Yes, I've finally managed a cash in a live tournament ... my first for over three months!
By the same token, it was also very disappointing. The event in question was the 8 game at the latest joe Hachem Deep Stack Series at Crown. The disappointing part of it was that I was the chip leader going into the final table & stayed at or near the top of the chip count throughout the final table ... until it got down to three handed. Early in three handed play I continued to chip up & at one point I had over 300k in chips, compared with the 140k & 45k of my oppoents ... yes, I had a massive chip lead! I felt I was the best player remaining at the table & I felt I was playing well ... and yet I still managed to finish 3rd!
It all came apart in the triple draw & limit holdem rounds ... two big triple draw hands saw me make second-best hands & lose sizable pots ... and then another two limit holdem hands saw me go from big stack to short stack in about 15 hands! I eventually went out in the Omaha hi-lo round, after chopping a pot when I flopped a full house, only to have my oppoent catch running low cards to take the low ... and finally went out with a high-only hand QJJ8 against my opponent's A874 which made two pair with the A8 to scoop the pot & send me home.
In summary, it is good to finally get a live tournament cash after months of non-cashes ... but at the same time, its very disappointing to once again miss out on the trophy, particularly given the situation I was in when three-handed.
In other news, I've recorded a few segments for the next episode of the Donkcast, so expect to hear it soon!!
Showing posts with label 3rd place. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 3rd place. Show all posts
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
USA Day 7
3rd in the 8 game!!
FINALLY a cash in the USA! Played the 8 game event today (which rotated between Pot limit Omaha, No limit Holdem, 2-7 triple draw, limit holdem, limit Omaha hi-lo, Razz, Seven card stud & Seven card stud hi-lo every 6 hands) & finished 3rd in a field of 39 for just over $1500.
I felt I played well, picking good spots & making good value bets where needed. My starting table was good & I accumulated chips well, apart from a period of about 30 minutes where I played about 4 hands horribly & went from an above average stack to just below average. Managed to recover from this hiccup & stayed around average stack until the final table.
The final table saw a lot of action early, with Eskimo Clarke being very active early with another player on the table & these two traded a lot of pots. They both found themselves on the wrong end of Jeff (who I think ended up winning the event) & some miracle rivers, eventually being knocked out in the same hand (Eskimo Clarke had a shorter stack at the start of the hand, so finished 7th & missed out on the money altogether - something he was VERY unhappy about!). I managed to stay afloat & made a big call in stud hi-lo with (K9)KJQ8(K) against an opponent showing a board of 2345 when we were both short. Thankfully he had only had 2 pair & my trip kings scooped a sizable pot. Managed to knock out both the short stacks on back-to back no limit holdem hands when KT beat A9 & JT beat K9. This left both myself & Rusty (who finished in second I think) with fairly similar stacks (35k or thereabouts) against Jeff's 80k+.
Much of the three handed (for me at least) came down to two critical hands where I found myself on the wrong side of the nuts. The first was a 2-7 triple draw hand against Rusty. He had played fairly aggressively in 2-7 previously & often stood pat with a relatively weak hand (87, 97 or worse), so when I picked up 86532 on the first draw (after drawing 2) I bet out with confidence, only to have Rusty raise me (after he had also drawn 2). Knowing how he had played previously I called & we both stood pat on the remaining streets & I called bets from Rusty on each street to see him turn over 75432!!! This seriously dented my stack & made me the short stack by quite a margin. The final blow for me was a hand with Jeff when I was short & saw a flop in the BB with T852 with 2 clubs. The flop was 337 with 2 clubs which was checked around & when the Th hit on the turn I bet out, thinking my top pair might be good for high, with the low draw & club draw as re-draws if needed. Jeff then raised me & with less than 2 big bets remaining I committed my stack, only to see Jeff turn over TT73 for the uber-nuts! This still left me with the low draw, so any A2456 or 8 would see me take half the pot, but with the Q appearing on the river I was done. $1500 is a decent payday for a tourney with only 39 players, however once again its a case of close but no cigar for me in a major tournament series. Lets hope I can break through sometime later on this trip!
Next on the agenda: Cash game grinding & maybe some sightseeing
FINALLY a cash in the USA! Played the 8 game event today (which rotated between Pot limit Omaha, No limit Holdem, 2-7 triple draw, limit holdem, limit Omaha hi-lo, Razz, Seven card stud & Seven card stud hi-lo every 6 hands) & finished 3rd in a field of 39 for just over $1500.
I felt I played well, picking good spots & making good value bets where needed. My starting table was good & I accumulated chips well, apart from a period of about 30 minutes where I played about 4 hands horribly & went from an above average stack to just below average. Managed to recover from this hiccup & stayed around average stack until the final table.
The final table saw a lot of action early, with Eskimo Clarke being very active early with another player on the table & these two traded a lot of pots. They both found themselves on the wrong end of Jeff (who I think ended up winning the event) & some miracle rivers, eventually being knocked out in the same hand (Eskimo Clarke had a shorter stack at the start of the hand, so finished 7th & missed out on the money altogether - something he was VERY unhappy about!). I managed to stay afloat & made a big call in stud hi-lo with (K9)KJQ8(K) against an opponent showing a board of 2345 when we were both short. Thankfully he had only had 2 pair & my trip kings scooped a sizable pot. Managed to knock out both the short stacks on back-to back no limit holdem hands when KT beat A9 & JT beat K9. This left both myself & Rusty (who finished in second I think) with fairly similar stacks (35k or thereabouts) against Jeff's 80k+.
Much of the three handed (for me at least) came down to two critical hands where I found myself on the wrong side of the nuts. The first was a 2-7 triple draw hand against Rusty. He had played fairly aggressively in 2-7 previously & often stood pat with a relatively weak hand (87, 97 or worse), so when I picked up 86532 on the first draw (after drawing 2) I bet out with confidence, only to have Rusty raise me (after he had also drawn 2). Knowing how he had played previously I called & we both stood pat on the remaining streets & I called bets from Rusty on each street to see him turn over 75432!!! This seriously dented my stack & made me the short stack by quite a margin. The final blow for me was a hand with Jeff when I was short & saw a flop in the BB with T852 with 2 clubs. The flop was 337 with 2 clubs which was checked around & when the Th hit on the turn I bet out, thinking my top pair might be good for high, with the low draw & club draw as re-draws if needed. Jeff then raised me & with less than 2 big bets remaining I committed my stack, only to see Jeff turn over TT73 for the uber-nuts! This still left me with the low draw, so any A2456 or 8 would see me take half the pot, but with the Q appearing on the river I was done. $1500 is a decent payday for a tourney with only 39 players, however once again its a case of close but no cigar for me in a major tournament series. Lets hope I can break through sometime later on this trip!
Next on the agenda: Cash game grinding & maybe some sightseeing
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