Preparing for North America

Von nzvr4poker, 22.09.2009, 841 Aufrufe, 2 Kommentare | Kommentar hinzufügen

This week has been a frantic week for me as I have been carefully putting the final touches on my trip through North America. I decided that I would start my journey on Canada’s west coast, spending a few nights with some poker buddies just outside of Vancouver. It is now a lot easier to reach Canada for people travelling from New Zealand, as Air New Zealand have a couple of direct flights to Vancouver from Auckland each week.

From Vancouver I will venture eastwards, spending a couple of nights in Calgary, before flying to Toronto. In Toronto I plan to meet up with a good poker buddy and we will take a day trip to the breathtaking Niagara Falls. Toronto also has the ice hockey hall of fame which I will check out. After a few nights in the Toronto area I will either fly or take the train to Montreal, depending on which option is cheaper.

I arrive in Montreal on the 21st of September and that night I will watch the world famous Montreal Canadiens ice hockey team take on my favourite team, the Pittsburgh Penguins. I will spend a couple of nights in the world’s second most populous French speaking city practicing French with the locals before I take the train to Quebec City, where I will spend one further night.

On the 24th of September I will cross the border into the U.S.A. (United States of America) where I will be experiencing the sights and sounds of New York City. I will be based in Times Square where I can experience the best of what the ‘Big Apple’ (as the city is affectionately known) has to offer. On the 28th of September, the New York Yankees play the Kansas City Royals in baseball in their brand spanking new Yankee Stadium. It will be good to see perhaps the most well known baseball team play in their majestic ballpark.

During the time that I am spending in New York, I am taking a day out to visit Cincinnati where I will watch my favourite American Football team, the Pittsburgh Steelers play against the Cincinnati Bengals.

On the 29th I travel down the eastern seaboard of the U.S., from New York to Miami. There, I will be catching up with an old high school friend of mine and together we will travel to Orlando and check out some of Florida’s theme parks and relax for four days.

My last stop is the Caribbean island of Aruba, where I will be playing the Aruba Classic from the third to the tenth of October. I can’t wait to play some poker and hang out on the beach sipping cocktails on my days off. After the tournament is finished I will fly back to New Zealand from Aruba on October 11 via Miami and Los Angeles. The APPT (Asia Pacific Poker Tour) Auckland event starts the day after I get back and so as you can see its going to be a whirlwind trip.

In the meantime I have continued my quest to win a second seat to the APPT event in Auckland. This time round I entered into a $215 seat only qualifier on Pokerstars.13 players registered for the tournament with the winner receiving a seat into the main event worth $2,230, second place receiving their money back and third place picking up $155. As usual, all the players started with 5,000 chips and the blinds increased every 20 minutes.

I got off to a good start when I flopped a straight holding . With the blinds 10/20, I made a raise under-the-gun to 50 chips. The player on my immediate left called me and strangely the big blind min-raised to 80, which we both called. The flop came down and the big blind bet 60. I quickly raised to 200 and was called by the big blind. The turn was the with the big blind again leading out for 80 into a pot of 650. This time I raised to 550 and I was again called. The river was the which was annoying because the flush came in but after my opponent checked I decided I was good. I bet 875 or half the pot and was quickly called with the big blind showing  for an inferior hand of two pair, giving me a pot of 3,500.

After the blinds had increased to 15/30, I played another reasonably big pot. Before the hand I was up to 6,750 in chips and off to a decent start. This time round I had . I raised to 90 from early position and was called by the player to my left and the small blind. The flop was and after the small blind had checked I bet 150 into the pot of 300. The player on my left then raised to 420 and I made the call. The turn was giving me the nut flush draw and top pair. I checked to my opponent with the intention of raising all-in. Sure enough my rival bet out 780 and I moved all-in for a total of 6,240, forcing a fold from the other player. The pot of nearly 2,700 increased my stack to over 8,000 and I was the chip leader early on into the tournament.

My next significant hand didn’t come until the final table. At this stage of the tournament, seven players were left and the blinds were 125/250 with an ante of 25. I had pocket jacks and raised to 575 from two spots to the right of the button. The next player to act raised to 2,250 leaving just 290 chips behind. I raised the extra chips to put the other player all-in and after my opponent had called, I was up against for a pot of 5,630. The flop was effectively making the hand a post-flop ‘race’ situation where both of us had a 50 percent chance of winning. Luckily for me, the turn and river were the and the respectively, and my chip stack surged up to 12,600 putting me in third position overall.

Not long after with the blinds still at 125/250 with an ante of 25, I was dealt pocket aces in the big blind. The button and the small blind elected to call and I raised to 750 with the button calling. The flop was and I bet 975 into the pot of 1,900. I was promptly min-raised to 1,950 and decided to shove all-in for a total of just over 11,000. The bet was enough to put my opponent all-in as I had about 6,000 more in chips. I was called and up against just . A pretty ridiculous stack-off by my adversary or was it? I had to dodge a six or a five on the turn and the river. The turn was another heart as the came down meaning that my rival only had three chances to win on the river. The river was a six! I was disgusted but quickly realised it was the . I had made a flush and eliminated another player, leaving five of us left and elevating me to chip leader with over 18,000 chips.

After two quick eliminations we were down to just three players and were in the money, albeit second and third got a fraction of the money awarded for first place. At this stage the blinds were 150/300 with an ante of 25. I was last in chips with just over 16,000, with second place sitting on a little over 19,000 and the chip leader having just over 29,000. On the button I was dealt  and raised to 800 before being re-raised by the chip leader in the small blind to 2,500. I decided to push all-in for 16,000 and after a long deliberation by my opponent, I was called. To my disgust the small blind had me crushed by one kicker notch showing  . I was all-in for just over half the chips in play with the massive pot worth nearly 33,000. If I could get lucky I would be in prime position to win the tournament and another seat to APPT Auckland. However it wasn’t to be with the board running out with the river  adding insult to injury. I had to settle for third place and $155.

In my next entry I will be writing to you all from Canada as the time has come for me to go on to the next trip as part of my world tour. Until then I wish you good luck at the tables and you will be hearing from me soon.