ANZPT Adelaide Day 1B

Von nzvr4poker, 11.02.2009, 4023 Aufrufe, 47 Kommentare | Kommentar hinzufügen

It was my turn to play on Thursday. 111 players took to the felt on Day 1B, in addition to the 104 players that played Day 1A. I was well rested and looking forward to the challenge of playing the nine one-hour levels and making Day 2. I pushed my 20,000 chip start stack up to 22,500 early with some good, aggressive play where I flopped two pair with on a board and got some action in a multi-way pot. Going into the first break I had been very active and had dropped to 18,000 chips before I attacked a strong player on my table. I had and raised to 450 in the hijack seat. The big blind called me and the flop was . I checked behind on the flop hoping to turn a good card to either bluff bet or bet for value. The turn was and I fired out a two-thirds pot bet. My opponent called to see a river which was the and I paused before betting 2,000 chips. I was called by and my opponent scooped a nice pot sending me into the break with just 15,000 chips.

After the break I saw lots of flops multi-way with suited connectors and small to medium pairs but did not have a lot of success at flopping anything as I dropped quickly to 12,000 chips by the end of level 3. Antes were introduced at the start of Level 4 which was an up and down level for me as I had raising to 325 under the gun. I got called by the button and we saw a flop. I checked hoping he would take a stab at the pot so I could check-raise him. He checked behind. The turn was much to my annoyment and I was pretty sure he had hit that card as he sat up more in his seat. We both checked the turn. The river was and I checked to the other player before he bet half the pot. I folded promptly and he showed me . I was getting pretty frustrated but rebounded nicely when I raised to 400 under the gun with which just happens to be my favourite hand. I got two callers including the player next to me in the big blind. The flop was . A dream flop for me! I led out with a bet of 1,100 into the pot of 1,500 and was called by the big blind. The turn was and I instantly checked to the big blind hoping he would bet so I could raise him. Unfortunately he checked behind. The river was and I bet 2,200 but the big blind folded. I had some momentum heading towards the second break.

I then played a very interesting hand with a friend of mine from Sydney – Bruno Portaro. Bruno had been short for most of the day and I had in early position. I decided to open for a standard raise and got called by Bruno and another player. The flop camed down giving me a huge open-ended straight flush draw. I checked before Bruno shoved in his last 3,000 or so chips. I instantly called and he showed  . Unfortunately for me the turn and river were both blanks and my stack dropped to 10,000 going into the second break. I then commented light-heartedly that Bruno will probably have 100,000 chips at the end of Day 1 as he was getting quite lucky on the all-ins. That prophecy proved to be almost correct as Bruno got to 77,000 by the end of Day 1 and then proceeded to come 8th place in the tournament overall netting $17,610.

After returning from the second break a bit down on chips, I had a rush of good hands including pocket kings and pocket tens a couple of times which I took a few pots with a raise or a re-raise, propelling me up to the 23,500 chip mark. Now I had lots of momentum and could begin my push for Day 2. The tournament director announced that the prize money would be shared amongst the top 18 players with a huge $170,215 AUD for first prize. On level 6 however, I lost a big pot causing me to tilt. I had in early position and raised to 1,050. I was called by the button. The flop was . I checked the flop to my opponent who checked behind. The turn was and I bet 2,300 chips which was roughly two-thirds of the pot. My opponent called and the river came . I checked and my opponent bet 2,100 chips which I promptly called. He showed for a rivered straight. I managed to chip up to approximately 21,000 before I donked off chips before the dinner break when I bluffed re-raised a player with on a  board by reraising the player’s turn bet of 2,000 to 5,000 representing three of a kind. However he called and then when the river was I gave up betting with a check behind and the other player flashed  prompting me to muck my hand as I slipped down to 15,000 chips at the dinner break.

The final nail in the coffin came for me about 20 minutes after the dinner break on level 7. After a short stack had shoved in for his final 5,000 or so chips in early position I looked down to find two red queens. I promptly shoved in for my last 13,000 chips. Much to my dismay the big stack on my left re-shoved all-in for 40,000 chips. The table folded round with the short stack opening up  , the big stack opening up  to my shock and disgust as I could only muster . The flop was particularly cruel to me with the case  and appearing. My fate was sealed as the board ran out . I was eliminated! Half of me felt disappointed and angry about how unlucky I was especially in critical junctures but the other half of me knew that I had played ok and had learnt quite a bit from the tournament. A quick congratulations to my friend Tony Dunst who came 2nd winning $111,520 AUD. My next live tournament will be the New Zealand Championships in Christchurch near the end of March. Until then I will update you on my online adventures. This is jimdownunder signing off!