The Tournament of Champions has come and gone, and it ended in heartbreak for me.  We began with $15,000 in chips, and I quickly ran my stack up to about $25,000, mostly by taking lots of small pots and avoiding any marginal situations.  I really focused on position, playing most of my hands near the button.  I took one pot off Will when he came in raising 1000 under the gun.  I was on the button with 8 4 offsuit, but Will, a tight player, will give up all but the strongest hands.  He'd shown pocket kings twice already, but I figured him to be much weaker than that.  I reraised 2500, and he called.  Unless he hit the heck out of the flop, I knew I had him.  The flop came jack queen 4, and after he checked, I bet 2000 and took it down.  He showed pocket 10s.

For some reason, it kept getting folded around to me and Aaron in the blinds.  I limped every time, regardless of the strength of my hand, because I wanted to trap Aaron in a big pot.  Finally, I did.  I picked up pocket 7s in the small blind, and after it folded to me, I limped.  Aaron checked, and the flop came king king 7.  BINGO.  I figured that if Aaron completely missed this flop, check-raising would only win me a small bet from him.  If, though, he hit the king, I could take a monster off him by betting out.  I reasoned that this could work because I'm known as being pretty aggressive, betting at lots of pots, and the guys know that on a flop like that, I'd usually try to bet to take it down, because whoever bets first usually takes it.  I bet 800, and Aaron doubled it.  Perfect.  I figured he had to have a king here, so I tried to rope him in some more.  I reraised 2000, and after some thought, he reraised 3500.  I immediately asked him for a chip count, and he had 4500 left.  I put him all-in right away, and then he hemmed and hawed for a while.  He knew he was beat, but there was a lot of money in the pot, so he called and flipped over king 3, or the Krablar, as it's known on Daniel Negreanu's website.  He told me he was hoping for a chopped pot if I had a lousy king.  What was funny about it was that he ruled out pocket 7s as a possible holding I had.  He said before he called, "You definitely wouldn't have played pocket 7s like that."  The satisfaction of having outplayed him so badly only lasted so long, though.  The river brought a 3, completely turning the tables, and relegating me to one out which didn't come.  I just sat there for a bit and tried to compose myself, but it felt like I had been punched in the gut.  If I had won that pot, I would have been at around $40,000 in chips, with a monster chip lead and complete control of the table.  In my mind, it was game over at that point.  As it was, I was down to my original $15,000.  I couldn't seem to hit anything after that, and I went out in fourth.  Short on chips, I pushed with king 8 of hearts, and Pascale called with pocket 8s.  Two hearts flopped, but nothing hit, so I was done.

The real reason for this post, though, is to talk about an event that is forthcoming.  Roy, my arch-nemesis and most dangerous opponent, will take part in a three-night, heads-up deathmatch with me.  Here are the stakes:  Our first match will be in no limit hold 'em, with blinds escalating every half hour.  We will begin with about 100 big blinds, so there will be plenty of room to dance.  The next night we will play HORSE, with blinds escalating every round.  The third and final night will once again be no limit hold 'em, and blinds will stay stationary throughout.  This could easily last for days, I anticipate.  Each match will be worth $15, with the winner of 2 out of 3 (or a sweep) receiving an extra $5.  It will probably be played in the Stacy lounge.  Spectators are welcome, but are encouraged to shut their faces.

I've played other tournaments besides the TOC, but don't have the time to write about them.  I won two boohbahs in the last few weeks, putting me at five total, so I received a purple boohbah, also. 

Terrence's bankroll: $987

Currently listening to: Home- Michael Buble
Currently watching: Nuggets-Spurs
Currently feeling: nostalgic
Posted by Terrence on May 4, 2005 at 09:09 PM | 2 comments

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Comment posted on May 5th, 2005 at 09:38 AM
You never actually wrote what your opponent had the hand when you had pocket 7's, you just mentioned that you lost and only wrote one of the cards after the flop not both the turn and river, slightly confusing.
Comment posted on May 5th, 2005 at 10:45 AM
Oops- it's fixed now.