I felt good and loose early on but couldn't catch any cards of note or pull any moves as my table was reasonably solid. Yes, a typical Southern California card room tournament table - not your average Vegas tourist/donk-athon.
I was just below my starting stack when I finally doubled up with QQ, I four bet shoved and was called by AK which didn't hit.
From there I was moved to a table of doom, though I didn't know it when I first sat down. With about 40 bigs I led out from MP with AJos. The button flat called and the flop came a safe enough A610. I c-bet about half the pot and the button tanked briefly and then raised me big. It was a jam or fold proposition, I couldn't flat without committing the bulk of my chips. I thought for way too little, and then jammed. The button was flummoxed and tanked and mumbled for a good five minutes before shaking his head and proclaiming "I just can't fold this..." Way before he said that, I knew I was in trouble.
I misplayed the flop badly - I know that as poker players we are supposed to be able to take a read and decipher what our opponents mean by their bets. His bet clearly told me where he was at, he had no reason to bluff so big and bold, especially because he wasn't Vanessa Selbst. Most players aren't. I figured he had A6 when he started to tank. He had A10.
My previous table had been a bit aggro, with a surprising number of 3 bets and fairly light shoves. I sat down at my new table and just figured it was more of the same. Turns out, my button opponent was a straightforward but solid player who had smashed the flop with top two pair. I had a redraw to a backdoor flush, but the turn peeled off a black queen. I was still pretty close to where I was when all the chips went in, about a 3 to 1 dog.
A king hit the river and I had a broadway straight. Wow I suck.
I honestly didn't feel that great to get my money in so bad and suck out. My opponent was gracious as he left, I barely had him covered.
From there on the rest of the day was a bit of a blur. I vaguely remember a couple of big enough hands that I was able to 4 bet jam and get everyone to fold, but there were no premium cards beyond pocket 10's or AQ. I simply used my super tight image (as there were a handful of very active monster stacks) to re-raise all-in and take the not so insignificant antes and leftovers.
At this point I wouldn't say I shut down, but again, this was a bit of a table of doom - there were three VERY good and aggressive big stacks who had their way with the rest of us and even tangled with each other on occasion.
Mercifully the table broke as dinner approached. My last table of the day was a bit softer and certainly friendlier. A nice fellow to my left and I had good friendly banter. I started to drop in chips a bit and had to get active with the dreaded AJ in position. Thankfully the two callers I got folded to my c-bet on a dry king high board.
A couple of other similar hands were all that I played on day one - the blinds and antes climbed relentlessly, so that when it was time to bag up at around 11pm, I had less than 10 big blinds. I was fairly card dead, but I also made a conscious decision to tighten my range considerably as I once again fell into the mindset that I had played for over 9 hours, I didn't want to walk away with zero monies.
Not a winning tournament poker mindset - but then again, I don't play these big events every day. The friendly fellow on my left and I joked that there was something to be said about "making at least minimum wage."
On the other hand, if I missed the money at least I would have had this swell $225 hat.
Or I could've had a $225 corn beef sandwich. (Every tournament entry came with a food voucher.)
Although it sounds like I'm being silly, the point is, that I still fall into the mental trap of lusting after the min-cash. It really is frustrating to tell myself that I don't care about squeaking into the money ahead of time and then have that logic dissolve in a puddle of emotion and angst over the idea of walking away empty handed.
I need to remember that poker, being one long game, is about long term results. And if I play to just "make the money" I am 100% guaranteed to be a losing tournament player in the long run. It simply is NOT profitable to only try and survive in todays game. Tournament poker is no longer about surviving - winning players play to win. Period.
Of course there is something to be said for merely hanging on if you find yourself super short stacked at a table of sharks - but as I said, I had 60 bigs about two thirds of the way through the day. I needed to get active and tackle the bigger stacks - better players or not - with gusto. Oh well.
I bagged up my 96K and made the long trek back to my car. I was fairly happy to make my second day 2 ever. I was guaranteed $660, which is a bit better than double my money back but not much.
The next day I was pleased to look on the internet and find that I wasn't at the bottom of chip stacks. Of 168 players advancing, I was #112. Even better, there were 3 shorter stacks that would be at my table. Even better than better, the blind levels had rolled back a bit (to the shortest level of the shortest day 1) so I had almost 20 bigs instead of less than ten.
Early on I managed to bust one of the shorter stacks. I raised in MP with 1010, pre-planning to get it in if I got re-raised. A shorty did just that and I snapped - he had 99 which didn't hit a 2 outer.
Now I had 30 bigs and a little breathing room. I managed to get it all in and get no action when with AQ in the big blind I 3 bet shoved a big stacks steal attempt. He relinquished.
And that, I'm sad to say is really the last hand I played of any note in the tournament. Again, I had made the money, but I once more entered a lame bubble mentality for the next two pay jumps. The one I really wanted to hit was the pay jump to into four figures, $1040. I did hit it, thanks to my utter lack of playing.
Now to be fair, I had squa-doosh to work with in terms of cards. No premiums whatsoever. A single pair of sixes in early position and a few KJ's, also UTG or in a similar spot. Basically unplayable.
A medium stack on my right had gone up and down a bit and finally got his money in pretty good when he was the big blind against another mid sized but slightly shorter stack, but got coolered on the river. He stuck his nub of a stack (which was still bigger than mine) in on the next hand - he was small blind and I was big blind. I looked down at an ace and so happily called.
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| My exit number - very fitting. |
But the disappointment I felt rising inside of me didn't really come from the typical card from hell that I so often find myself up against, instead I felt a bit let down at myself for my timidity.
Yes, I was outclassed by anywhere from 2 to 6 players at every table I sat down at in this event. Yes, I was pretty well card dead throughout the tournament with only a single pair of queens as my only premium in 15 hours of play. But really, I need to put more faith in myself and the idea that playing it safe is a losing way to go in tournament poker.
I'm not saying that I should lose patience and spew, but I do need to force things once in awhile - if I really want to go deep and big, it will never be enough to fold 95% of all of my hands - which is about what I did on my final table.
Still, I am deep down happy enough to lock up a four figure score so early in the year. I look forward to seeing the result added to my Hendon Mob page. A small victory and another big lesson for this enthusiast.
Looking forward very much to taking another shot in this LAPC, I was originally looking at Event #21 which is also a 250K guarantee, but for only $150 with 8 starting heats instead of 6. But I have to reconsider as day 2 of this event conflicts with my home game! I can't miss that! Hopefully I can find an alternative at the LAPC for one more shot.
