A star is born

Von nzvr4poker, 01.04.2009, 4444 Aufrufe, 50 Kommentare | Kommentar hinzufügen

After arriving in Christchurch on Friday night and having a few quiets or in our case a night of over indulging my friend Chris and I took to the felt on Saturday afternoon. The first no limit hold’em event of the New Zealand poker championships (NZPC) week-long festival of poker was the aptly named Canterbury champs. We were well prepared as my girlfriend armed us with Intellipoker stickers and herself with a camera to take some photos. The task ahead was an arduous and long one as the tournament sold out with 80 players buying in for the required $775 and only 10 were to be paid. We were given a generous starting stack of 7,000 chips and the blind levels were 40 minutes long.

My strategy for the tournament was to play a tight aggressive style and pick my spots in which to increase my chip stack as the field was fairly weak. I was getting very unlucky with flops when I decided to play hands and had to fold pocket jacks and AKs with significant action post-flop forcing me to fold on both occasions. My first crucial hand came after the first break when the blinds were 100/200 with a 25 ante. At this stage 58 players remained and I was dealt  and decided to move all-in. I was called by both the small and big blinds for a 5,700 chip pot. The board ran out    and I was fortunate enough to survive and gain some momentum. 

After blinding down to just 3,800 in chips with the blinds at 200/400 and an ante of 75, I pushed AJo all in from the button. The player in the big blind who had a slightly smaller chip stack than me called. He turned over A2o and I was in good shape to double up for a pot of 8,600 chips. Fortunately for me the board was good and ran out and I eliminated a player and the tournament director announced that we were down to 50 players and that a table was being broken. At this point my good buddy Chris was moved to my table with a similar chip stack to me. 

Not long after my buddy Chris was involved in a huge pot. A player in early position had raised to 3,500 and my mate pushed all-in for his last 6,100 chips. After the early position player had accepted his fate realising that he had unfoldable odds he called and the hands were flipped over. My friend turned over and was up against an attempt to steal - 67o. The flop was and Chris held on to win the pot of 13,500 chips, calling out "Pass the sugar!" in delight.

Unfortunately for me, my tournament ended prematurely. I had 5,700 chips and with the blinds at 300/600 with 100 antes I decided to make my last stand pushing pocket eights all-in. I was called by a good friend of mine called Mitch in the big blind. He had exactly 5,700 chips and turned over  for a classic all-in pre-flop race situation. My hand became the second best hand immediately after the flop came down . I needed an eight on the turn or river to survive. It was not to be with the turn being and the river and I was eliminated in 39th place.

After busting out and watching my friend play for what seemed like an eternity, he made the final table of 10 players and with it the security of "making the money". When the confirmation that the bubble had burst was announced he abruptly screamed "CASH!" in delight. It was his first live cash and soon after he was eliminated in ninth place which was worth $1,500 NZD. He was ecstatic after his last attempt to make the money in a live event came up just short at the APPT main event in Auckland late last year.

Here are a few pictures of me playing down here in Christchurch.

In my next post I will be detailing my next tournament down here which is the south island championships. I look forward to outlining lots more interesting hands and hopefully a better performance for you all to read about. Until then may the flop, turn and river be with you.