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Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Vegas or Bust Poker League


The ninth of 12 league tournaments was held last Friday. All 10 league members were present as the first card was tossed in the air.

Seated clockwise around the table was Dealer Larry, Philly Phanatic, Stamps, J-Dawg, Lil' Annie Okie, Bobby Dee, Tin Man, Big Daddy, Ranger Rick, and your humble correspondant, Lucki Duck.

The top two league finishers win an all expenses paid trip to Las Vegas, plus a buy in to one of the preliminary WSOP events this summer. I won the December tourney, which moved me into second place, one point ahead of Philly Phanatic. So my focus was to finish ahead of him.

I started slowly, folding hand after hand before finally peeking down at A-K and raised 3X the BB from early position. The only call I got was from Big Daddy, who is certainly the most difficult player to read at the table. The flop was K-Q-4, a good one for me. Big Daddy checked and I bet $150, which was a little over 1/2 pot and got a call. A seven on the turn looked harmless, but Big Daddy bet $50. I read it as a blocking bet, but I HATE getting into big pots early in a tournament, especially against this particular opponent. Rather than raising, I smooth called. When he checked the river, I thought I was good, but check behind anyway...just in case :) Big Daddy tabled Q-4 for a flopped two pair and drug the pot. How you can call a raise out of position with Q-4 offsuit is beyond me, but that's why I try to avoid playing big pots with Big Daddy.

The next hand I was involved in was once again with Big Daddy. I raised from middle position with T-T and was called by...you guessed it...Big Daddy. He had limped from early position, so I put him on a range from pocket aces to 7-2 offsuit :)

We saw a flop of 8-8-8, so I bet 1/2 pot after he checked. Big Daddy immediately shoved, a huge overbet.

"I believe that's called a check-raise!" cackled Tin Man, laughing at my obvious distress.

Since my main goal was finishing ahead of Philly, I folded my full house and was shown pocket aces by Big Daddy. Like I said, he's hard to read.

Later in the tourney I received Big Slick once again. but missed the flop and folded to a bet from Big Daddy, who was in position this time. I was now down to $500 from my starting stack of $1500, and no one had busted out. One thing I did not want was a last place finish!

Just a couple hands later the two big stacks, Philly and Big Daddy got involved in a big pot. When the smoke cleared, Big Daddy's rivered flush felted Philly and his top two pair. This was great for me, but I don't understand what Philly was thinking in this hand. His main focus should have been to finish ahead of me, and I was the short stack at the table when he busted. Go figure.

With blinds at $50-100, I once again looked down at A-K and shoved my last $400 receiving3 calls. With my history with Big Slick on this evening, I didn't feel very confident, even after I flopped top pair. The Turn and river didn't help me, so I didn't hold much hope fot top pair winning against 3 random hands, but it did! Now with $1600 I was back in the game. Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good.

The blinds were getting high and players started dropping quickly. With Philly already out, Stamps was next, followed by Big Daddy, Lil' Annie Okie, and Tin Man. I busted Dealer Larry in fifth, but then fell on my sword with a fourth place finish. Not as good as I had hoped, but considering how short I had gotten earlier, I was pleased with my standing.

Bobby Dee placed, J-Dawg showed and Ranger Rick won the tournament.

Annie still leads the league by a substantial margin and I was able to extend my lead over Philly by three points. CLICK HERE for the latest standings.

Only three more tourneys to go. Hope I can hold on!

Till next time, win the flips.

5 comments:

  1. Big come back from short stack to 4th place.

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    1. Yeah. Winning my all-in to quadruple up saved my skin.

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  2. Hang in there. Would love to see you get another shot at Vegas.

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  3. "So I put him on a range from pocket aces to 7-2 offsuit..." :D I have no idea why Big Daddy bet $50 on the turn on the 7 - seems like he could have milked you for a lot more (I'm glad he didn't, but you know what I'm saying)... Good luck!

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