The Bat Cave

Today, I started off on a roll. With starting stacks of 3500, I was up to 5000 and we were still in the first round.

Key Hand #1 – Blinds 25/50, one person limps and I raise to 225 with AK. One person behind me calls, the blinds fold, and the limper calls. 3-way action to a A64, two club flop. One check, I bet 375 and the person behind me calls, the first guy folds. Turn is a 4c. I could bet here to define my hand and really see where I’m at… I don’t have a club in my hand, so if it checks around and a fourth club hits the river, I’ll be pretty disgusted with myself. Of course, I could already be beat, and I didn’t sense a lot of strength from my opponent and I think he has an ace with a weaker kicker, and as long as that kicker isn’t a club, I’m in pretty good shape, so I decide to just check it. He bets 375. No need to raise here… I just call. River is an ugly Kc. I could bet to prevent a bluff, maybe even get him to fold a small/medium club. He’d probably pay it off in frustration if he turned a flush since I’m not going to bet enough to put a ton of pressure on him. We both check and I’m shocked when he turns over 66 for a full house. No idea what he was thinking, but I was very grateful to only lose 750 post-flop when I would’ve stacked off if he raised the flop. Instead of losing 75% of my chips, I lost the minimum and still had around 4000.

The next several blind levels were brutal to me. Not only was I not getting good hands, but my attempts to steal blinds and keep my stack in good shape proved futile. I had two people to my left that were loose and defended constantly. I never hit the board with my hands and any time I made a continuation bet, I got called or raised. After a while, it became clear that I was going to have to play hands with value… and those weren’t coming often, so my stack was dwindling.

Key Hand #2 – with the blinds at 200-400, I was in the big blind with KdQd and 1700 behind. It folds to the button who raises to 800. SB folds and I consider my options. I decide that calling is out of the question and ship it. He calls with AK and I spike a Queen to double up. I am now freerolling in the tournament.

Key Hand #3 – blinds are still 200-400… the tables just combined and a new player I’m unfamiliar with raises to 1000 with 3000 behind. It folds to me in LP and I have 77 and I have 4800 total. My opponent is an old man and I usually consider most old men a nit until proven otherwise…. which means, I’m probably never going to get him to fold if I shove and I’m probably only a slight favorite against the bottom of his range. I think folding here is wise, although it’s close… I still have 6 orbits left and I just think I can find a better spot. Doubling up is critical at this point, but I think I’m an underdog against his range. I fold.

Key Hand #4 – blinds are 400-800… we are short-handed, I have 5400 and it folds to me. I shove it with KT and get called by JJ. I spike a King and double up to 12000. Maybe luck is on my side today.

Key Hand #5 – blinds are 400-800, we are still short-handed… I have about 12000 still and open to 2400 with AQ. Someone shoves behind me for 3700 and I make the easy call. He shows AA and his hand holds. I’m down to 8300.

Key Hand #6 – I’ve been managing to keep my stack in good shape and I’m up to around 13000. blinds are now 500-1000 and I have 6d5d in the BB. It folds to the button who shoves for 4500. SB folds and it’s 3500 to me. I do some quick odds… it’s going to cost me 3500 more to try and win a 6500 pot. If I call and lose, I’ll still have around 9000, which is something I can work with. Getting 1.8 to 1 in a likely 40-60, I decide to try and knock him out. Unfortunately he shows TT and even though I flop a flush draw, his hand holds.

Key Hand #7 – I make it to the final table for the 3rd day in a row. Unfortunately, my stack is weak at 9500. I didn’t draw a good seat position, so I’m UTG+1, and the blinds are 500-1000. I fold my first hand, a J6, and then I pick up KT UTG the next hand. I’m aware of the time left in the round and the blinds are going to go up to 1000-2000 the next hand, so my relative stack size is much worse than it looks. If I fold, I’m going to have 3000 going through me the next two hands, assuming I lose both of them, and I’ll have 6500 on the button, which is a pretty easy amount to call from the big blind with 2000 invested already. I decide to shove it while I still have some fold equity from my opponents and it folds all the way to the big blind who calls with AK. No 3-outer for me, as his trip Kings, Ace kicker scoops the pot and he has me covered. FML! I can’t close this thing out!

5 tournaments, 3 final tables, 1 cash, -$125 overall

I’m playing in a deep stack tournament on Sunday and if I don’t cash in that, I’ll have to cut my tournament playing down next week.