Boomtown

Finally got to get some card playing in. Had a good time at Boomtown last night playing in the tournament. Played tight early on, despite it being the chuck and pray type format. You get 1000 in chips. Blinds go up every 15 minutes. It's capped at 59 players.

I saw a ton of new faces there. Odd. Saw a few of the regulars there, and of those few I rate most as good players. I got there late so was given the very last alternate seat. At the start of the second level I was seated. 5 minutes later I heard a guy say, "This kid's already busted 10 people." I looked at the table behind me, as another disastified customer was getting up shaking his head, then I see the kid, he already had about a 1/4 or a 1/5 of the chips in play. Wow.

My man Gene was at my table, and I just folded, and folded and entertained myself by watching him make some timely raises and dragging small pots. He wasn't getting action and I thought to myself sometimes he's hurt by being rated as a good player. Other guys didn't want to mix it up with him unless they had good hands and his timing wasn't right to catch one of the weaker players getting into the deep end.

Just as I thought that, he gets called and loses a race and I was flying solo. I think I mucked a hand in the big blind after a post flop raise but that was about it. Another cycle passes and I'm in the big blind with 10-9. UTG with a ton of chips raises and it's folded to me. Normally, that's a fairly easy fold but because of my tightness I thought he might be trying to steal the blinds, and I remembered what Hoyt Corkins once said, "People are scared of playing the big stacks, but I love to because I know they can double me up." 10-9 may not be the best holding but I figured I'd know where I stood after the flop. It came out 10 high.

Hmmm... I was fairly certain I was ahead. The only thing I was afraid of was that it was a legtimate pre-flop raise with an overpair, so I fired out a small probe bet--smaller than his preflop bet--the kind a good player would punish me for and raise aggressively on my short stack. He flat called. I knew I was ahead. At best he had AK.

The turn was the jack, and being the kind of tournament it was, I decided to go all in, confident my hand was ahead and farily certain the jack didn't help him. He insta-called like the spring action on a mousetrap and I thought I'd merely be looking at the cheese not nibbling it. Hello overpair.

No... He held a... gutshot. Huh?

He rightly bricked out and I doubled up.

The next hand was three-way limpfest and a checked pot to the river. I hit my gutshot from the small blind. I fire out 6x the pot. The third player, out of turn, looks at my raise and the size of the pot and starts making faces like you gotta be kidding. But the excessive raise wasn't for him, I knew he wouldn't be calling, it was for the BB (formerly UTG) who... calls. The third player folds and the BB shows second pair or some such nonsense.

Then I sit. My stack never dips below 2k but never exceeds 3.5k and I watch bustout after bustout after bustout. At boomtown, moves are dangerous, because you'll get called for the most part... but they can be executed at the right time. The big stack came over, and I immediately noticed when he limped he'd fold to a raise, he never limped-called despite being in a situation to call everything. If he raised or called a raise you couldn't get him off a pot, but he was prepared to shake off his limps. I filed this away and used his big stack like it was my own.

Three times, people limped to him and he followed suit, and two times it made it past another guy to my right who was married to any pot he invested in. First time it got to me with my stellar holding of 2-2. All-in. Everybody before the mamonth stack folded fearing their tournament life would be on the line with him. Of course he folded. Second time in a similar situation, I had J5 o/s. Push. All fold. Third time I don't remember what I had but I think it was actually fairly decent becuase that was the time married to the pot was in. He actually folded too but he made me sweat a little bit. He probably had a tough decison to make like... J9.

This got me to the money, with no cards and no big pots. Finally, I look down at JJ after the blinds had caught up to my stack. Mitch had opened for more than I held, and I tossed it in remembering the last time I had played with him he busted me with his AK over my jacks. He turned over AQ. I told myself it's my turn on the coin-flip even if I feared the worst. Brick city. Nice double up. Now I got a little more play.

The formerly mamonth chip stack went out next at my hand. He limps (an opportunity), folded to me I raise with suited A3, 6 handed not a great holding but I have to make some moves, and the table has tightened up a bit. Plus, he orphans his limps so a good spot. He comes over the top for the rest of his chips. I ponder, he's finally trapped my thievery or he's merely tired of it and making a stand. I get a read of weakness, but I got such a little hand. F'it, I'm commited I hope he's got two face cards like QJ. I'll have a little bit left too.

He turns over sixes. I don't like it. Flop comes two 10s and a 9d. I call for another 9. Turn gives me four of my suit and another overcard to his 6. 15 outs for the river. I keep calling for the 9 and it hits. He kind of pushes his 6s forward not realizing I just counterfeited him and my ace was playing and I guess never understanding why I was calling for the 9. Tough break.

At this point I'm a close second in chips, and it just goes to show you, you need to get lucky late, not early, and patience is rewarded. We chop it with me and the other big stack each getting second place money and the other three splitting the rest. Good tournament.

The 1-2 game was full and I headed home.

Comments

Unknown said…
Great score
Nice job
Unknown said…
Great score
Nice job
Reid said…
well played. gg.
Martin said…
Congrats on the 2nd place cash!
C.S. said…
Thx fellas. Back from internet exile and half-way moved in.

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