Tourney Recap - Inaugual Blogger Tournament
PokerStars Online Poker Blogger Championship - Free - 2,000 chips - no rebyus or add-ons

I have to say, it was with a good amount of excitement that I sat down to this tournament. I won't lie...I had some pretty high hopes about walking away with a prize. I would have liked an iPod, frankly, but I would have absolutely settled for a hat or t-shirt, if only to be able to say, "Hey, I won this prize at this tournament." Sadly, it was not to be, though I came pretty damn close. I've waited a couple days to post this recap, partially because I'm really lazy and have been doing other, less important stuff, but also because I needed to let the tournament frustration wear off a bit. I really didn't want it to sound like I had a bad time, because I actually had a great time, and I'm pleased to have gotten so far. Props also to jimmy_the_crab for also taking part, the only other blogger personally known to me who showed up. In any case, a giant thank-you to PokerStars and the tourney organizers for this fun time; hope it happens again soon! For the quick summary, I'll just say that out of a field of over 1,470 entrants, I managed to stay in until getting knocked out at 150th place, outlasting all the members of Card Squad, including Space Nerd Wil Wheaton. Prizes went to the top 99, so I get nothing material, but I'm left with the warm glow of having taken a shot, and all things considered, not having done half bad.

I start out seated at Table 17, and the tournament is started abruptly and with very little fanfare, in stark contrast to the amount of anticipation I'm feeling. It also goes slowly and boringly for a while. I play a very conservative, very tight game, and it really works out. I basically win two pots, buying them both on the turn with top pair, and I run my starting stack of T2,000 up to about T3,100. About fifteen minutes into the tournament, and I get shipped off to a new table (4). Exactly one hand later, and I'm shipped to my third table of the tourney, the infamous Table 141.

This was the first time I've actually sit down and played using the PokerStars interface. I say that, because I wasn't able to automatically and immediately zero in on all the crucial information available to me. That said, it also didn't take me long to realize that there was something really weird going on here at Table 141...everyone was folding. A lot. And quickly. After a while, I realize that most of the people at my table were "Sitting Out," which meant they were just contributing blinds. In fact, for the majority of the time I was at Table 141, there were three live players: myself and two others. Sometimes we got up to four, but not often. This was disorienting for me. As poor as I am with tournament play, I'm that much poorer with shorthanded tournament play, and I felt it was way too early in the game for me to have to deal with shit like this. But, I did what I had to do...I settled down, and I tried to adjust my play to fit this new situation.

I think it went pretty well, to be honest. The vast majority of hands went like this: someone opens with a standard 3x raise, everyone folds, opener wins blinds. Infrequently, we'd get something like opener raises to 3x, next person re-raises, generally to 6x, everyone folds and re-raiser takes the pot. Actually fairly rare were the number of pots where two live players would fold and allow the third to take the blinds uncontested. I consider this a mark of this being a tournament with some decent players in it. :) In any case, due to that model of play, there were very few notable hands from this table.

One was my misplaying of the hooks that I ended up winning. (What's really funny about this is that I didn't really realize the misplay until later on; at the time, I thought I played it amazingly well, and I even remarked as such to jimmy_the_crab. If you're reading this, James...I hereby retract my earlier comment about being a "genius." ;) ) It's Level III with blinds of 25 and 50. There are three live players, one in the BB, and I'm last. The guy in the middle folds, and I open-raise to 3x (as is our custom) with JJ. BB calls. Flop is Ts4h3h. BB checks, I bet T200 into a pot of T325, and BB calls. Turn is Qd. BB checks, and I check behind. River is 5h. I bet T300 into a pot of T725, wanting a call. BB calls me and I take the pot, later to learn that he was holding pocket sevens.

So what's going on here? In looking at the hand, I can only assume that I was completely ignoring the flush draw on the flop. My bet on the flop is there to induce a call, true...but that's not the kind of flop I'm really comfortable with someone calling; I should have bet more, I think...probably pot-sized. I am mystified by my check behind on the turn, and can only justify it by having ignored the flush draw. Having failed to protect my hand on the flop, and now seeing that the turn hasn't helped the draw I was protecting against, I give a free card. I can't even begin to describe how crappy that play is. Had I not seen the flush draw (which I guess I didn't), my thinking was to check the turn and induce a bluff (or a call) from my opponent on the river by feigning weakness on the turn. In my own defense, this is what happened, methinks, but on that board, giving the free card was just too dangerous. Now the river...anyone else notice that the river made the three-flush? I certainly didn't. Now that I've (a) failed to protect my hand, and (b) given the flush draw a free card that (c) appears to have completed the draw, I now put more money in the pot when I have the chance to show down for free. Ill. What happens if I get check-raised? Anyway...I consider myself lucky to have won that hand, and even more lucky to have been paid off without getting beaten. Dodged a bullet there.

The only other noteworthy hand from that table was when I made a legitimate (I felt, anyway) re-raise pre-flop with AT and bought the pot on a T-high flop. It wasn't an exciting hand, but it gave me chips. :) Anyway, it's almost time for the first break before I get moved to a new table, one with a decent number of actually live players. I was moved to Table 150 with a stack of about T5,300. This is where all the action happened, and it would also be the last table I'd see in the tourney.

My first hand at Table 150 I won by buying it holding K-high on an A-high flop. I then remind myself that I am no longer at a table with only two opponents, and I should really slow way down before I hurt myself.

I then sat around for a while until I hit a pretty interesting Big Blind Special. It's Level IV, with the blinds at 50 and 100. UTG+1 limps, button limps, SB folds, and I check with Q4 off. Three-way to the flop: 7cQsJc. I like my top pair, so I bet T150 into the T350 pot (anyone else feel like I'm underbetting on the flop these days?). The early guy calls, the button folds. Heads-up to the turn: 7d. The board now shows a pair of sevens, so I have two pair and the board is giving me my kicker. I'm now only worried about a 7, since I figure I'll chop with another Q, if not win outright. I fire off about half the pot and Villain flat calls. The river is 4h, giving me a useless three pair, but otherwise leaving my hand unchanged. I bet T300 into a pot of T1,250, figuring I'm good and wanting the call. Villain calls, loses, and mucks his JT suited. Three pair beats two pair!

This victory leads into a grotesque killing spree. Like all good dramatic killing sprees, this one began largely by accident. An absentee player was forced all-in by the big blind. UTG open-raised to 3x, and I took it to 6x with AQ off. Everyone folded except the opener, who called. The flop is A66, it's checked to me, and I fire off a bet about the size of the pot. My live opponent folds, and I knock out the absent one. Ho-hum.

First kill: AQ off

On the very next hand, I get AQ suited and open-raise 3x UTG. A short stack moves all-in for T35 more, and everyone else folds. Tough choice, right? I call. I end up winning unimproved against a dominated AT off. I start to enjoy the taste of blood.

Second kill: AQ suited

On the very next hand, it's folded around to a short stack in late-middle who moves in for T528 (the blinds are 75/150). It's folded around to me in the BB with QJ off. Well...it's almost exactly 2 to 1 on my money to call...how big a dog could I be? :) I call. Shorty shows A7 off and is a slight favorite to double up, but I catch a Q on the river for the win.

Third kill: QJ off

Heady with power, I proceed to bleed off over T3,000 of my stack on bad bluffs. Oops. Then I laid low for a while cooling my jets. I came back to life briefly to knock out another player when my QQ held up against 77.

Fourth kill: QQ

Here's the hand that caused me the most consternation for the whole tournament. It's Level VI with blinds of 100 and 200. It's folded to me in middle position, and I open-raise to 3x with AQ off. It folds around to the BB who moves all-in for T4,755. Argh! Okay, so...I've got to call T4,155 for a pot of about T5,600. I have T6,878 let in my stack. I think for a long time...I take like half my time bank. Finally I decide it's not worth the risk, and I lay it down. After the hand, I said I had AQ and Villain claimed AJ suited, so...maybe I didn't make the best choice. It's my feeling, though, generally speaking, that I did the right thing. I've absorbed through exposure to other people a certain distrust for AQ in NL tournament settings. It was probably my own success earlier in the tourney with AQ that even made me think about it for so long. If the call had been for less of my stack, I probably would have made it...but at the end of the thought process, I just didn't think the chances I had the guy dominated were enough to justify the chances I had of crippling myself. I call it a good laydown.

It's also interesting to note that it's around now that they started with the antes. I've dealt with antes in live tourneys before, but never in an online tourney. It's still a strange world for me to live in...the per-hand cost jumps from like T33 to T58. Yikes! Pre-flop stealing becomes much more important at this point, and that's something I'm really not so great about, especially online. Anyway...nothing really insightful there...just one more hurdle I have to overcome about tournament play. *sigh*

So here's a weird one. It's Level VII, blinds of 100/200 and an ante of 25. There's an early limper, and the button, basically short-stacked with a little over T1,000 moves in. SB folds, and I'm in the BB with AK, an easy call. I call, EP folds, and the button shows snowmen, pocket eights. It's a race, but not so when the flop comes 8A5. I catch my ace, but he catches a set; fair enough. But there's something else...the flop is all hearts, and neither of us has a heart! Sure enough, the turn and river bring runner-runner hearts, and the two of us chop the pot. Bizarre!

Later on: my second-biggest disappointment in the tourney (the biggest being the hand where I got knocked out). It's Level VIII, blinds are 200 and 400 with an ante of 25. The cut-off open-limps (pussy!), I complete in the small blind with J2 hearts, and BB checks along. The flop comes 863 of hearts, flopping me a flush. Nice! Since I'm first to act, I check, hoping for the check-raise, but settling for a slowplay. It's checked around, sadly, and the turn brings a fourth heart. DOH! This is what we call in the industry "slowplaying yourself to death." I check again, this time out of uncertainty. BB checks, CO bets about half the pot. Well, I figure it's worth the call, anyway, unless the BB was laying a trap, so I call. BB also calls. Hmm. River is a black jack, which changes nothing, but still taunts me by giving me "top pair." It's checked all around on the river and the CO takes it down with the Qh (and Td). I show my hand and rue my check on the flop, not that I can really see the hand turning out any differently except that in any other scenario, I probably would have lost more money than I did. So I guess that's okay. :)

A little while later, and I've run myself up to second-biggest stack at the table with over T30,000. I've been doing a little bullying lately, especially now that there are antes. It's still Level VIII (200/400/25), and I open-raise to 3x with KhJd from UTG+1. It folds around to a late-ish position short-ish stack who pushes all-in for T3,533. Well...I'm looking at calling T2,333 for a pot of T5,558, which is about 2.4 to 1 for my money. And I've got something like T12,000 left in my stack...probably a good time to call, so I do. Opponent shows QsQd, and I've got three whole outs. :) Until the flop, that is: 6h9hJh. Well, yikes...now I've got fourteen outs. :) I turn my flush with 8h, and the river is a blank. I knock out another player.

Fifth kill: KJ off

The very next hand, and the levels have gone up. I open-raise UTG with QJ off, and get re-raised all-in by another short-ish stack to 3,127. Using much the same rationale as the previous hand (except with better pot odds and a bigger stack), I call, but I fail to improve over Villain's snowmen. Oh, well...can't win 'em all. :)

And now...this is the hand where it all went wrong. It's Level IX, blinds are 300/600 and ante is 50. An early-middle guy open-raises to 3x. It's folded around to me, and I flat call on the button with Jd9d. The small blind then pushes in a significant raise to T4,200. BB folds, and the opener also folds, leaving it up to me. Hmm...it's T2,400 to call for a pot of something like T8,800, or a little over 2 to 1, and I've got T10,000 and change in my stack. I call. The flop is 6cQc9h, giving me middle pair with very little in the way of draws. SB bets out T1,800, leaving himself T3,000 and change and making the pot like...T12,500 or so and giving me close to 7 to 1. It is at this point where I do something fairly ridiculous: I push all-in with my remaining T8,000 and change. My logic was: since the opponent was so close to all-in, I'd be calling to showdown, and I might as well be on the offensive. The way I figured it: I could beat pocket eights or worse, or AK, plus whatever esoteric bluffing hands he might have. If I was beat, I give myself five outs plus maybe a backdoor gutshot or something. Anyway, one quick call later and my opponent is showing pocket queens for a flopped set. Ouch! The turn is a T, giving me an open-ender and some brief hope, but the river is a second T, filling my opponent up and giving me a big, fat nothing. My opponent drags in a really nice pot, and I get knocked down to about T3,300. Oof.

I'm not sure about that hand. I mean...on the one hand, I think I did it right based on the thought process I was having. On the other hand, someone betting so small into such a big pot when their stack is that short is either a really weak move or else bait for a trap. I could maybe have looked at the bet on the turn as realizing I'd have to call his whole remaining stack to show down, which is more like 2.5 to 1, a much less attractive prospect with second pair. If I were thinking along those lines, I probably could have laid it down, but I would have looked like an idiot if I'd laid down to a T1,800 bet and the guy had AK or 88. Whatever...there are no easy answers. :)

Anyway, I buy a few small pots, lose a few antes and blinds, and generally hover for a while. I actually managed to knock someone out in this crippled state; I put someone all in with my JdTd in the small blind. They showed AdQd (ouch!) and were crushing me on the flop of T8A rainbow (double ouch!). Miraculously, I catch a Q and 9 for a runner-runner gutshot straight over Villain's two pair. Another one bites the dust, and I'm feeling like I'm now overdue to be knocked out, because that really shouldn't have happened. :)

Sixth kill: JT suited

Karma is rebalanced a short time later when I call a short stack's all-in with my AQ against their A5. They flop a five for the win, and I'm knocked down to just under T3,000. The very next hand I more than double up when I move in with AT, get called by KQ and neither hand improves. A couple hands later and I'm healthy again when I call an all-in with 55 vs. K9 and my pair holds up, getting me back up to over T11,000 and giving me another tournament kill.

Seventh kill: 55 (Presto!)

The very next hand basically cut my stack in half. It's now Level X with blinds of 400/800 and an ante of 50. The only person in is an MP limper, SB folds, and I check in the big blind with J6 off. The flop is KQK. I check, Villain checks. Turn is a 5. I take a shot and bet about half the pot, T1,200 into T2,400 and change. Villain has a stack of about T4,000 and smooth calls. I figure I'm beat by either a pocket pair or just an ace and I should forget about this one. Until the river brings a jack, though, at which point I think I'm good. I put Villain all in who quickly calls to show me a flopped full house. Oh, but I was outgunned. :) Farewell, bigger stack...it was nice while it lasted.

I find my thought process on this hand a little weird. The opponent's smooth call on the turn should have been a huge warning sign. If they're worth their salt, they're not flat-calling with a stack they short...they're either moving in (if they think they're good or if they think they can buy it) or they're folding. The flat call could was either an extremely weak move, or else bait. For some bizarre reason, I assumed it was the former. Do not underestimate your opponents. It's sad that it didn't occur to me until after the hand was long over. That shows the kind of people I'm used to playing against. :)

Anyway...several hands later, and I get what I really wanted from this tournament: a win with pocket deuces. Fine, I bought it pre-flop. Still. :) I lose a little, I win a little, and then we come to my final hand.

It's still Level X (400/800/50). My stack is feeling a little desperate at just under T7,000. It's folded to me, and I open-raise to 3x in UTG+2 with pocket fives. (Hey, why not.) The guy immediately behind me has literally just been seated at this table; this is the first hand he's playing. He flat calls me, and I suddenly realize that I have no idea what that means. :) I assume I'll have to tread very carefully, because my pair is so weak. Everyone else folds, and the flop comes a beautiful 5cTh9c, and I flop my set. I'm first to act, and I sit there a little while trying to figure out how to extract the most money out of this situation. The pot is just shy of T6,500. I've got like T4,500 left in my stack, and Villain has me ridiculously covered with like T70,000. Eventually I figure I've got no real information, but neither does he, and I just rely on his big-ass stack and him not believing me, so I push all-in and hope he calls. Well, call he does...and then he shows pocket tens for the higher set. I'm in complete shock. Much surprise is expressed around the table. I hope in vain for the case five to come and save me, but nothing doing. I'm knocked out at 150th place and sent packing. I can't say it was really a bad beat, since I was quite the pre-flop underdog, but man, what a disappointment! Presto giveth, and Presto taketh away.

Obviously, once the flop came out, I can't see the hand going any differently. Interestingly, I think I should have folded pre-flop, because in the hand immediately prior to this one, I bought the blinds pre-flop with a 3x raise, so this time around I had very little pre-flop folding equity, which is where my value comes from raising with a low pocket pair in early position. I could have limped, but I still would have made it to the flop, I'm sure. So my only real chance was folding pre-flop, but I can't really see that happening with pocket fives, you know? Anyway, so that was that. I called it a night.

Some Meaningless Statistics

Kills: 7

Hammers dealt: 2
Hammers played: 0 (Doh! I guess I wasn't thinking.)

Ducks dealt: 2 (spooooky)
Ducks won: 2 (100% success! So what if one of them was being folded to in the big blind.)

Rockets dealt: 0

Cowboys dealt: 2
Cowboys won: 2, both times without a flop

Ladies dealt: 1
Ladies won: 1, and scoring a kill, no less

Hooks dealt: 1
Hooks won: 1, at showdown, no less

And, finally, pocket fives, known affectionately in certain Internet circles as: Presto!

Presto dealt: 5 (spooooky)
Presto won: 3
Presto won at showdown: 1
Presto knocked out a player: 2
Presto knocked out a player that was me: 1