a very good flop for aces, and after Will checked, Joe bet out 1200. I didn't figure him to be drawing, and I smooth-called it to trap him later. Will said, "I don't like Terrence calling here," then folded. The turn was a king, and I figured the only thing that could hit me was king jack right now. Joe bet out only 1000 this time, and I raised him 3000. This threw him for a loop, as he knows I wouldn't call with just overcards, and he called. The river was an ace, giving me top set, so now the only thing that could beat me was queen ten, and the only way he could hold that was if he had queen ten of clubs, and remember, I had ruled out a draw for him. Much to my surprise, Joe fired out 5000. I'm assuming he saw the ace as a scare card for me, and he thought I would lay down a lower pair. I raised all-in for another 2450, and he called pretty much just to see what I had, as I think he had just jacks. I was hoping someone would jump up and yell, "Does this look like a man beaten by jacks?!" but it didn't happen. This pot was monstrous, and I was up near 30 grand with a monster chip lead.
Once I got the lead, I started raising like I had a plane to catch. There was $600 of blinds laying out there at all times, and Matt, Gibby, and Donald weren't defending their blinds at all. Will was the second chip leader after he took out Aaron and Grayson on a huge hand (pocket queens for Will, ace king for Aaron, king ten for Grayson. Matt actually quadrupled up on this hand with pocket aces, but Will still took a huge pot off of Aaron to more than make up for it), and he was the only one that could do any damage to me. Grayson was gone, and Gibby had gotten a rough break when his kings didn't hold up against Matt's queens. Pete lost a rough hand to Joe when Joe went all-in on a flop of queen 9 10, Pete called with bottom two pair, and Joe hit an ace on the river to make aces up. This got Joe back in the game, but knocked Pete down to the felt.
My next big hand came against Will. I picked up ace king in early position, and came in raising 1200. Will called from the small blind, and the flop king 8 2, two spades. Will bet out 1500, and I smooth-called, figuring a raise would scare him off, and I could induce a bluff later on with a weak-looking call. If he had something like king queen, this could be a gold mine. The turn was the 5 of spades, putting the flush out there. Will checked. This was a little suspicious, as Will tends to stay strong if he isn't raised, but I thought he could have easily concluded my call meant I was fishing for the flush. I checked, too, again trying to induce a bluff, plus I had the king of spades if another one fell. The river paired up the deuce on board. Will came out betting 6000, a seriously big bet at this point in the game. No one else at the table had too much more than 6 grand. I tried to figure out what the hell he could have to make this bet. I started to worry that he had hit the flush and tried to trap me with a check on the turn. I wasn't worried about the deuce pairing too much, if he had a set, he had me from the get-go. Still, I had top pair, top kicker, and he may have been hoping I would call with something less than his king queen. The bet was just so big, though, that it seemed to be a bluff. I had played it weak throughout with the intention of inducing this bet, but when it came it still scared me. I called, and he flipped over pocket 10s, so my kings were good, and Will was now crippled, as well.
The entire table wanted no piece of me at this point. I was raising, raising, raising, and everyone else was getting whittled away. Donald was the only one that managed to get me, taking a few small pots to get himself healthy again. Joe was the next one to go out, after doubling up a couple times, his luck finally ran out.
I could have taken Pete out at one point, but I laid down pocket 8s preflop after Joe limped in early position, Pete went all-in, and I had a lot of people behind me to act. Pete only had ace 6, and I would have flopped top set then rivered quads. This didn't make me happy, but I was hitting everything else under the sun, so I can't complain.
We merged into the final table with 9 of us left. I had the chip lead, and seating went me, Dan, a new kid named Dave, Andy, Will, Donald, Matt, Alex, and Pete. Most of the pots early on got taken by a raise and a bet on the flop, and it seemed most guys were playing cautiously to make their way up the ladder for points and cash. With the blinds at 500-1000, Andy, who had been staying pretty quiet as his stack got blinded off, came in raising 2500 under the gun. I looked down to see queen ten of spades on the button. Normally, I wouldn't call this raise, because I'd give Andy credit for having a big hand under the gun, but he seemed to be getting impatient, plus I had position on him, so I figured I might be able to bust him with a favorable flop, as if he has one weakness, it's that he tends to overplay his hands when he's out of position. I called, and the blinds folded. The flop came 10 6 3, and Andy went all-in right off the bat for another 8 grand or so. I started thinking, and felt pretty sure that he didn't have an overpair, because he would figure not to get called in a spot like this. I thought he had a mid-pocket pair between 6 and 10, or just overcards. There was as much in the pot as there was in his stack, and I knew he needed to take it. I called with top pair, and he tabled ace queen, which was beautiful, because he only had three outs. He was shocked that I had called his raise with queen ten, and he derisively said, "Nice flop," but I don't see anything wrong with how I played it. For one thing, I'm the chip leader, so I can afford to gamble a little bit more, and for another, I knew he overplayed his hands and that's exactly what he did. The position paid off beautifully. He couldn't hit an ace on the turn or river, so we had our first casualty of the final table.
All of a sudden, the room got dark and a crackling, electrical sphere appeared out of nowhere. I appeared out of it, naked, but with giant muscles. I slowly rose as some mean-sounding music played in the background. I then went to find some guns.
OK, that didn't really happen, but what followed really seemed like a scene from Terminator. After taking out Andy, I got Alex on a hand I can't remember for some reason. Hasta la vista, baby. Then came Pete. He made one of his silly raises right before me for about 3/4 of his stack, and I looked down to see ace queen of spades. I reraised something like 6000 to drive out the others, and Pete called after saying that he didn't want me to "push him around." He had king jack, and I hit a queen on the flop to finish him. Pete's problem this semester is that his ego is getting in the way of his play. He doesn't want to be bullied, so he's calling every bet I make. I, of course, love this because I just keep coming at him with big hands. Next was Donald. I have to confess, this was my one bad read of the night. Donald had just doubled the blind preflop, and I called from the big blind with queen 7 of hearts. The flop came down ace queen 6, and after I checked, he went all-in. I thought that my queen was good, and I called him, but he had ace 5. I got extremely lucky and hit a 7 on the river for two pair to take him out.
Now that we were one off the money, here's how the stacks looked. I still had the big stack, while Dan had lost a fair portion of his stack when Matt got lucky and moved all-in with 8s on the flop. Dan called him with 10s, and Matt hit an 8 on the river to win. This was the third time he had cracked a higher pocket pair, and now he had a huge stack. Will was getting shortstacked, as was Dave.
Nobody really wanted to die on the bubble, and most all-ins didn't get called. Dave's only move was all-in, and he kept going down as a result of it. Honestly, I don't know why you play if you don't know how to. I don't see how moving all-in for 10 times the blind is any fun. Oh well. Anyway, Will came in raising 4 grand under the gun, and Matt went all-in over the top of him for another 35 grand or so, a monstrous bet. Matt was the second chip leader behind me, and I looked down to see pocket jacks. It was clear that Will wasn't going to call the bet, so I just had to worry about Matt. I really didn't want to get my money in against him with a coin flip, because I would have taken a huge dent to my stack if I did it and lost. Judging by his previous play, though, I figured him for a mid-pocket pair, as he had really been pushing hard whenever he picked one up. I also knew that he kept drawing out on people, too, so I was in a tough spot. His bet really seemed weak to me, though, and I called. He showed pocket 7s, so I was a 4.5/1 favorite, and the jacks held up to knock Matt out in 5th.
I limped in under the gun with ace queen, hoping to trap someone and reraise all-in if I got the chance. Unfortunately, no one raised, so I saw a three-way flop with Dan and Matt. It was all low stuff, something like 5 7 2 with two spades, and after Matt checked, I bet 5000 to try to take it down right there. Dan moved all-in for another 2500 or so, and after deciding that a pair would be good if I hit, I called. Dan had 8 9 of spades, for a flush draw as well as a gutshot. The turn was a king of clubs, but the river gave him his flush, so he doubled up. He got shortstacked again, though, and Will took him out a little bit later.
Will had been going all-in like a maniac, and he kept taking the blinds to build his stack up nicely. Finally, a hand came up between Will and Dave. Dave limped on the small blind, and Will checked. The flop came queen 10 4. Dave checked, and Will bet 8 thousand. Dave moved all-in and Will called immediately. It was only about 6 thousand more. Dave had pocket aces, and Will had 10 7 for a pair of 10s. The river brought a 7 for his two pair, though, so Dave was done. I don't think I saw the kid win one pot except for the times he went all-in preflop. I don't know how he made the final table.
Heads up, I was brimming with confidence, as I had been outplaying Will in our few encounters, and I had pretty much gone wire-to-wire up to this point. I also had about a 2-1 chip lead. On the first hand, Will limped in and I had jack 7 of clubs. I checked, and I threw a bet out on a low flop to take it down. The blinds were at 4000-8000. The next hand, I picked up ace king, and I raised it 14,000 on top of the blind. Will went all-in, and I called. He had king 8, so I had him dominated. The flop had an ace, so it was all over. I had my first Stacy Poker Tour title of the semester, and I launched myself into first place in the Player of the Year standings. I also grabbed $80 to put my bankroll over $900. And I did my best Arnold impression. Next week, "I'll be back."
Quote of the day: "Oh, look at that look on the defending champion,"- said by Will during a hand with me (borrowed from Rounders and the 1988 World Series, of course.)
Terrence's bankroll: $854+$70=$924
Posted by Terrence on February 8, 2005 at 02:37 AM | 1 comments
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