Posted Fri Nov 11, 2005 10:35 pm GMT by Geno
A new card club opened about 35 miles from me recently so tonight I decided to go check it out with a buddy. It was a NLHE £10 rebuy and it kicked off at 8.30. It's a really nice place by UK card club standards although a little small with only room for 7 poker tables. Nevertheless, we went 11 handed and so 77 players started.
The first hour was a rebuy and the usual madness ensued. We had 1000 starting chips with 30 minute levels and we could rebuy at any time when under or equal to 1000. I didn't immediately rebuy as none of my table did and we kicked off. Within 10mins of course it's rebuy central but I sit tight and after about 30mins I have 750TC. I decide to take on a rebuy in case I get a chance to double up and sure enough, a few hands later I look down at Queens and double vs a guy calling all-in with a gutshot. The rebuy ends and I take the addon which is for 2000TC and a total no-brainer. I have 5900TC.
The tourney begins in earnest now with top 9 paid, 1st place being £1,150. I hit a wave of cold cards like you have never seen and gradually my chips disappear. Blind levels are now 20mins and I'm struggling after an hour. My buddy busts out around 10pm and at 10.30 Dave Welch joins my table and sits to my right. Oh dear - never good to have a pro player on your right!
I find myself at 1200TC which is something I never normally do and blinds go up to 400/800. Obviously, it's time to pick a hand but by the time the BB is with Dave I still haven't shoved because it's all been laughable hands. I decide that I'm gonna go from UTG no matter what and the dealer starts dealing. For the first time that night I check my cards as they arrive individually. First card.....Ace. Second card.....Ace. I check them both together to make sure I didn't pick up the same card twice and sure enough, I've got bullets. I go all-in, get 3 callers and quadruple up :D
Not more than 20 hands later, I pick up KK with blinds at the arse end of 400/800 and I go all-in after a raise for 4000TC total. A guy round from me goes all-in for more, a shortish player calls, the original raiser calls AND Dave Welch calls who had called the bet before me. It's a 5-way pot and I've decided my Kings are dead. Nevertheless, we all flip over and of course, some of them are holding each other cards and miraculously the Kings stand up. I go from 1200TC to over 22000TC in a little under 10mins 
Less than 20 hands later the bullets arrive again and two people go all-in before me, I bust them both for a nice pot and have about 28000TC total.
The cold wave hits again and I play modest large stack play keeping my stack about evens. I get moved to a very well stacked table and stay outta trouble for a while watching my chips gradually reduce. We get down to 20 players left and our table breaks putting me back next to Dave again. Most players are about even now, I'm probably just about on the average at this point.
The final table will be 9 players but we get stuck at 12 for what seems like an eternity and I cannot catch a damn hand to save my life. I hit Kings once but my raise gets no love and when we get down to 10 players, it's pretty ugly. The other table just won't lose a player and we are playing 5 handed for quite a while with blinds absolutely huge compared to my stack (like 3000/6000 with me at 20000TC  ). After a few well timed all-ins to steal blinds, I look down at AKs and a guy goes all-in for about 85% my stack. It's a no brainer and I call him immediately for a heads-up showdown. He flips 77 and we race. River is a King dumping him on the bubble and seeing me into the final table with 35000TC.
Final table begins and although I'm about on the average, blinds are now 4000/8000 and everyone is struggling who has less than 50000TC. Four people get their chips in within the first 25 hands and all double thru off other people. Some truly bone-headed plays get made (like the guy who was in the BB for 8000 with a 75000 stack and doesn't call an 11000 all-in from a guy not in the blinds. I mean come on, 3000 more out of a 75000 stack?!) and I wonder how these people got here. Alas, my frozen wave continues and I truly don't see a picture card for at least 3 satellites. By this time we are 6000/12000 and it's time to get in. I look down at QTo and decide it is time. AJo calls and dumps me in 9th for £70 and I am out at 1:30am.
My poor buddy who drove has been watching for 4hrs and I've let him down by not taking home the gold! Overall, it was a good tourney with a reasonably high standard in the main but as usual, I am annoyed that I didn't get further at the final table. It's always nice to make the final table of a live game and my record is now 6 live tourneys with 4 final tables but still, £70 for 9th and £1,150 for 1st is a huge difference  I've never had such a horrible wave of cards at such a vital time and I really don't feel like I could have started getting aggressive with junk because the blinds were so crazy toward the end that any move was relatively too small to push marginal hands off a call. Maybe the tourney needs 30min levels the whole way thru............I don't know. All I know is that there is now proper poker action near me which can only be a good thing 
Did you know that participating in a poker forum can help you improve your own game? Be it by sharing experiences or simply asking for help, participation in a forum helps you focus and keep 'on topic' which will help you improve your game. You can learn from other players feedback and from their experiences. Why the THP poker forums? We offer one of the best managed texas holdem poker forums available, and the community within is far more friendly than those typicaly found on other sites. We've made a 'lurkers edition' of the poker forum available here on Holdem Poker Online, but we encourage all visitors to register and join in on the conversations on TexasHoldem-Poker.com
Posted Sat Nov 12, 2005 12:46 pm GMT by Geno
I've just remember something else that is crazy. During the rebuy period, the following hand occurred:
Two players all-in pre-flop show:
9  9  vs K  T
Flop
9 J 3 
Turn
9
River
Q
The guy flopped trips, turned quads and was rivered by the one card that could beat him to give his opponent a straight flush
I pretty much went crazy at this point while most of the rest of my table barely reacted. I seriously labelled them all retarded at this point. There was no bad beat jackpot or anything (not that it probably applies in a rebuy tourney anyway) so the guy just took the worst possible bitch slapping and had nothing to show for it.
Posted Sat Nov 12, 2005 12:59 pm GMT by zinn0
I think that hand is the definition of pwned.
Posted Sat Nov 12, 2005 2:25 pm GMT by tame_deuces
Cool read and congratz on placing the final table. Looks like live tourneys is something you do very well in. 
|
|
