No WSOP seat, but two MTT final tables
I wasn't able to earn a seat in the World Series of Poker on my second day of trying, but just like last time I tried to win a seat I was able to final table two multi-table tournaments, this time both on Party Poker (bonus code: PERFORMIFY) - and both regular tournaments and not satellite structures like last time - for a nice night.
I tried three different Bodog Guaranteed WSOP seat tournaments. All three had huge overlays - the first was a ~$100 entry with around 40 people but paying a seat for first , the second and third were both $67 levels both with at least a 10x overlay from Bodog. Simply incredible overlays. But alas, I wasn't able to make any real progress in any of those. However, while I was playing one table on Bodog I fired up two Party Poker multitable tournaments: a 99-man MTT with a $44 entry fee, and the Saturday Night $109-buyin $40k Guaranteed prize pool which had 637 entrants. And I final tabled both of those.
In the 99man $44-buyin I entered FT as chiplead, but made two bad plays in a row and dropped to third in chips.
Now with four left i'm in the BB, call a UTG push from the slightly shorter stack holding AK and lose to T7o for most of my chips. Next hand the chiplead standard 3x open raises UTG, second stack calls him, I call all-in from the SB for less with a suited king, and lose to QT when they build a straight. A decent $396 payday for right at three hours ofwork poker.
In the $40k Guaranteed (637 entrtants, $109 buyin, not the $22 buyin larger field) i was able to run as table chiplead for quite a while in the middle stages to build up a deep enough stack to run to the final table. I was table chiplead most of the way from about 400 left to around 100 left, whatever table I was on. Then with around 100 left a couple much bigger stacks moved to my table, and i lost a couple minor hands as well as my ability to bully the table. Combined with an increased focus on my 99-man final table, I wasn't being as aggressive as I probably could have, and hit a pretty cold run of cards to boot. I dropped below average and all down in to the bottom 10% in chips on the bubble, with 75 left and 70 paying. I lost a coinflip with the shortest stack right on the bubble with my AJ vs his 44, but managed to squeek in to the money in the bottom few in chips. From there I did a pretty good job of keeping a running log: dropped below in smaller font.
A couple hands in to the money, I was in the small blind with T9o and a player in MP limped. I completed and the BB checked. We all had pretty similar stacks, I had 12k behind, BB had 22k behind, limper had 21k behind, blinds of 800/1600 with 50 ante. The flop came Jc, 6h, Th, and I checked. the BB led out with a small bet of 1600 in to the ~5000 chip pot. MP quickly called, and I thought that I had a good opportunity for a squeeze play with the weakness that had been shown, so I push. My thinking is I should have decent fold equity against a lot of hands I want to fold here, and with my middle pair there's an outside chance I could get called by a worse hand on the draw. I end up picking up the pot with my play, and jump to almost 19k in chips gaining some significant breathing room.
Just a few minutes later marks 2:45 in, and we're alread down to 57 players thanks to the flurry of activity that always opens up once the bubble firsts bursts. I've taken down the blinds once with AKs but otherwise haven't played a hand in the last two orbits since my squeeze play. Blinds are 1k/2k with a 75 ante so I don't have a ton of space. After passing through the big blind I get A2o in the small blind, and resteal push from the deepstack in CO+1's raise - I'm not sure how much FE i've got, as my push is less than 1/10th their stack, but they lay it down and I jump just over 22k, still holding on, and now with enough of a stack to have some fold equity as three players at the table have stacks in the low 30's.
at 2:54 mark I get QQ in the small blind, and come over the top of a EP raiser who quickly calls with KQo. My queens hold up, and I double up over 41k. Very next hand I steal raise with A6o from the CO and get called by the much deeperstacked BB, who takes the pot away from me by leading the turn when I check behind on the Q-high flop and he leads the blank river. Two hands later I open raise with A9o and take down the blinds, which jumps me back just over 40k so no harm done. We're down to 43 players remaining, average stack is 44k and i'm sitting decent at my table - three of us are stacked in the low 40ks, with three players below us, and only two big stacks on either side of the table and one guy slightly above in the low 50ks. Of course, just as I finish typing all that, I get bounced from table #4 to table #1 in a restructuring. At least I get dropped in the small blind instead of the big blind.
Third hand at the table, blinds 1500/3000 ante 75, I get dealt KQc in the cutoff. UTG with about half my stack limps, I make it 12k to go and get called by the table chiplead who is in the small blind with over a 125k stack while the limper folds. I flop good, hitting my queen with a flop of Jh, 2d, Qd, and the bigstack leads in to me with enough of a bet that takes the guesswork out of maximizing my payout on this hand - I can just come over the top right now. He calls with AJ and my top pair holds up, doubling me up to over 83k.
A few hands later, still in the same level, MP who has me covered min-raises. I call on the button with A6h, and the big blind folds getting 5:1. I'm rewarded with a flop of 6c, Ac, 5h and flop top two pair with a backdoor nut flush draw to boot. MP checks, and I bet a little less than 1/3 the pot, T5000. MP min-raises me to 10k - I'm hoping he has AK here, so I pop him back up another 16k. He re-re-raises another 20k and I push over the top - sick setup, he's got 66 for a set. I luckbox in to runner-runner flush though, and hit a massive double up to jump over 150k in chips. Two hands later I get AKo UTG+2, and make the standard 3x raise. the big blind calls me, and we see a flop of Tc, 9h, 4h. I lead for around half the pot, 10k, and he calls. The turn is a 2c and we both check it. The river is the 6d, and he fires out a nice blocking bet of 3k which I call - he takes down the pot with JTs and I drop to ~147k in chips. Next hand we go on break - we come back to 32 players remaining with blinds 2k/4k with 100 ante. Average chipstack is 60k, so i'm in great shape. In fact as I look around to see how good of shape I'm in, I realize I'm chiplead at my table and second in chips overall. Quite a shock - I didn't realize that last doubleup propelled me so high.
3:19 in - I take over the chiplead by a slim margin after sniping a couple rounds of blinds uncontested. With 31 left we're back in hand-for-hand. Two minutes later we lose #31, and are down to three tables, but still in hand-for-hand it seems.
3:30 in - I pass a few chips to my left but retain the chiplead, and manage to eliminate a player in the process. I call a preflop minraise from a shortstack on the button holding T9o. The flop comes 7s, 8c, 9s and I lead for half the pot 12k. the BB calls and the button calls for less. the flop is 7d and we both check. the river brings the 8d for a board of 7-8-9-7-8. I check as does the BB, and he drags the pot outkicking me with K9. We do eliminate the shorty who held unimproved AK, which leaves us 27 left. I retain the overall chiplead by about 20k chips. Its currently 9:40pm CST, for the record.
3:36 in, I open the other two tables on my second monitor to keep an eye on them. I see a three-way all-in (two players all in) AQs vs A2d vs AKo on table #3 - A2d flops a fourflush but AQ his a queen on the flop, and we've got another elimination. Someone at my table manages to eliminate a player and leapfrogs me in chips to 180k. We're down to 24 left. Next hand I raise J7d from the button and am called by the big blind. I flop a three flush and a gutshot but stupidly make a small bet at the pot when he checks to me. he check-raises all-in and I curse myself for not checking behind. I drop to 109k in chips, which puts me in fourth at my table (the guy who just outplayed me jumped to third in chips at the table with the 120k pot) but I'm sixth in chips overall. We've got 22 left.
3:44 in - i haven't played a hand since my last entry, as I haven't had an opportunity to steal and haven't seen any decent cards. I dropdown to 96k in chips, right around the average. We consolidate to two tables, and then almost immediately lose another to jump down to 19 players remaining. Blinds move to 4k/8k with 200 ante. I get AKo in the small blind, and the CO pops it to 17k. I come over the top with a raise of 37k, and she folds saying in chat "I have AK please show me AA". I figure she's just trying to act strong on a steal, but go ahead and show my AK anyways when she folds as a dick move. I jump to 120k in chips, jumping above the average but eighth overall in chips by my look at the other table. We're down to 16 remaining. In a move to show confidence, I start formulating my two+two final table sweat thread.
3:54 in, the poker gods reward me for my arrogance. I have AJ in the big blind and just call a middle position raiser's standard 3x preflop raise. I hit an ace on the flop, and check looking to possibly checkraise. However he checks behind. A queen hits the turn double-suiting the board, and I make a strong lead in to him. He pushes and I quickly call without thinking it through much - turns out he's got QQ and I double him up, dropping to 33k in chips and near the bottom of the pile. Two hands later I push from the CO with A5o and take down the blinds to jump up to 42k. Blinds and antes are going to eat me quickly though, I'm going to have to get lucky to make the final table. We're down to 15 remaining.
3:57 in, I push 22 in to a limper and the big blind from the SB, and jump above 50k, next-to-last in chips. However next hand we lose the shortest stack and we're down to 14 remaining and I'm back in last place. Very next hand its folded to me on the dead button, and I push with K9o and steal the blinds again. Very next hand, I'm dealt JKo and the now-shortest stack whom i've barely got covered pushes to my immedaite right. I think hard about it, and decide to call - there's nothing but pride between 14th and 11th. I find myself in good shape against AT, and win by spiking a ten on the river. i jump over 130k remaining, and we've got 13 left and I'm now eighth in chips.
4:06 in - two pair loses to a full house and we've got 12 remaining. I'm at 113k in chips, aparently seventh in chips. two minutes later I'm dealt jacks in the big blind, but it folds around to me.
4:10 in - 88 in the CO, takes down the blinds to jump over 133k. We lose a player on the other table, down to 11, with a microstack left on the other table. I'm forth in chips at my table, sixth overall.
4:12 in - the microstack loses and we're at the final table. I am seventh in chips going in. One of the first hands I make what might be a weak play folding AJ from the CO to two early position limpers, but I didn't like my options there, my gut didn't like calling or raising and so I let it go. Of course the flop is jack-high and the first person who bets at it postflop takes it down. We play a couple more then hit break.
4:20 in - Back from break, blinds are 8k/16k with 400 ante.
4:23 in - AA > KQd and we have our first elimination. After passing through the blinds I'm last in chips with nine remaining.
4:27 in - I make my stand with KJo from the button - CO+1 minraises for a little less than half of my stack and I push hoping to isolate in a coinflip or 60/40. To my surprise the small blind wakes up and comes over the top of me, for enough to force the CO+1 to lay down his hand preflop. I find myself dominated against AJo. We hit a jack on the flop, and the board is nice enough to pair the board on the turn giving me three outs to the chop for the river (the case jack, or two remaining queens) in addition to my three suckout outs (three remaining kings), but I fail to suck out and go home in ninth.
A $955.50 payout for four and a half hours ofwork poker, for a total nightly payout of just over $1350 and and an ROI of 783% on these two tournaments .
I'll definately be reviwing my hand history from when I lost the overall chiplead around 30 remaining in detail. I really think I lost a little focus there and lost a little aggressiveness, allowing myself to get leapfrogged. Still, a very exciting night of tournament poker and a very nice payday to boot.
For the record, I updated my Top Ten list to reflect these two cashes. The $109 rankes pretty clear 4th best, but I'm not sure if the $44 should be reflected where it is. Its clearly my sixth highest MTT cash in prize money, but might not rank there in terms of field traversed. I might try to come up with some sort of weighted ranking, i.e. field size multiplied by some sort of modifier for buyin level. We'll see...
I tried three different Bodog Guaranteed WSOP seat tournaments. All three had huge overlays - the first was a ~$100 entry with around 40 people but paying a seat for first , the second and third were both $67 levels both with at least a 10x overlay from Bodog. Simply incredible overlays. But alas, I wasn't able to make any real progress in any of those. However, while I was playing one table on Bodog I fired up two Party Poker multitable tournaments: a 99-man MTT with a $44 entry fee, and the Saturday Night $109-buyin $40k Guaranteed prize pool which had 637 entrants. And I final tabled both of those.
In the 99man $44-buyin I entered FT as chiplead, but made two bad plays in a row and dropped to third in chips.
Now with four left i'm in the BB, call a UTG push from the slightly shorter stack holding AK and lose to T7o for most of my chips. Next hand the chiplead standard 3x open raises UTG, second stack calls him, I call all-in from the SB for less with a suited king, and lose to QT when they build a straight. A decent $396 payday for right at three hours of
In the $40k Guaranteed (637 entrtants, $109 buyin, not the $22 buyin larger field) i was able to run as table chiplead for quite a while in the middle stages to build up a deep enough stack to run to the final table. I was table chiplead most of the way from about 400 left to around 100 left, whatever table I was on. Then with around 100 left a couple much bigger stacks moved to my table, and i lost a couple minor hands as well as my ability to bully the table. Combined with an increased focus on my 99-man final table, I wasn't being as aggressive as I probably could have, and hit a pretty cold run of cards to boot. I dropped below average and all down in to the bottom 10% in chips on the bubble, with 75 left and 70 paying. I lost a coinflip with the shortest stack right on the bubble with my AJ vs his 44, but managed to squeek in to the money in the bottom few in chips. From there I did a pretty good job of keeping a running log: dropped below in smaller font.
A couple hands in to the money, I was in the small blind with T9o and a player in MP limped. I completed and the BB checked. We all had pretty similar stacks, I had 12k behind, BB had 22k behind, limper had 21k behind, blinds of 800/1600 with 50 ante. The flop came Jc, 6h, Th, and I checked. the BB led out with a small bet of 1600 in to the ~5000 chip pot. MP quickly called, and I thought that I had a good opportunity for a squeeze play with the weakness that had been shown, so I push. My thinking is I should have decent fold equity against a lot of hands I want to fold here, and with my middle pair there's an outside chance I could get called by a worse hand on the draw. I end up picking up the pot with my play, and jump to almost 19k in chips gaining some significant breathing room.
Just a few minutes later marks 2:45 in, and we're alread down to 57 players thanks to the flurry of activity that always opens up once the bubble firsts bursts. I've taken down the blinds once with AKs but otherwise haven't played a hand in the last two orbits since my squeeze play. Blinds are 1k/2k with a 75 ante so I don't have a ton of space. After passing through the big blind I get A2o in the small blind, and resteal push from the deepstack in CO+1's raise - I'm not sure how much FE i've got, as my push is less than 1/10th their stack, but they lay it down and I jump just over 22k, still holding on, and now with enough of a stack to have some fold equity as three players at the table have stacks in the low 30's.
at 2:54 mark I get QQ in the small blind, and come over the top of a EP raiser who quickly calls with KQo. My queens hold up, and I double up over 41k. Very next hand I steal raise with A6o from the CO and get called by the much deeperstacked BB, who takes the pot away from me by leading the turn when I check behind on the Q-high flop and he leads the blank river. Two hands later I open raise with A9o and take down the blinds, which jumps me back just over 40k so no harm done. We're down to 43 players remaining, average stack is 44k and i'm sitting decent at my table - three of us are stacked in the low 40ks, with three players below us, and only two big stacks on either side of the table and one guy slightly above in the low 50ks. Of course, just as I finish typing all that, I get bounced from table #4 to table #1 in a restructuring. At least I get dropped in the small blind instead of the big blind.
Third hand at the table, blinds 1500/3000 ante 75, I get dealt KQc in the cutoff. UTG with about half my stack limps, I make it 12k to go and get called by the table chiplead who is in the small blind with over a 125k stack while the limper folds. I flop good, hitting my queen with a flop of Jh, 2d, Qd, and the bigstack leads in to me with enough of a bet that takes the guesswork out of maximizing my payout on this hand - I can just come over the top right now. He calls with AJ and my top pair holds up, doubling me up to over 83k.
A few hands later, still in the same level, MP who has me covered min-raises. I call on the button with A6h, and the big blind folds getting 5:1. I'm rewarded with a flop of 6c, Ac, 5h and flop top two pair with a backdoor nut flush draw to boot. MP checks, and I bet a little less than 1/3 the pot, T5000. MP min-raises me to 10k - I'm hoping he has AK here, so I pop him back up another 16k. He re-re-raises another 20k and I push over the top - sick setup, he's got 66 for a set. I luckbox in to runner-runner flush though, and hit a massive double up to jump over 150k in chips. Two hands later I get AKo UTG+2, and make the standard 3x raise. the big blind calls me, and we see a flop of Tc, 9h, 4h. I lead for around half the pot, 10k, and he calls. The turn is a 2c and we both check it. The river is the 6d, and he fires out a nice blocking bet of 3k which I call - he takes down the pot with JTs and I drop to ~147k in chips. Next hand we go on break - we come back to 32 players remaining with blinds 2k/4k with 100 ante. Average chipstack is 60k, so i'm in great shape. In fact as I look around to see how good of shape I'm in, I realize I'm chiplead at my table and second in chips overall. Quite a shock - I didn't realize that last doubleup propelled me so high.
3:19 in - I take over the chiplead by a slim margin after sniping a couple rounds of blinds uncontested. With 31 left we're back in hand-for-hand. Two minutes later we lose #31, and are down to three tables, but still in hand-for-hand it seems.
3:30 in - I pass a few chips to my left but retain the chiplead, and manage to eliminate a player in the process. I call a preflop minraise from a shortstack on the button holding T9o. The flop comes 7s, 8c, 9s and I lead for half the pot 12k. the BB calls and the button calls for less. the flop is 7d and we both check. the river brings the 8d for a board of 7-8-9-7-8. I check as does the BB, and he drags the pot outkicking me with K9. We do eliminate the shorty who held unimproved AK, which leaves us 27 left. I retain the overall chiplead by about 20k chips. Its currently 9:40pm CST, for the record.
3:36 in, I open the other two tables on my second monitor to keep an eye on them. I see a three-way all-in (two players all in) AQs vs A2d vs AKo on table #3 - A2d flops a fourflush but AQ his a queen on the flop, and we've got another elimination. Someone at my table manages to eliminate a player and leapfrogs me in chips to 180k. We're down to 24 left. Next hand I raise J7d from the button and am called by the big blind. I flop a three flush and a gutshot but stupidly make a small bet at the pot when he checks to me. he check-raises all-in and I curse myself for not checking behind. I drop to 109k in chips, which puts me in fourth at my table (the guy who just outplayed me jumped to third in chips at the table with the 120k pot) but I'm sixth in chips overall. We've got 22 left.
3:44 in - i haven't played a hand since my last entry, as I haven't had an opportunity to steal and haven't seen any decent cards. I dropdown to 96k in chips, right around the average. We consolidate to two tables, and then almost immediately lose another to jump down to 19 players remaining. Blinds move to 4k/8k with 200 ante. I get AKo in the small blind, and the CO pops it to 17k. I come over the top with a raise of 37k, and she folds saying in chat "I have AK please show me AA". I figure she's just trying to act strong on a steal, but go ahead and show my AK anyways when she folds as a dick move. I jump to 120k in chips, jumping above the average but eighth overall in chips by my look at the other table. We're down to 16 remaining. In a move to show confidence, I start formulating my two+two final table sweat thread.
3:54 in, the poker gods reward me for my arrogance. I have AJ in the big blind and just call a middle position raiser's standard 3x preflop raise. I hit an ace on the flop, and check looking to possibly checkraise. However he checks behind. A queen hits the turn double-suiting the board, and I make a strong lead in to him. He pushes and I quickly call without thinking it through much - turns out he's got QQ and I double him up, dropping to 33k in chips and near the bottom of the pile. Two hands later I push from the CO with A5o and take down the blinds to jump up to 42k. Blinds and antes are going to eat me quickly though, I'm going to have to get lucky to make the final table. We're down to 15 remaining.
3:57 in, I push 22 in to a limper and the big blind from the SB, and jump above 50k, next-to-last in chips. However next hand we lose the shortest stack and we're down to 14 remaining and I'm back in last place. Very next hand its folded to me on the dead button, and I push with K9o and steal the blinds again. Very next hand, I'm dealt JKo and the now-shortest stack whom i've barely got covered pushes to my immedaite right. I think hard about it, and decide to call - there's nothing but pride between 14th and 11th. I find myself in good shape against AT, and win by spiking a ten on the river. i jump over 130k remaining, and we've got 13 left and I'm now eighth in chips.
4:06 in - two pair loses to a full house and we've got 12 remaining. I'm at 113k in chips, aparently seventh in chips. two minutes later I'm dealt jacks in the big blind, but it folds around to me.
4:10 in - 88 in the CO, takes down the blinds to jump over 133k. We lose a player on the other table, down to 11, with a microstack left on the other table. I'm forth in chips at my table, sixth overall.
4:12 in - the microstack loses and we're at the final table. I am seventh in chips going in. One of the first hands I make what might be a weak play folding AJ from the CO to two early position limpers, but I didn't like my options there, my gut didn't like calling or raising and so I let it go. Of course the flop is jack-high and the first person who bets at it postflop takes it down. We play a couple more then hit break.
4:20 in - Back from break, blinds are 8k/16k with 400 ante.
4:23 in - AA > KQd and we have our first elimination. After passing through the blinds I'm last in chips with nine remaining.
4:27 in - I make my stand with KJo from the button - CO+1 minraises for a little less than half of my stack and I push hoping to isolate in a coinflip or 60/40. To my surprise the small blind wakes up and comes over the top of me, for enough to force the CO+1 to lay down his hand preflop. I find myself dominated against AJo. We hit a jack on the flop, and the board is nice enough to pair the board on the turn giving me three outs to the chop for the river (the case jack, or two remaining queens) in addition to my three suckout outs (three remaining kings), but I fail to suck out and go home in ninth.
A $955.50 payout for four and a half hours of
I'll definately be reviwing my hand history from when I lost the overall chiplead around 30 remaining in detail. I really think I lost a little focus there and lost a little aggressiveness, allowing myself to get leapfrogged. Still, a very exciting night of tournament poker and a very nice payday to boot.
For the record, I updated my Top Ten list to reflect these two cashes. The $109 rankes pretty clear 4th best, but I'm not sure if the $44 should be reflected where it is. Its clearly my sixth highest MTT cash in prize money, but might not rank there in terms of field traversed. I might try to come up with some sort of weighted ranking, i.e. field size multiplied by some sort of modifier for buyin level. We'll see...
posted by Performify at 10:38 PM
2 Comments:
Congrats on the wins! Its great to read some of your poker stories again.
There's a great post on 2+2 talking about doing only the sats that give away many seats, since it fits better into the play of a very good tourney player than the 1-seat tourneys. Too bad there aren't enough of them out there.
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