An action packed week…. (part two)

Von nzvr4poker, 28.04.2009, 3637 Aufrufe, 24 Kommentare | Kommentar hinzufügen

Sunday gave me another opportunity to qualify for ANZPT (Australia New Zealand Poker Tour) Melbourne as Pokerstars ran their usual satellite to the main event. This time the buyin was $320 and everyone had 3,000 chips at their disposal. 73 players ended up attempting to qualify and this meant that the top seven finishers would get a seat in the main event with the next four players receiving cash prizes.

With the blinds at 50/100 I decided to limp the small blind with  after the under-the-gun player limped in. The big blind checked and the three of us saw hit the virtual felt. We all checked to see the turn come the and I bet out 150 and was called by the initial limper. I flushed up on the river as the hit and I bet 400 into the pot and was quickly called with my opponent showing an ace. Later on in the level I picked up pocket jacks and got lucky against pocket kings.  I re-raised a late position player all-in for 2,500 chips after an early position player had limped and the late position player had made it 350 to play. Needless to say I hit a jack on the flop and my hand held to catapult me in the right direction with 5,150 chips. Another important hand to me on the same level was when I was dealt in the small blind and got into a blind against blind race situation pre-flop. Going into the hand I had 5,000 chips and I raised larger than normal to 400 and was min-raised by the big blind to 700 who only had about 1,000 behind. I decided to put my opponent to the test with a bet that would force them all-in and without hesitation I was called. I was up against for a pot of roughly 3,600. After the flop came , I was still behind. However, the turn was the to make my hand the favourite and the river was the and I held on to win. My chip stack was up to nearly 7,000 chips and I was poised to make a run at winning a package to the ANZPT Melbourne main event.

With the blinds at 100/200 I played three pivotal hands that helped my chip stack improve in the right direction. Firstly I won a pot with AK where I raised to isolate two early position limpers and a short stack pushed all-in for 1,400 total. I made the call and was racing against pocket queens. I flopped two pair and held on to win a nice pot of 3,300 chips. The second hand came when I was in the big blind with . I had 8,650 chips at the time and the small blind completed. I had decided to min check-raise the flop bet of 400 to 800 from the small blind with a gutshot and two over cards after the flop came down . My opponent then bet 650 on the turn card of and so I called as I might get lucky on the river.  The river paired my hand as the appeared eliciting a check from both of us and I won the pot of 3,300 chips as the small blind had . The final hand of the trio was when I had in the big blind and saw a three-way flop after a late position player and the small blind had called. I hit two pair on the flop of   and bet 350 into the pot of 600 after the small blind checked. The late position player called and the turn was the which we both checked. I checked the river of and my opponent fired a bet of 800 into the pot of 1,300 which I quickly called. As I suspected I was up against a hopeless bluff and took down a nice pot of 2,900 increasing my stack to 11,765 chips in the process.

After the blinds had escalated to 125/250 with an ante of 25, I won a big pot with .  I made a standard raise to 750 from middle position and was called by a player in the big blind who had approximately 6,000 chips behind. After flopping two pair on a board of   , my opponent led into me with a bet of 650. I promptly raised to 2,250 total and my raise was called. The turn was the which filled in the flush draw but my opponent’s bet of only 980 chips seemed fishy. I decided to push my two pair all-in for 8,400 more and the big blind quickly folded. The pot was worth 8,300 chips and I continued my march up the leader board.

We were down to two tables left. With the approaching money payouts and the possibility of winning a package outright, the pressure was building on everyone. I decided to be more aggressive and attack the other players. The blinds were at 200/400 with an ante of 50 and I received AKo two to the right of the dealer button. At the time I was one of the bigger stacks at the table. After the action folded round to me I decided to raise to 1,100. The player on my immediate left pushed all-in for 4,800 total. I made the call and was again off to the races. This time I was up against pocket nines. Unfortunately for me, my opponent tripped up on the flop and I was left needing a miracle runner-runner combination on the turn and river. Even though I hit an ace on the turn I couldn’t catch up to win the pot of 10,500 and dropped to 12,000 chips. Not long after I was involved in another big confrontation. This time I had under-the-gun. The blinds were now 300/600 with an ante of 50 and I made a raise to 2,000. The player on my left pushed their last 5,300 chips in and after the action folded back to me I made the call. I was facing . The flop changed nothing as appeared on my screen. The on the turn gave me extra chop outs to a straight on the board as well as any king or a queen to win outright but it wasn’t to be as the river blanked with the hitting. I was now down to just 8,000 in chips as we approached the final table. 

After reaching the top 11 players and making the safety of the money, I figured that in order for me to win the package I would need to double up. It was the final table and I was the short stack and there still needed to be two eliminations. My opportunity to double up came when I was dealt in early position with the blinds at 400/800 and a running ante of 75. I pushed all-in for 7,000 and the action folded around to the button who called. After both blinds folded the bad news appeared on the screen as I was up against pocket aces and even though I hit my jack I had to settle for ninth position and the consolation prize of $320. For once I was pleased at how I had played and how things had worked out, as this time all the luck wasn’t against me.

However I wasn’t quite as fortunate in the first two events of the ANZPT Sydney poker festival. The festival kicked off on Thursday with 190 players registering for the early session of the $275 no limit hold’em opening event. With 5,000 chips and just 30 minute blind levels the tournament had a quick structure. The event was scheduled over two days with two four-and-a-half hour sessions pencilled in for day one. After blinding down for the best part of two hours and well into the fourth level of the tournament with the blinds at 100/200, I picked up pocket queens. After moving all-in for 3,550 over the top of an early position raise to 550 and a subsequent call from a late position player, I was called by the big stack in early position. Unfortunately I was coolered as I ran into pocket kings and couldn’t improve even though I picked up a gutshot straight draw on the flop.

Yesterday was ANZAC (Australia New Zealand Army Corps) day here in Australia and New Zealand. Each year we remember our fallen soldiers from yesteryear and unite in activities between the two countries and poker is no exception to this. With this year’s ANZAC day being a Saturday, Star City took advantage of the situation running a $550 tournament and a decent turnout of 157 players showed up to compete. This time round we had 6,000 chips at our disposal and blind levels were 40 minutes long. After a flurry of action on other tables, my table had a more subdued start. It took to level three before I became involved in a decent pot. With about 4,400 chips in my stack, I had under-the-gun and decided to make a raise to 525 as the blinds were 100/200 at the time. A player in late position called my raise and we saw a flop of . I check-called my opponents bet of 650 on the flop and the turn gave me a straight but also made a possible flush for my opponent. After some deliberation I thought that I had the best hand and that my opponent had some sort of strong hand without having a higher straight or a flush. I checked to the other player again who made it 1,200 to play and I put the last 3,200 of my stack in the middle. After considering his options, my opponent decided to call and showed for a set of nines. Fortunately the board bricked and I was able to double up to nearly 9,000 chips.

After being moved tables I took some time to get to know my new tablemates and how they play as I only recognised one of the players. I picked up some useful chips with pocket aces and pocket jacks in quick succession as I raised and re-raised to good effect and consequently my chip stack increased to 12,000. After the blinds had increased to 200/400 I limped in with K4o in the small blind and saw a flop with the big blind and another player. The board came down and we all checked. The turn was the and I bet 800 and was promptly called by both players. The river was the and I decided that neither of my opponents had the flush and that I should bet about half the pot as a blocking bet. This way I could also get a call from a slightly weaker hand such as a smaller two pair. However the big blind called and turned over 78o for the straight and I was down to roughly 8,500 in chips.

Another blind increase saw me in the familiar position of having roughly 10 to 15 big blinds worth of chips left in my chip stack of 8,000 as the blinds were 300/600. However it wasn’t long before I got my chance to double up. After the under-the-gun player had min-raised to 1,200 chips I looked down to see AKo on the button and made it 3,200 to play. The big blind made me worry about my hand a bit as he made it 9,500 to play leaving about 5,000 chips behind. I decided that at worst I was likely going to be a 50/50 chance at winning a pot of close to 18,000 and made the call committing to an all-in. To my disgust the big blind turned over pocket aces and I needed a miracle. However it wasn’t to be and I was eliminated in around 60th position after the board ran out .

Next time round I will detail my next attempt to qualify on Pokerstars for the ANZPT Melbourne main event as well as highlighting the key hands of Wednesday’s upcoming $550 six handed no limit hold’em event here at the ANZPT Sydney poker festival. Later in the week I will give more updates from Sydney as the main event of the ANZPT event proper begins on Thursday and my turn to play will be during Day 1B commencing on Friday.