A week of premature exits

Von nzvr4poker, 08.05.2009, 4536 Aufrufe, 47 Kommentare | Kommentar hinzufügen

The past week for me has seen another attempt to qualify for ANZPT (Australia New Zealand Poker Tour) Melbourne via the $320 online qualifier followed by two live events during the ANZPT festival of poker in Sydney.

In the Pokerstars qualifier 54 players bought in meaning that the top five players received packages to the main event in Melbourne which commences in late May. The minor prizes would be for players finishing in the next five positions. During the first level with the blinds at 10/20 I raised to 80 on the button with , after a player in middle position had limped in. The player in middle position called my raise and we saw a flop of . After my opponent checked to me I bet 120 into a pot of 190. My opponent called with the turn being the and we both checked. The river saw the appear and prompted my opponent to bet 550 and I decided to fold.

By the second level my stack had shrunk to approximately 2,500 chips, down from the allocated starting stack of 3,000 chips. I then picked up in early position and made it 90 to play. The player to the right of the button and the big blind called. The flop was . After the player in the big blind checked I bet 185 into the pot of 285 and was called by both players. The turn brought the onto the screen and both the big blind and I checked around to the other player who fired out a strangely small bet of 120. After the player in the big blind called I was getting great odds to call and without hesitation I clicked call meaning the pot was 1,200 chips by the river. The river was the and I was done with the hand as there was no way I could be good and eventually the three of us checked it down. The big blind turned over  for a busted flush draw and bottom pair and the player in late position turned over the winning hand with for two pair.

After slipping down further to just 2,175 chips, I was dealt pocket queens in the cutoff seat to the right of the button with the blinds at 25/50. After a player in middle position opened for 175 I decided to re-raise to 400. The big blind then four-bet me making it 1,000 chips to play off a stack of 3,400 chips total. After the player in middle position folded back to me I shipped all-in. My opposition in the big blind instantly called turning over pocket jacks. I was in great shape for a double up to 4,550 chips. The flop was good for me with showing up. Unfortunately for me the was the turn card and the river was not a queen and I was out in 45th position.

After cursing my bad luck in online qualifiers I returned to my local casino in Sydney to play. Star City Casino was hosting the $550 6-max tournament as part of the ANZPT Sydney festival of poker. Approximately 180 players ponied up the money and were given 8,000 chips to play with. I had local professional poker players Ali Khalil, Jarrad Dale and the now famous Paren ’Puzz’ Arzoomanian on my starting table. I was involved in lots of pots early on in the tournament. On two separate occasions I flopped two pair and after betting strongly on the flop and turn was forced to fold to scary river cards. As a result of these hands and playing a few other pots without improving my hand, my stack had dropped to approximately 4,500 chips.

On my immediate right a new super loose player had sat down and was playing a lot of pots. It was now the second level of the day with the blinds at 50/100 and I had A8o in the big blind. The loose player on my right limped in for 100 chips out of his stack of 9,000 or so, and Jarrad made it 500 to play from the big blind with just 3,000 chips behind. I knew what Jarrad knew and deduced that Jarrad was using position and a raise to ioslate the weaker player who was first to act. I asked Jarrad to count down his stack and I had him covered by about 1,000 chips and announced that I was all-in. To my utter amazement the player on my right said that he was priced in even though he only had 100 chips in the pot and convinced himself to call. Eventually Jarrad also called and we were involved in a three-way all-in situation. I had the player on my left crushed as he could only muster up and Jarrad had . The three of us were playing for a main pot of approximately 10,500 chips and the player on my right and I were competing for a side pot of 2,000 chips as well. A on the flop ended my tournament as I could not improve my hand with an eight and I was left disillusioned at another early exit.

Later on that night the players were able to relax at the well run opening party in the 36 Deg bar overlooking the main casino floor. All the players and guests who attended enjoyed the hospitality and as usual there was plenty of champagne, beer and wine for all.

I chose to play my main event on Friday which was Day 1B. The only players I knew on my table were my good friend Julian Cohen and the 2008 Melbourne Champs winner – James Broom. I was not involved in many pots early on and generally just passed time as we had a long time to accumulate chips with big starting stacks of 20,000 and hour-long blind levels. During level four I was involved in a big hand which brought about my downfall. I had close to 17,000 chips and the blinds were 100/200 with an ante of 25. I had on the button and got involved in a hand where a late position player raised to 600 chips and was called by the player on his immediate left. The three of us saw a flop of . The initial raiser bet 1,200 on the flop and I made the call. The turn was the giving me three of a kind. I now believed I had the best hand and quickly called my opponent’s bet of 2,500 on the turn. I had roughly 13,500 chips left before the river and my opponent surprised me by shoving all-in after a appeared on the river. I was just covered by the other player and considered what sort of hand he may have. A full house was possible with 55 or 33 being likely candidates but I considered a bluff to also be possible as there was a lot of money in the pot and I did have a strong hand myself. In the end I called and he did indeed have for a turned full house and I was eliminated from the main event.

At least now I can concentrate on my forthcoming trip to Italy and make all the necessary arrangements before I arrive. I look forward to bringing you plenty of updates from my adventures in Italy and Europe.