The Bat Cave

Already messing up. Even though my phone calendar and my online poker schedule both listed this tournament as starting at 10 AM, I somehow got it in my head that it started at 11 AM… so here I am showing up exactly on time… an hour late!

Starting stacks are 12k and blinds are now 75/150 as I sit down at the beginning of level 3.

I hear the defending PLAYER OF THE SERIES is in the building now. Oh wait, that’s me! I already spotted the whole field a two event head start, so it’s probably going to take an extraordinary run to get into contention this time.

Cards in the air! Let’s go.

11:17 AM: Notables in the field: Radio Mike and Joker at the same table, Chief Wiggum, some other regulars… but honestly, not a lot of recognizable faces.

And on that note, Sandman hits the registration desk.

11:27 AM: First pot I play at my table is a doozy. Five players limp and I jack it up with the KQhh from the big. Gambol!

Flop is K52 with two spades and one heart. I lead, there are two calls and two folds, and a lady on the button raises it. This was not the kind of flop I was expecting to get much action on so I’m kind of bewildered, but I prefer to play heads up here so I raise it back and the first caller caps it! The other guy calls and so does the button. Not really sure how I can ever have the best hand here, but I’m going to hang on.

Turn is the jack of diamonds and I’m happy to see it check to the button and she bets. When the flop capper checks here, he’s basically always on a draw and the other player’s range is capped and weak. So I’m dodging spades and hoping I can beat the button now. We all call.

River is the 8 of clubs and everyone checks. Button looks like she wants to table out of turn (or maybe it is in turn here) so I let her show a K3o before I table the winning hand and collect the pot.

11:44 AM: Wow, my table is clueless. I limp early with the A6ss and UTG+1 raises, bad and loose player 3-bets button, lady from before calls small blind and I call also. It’s a bit loose from up front but I want to play pots against this field while the blinds are small.

Flop is 775 with two spades and the small blind leads right out, I call, UTG+1 calls, button raises, small blind 3-bets, I call, other guy folds and button calls.

Turn is the 8 of clubs. SB bets and we both call.

River is 9 of spades. Flush got there and so did a one card straight (and I have both draws) and the small blind still bets. I already have zero respect for either player in this hand and I fully expect my hand to be good most of the time but it seems like a clear spot to go for the overcall from the likely overpair on the button rather than raise and possibly face a 3-bet when I’m beat. I call and so does button. Lady turns over JJ. Button snap-rolls KK before I can table my hand.

Very next hand, I defend an UTG raise in a 6-way pot with 84 of hearts.

Flop is 652 with two hearts. We has MONSTER. I check-raise the field, they all just call, and five of us see the turn.

It’s an ugly, ugly brick: the ace of clubs. I would bet a lot of turns but this is not one of them. I am keeping a check-raise in my back pocket depending on how the turn plays out. If UTG bets and everyone calls, I have about a 30% chance of improving and my fair share of pot equity is 20% and I make money by raising, even if only three players call. A clear value raise in a cash game, but maybe not great in a tournament where pushing every edge isn’t as important as maintaining a chip stack. As it turns out, UTG bets and only the loose player in the cutoff calls, so I just call also.

River is the 2 of clubs. Boo. UTG bets and wins with AKo vs A7o. Sheesh.

That’s 61% assuming I never get either of them to fold better and actually, from what I’ve seen, they are probably not folding on bricky run outs, especially the dude with A7.

~17k on first break.

12:19 PM: Pretty sure this is a career first for me: antes in a limit event (Stud variants excluded). Interesting. I think I like it. I’m curious to see if anyone adjusts their stealing and defending strategies, especially as the blinds get large.

Stack updates at first break:

Chief Wiggum 19k

Joker 17k

Radio Mike 13k

Sandman 11k

12:27 PM: Woah. Daniel O, no limit hold’em specialist, making an appearance in the limit hold’em event! And he sits at my table!

“I’m just warning you,” he immediately cautions, “I don’t care at all.”

Punting words if I’ve ever heard them.

12:50 PM: UTG opens, I 3-bet AKo next and cutoff calls.

Three of us to the KJ7 flop and they both call my bet.

Turn is a ten and I go into check-call mode because I think my hand is doing not great against the cutoff’s cold-calling and continuing range. Other guy also calls down and the cutoff shows AQ.

1:09 PM: Forgot to congratulate Joker on his 9th place finish in yesterday’s no limit Hold’em event. He picked up $2800 and got himself on the Player of the Series leaderboard.

1:12 PM: Sandman is hitting the registration desk for a re-entry.

Some non-poker run bad that has happened to me lately:

•on what I believe was our last hiking trip before this vacation to the southeast, I went to use the restroom in an outhouse and ever-so-slightly tilted my head downwards and watched in horror as my $250 sunglasses slid off my hat, right down the toilet and disappeared into, well, somewhere quite disgusting. The hole was so deep they were completely unrecoverable and I’m not sure I wanted them back anyway.

•at the Mariners-Rangers game on Friday night I was once again using the restroom and my AirPods fell out of my jacket into the stall next to mine. I thought I heard the sound of multiple things hitting the ground and that is a thought that haunts me now. But at the time, my charging case landed closed and I didn’t bother to look inside it. I didn’t use them again until we boarded our plane late last night and realized that that other sound was one of my ear buds falling out and disappearing forever. So now I have AirPods with a single ear bud.

•and then I left my current favorite Mariners hat on the plane last night.

•PLUS I lost my driver’s license before we left for our trip, a fact that Joker just reminded me of as I was standing here typing this on break. Speaking of losing my driver’s license, that got me a full – and I mean FULL – body pat down at the airport last night when I tried to sneak by security with an expired ID.

Stack updates on second break:

Dark Knight 16.1k

Daniel O 14.5k

Chief Wiggum 17k

Joker 22k

Radio Mike 14k

Sandman 12k

1:34 PM: First hand back I open KK UTG and get two callers.

Jack high, uncoordinated flop and I bet and get one call.

Queen on turn and I check-raise and get called on blank river for a nice pot to start level 7.

That puts me over 20k.

2:19 PM: Widening my opening range as the blinds increase and my table doesn’t seem to be adjusting too much. I opened 95dd and c-bet total air and got a fold. Then I opened T9o from the lojack and got a big blind defend and the 876 flop. Not bad. He called flop and turn before folding river.

Finally, under the gun limps, I raise AA, and two players call.

Flop is AT3 with two clubs and only UTG check-calls.

Turn is the 3 of clubs, so the flush gets there and I fill up. Dreams! He leads out and I get two big bets on the turn.

Then I get unlucky…

…by making quads!

Because now he loses to any random Ax hand and finds a check-fold as he shakes his head with whatever he bet-called the turn with.

Peaking at 26.1k.

Not sure if player count is accurate, but it says 129 entered and there are now 84 left.

That makes an average 18.4k.

Updated counts on break:

Radio Mike 15.3k

Daniel O 14.6k

Joker 6.8k

Chief Wiggum 22k

2:53 PM: Folds to me in small blind and I raise KTo and the big defends.

Flop is K95 with two spades and we go four bets and I’m not happy about it. First flop raise doesn’t mean much, but when he caps it, I’m in trouble.

I check-call a bet on a blank turn and we both check the 4 of spades river and I get a ridiculous free show down vs 95hh.

Down to 18k though.

Sigh. What a set up.

Also, I should point out that Radio Mike is largely responsible for Joker’s diminished chip stack.

3:12 PM:

Joker BUSTED

3:34 PM: Sheesh. Lose one pot and all my momentum is gone. Blinds have gone through me a couple times and I’m down to 13k.

Meanwhile, Daniel O calls a raise on the button in a multiway pot with 33 and gets the 322 flop against an overpair and somehow gets four bets on the flop and still gets bet into on the turn.

That hand puts Daniel around 38k.

MUST BE NICE.

3:40 PM: Just got moved. I recognize no one at this table and I have the shortest stack. I opened ATo and whiffed and defended KTss and whiffed.

I am on fumes. Just like that.

3:50 PM: Raise one limper in button with 77 and 4.8 bigs. We are looking to get all the chippies in, but a blind and the limper call and then both check-fold on J76. What a waste!

Very next hand, early open and I 3-bet KK from the cut. Early player calls and then checks dark so I bet dark.

He calls on QQ5 rainbow and checks to me again on a blank turn. I have less than three big bets left, so my decision on the turn is essentially for my tournament life. If I bet and am not winning, I am out, so I check back since I’m either way ahead or way behind and betting could eliminate me.

River is a blank and I pick off a bluff and am back up to 19.8k after having less than 5k a few hands ago.

4:01 PM: Unreal. Table breaks after hand I pay my big blind and I get moved to a new table where I have to post the big blind again. Yes. Back-to-Back. In a structure where the big blind antes for everyone.

🤦🏻‍♂️

I didn’t win either of those pots so there goes four critical blinds.

Radio Mike and Sandman at my new table. This is easily my worst table draw of the day.

4:36 PM: And I have dwindled down to one big blind about to have the button after playing zero notable pots in 3+ orbits.

4:42 PM: This is gross. Nothing but rags. Someone enters the pot before me every hand. It is going to be really, REALLY sick if I have to take a 75-minute dinner break with less than one big blind.

2 minutes, 45 seconds…

4:49 PM: I went all in on the last hand before dinner and did not win.

Dark Knight BUSTED

Radio Mike has a small stack and Sandman, Chief Wiggum, and Daniel O are all still in.

I’m not sticking around but I’ll post some updates if someone sends them to me.

✌🏻