APPT Auckland online qualifiers

Von nzvr4poker, 11.09.2009, 852 Aufrufe, 1 Kommentar | Kommentar hinzufügen

Immediately after I arrive back from my trip to Aruba to play in the Aruba Classic in early October, I will be back on the felt to play in my home APPT (Asia Pacific Poker Tour) event, APPT Auckland. I set myself the goal of qualifying for Auckland via the Pokerstars satellites. I figured it would help to win a package worth $5,230 USD that includes my seat in the tournament ($3,250 NZD) plus my accommodation and $1,750 in cash, as I would be jetlagged after my return from Aruba and would need to rest in a hotel room before playing.

Pokerstars have two options with their package satellites to Auckland. A $475 qualifier runs early on Sunday evenings New Zealand time and a $530 qualifier runs in the middle of Monday mornings. These are in addition to the $215 seat only qualifiers which run on Tuesday and Thursday nights. I decided that I would attempt to secure a package qualifier first and then take shots at winning additional prizes of $2,230 if I could win a seat only qualifier.

I bought in for $475 the first time round along with 11 other players. Up for grabs was the first prize of the $5,230 package for the winner and a consolation prize of $170 for the runner-up. The structure of the APPT qualifiers are more generous than the ANZPT (Australia New Zealand Poker Tour) qualifiers with 5,000 starting stacks and 20 minute levels. I envisioned myself sitting with 60,000 chips in front of me in a few hours time with my seat, accommodation and spending money all sorted. I started well with several pocket pairs in quick succession leading to my chip stack exceeding the 8,000 mark within the first half hour.

Towards the end of the second level I won a big pot with a pocket pair of slow played jacks on a nine high board eliminating a player who shoved all-in on the turn. After that pot my chip stack was sitting on a little over 13,000, and I was leading the chip counts as we were down to our final table of nine. I was involved in a pivotal hand with just six players left. I was chip leader with over 17,000 in chips and the blinds were still only 100/200. The player two spots to the right of the dealer button made it 500 to play and was called by the subsequent player. I had and made it 1,900 to play. The first player folded and the second player called with the flop appearing as . After the other player checked to me, I bet 2,900 into the pot of 4,600. My opponent then quickly shoved all-in for a total of 11,000. I decided to call and I was up against for a pot of over 27,000. The turn was an and I had to dodge an extra nine outs. However, the river was safe for me as a repeat ace appeared, and with five players left I had over half the chips in play.

Before I knew it I was heads-up with one of the players who emerged from the pack after they won some coin flips for key pots. The playing field was level as we had a similar amount of chips to start off with. I was confident that I would come away with the victory as I had previously won several satellites heads-up for a package to other tournaments, in the earlier part of the year. This time though I was up against a very competent opponent and I quickly found myself down to just 15,000 in chips. My fate was sealed when I shoved with over the top of a mini-raise on a board. I ran into and needed a seven to stay alive, but it wasn’t to be as I had to settle for second place and $170.

The following day I got up and took another shot at winning a package to APPT Auckland. This time the buyin was for the slightly higher amount of $530. This time round there were 19 players with the winner claiming the $5,230 package and players finishing second to ninth getting their money back. Things started well early for me as I flopped a full house with . My bet of twice the pot on the river was called by a turned straight, vaulting me up the leader board early.

My next critical hand came when I flopped two pair. I had made a standard raise to 300 with the blinds at 50/100 holding  on a board reading . My raise was called by the player sitting to the right of the dealer button. On the flop, my opponent raised me to 1,200, after I had bet 475. I re-raised all-in for another 3,350 chips and was quickly called by the other player. Fortunately, I was up against . The turn was the and the  appeared on the river as I won a pot of nearly 12,000.

After making it to the final table of nine players, I won a sizeable pot which gave me some considerable impetus towards winning the tournament. At that stage I had a healthy stack of nearly 20,000 out of a total of 95,000 chips in play. I made a raise to 625 with  in middle position and the blinds at 125/250 with an ante of 25. The big blind elected to raise to 1,500 total, leaving less than 2,400 chips behind. I decided to take the aggressive approach and raised my challenger all-in, but was quickly called. To my dismay, the other player had pocket kings. However, my aggression was rewarded with a ten on the flop, followed by another ten on the turn, and only eight players were left in the tournament.

Just two hands later, I was in the big blind with facing a flat call from a player in middle position. I made a raise to 750 and my opponent called. The flop was giving me multiple draws and I fired a bet of 1,225 into the pot of 1,825, which the other player also called. Bingo! The appeared on the turn to give me the best possible straight. I then check-raised my rival’s bet of 1,250 on the turn to 3,250 and was called again. The showed up on the river and I shoved the rest of my stack in, and was quickly called by the lower straight. I was ecstatic with winning the pot of 26,000 and eliminating another player. Now I was sitting on 36,500 with about one-third of the chips in play, and just seven players remaining.

With seven players still remaining, I won a huge pot with pocket kings after both players in the blinds had called my raise to 825 pre-flop. At this stage the blinds were 150/300 with an ante of 25. The flop was eliciting a bet of 1,500 from the small blind which was consequently raised all-in by the big blind for another 6,500 chips. I re-raised my over pair all-in and the small blind quickly folded. The big blind had for an open-ended straight draw. The turn and river were blanks as I managed to win a pot of nearly 20,000 chips, to increase my stack to over 40,000.

A decisive pot unfolded when just three players remained, after a steady sequence of stack-offs. I was holding in the big blind up against two aggressive players. My chip stack of over 45,000 was healthy with nearly half the chips in play, as opposed to the other players who had about half of all the remaining chips each. On this particular hand the button who had been raising frequently, made a raise and was raised by the small blind. I decided to put them at risk and shoved all-in over the top of both players. The button quickly folded but I was called by the player in the small blind who had AQo. However, a timely nine on the flop gave me the advantage going into the turn and river cards. Fortunately for me no queen appeared, and I took a substantial advantage of 75 to 25 percent in chips to the heads-up battle for the APPT package.

During the heads-up battle I tried to keep the pressure on my opponent and keep my challenger from gaining momentum. I struck a key blow after a raise with ATo which the other player called. On a jack high flop, I shoved all-in over the top of my opponent’s check-raise. After folding, my adversary was now down to less than 18,000 chips and I could smell blood.

Several hands later I called a min-raise from the other player with in the big blind. The flop was and I checked back to my opponent who bet 1,200. I min-raised that bet to 2,400 and was called. The turn was the . At this stage the pot was half of the other player’s stack and I decided to over-shove the pot and appear as if I was bluffing with a flush draw. To my delight, the play worked as my rival called the all-in and was behind with a pair of nines, as I was leading to the river card. SHIP IT! The river was a queen and I had won another satellite, this time to APPT Auckland.

In my next blog I will review a $215 seat only APPT Auckland qualifier that I will be playing next Tuesday. I will also let you know how I am getting on with planning and getting organised for my big trip to Canada, the U.S. and Aruba.

On a quick note, I would like to thank the poker community here for the positive vote of confidence in my blogs. It is always nice to know that people on the site enjoy reading my entries. The results of the poll can be found at the following link: http://www.intellipoker.com/community/forum/showthread.php?t=83406