I Like Winning

I booked one. 10th place at the final table in a tourney of 60 last night. Lots of hard core regulars in a monthly area game. Some pretty serious people. The kind who think about reading your eyes and posturing and stuff. A few of the guys who still come adorned in dark hoodies and hats and glasses and go in the tank for what seems like hours, thinking out loud like "I'm sure I've got you, but on the off chance that you draw to your overcards . . . . (heavy sigh) . . . I'm gonna give this one away and hope you didn't just waste a big bet there . . . " Meanwhile, you're actually hoping he calls your top pair with the backdoor straight draw, 'cause you know he's got doo-doo.

The Dr. got Ron (see previous tourney post) at his table. I didn't say anything, and when he busted out, I had him re-read my post. He was laughing at the consistency of Ron's pissy-ness from game to game. I'm just going to call him Ron Raincloud. I didn't keep up on DrChako, but after a few rebuys, he was out sometime in the second half.

I'm proud to say I didn't do anything except the standard double add on up front (the initial buy and the add on get you an extra 20% in chips if you do it before play starts), and the add on after the dinner break (which gets you double your original buy in for the same price - good value). Its a $50 buy in - $50 add on - $50 second add on, with unlimited rebuys before the dinner break. Easy for some to bust out and reach in their pocket - not this girl.

No surprise, I played conservatively. First hand, I had pocket Qs in the big blind and called a raise. Ace hit the board and his Ace-rag held up, though he checked the river, in respect of my play, thinking I had a bigger Ace kicker. So I started the tourney down, but chipped back up to a fair amount. One steal on my A-10 - I had top pair, and she was raising, but I got her to fold down with a check raise and an aggressive bet on the next hand. I was solid enough in my play that I even got one guy so confused, he only called my bet on the river, even though he'd made nut flush. I didn't see the flush come (it went runner-runner diamonds, and I hadn't put him on suited cards) and rightly figured that he had a low pair that wouldn't hold up to my pocket 7s. I was right, and when I bet the river, it confused him so much, I think he forgot he had the nut flush. The river did pair the board, but when someone pointed that out, he didn't even realize it had happened like that. Shame on us both for not paying attention, but if he hadn't been so shocked by my betting, I think he could have extracted more from me, because I correctly read his previous play and hadn't given any credit to a back door flush.

I won a couple more big hands, but spent a lot of time folding. But folding saved me and got me to the final table, especially when the blinds got big. And although they usually only pay 9 spots, they agreed to shave top prizes and pay 10th, so at that point, it was all upside and waiting my turn.

I chose to play when the other short stack was in the big blind, and I went all in (not quite 4x the blind). Giant chip stack to my left goes all in over top, and the other short stack is cringing. He's chewing his lip, and rolling his eyes . . . and finally lays down. Up until this point, I hadn't seen anything higher than 10-x in a number of hands, so I was feeling like I had to play the A-7 I had. Big stack flips over AK, and his K kicker holds for the A-high hand.

It was the right move, and I'm proud of my patience and careful play. Complete payback of my original buy-ins and add-ons, a full dinner and unlimited refreshments, and the wisdom you gain from playing more. Win-win-win.

Ready for Vegas!

Respectfully submitted,

The Wife