Bursting The Bubble

on wednesday steven played in the rebuy tournament at the fiesta casino. he did not do well in the tournament. he said he couldn't get anything going. every time he raised he was re-raised. i think we all know how that goes. he did exceptionally well in the $3 - $5 no-limit cash game. he won $650 in the cash game to clear $350 for the night.

thursday we played in the $100 tournament at the radisson. once again, steven was out early after flopping a big hand. holding pocket eights after significant action in front of him ended up all-in on a board of AA8. he talked another player holding a weak ace (A 3) into a call. the turn of course was a 3. last week it was an 8-outer on the river and this week a 4-outer on the turn. if steven's flopped nuts and full houses could hold up he'd be golden.

at my table i picked up some nice hands early. i busted the first player of the tournament when i flopped a set of sevens. i had limped from the bb with several other limpers in the hand. the board was scary (7 5 3) so i made a pot size bet and had two callers. a Q came on the turn and i bet out T350 and was mini-raised (T700) by the first flop caller. i asked him how many more chips he had then pushed all-in and was called immediately. he turned over the hand i expected (AQ) and was drawing dead. i had T3600 by the middle of the first level of blinds. after that nothing much happened for me for a while. i wasn't particularly active again until the middle of the third blind level. i had about T3500 at the break which was at the end of the fourth blind level (15 - 30).

we were at the final table by the middle of the sixth blind level (50 -100). that was the quickest we made the final table since i have been playing at this tournament. i had about T4000 when we started the final table and was it pretty good shape. only six players were being paid out tonight. i think we started the tournament with 27. i was the only player who accumulated chips on a regular basis. for the most part i was just picking up blinds and antes (once they started). the only hand i had to give up was when i raised with pocket sevens from early position and was called by both blinds. the flop was all over seven high and the small blind bet out big. easy fold. the two players to my immediate left were short-stacked for most of the time so i was able to punish them.

when the final table started there was one super big stack who was active early and then settled down and his chip stack began to dwindle. i was up to T6000 when we were down to eight players and it looked like i was super close to the chip leader. then the payoff hand came up for the table. two players all-in and the chip leader called with AQ. the other players held KK and Q 10. an A hit the flop and we were in the money, but now the chip leader was well out in front again.

after we were down to five the chip leader knocked out two players on the same hand again. we were three-handed and i was well behind with T6000 with a approximately T36,000 in play. the blinds were at 150 - 300 with 50 antes when we started. my chips had dwindled to about T3700 when a key hand came up at 200 - 400 blinds. i limped from the button with KK. neither blind made the raise that i hoped for. the flop couldn't have been better -- K88. checks all around on the flop. on the turn the big blind and chip leader bet T700. i called and the small blind folded. he bet T1000 on the river. after some thought i moved all-in. since i only had about T600 more than the minimum raise no play would make sense other than a call or all-in. the big blind folded.

another nice hand came up for me a few hands later. i raised to 1200 from the button with As6s. the big blind called. the flop was 24x with two spades. the big blind bet out and i called. an offsuit 5 hit on the turn and the action was check check. a 3 of spades hit on the river. the big blind bet out T1500. i probably over played my hand and moved all-in. i thought the mini-raise would be fishier. he flipped out an ace of clubs when he folded so that 3 had given him a wheel. i guess i should have just raised to T3000. he probably would have been forced to call.

my exit from the tournament was a mistake on my part. we were up to 500 - 1000 blinds with 100 antes when this hand came up. i had T11,900 and raised to T3000 with KcJc. after some thought the big blind called. the flop was AXX. the big blind check and after just a moment's thought i moved all-in. he called immediately with Ah3h. shit! had i been more focused i would have realized his most likely holding was some kind of weak or middle suited ace. if had held a pair he would have pushed all-in. he was not likely calling a raise with suited connectors. he also probably would have pushed all-in with a big ace. it turns out our stacks were exactly the same size and i was history. had i only mini-raised pre-flop maybe i wouldn't have felt the need to push in on the flop. i also think there is a reasonable chance that he would have folded had i pushed all-in pre-flop. my take was $240 and a few more lessons learned.