This was one of the more frustrating events I played, probably because it came on the tail end of so many other frustrations. I played for nearly 7.5 hours and finished in something like 140th place with 108 paying. This is the hand that I went out on:
PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 530 Tournament, 1000/2000 Blinds 250 Ante (9 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
SB (t183638)
BB (t37589)
UTG (t51714)
Hero (UTG+1) (t100357)
MP1 (t185740)
MP2 (t104500)
MP3 (t22619)
CO (t171688)
Button (t73031)
Hero’s M: 19.12
Preflop: Hero is UTG+1 with A♠, K♠
1 fold, Hero bets t4000, 5 folds, SB raises to t10475, 1 fold, Hero calls t6475
Flop: (t25200) 5♠, J♠, 7♦ (2 players)
SB bets t10480, Hero calls t10480
Turn: (t46160) K♥ (2 players)
SB bets t19925, Hero calls t19925
River: (t86010) 9♦ (2 players)
SB bets t142508 (All-In), Hero calls t59227 (All-In)
Total pot: t204464
Results:
SB had K♣, J♦ (two pair, Kings and Jacks).
Hero had A♠, K♠ (one pair, Kings).
Outcome: SB won t204464
Villain is a very good player who ended up final tabling this tournament. He plays in high stakes tournaments and cash games as big as 50/100. He’d been very quiet up to this point, but I’m sure he’s capable of making moves, so if anything that probably makes him more likely to try something.
Notice the stack of the player in the BB. That makes it look a lot like I’m stealing, so I don’t give Villian much credit when he 3-bets. 4-betting to get it in would certainly be fine, but I think I’m just flipping against his get-it-in range, and I’d rather keep dominated hands in and maintain the advantage of my position.
Stacks are a little awkward to raise-get-it-in on the flop, and I don’t think he has many dominated flush draws in his range, so I call planning to shove over a bet on most turns. On this particular turn I think calling down is better. Against a lesser player I can consider folding the river, but I think this Villain is too good and I need to bluff-catch with the top of my range. This isn’t the very top, but it’s pretty close considering that I didn’t shove turn. I’m chalking this one up to cooler/bad beat.