A nailbitting ending to an online satellite

Von nzvr4poker, 19.04.2009, 3964 Aufrufe, 41 Kommentare | Kommentar hinzufügen

Hello once again everyone. These are exciting times for me as I have been invited to attend the WPT event in Venice to do some commentary in English on behalf of an online poker site. I am just waiting to nut out the finer details of the trip and should know for sure whether I am going in the near future.

However the main attention of this week’s blog is to cover another tournament. It was Sunday and time for another online qualifier. The Pokerstars.net ANZPT (Australia New Zealand Poker Tour) had now firmly shifted its attention to the newly announced Melbourne event in May. The barrage of small qualifiers leading into the main qualifier itself boosted the numbers of entrants. As usual there was a procession of Pokerstars satellite buffs from downunder who registered late making the field size swell to 32 players, thus guaranteeing a package for three players. This week the minor prize getters were places four to six.

It wasn’t till after the first break and well into the fourth level of the tournament with the blinds at 50/100, before I played my first notable hand. I was in the big blind with and after my blind of 100 was in the pot I had 1,845 chips behind. After the small blind limped in, I raised to 350. The small blind called my bet and we saw a flop. The flop was . Both of us checked the flop. The turn was the  and after my opponent quickly checked. I took the chance to check behind. The river gave me the nut straight as the appeared. This time however the small blind took a mistimed stab at the pot betting 400. I quickly shoved in my last 1,595 chips inducing a fold out of my opposition to take down a nice pot of 1,100, and increase my stack to 2,695.

Soon after that I was involved in a hand that gave me the impetus to mount a serious challenge at securing my goal. The blinds were now 75/150 and I had not improved on my starting stack with just under my original 3,000 in chips. I was in late position and I looked at  appear on my screen and decided to play the hand aggressively. After raising to 450 chips I was called in the small blind. After the board came up , the small blind took the control of the hand away by betting 900 into the pot of 1050. Folding was not an option for me and I dutifully pushed the rest of my stack all-in. It was an extra 1,570 for my opponent to call and with no hesitation the call was made and I was up against . My hand held up and I collected the pot of 5,990 and was in contention for a major prize.

After this hand it was few and far between for me in terms of playable hands and I found myself slowly blinding down as we approached the final table and the money bubble. With just ten players remaining in the tournament, I picked up and respectively within the space of a few hands. Due to the blinds being 150/300 with an ante of 25 I found myself moving all-in at different stages of each hand to give myself valuable chips. My stack had dwindled back down to just 2,690 and I desperately needed a double up. I picked up in the big blind and the small blind completed to see a flop. appeared on the board and both of us checked. The turn card appeared as the and improved my hand to two pair. My opponent bet 600 into the pot of 675 and I decided to shove for 2,665 total. The small blind folded and I added 950 priceless chips to my stack. I was then dealt in the small blind and this time the under-the-gun player opened for 880 chips leaving about 5,000 behind. I pushed all-in for 3,965 chips in total and the other player folded. This time my uncalled shove netted me an extra 1,280 chips and increased my chip stack to 5,270.

Shortly thereafter, a player busted and I was at the final table of nine with the top six receiving some form of remuneration. Following two quick eliminations we were on the stone cold bubble with seven players remaining. Two hands after shoving all-in under-the-gun and taking down the blinds, I was dealt in the small blind. After the blind and ante had been posted I was left with 3,695 chips. The action folded round to a player one to the right of the button who had 12,000 chips. That player decided to make a standard raise to 1,200 and with the button folding I pushed all-in. The big blind folded and the other player was priced into calling. Without hesitation the call was made and my opponent revealed . I was in great shape to win the pot of 8,340. Unfortunately for me a cruel flop thwarted my hopes of staying ahead in the hand as the appeared on my screen. The on the turn gave me an open-ended straight draw but I missed all my outs on the river and was resigned to seventh place. It was another very frustrating result for me as I have had some dreadful luck in these qualifiers but I must try to stay resiliant and bounce back.

Next week I will outline my attempt to qualify for ANZPT Melbourne once again as well as the $275 opening event of the ANZPT Sydney festival of poker. I will also know for sure if I am going to Europe to cover the WPT event in Venice. Hopefully I will get to go and meet some of the Intellipoker regulars. Until then may the flop, turn and river be with you all.