Prague Blog final part
Posted by doubledave22 on Tuesday, January 31st 2012 3:17 pm
Ok so I last left off with me running really well and ending day 1 with around 125k. My day two draw was actually pretty good overall. The only issue was that I had a very accomplished young live pro Martine Jacobson to my direct left with around 80k. Fortunately I was able to get the best of him and the rest of the table knocked him out relatively early.
The first hand I have written down was a continuation of my run-good from day 1. All I have written unfortunately is that i had 55 on 9 5 5 6 J and that I under-bet the river. I was most likely out of position, check/called the flop, checked the turn, then under-bet river to induce a raise. My opponent just called or folded but either way I probably got the least amount of value possible.
Next against an online player with sick results known as jackellwood I was able to get KJ on Qs Ts Jx Kx Js board. I bet the flop and he just called, I checked back the turn only to get the best river card possible. Jackell bet fairly big on the river something like 7-8k with around 25k behind. I decided to shove since I only lose to AKss, KK, and QQ but get called by JT, QJ, TT, and occasionally some nut flushes. Jackell ended up calling with A9ss which worked for me. I felt like i should have probably checked back the flop since there are so many draws and I couldn't really continue vs a check raise and I dont want to turn a bunch of value into a bluff. Fortunately he just called the flop and I had a great board run out.
Martine won a pot off me where I opened, cbet, and gave up on the river vs him. A few hands later I had A8o my button vs his BB and he defended. I had opened every single button to this point so I knew he wasn't going to give me a lot of respect. Flop comes A 4 8 rainbow and I cbet and he calls. Turn is another A and I was pretty torn what to do. It doesn't make a ton of sense to bluff-bet this turn so I thought checking would look weaker and guarantee a river bet. He did and I raised, he laughed and was visibly upset while calling me down.
The most unfortunate hand of the tourney came a few orbits later. I had KK vs a really bad slicked back hair 30 something random. Someone opens from EP and this player 3bet to around 6-7k. I cold 4bet from the SB to around 19k and he flats with 60k total. Flop comes A 9 x and the pot is now 40k and he has about that behind. It was a pretty gross spot, and I figured shoving only gets called by an Ace so I decided to check/call his shove and maybe he gets in something like JJ-QQ for god knows what reason. I just needed to let him make a mistake in a spot like this rather than force him to only call when I am beat. Unfortunately he did have AQ and my stack dropped to around 140k instead of 300k.
I was able to rebound back to 180k when my 88 beat Martines AJo for 40k a piece all in preflop. Upon winning this hand and knocking out two of my hardest opponents at the table, I got immediately moved. My new table had a bunch of old players who were either really nitty or just simply wouldn't fold. Also I had Gus Hansen two to my left and his fold button was quite broken as well. I still had a ton of chips and wanted to continue to play hands against these guys but I just wasn't finding any spots.
After getting my c-bet floated by gus and having to give up on the turn I decided to play my next hand against him differently. I had KdJx oop against gus again with a flop of Ad Qs 3h. I had opened UTG+1 and he flatted with 42k to start the hand (blinds were 1k/2k). Given that I thought he would just get in AQ with this stack I felt like when he called my flop bet he just had AJ/AT or KQ JQ, basically just a 1 pair hand for the most part. Turn comes the 2d and I decided this time to 2 barrel to try to get him off of the Q and make his life hard if he has AJ or something but he calls anyway. I had bet around 4500 on the flop and 10k on the turn. The pot was now around 35k and he had 25k behind on the river. Finally the 5d rolls on the river making the final board Ad Qs 3h 2d 5d. Now any 4 makes a straight (but how could i have one?) and the backdoor flush got there. I do have the Kd which prevents gus from ever having something like KQdd or KT/KJdd. With the blocker to the nut flush, and my read that he only has 1 pair most of the time I decided to put him all in. He tanks for a long time first saying "i think i have to fold" then slowly talking himself into it. Finally he calls and I just frustratingly mucked immediately. You guys are going to hate me because the rules at the EPT were if someone mucked at showdown, the winning player doesnt have to show their hand. He obviously mucked so everyone watching including pokernews and a buncha randoms will never know what we had. I asked him after the hand if he had more than 1 pair and he said yes so I feel like AQ was most likely but I wouldnt put him past having something like A2 or A5s lol.
After that hand I was knocked down to around 80k which was still 40bb at the time. I managed to set mine 44 in one of the blinds and flopped Jh Th 4x and snuck a check/raise in on the river to get me back up to around 110k. Following that I had AA and 4bet an old guy's 3bet and he obviously flats. With the pot bigger than my stack I shoved the flop and he folds JJ (K or Q high flop) but I was back up to 150k.
I came back day 3 with only a few to go until the money but I had a really big stack to my left. Fortunately he lost most of his chips to a player to my right who whenever he folded I was the 2nd biggest stack left. I was able to stay afloat with some opens and a few 3bets until I hit a string of two ugly hands.
The first was I flatted 22 in the bb when utg opens and the sb defended. Flop Q 9 5 and it checked through. Turn was the 2 and I bet 15k and only the sb called. River was the J and with the SB being as tight as he was I never put him on KT or T8 so i bet 35k on the river only to get called by JJ. This put me back down to 100k where I was able to get JJ in 3 ways against AK and 88 but couldn't fade the flopped King for a 300k pot.
I finished I believe 88th place for around 9k euros which was enough to make back a good chuck on my buyins in prague. Obviously I was a little bit bummed with my overall performance but I was pretty happy with my run in the EPT main. My patience and my focus was there and that was what really mattered.
The next large amount of poker I will be playing will most likely be Vegas. I will try to play a lot of events this year. Other than that I may try to put some money on merge if I can figure out how to download it and get money on. I hear there is a tournament series coming up in March so I may give that a shot. If so I will try to either film live or save some of my deeper runs and make a more up to date video for you guys.
Hope you enjoyed reading this trip report, I will try to do more like this in the future for any live tournaments I play. In the future I will remember to write down more of the action and my stack sizes throughout to make it a little smoother of a read.
have a good one guys,
dave
