WEEK'S END


Thursday, I played a $100 heads-up and was cruising right along, amassing a 3:1 chip lead, but my opponent battled back nicely as I went on a bad run of cards. My lead shrunk to 2:1, then he pulled even just in time for his miracle flop. In a nutshell, I held eights and he held sevens, and the flop came seven high. We got all our money in the middle, and he took it down. I lost the tourney soon after, reminded that no lead is safe. I don't feel I let down my guard, but I did continue to play aggressively even when the cards did not comply. With time on my side, a better strategy might be just to wait out the bad run and wait for the good cards to return, without offering the other player a chance to claw his way back in.

I had no luck in a couple of PokerRoom tournaments and lost some of my profits on the day. Then, Friday, I didn't play until 10PM, when I joined a 50 FPP (frequent player points) satellite at PokerStars. There were 138 runners with 13 tickets available for the Saturday 5000 FPP tourney, which offers nine tickets to a $2500 online tournament.

This was the best tournament I've played in awhile. There was only one call I was unhappy with in 2:46 of play. I steadily built up chips in the early rounds, then in the middle rounds, I patiently waited for good spots. Lately, a chink in my game has been being too aggressive in the middle rounds. The beauty of playing aggressively early, then tightening up, is that you can built a nice stack for yourself to weather out the rising blinds, just as short-stacked players are getting desperate and ready to gamble. Lately, I've been calling off too many chips preflop with slighty above-average hands, hoping to get lucky on the flop and double up. This has actually been costing me more than it is earning me, and too much of this type of play has a way of turning me into one of the short-stacks.

Once the blinds got to 50/100, I waited for good combinations of hands and position. I was making great decisions post-flop and earning steady profits. I was able to hang around the top 15 list for much of the tournament. One time I got aces in first position, and the first thought that came into my head was "don't get broke on this hand." I decided to make a bigger than usual pre-flop raise to price everyone off the hand, and I was content to take down the blinds. I learned my lesson at the WSOP about playing aces out of position. If the opponent hits his hand, I tend to go broke.

The pivotal hand of the tournament came when I got queens in second position. I put in a big raise and there was one caller. The flop came QT7 rainbow - a very nice flop for me. I bet large to end it or to get some action if he had kings. He called the big bet, making for a very large pot. The turn was a J which got me worried about him holding AK. I decided to check-call to try to avoid getting all-in. I was surprised that he checked behind me. He might be getting crafty with AK, but now he's given me the chance to fill up. The river was a 7, giving me the nut full house. I am only beat by four sevens. I made a big bet, and he came over the top. If he had AK he should have just called, but maybe he is getting greedy. If he held two sevens, I don't believe he would have checked the turn. I didn't really see a way to lose the pot, so I took him all in. He called. He had pocket jacks. He must have put me on AK or AQ and felt he had me dead to rights. That was a recipe for him going broke. His major mistake here was calling my big bet on the flop with an overcard on board. He should be telling himself "don't go broke on this hand." When I bet that flop, he had a chance to get off the hand.

So this put me in first place with $35K. The remainder of the tournament was a joy to play. With 13 spots available, everybody was in survival mode. I was the only guy in the entire tournament who was a threat to everyone. I bullied like you wouldn't believe. By the time the tournament ended, I held nearly half the chips. I had $64K and there were only two other players above $20K. Boy is it fun to play a big stack.

Of course, Saturday morning, I am waiting around for 2P for the tournament to begin, then at noon I realize that I'm thinking of Eastern Time and the event is already an hour old. I fired up PokerStars and took my seat. My $1500 stack had become $1175 and the blinds were 50/100. Not good. I was desperate from the moment I sat down and I was out before long. I did get my money in at a good spot. I was down to $800 and was dealt A4 in late position. The first position called, then it folded around to me. I raised all in and with his $2100 stack, he should have been thinking fold, but instead he called with A2 and hit a deuce to knock me out.

I played a $200 heads-up to cheer me up, but I lost that. So I played another to feed my compulsion and I won in two minutes. I attempted to break the tie with a $50 heads-up and found a solid opponent. It felt like a long tournament, but it timed out at 14 minutes. I won, so minus the vigorish, I was up $27. Now I'm waiting for the WPT Stage 3 event at PokerRoom. I'll have my report on your desktop by the end of the day.