Big Time cash

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okay... the blog has been a little out of date due to the lack of spare time and the arrival of Tristan "the Hurricane" Carter who joined me here in Sin City this week. most of my memories have been counterfeited by better and more recent ones but ill try to remember them in chronological order.

My luck took a nice change when i played a $235 non bracelet event at the rio. All i had to do for a change was get in my money in bad (something i dont usually do) and wow... the results were immediate. In the first blind level i peered down at AA and was pretty wrapt. I raised and re raised got 2 callers. Not ideal... anyway flop came Q 10 3 and i bet get called and re raised. sadly i know im beat but i fall in love with the pretty little pair of aces in my hand and shove all in. Yuk... the guy calls with Q 10 two pair. its even uglier for me as i havent seen aces in 4 days andmy opponents Q 10 is my fav hand. oh well. that sucks... unless of course i hit an ace.. which i do on the river. Yay. one for the good guys... it was a pattern that repeated. 2 hours later a shortstack shoved and i call with 2.5 odds (i think) with A3... no she has A8... pow i hit a 3 knocker her out and get lucky again... i remain card dead for another hour and getting low on chips im forced to shove a lowly pocket pair 66. i get not one but two callers im screwed. facing 88 and 99 i need a miracle.... bang 6 on the flop i triple up and im still in. maybe i should be playing from behind all the time... before i know it we are near the bubble and i've realised ive only acutally played 8 hands in 6 hours. thats how bad my hands were. over 950 players and we are down to last 100 with top 90 paid. so still chipless i shove AQ. get called my QQ. i feel strangley confident that i can hit again as has been my style.i miss the flop but suck out one of my 3 aces on the turn...a 14% chance to double up and assure a money spot. Ridiculous!!
my luck runs out when the opposite happens holding QQ vs AQ . but in uglier fashion is my beat board runs out K 7 4 J and river 10 to give the guy a straight. ugly as we got in all in pre flop but that happens. i cash later in 41st for like 890. totally undeserved by my cards but well deserved from my recent bad run. starting to feeel good.
Tristan lobs a few days later and its a good time to give poker a rest. We get on it vegas style and go to one of the most amazing clubs in XS @ encore... wow. its a 3 day write off and we fond ourselves waking up at 8pm by the end of it. shit!!

Tristan seems to catch my bad run with some horrid bad beats... which i cop too. i cant remember them now as has been the high traffice of poker and what we have done to ourselves on the bookend weekends... you see cos i end up playing some great poker in Event 48 and that required another celebration.

Event 48 was a $1500 buy in and was a little expensive so i decided to head to the aria with 500 to raise the entry fee. 5 hours of busting up those clowns and i had it and change cashing out for 2k. i had one bloke tilting so bad at then end of it i could have made 5k... but the way he was playing i could feel him getting lucky eventually and i had got what i had come for... so with discipline i left (after emailing klausy to make sure i left by 1030!!) i went straight to the rio and registered. Tristan was keen to play the same event so it was going to be a good day tomorrow.

Or was it... we sit down with a measly 4500 in chips the field is 2713 strong. A 3 day event it was going to be both a grind and filp fest. the 1 hour levels suited by style and i felt good especially when i got AA second hand in. excellent! sadly blinds are 25/25 so i raise to 75. The player to mt left raises to 225.. i like this wont be slow playing this at all. the 225 raise then gets a second caller.. what?? dont like this at all. now im obviously raising and am really happy to take this 600 chip pot now and add over 10% to my stack in 2 mins. i make it 975 and am dreaming of another reraise from one of these blokes having KK. but am seriously wanting some folds.. well at least from one player. first player calls for 975 and shit.. so does the second. This is horrible. i have a fair range on the hands the first player has mostly AK AQ QQ or JJ. but the second players range can be much wider now. Anthing from a low pocket pair to suited 67... damn he could be playing J 10, 89, KQ anything. Its making my aces shrivel in size and im hating it. even worse i had absolutely no information on either of these players. id never seen them play a single hand ever.

The flop rains down like steaming dog turds. Q J 7 and two spades. CRAP!!! this is horrible for me so i check to fish for information. im super scared of QQ and JJ and im hoping i can read a bet if someone has hit the jackpot hand. sadly i get 2 checks behind me... ARRGGGH this is not good. reeks of a flopped set. the free card everyone gets is sick. an 8 and its another spade. REALLY?? now im behind a flush 10 9 straight and a bevy of starting hands the 2 callers could have. I check.. man 2 follows and the 3 rd player finally bets... for 1500. i re check my hand and see i have the ace of spades. even if this guys has a straight or flush of 3 of a kind i have the re draw spade. i also knlow i have player 2 beat. i put it all in.... gulp...

Player 2 immediatley grimaces and leans back on his chair. immediately i know his hand. he has AK with the K of spades. his body language tells me he would love to call but cant. he is drawing to a 10 for a straight and another spade for flush. he cant call especially with the third player yet to act... simply his spot is too tight and even if he hits he might be beat. he folds... and im happy as.. it also means player 3 is less likely to have a flush with the K of spades missing... now i really really need a fold from the last guy....

Q J 8 7 was the board and im not sure if i was the deer in the the headlights or the oncoming vehicle, but when the guys calls i feek sick. he's not calling for his tournament life 2 hands in with shit. its either QQ or JJ im about to cry. How can i get busted with pocket rockets 2 hands in??? $1500 down the toilet. im going to need to hit a spade...

WTF ? he turns over J 9. he has one pair!! uh-oh one pair and i gut shot straight. i go from feeling sick to brief elation. to feeling sick again realaistion a 10 j or 9 will kill me. it falls safe and i double up plus 2 hands in. AWESOME.

I then run with god card wise QQ JJ KK hit a full house. i was raking chips everywhere. it was going to me my day. i am playing with confidence whwn a new player came to the table. i had AQ and raised to 1100. he shoves for 4800 and i ask for a count. i havent even noticed the chatterbox from oklahoma next 2 me has not said a word. mistake... as i say call. he says call too. i have acted out of turn and committed myself to the call. its actually his turn first. my bets stands unless he raises then i can take it back. he only has 1000 more. he has played this well by seeing what i am doing and he knows i dont call if he shoves. he can only have 1 of 2 hands AA or KK. The initial all in player is some 23 year punk drssed like a basketballer ans starts doing his nut. 'HE CANT DO THAT THIS IS BULLSHIT CALL THE FLOOR. FLOOR!!!! NOW WAY" when the dealer tries to explain the situation to the supervisor this tool just keeps yelling over the top. "no no this is wrong HE CANT DO THAT!!!"
he's wrong... due to my mistake he can. and the yank kid is spewing. he has 10 10.. i have AQ and surprise surprise oklahoma city has AA. This is a very important hand for the rest of my tournament. even though im destined to lose. The flop falls J 8 9 and the kid with 10 10 has a up and down straight draw. boom he hits the q on the turn and takes the lead. board falls friendly river for himand he triples up. with a bit of "ship that shit"... wanker.

i know have my sights set on him. i know his weakness he is a hothead and emotional. now to tap into that. I give him an immediate serve. "you happy now?" "and to think what a cry you had, makes you look pretty silly now hey" "No man... i just didnt want to be 3 ways with 10s" :"doesnt mean you have to act like a banana pal. You carried on about this guy and he hadnt done a thing wrong. You called the floor and yelled and sceamed and then give us 'ship that shit'. i's be pretty embarrassed to be you right now" "No man i just wanted to clarify that rule" "really by yelling how wrong you were at the supervisor? you proved you were?" the table laughs at him...and rightly so. i jab and jab after each hand. "i just cant stand when people behave poorly at the table"... follow up with " these kids think they can say anything on the internet and it flies in real life"... he tries valiantly not to let it tilt him. he's too good for that is his body language says... we'll see.

I purposely play him in a few pots. staring him down and floating a few missed flops with him. anything to make him go off the rails if i can find a win. i try to hit a flush on a board where he clearly has an overpair. i miss but still fire when he checks the river. he calls with KK and i show my bluff. happy to dump to him to set a trap. another player even helps with the comment "Bit of a rivalry goin on here" Perfect.
He thinks im a sucker and i think he's a hothead. difference i can respect his play is strong and will use it to may advantage.

The hand is almost immediate. facing an early raise to 350 i find myself with 54 of clubs im happy to call for value. it come around to the kid who pauses for 3 mins before raising it up to 1150. i really need the initial raiser to call for value. but he folds. i still call for extra 800 in keeping with my plan. The flop falls 10 4 5 rainbow and i know this is the one. he comes out betting 1050. its a bet that is crying for a call. he has a big pair. now against anyone else i flat call here to increase value. this wont work against this guy he's too smart. if i flat he will smell a trap and it will look like a set. i cant play it like that... this kids too good. so i quickly re pop to 3100. he is immediately puzzled. he knows i dont play a set this way... he thinks and thinks and he can only put me on Ace ten. Thats exactly what i want him to think. he shoves me all in. i snap call and have him crushed. he has QQ and is in shocked what has happened. i stack him back to a piddly amount of chips. one of the best hands ive ever played. i now have over 30k and know i can go deep in this tourney... the rest of the day passes and with a lovely AA double in the last 20mins cruise through to final 370 of 2713. money will start at 270 the next day and i can t wait... will fill you in on day 2 tomorrow

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