Last night was the $300 rebuy with 6-handed tables, which is the FTOPS event in which I felt my edge would be largest. Though my finish wasn’t anything spectacular, I was quite happy with how I played. Here’s one kind of interesting hand:
Full Tilt Poker, NL Hold’em Tournament, 80/160 Blinds, 6 Players
LeggoPoker Hand History Converter
BTN: 10,094
SB: 4,270
Hero (BB): 10,250
UTG: 19,971
MP: 35,092
CO: 7,973
Pre-Flop: (240) A
4 dealt to Hero (BB)
2 folds, CO raises to 444, 2 folds, Hero calls 284
Flop: (968) K
2 8 (2 Players)
Hero checks, CO bets 666, Hero raises to 1,806, CO folds
Nothing real fancy here, but it’s a good play to be aware of. The guy makes a small raise from the CO, he could have a super-wide range, and then he bets on pretty much the best board ever for a continuation bet, so I might as well take what’s mine.
Here’s my bust-out hand:
Full Tilt Poker, NL Hold’em Tournament, 120/240 Blinds, 25 Ante, 6 Players
LeggoPoker Hand History Converter
BB: 3,254
UTG: 22,248
Hero (MP): 12,025
CO: 23,585
BTN: 27,938
SB: 9,362
Pre-Flop: (510) A 9
dealt to Hero (MP)
UTG folds, Hero raises to 700, CO folds, BTN raises to 2,000, 2 folds, Hero raises to 12,000 and is All-In, BTN calls 10,000
Flop: (24,510) 2 4 Q (2 Players – 1 is All-In)
Turn: (24,510) 5 (2 Players – 1 is All-In)
River: (24,510) 8
(2 Players – 1 is All-In)
Results: 24,510 Pot
Hero showed A 9 (Ace Queen high) and LOST (-12,025 NET)
BTN showed 9 9 (a pair of Nines) and WON 24,510 (+12,485 NET)
The BB in this hand had an awkward stack size, which makes it a good spot for me to raise him, and I knew my smallish raise would look suspicious in that context. The button was a tournament regular who’d been playing especially aggressively last night, probably because he was running good, had run up a good stack, and was feeling invincible. Not the best guy to bluff, but I don’t think I need him to lay down better hands to make this shove profitable (though he probably does release AT-AJ and maybe AQ). I felt I would be ahead often enough that combined with the equity that my Ace gives me against his big pairs I’d come out ahead. He thought for quite some time before calling, which was basically a victory for me already.