This is the third and final part in my review of a recent final table finish in the FTP $100 rebuy 6-max weekly tournament last Wednesday. If you haven’t already, check out Part 1 and Part 2.
We were down to the final few tables, and at this point in the tournament, failed steals were costing me 10K a pop. Therefore, I was happy to pick off HisXLNC’s 11BB button shove with AJ, which held against his A2. Then the pesky little monkey who’d been shoving on me the most refused to oblige when I wanted it:
Where Are You When I Need You?
Full Tilt Poker, NL Hold’em Tournament, 2,000/4,000 Blinds, 500 Ante, 4 Players
LeggoPoker.com – Hand History Converter
UTG: 179,908
BTN: 273,000
Hero (SB): 244,710
BB: 141,870
Pre-Flop: (8,000) J
J
dealt to Hero (SB)
UTG folds, Hero raises to 12,000, BB calls 8,000
Flop: (26,000) K
6
2 (2 Players)
Hero checks, BB bets 16,000, Hero calls 16,000
Turn: (58,000) 5 (2 Players)
Hero bets 26,210
Results: 58,000 Pot
Hero mucked J J and WON 58,000 (+29,500 NET)
This check-call flop and lead turn line isn’t one I take often, but I thought it made sense here. I didn’t see myself getting value from a lot of worse hands by leading at this flop, so I went for the check and call. But when the third club got there, I didn’t want my opponent to check it through and either bluff or win the pot if a fourth club got there, so I led out. Against this opponent, I was comfortable folding if he shoved over that lead. I can’t promise that this will work as well against more aggressive players.
I’m going to call this guy Pest. Remember him, because he continues to nettle me for the rest of the tournament.
Taken to Valuetown
Full Tilt Poker, NL Hold’em Tournament, 2,500/5,000 Blinds, 600 Ante, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com – Hand History Converter
BTN: 160,031
SB: 145,488
BB: 277,041
UTG: 232,356
Hero (MP): 343,036
CO: 107,180
Pre-Flop: (11,100) 8 A dealt to Hero (MP)
UTG folds, Hero raises to 12,436, CO folds, BTN calls 12,436, 2 folds
Flop: (35,972) 3 8 J (2 Players)
Hero bets 20,000, BTN calls 20,000
Turn: (75,972) 6 (2 Players)
Hero checks, BTN checks
River: (75,972) 2 (2 Players)
Hero checks, BTN bets 42,000, Hero calls 42,000
Results: 159,972 Pot
BTN showed J 9 (a pair of Jacks) and WON 159,972 (+84,936 NET)
Hero mucked 8 A (a pair of Eights) and LOST (-75,036 NET)
Villain here was busto_soon. For a lot of people, that pre-flop call for nearly 10% of their stack is going to be a monster, but I was pretty sure that wasn’t the case here. Frankly, I’d be very surprised if he could show a profit with this call pre-flop. But after that, I must admit, I got outplayed.
It was just poor hand reading on my part. When he calls the flop, I guess he can still have a wide range. He could have a pair, T9, or maybe a weaker draw that was floating me. But when he declines to bluff the turn, I think he pretty much always has a pair. That means he’s not going to be bluffing the river, and I have to decide whether I beat his value betting range. I doubt he’s calling like pre-flop, so am I hoping he’s value betting T8/98? If he is, which I doubt, then he’d be value betting 99 and TT as well, so I really don’t think I can call river even for half pot. I was pretty upset with myself for paying that off.
LOL Weak Lead
Full Tilt Poker, NL Hold’em Tournament, 3,000/6,000 Blinds, 750 Ante, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com – Hand History Converter
UTG: 243,467
MP: 140,888
CO: 251,941
BTN: 295,756
Hero (SB): 228,000
BB: 105,080
Pre-Flop: (13,500) 7 7 dealt to Hero (SB)
2 folds, CO raises to 16,191, BTN folds, Hero calls 13,191, BB folds
Flop: (42,882) 3 6 3 (2 Players)
Hero bets 25,059, CO raises to 75,000, Hero raises to 211,059 and is All-In, CO folds
Results: 192,882 Pot
Hero mucked 7 7 and WON 192,882 (+100,941 NET)
If I recall correctly, this one was against Phat Cat. I think that leading into the raiser on a really dry board like this is usually interpreted as a probe bet or steal. I was hoping either to induce a bluff raise or just to prevent him from checking it back with two overcards, if he realizes that I’m folding very little of my SB calling range to a c-bet on this flop. Once he raises, I jam just to protect my hand. I don’t expect him to call with worse, but he probably wont’ keep bluffing either, so I don’t want to give him any free cards. If I’m beat, I’m beat.
The Pest
Full Tilt Poker, NL Hold’em Tournament, 3,000/6,000 Blinds, 750 Ante, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com – Hand History Converter
SB: 235,967
BB: 139,388
UTG: 159,250
MP: 294,256
Hero (CO): 344,691
BTN: 91,580
Pre-Flop: (13,500) Q K dealt to Hero (CO)
2 folds, Hero raises to 15,441, BTN raises to 90,830 and is All-In, 2 folds, Hero calls 75,389
Flop: (195,160) 6 T A (2 Players – 1 is All-In)
Turn: (195,160) 2 (2 Players – 1 is All-In)
River: (195,160) 5 (2 Players – 1 is All-In)
Results: 195,160 Pot
Hero showed Q K (Ace King high) and LOST (-91,580 NET)
BTN showed A 2 (two pair, Aces and Twos) and WON 195,160 (+103,580 NET)
I’ve been back and forth on whether I think this is a good jam by him. I guess it probably is, because I was opening a ton from late position. Sucks that I lost even after picking up so many outs on the flop.
With about 10 players left, I was in the middle pack. I really like to ramp up the aggression on the final table bubble. I shoved QJ on my BB into a raise from Phat Cat on the Button, who doubled through me with AK. That left me short, but after a few successful open shoves, the SB shoved into my JJ with 44 and doubled me back up.
Big Draw Passively
Full Tilt Poker, NL Hold’em Tournament, 4,000/8,000 Blinds, 1,000 Ante, 4 Players
LeggoPoker.com – Hand History Converter
UTG: 267,637
BTN: 334,250
SB: 269,640
Hero (BB): 178,186
Pre-Flop: (16,000) K 6 dealt to Hero (BB)
2 folds, SB raises to 16,000, Hero calls 8,000
Flop: (36,000) A 8 4 (2 Players)
SB checks, Hero checks
Turn: (36,000) 5 (2 Players)
SB bets 20,000, Hero calls 20,000
River: (76,000) 2 (2 Players)
SB bets 40,000, Hero folds
Results: 76,000 Pot
SB mucked and WON 76,000 (+39,000 NET)
I hate having to play a draw passively with such a short stack, but I was getting a good price on the turn and didn’t think a raise would make any sense. Maybe I’m overestimating my opponent’s ability to call down with less than top pair, though.
I got back in the hunt by shoving JT over a SB raise and sucking out on AK. That may even have given me the chiplead. A re-steal with KJ won me some more chips, then I open limped TT in my SB to trap the very aggressive Stamdogg in the BB. The plan worked, except that his AT flopped an A and instead I was short again. Thankfully I outflipped him a few hands later by restealing QTs and beating his 77. Then I busted him with AQ > AT to re-capture the chip lead just in time for the final table.
First Pot at Final Table
Full Tilt Poker, NL Hold’em Tournament, 8,000/16,000 Blinds, 2,000 Ante, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com – Hand History Converter
MP: 408,835
CO: 356,056
BTN: 262,789
SB: 542,592
Hero (BB): 564,637
UTG: 246,091
Pre-Flop: (36,000) J Q dealt to Hero (BB)
UTG folds, MP raises to 40,009, 3 folds, Hero calls 24,009
Flop: (100,018) T 3 J (2 Players)
Hero checks, MP bets 55,999, Hero raises to 522,628 and is All-In, MP calls 310,827 and is All-In
Turn: (833,670) 3 (2 Players – 1 is All-In)
River: (833,670) 2 (2 Players – 1 is All-In)
Results: 833,670 Pot
MP showed A A (two pair, Aces and Threes) and WON 833,670 (+424,835 NET)
Hero showed J Q (two pair, Jacks and Threes) and LOST (-408,835 NET)
This one was against the Pest. The size and timing of his flop bet was suspicious, but I did have OMGTOPPAIR! I felt like jamming was the best way to represent a wider range, since there were a lot of draws out there. Not that it mattered, against AA. One time, dealer?
Two hands later, it was my button and I had like 80K, so I open shoved 96o. The Pest was now in the lead and called with Q9 on his BB, but I sucked out to double up. After an unsuccessful steal, I shoved AK over a SB raise and got called by KT. Unfortunately he hit and busted me in 5th.
So that was that. Tournaments still infuriate me, though this relatively deep-stacked 6-max game was a lot of fun. Hopefully you found these hands as interesting as I did.