What a ride...

A couple notes on the last few tournaments i've played.

Firstly, I played in the monthly local game that my buddy Richard has at his "poker dungeon", and lost a race about an hour in that left me with less than 7 times the big blind. In his tourney set up, at this point it is usually crucial to just jam the hell out of the game to try and pick up blinds and get back to above 10 BB's. I luckily and unluckily had a ridiculous rush of cards, when it all started.

This is how it went. With a little less than the starting chips (10,000), I am in the BB with the blinds at 200/400. An early position player that I know well, opens for just over 4K and is all-in. It folds around to the button who is agonizing over his decision. I immediately think he has a semi decent Ace and is having trouble folding. He folds after much deliberation, and it comes around to me. I squeeze AK suited. I now have to figure things out. Firstly, I know the player who jammed will ship it with just about any "blackjack" hand. He plays that stuff frequently, although he could easily have a smallish pair. I think for about 20 secs. and figure I am either way ahead or flipping coins. My only problem is I may have one of my outs gone since the button basically gave away his hand. If I fold, I give him only 600 chips and really don't lose anything. But if I call and win i've got a nice size stack to start pushing people around a bit (bully chips). If I lose, I am down to 10 times the BB and feel like I can still get somewhere. I decide to gamble and say "I call". He turns over pocket nines and I immediately say to the button, "you folded an Ace didn't ya?". Of course he says he had AT. Even worse, the SB states that he had one of my Kings as well. So now I am down to 4 outs and some flush possibilities. I brick out and have to go to grinding.

Next hand of course the blinds go up because the guy on the button in the last hand had to take 5 minutes to fold AT, so we are at 300/600 and I am in the SB. It gets folded around and I look down at 67o. It's not a great hand, but I feel like I can just call and if the BB decides to get silly with my small stack I can still fold and be ok. He checks and we see a flop of J 4 5 rainbow. I go ahead and ship it in and he folds. "Cool", I say and rake in the extra 600 chips.

Next hand sees one middle position, semi-solid player limp in and I look down at QQ on the button. I smoothly, without saying a word shift my single column stack across the felt, signalling that I am all-in. The blinds fold and the limper deliberates. I try to act as though I am making a move, and don't want a call. I am thinking to myself that he must think this is bs going all-in two hands in a row. But, he folds. Whatever, there's another 1200 chips. That totals 1800 chips without a showdown.

Very next hand, folds around to me in the cut-off and I squeeze AQ of diamonds. With the exact same movements, I move my slightly larger column to the center without a word. The BB says, call rather quickly, but a little painfully. He shows AQo and we end up chopping. Fine, I think, theres another 500 chips (now at a total of 2300).

Finally the last hand comes down. This time it's folded around again and I look down at AQo. Here is where my decision to jam may have been a little off. This would be essentially 5 hands in a row that I would be either going all-in or calling an all-in. This time the player to my left wakes up with QQ and I am out and ship him almost 7K in chips. Looking back, it was definitely enough chips to make a raise with and maybe release, but it would've been hard.


The other night I played a $16 turbo SnG on Pokerstars. I have been playing a bunch of these and I actually really like them. It doesn't hurt that I have been doing pretty decent in them as well. But this one was pretty funny, and sums up the play and basically the title of this blog.

After exactly 31 hands of 82o, J4o, 23o, I was down to about 1000 in chips with the blinds at 100/200, and I have 6h8s utg. I decide this isn't my tourney and just decide to make an early exit. I push all-in and get called by the shorter stack who turns over AJo. I lose the hand and am down to 85 chips and am all-in on the next hand. I get AJo this time and end up winning against the sb who has J5o. Now I'm up to 170 and am in the sb the next hand. I have A2o and the pot is raised and I just go with it since I only have 70 more. I'm up against AT, the board bricks until the river comes the marvelous 2, and I now have 510 chips. Hey this isn't so bad sucking out for once (or so it seemed). I still had no aspirations of doing that well, but figured what the hell, the poker gods must be on my side for once. The next hand I must fold since the second short stack now goes all-in, and on the very next hand I push with K3 of hearts. The BB reluctantly makes the call for only 310 more and shows K2o. I hit a flush draw on the flop, a 3 on the turn and finish my draw with the heart on the river and am now up to 1120 chips. I fold the next hand and then the antes hit.

We are at 100/200/25 and I am now utg with A4d and I jam. Everyone folds. Wonderful! Now up to 1570. I fold the next 6 hands until I am down to 1120 and push all-in utg +1 with 83cc, the blinds have now gone up to 200/400/25 since everyone is playing slowly. Folds around. Now at 1870. 2 hands later I am in the BB w/ A6o and the utg shortstack player jams for 525 more, I have to call and he shows AT and wins. Back down to 895. Now in the sb I jam into a limper with J9o, he calls for only about 400 more with 44, I hit a 9 and am back up to 2200. A couple hands later I jam QJo and win blinds and antes, now at 2965 and am second in chips. I then call an all-in with A2 for 1000 or so chips and win when a 2 hits the flop and a A hits the turn (he showed T4o). Now at 4550 and chip leader with 5 left! Two hands later I make a standard raise w/ A9o and win the blinds and antes. Boom! 5550 now! I end up having to call an all-in in the bb for 350 more with 34o and lose. At this point the 3rd place player is now sitting out to my right and I just steal chips. We finally get to 3 handed after the guy sitting out failed to show up and was blinded off (he was at one time the chip leader with 9K in chips!). I chop a pot with A high against another small Ace. When we get to headsup after a funny hand where the 3rd place guy had 10 chips left after his ante and blind goes all-in with AA and I have J9 and flop a straight I have a demanding chip lead 4-1. I give away some with a call of an all-in with AT and he beats me with AK. But I end up taking it down when my J8o runs into 99, but I turn a J and we are a bit richer. I guess that's exactly what "Chip and a Chair" is all about, but for me it was one hell of a ride!