Folded for a good amount of time and only played my blinds.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been working on my patience as it\u2019s hard to not play \u201cfun\u201d hands when you\u2019re in the first few levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Finally got a hand I could play and raised with A\/K from early position. Got 1 caller. Spiked and Ace on the flop and bet about \u00bd pot and was called. Bet again on the turn, maybe 1\/3 pot and was called. I\u2019m pretty happy betting small here as if they\u2019re calling with an Ace on the board, I\u2019m feeling like I\u2019m ahead and want them to keep calling. Queen on the river. I bet about \u00bc pot and am called. Figure I\u2019m good, but opponent caught a 3rd<\/sup> Queen on the river for a set. Can\u2019t understand why they didn\u2019t raise on the river.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Level 2 (75\/150). Wake up with pocket Queens from the button. It\u2019s raised to 600 and I re-raise to 1,500 and am called. Queen in the window and I\u2019m feeling good. He checks and I bet 1,500 again, trying to look weak. He calls. Going into the turn I was pretty happy with my hand. Opponent had about pot stakes left behind so I went all-in. He folded. I feel like a small bet here could have gotten me more value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Level 3 (100\/200). Wake up with Aces in middle position and raise. Am RE-RAISED to 4X my bet to 2,400! Gotta love that with Aces. I wait for it to fold around to me, lean forward to look at his stack, ask him how much he\u2019s playing (5,500) and announce all-in. He insta-calls. I\u2019m assuming it\u2019s going to be A\/A vs A\/A or K\/K but instead he turns over Q\/Q. WTF? I don\u2019t mind as my Aces hold and I get a nice influx of chips.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We break and go down to 2 tables. I come into the table with a nice stack of chips, probably around 20,000. We have a good time and I am generally trending up with some good bets, re-raises and bluffs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I get into a 3-way hand with K\/10s and flop a flush and straight draw. I get all of the odds I need to call all the way to the river, but never pair my hand or make either a straight or flush. Probably lose about \u00bd my stack on that hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019m able to survive though and get to the final table. Early on after we lose 1-2 players, I have A\/Jh on the button and go all-in. I\u2019m called by A\/Qo. Since I\u2019m the button I have to deal my own fate. 2 hearts in the window and then a heart on the river and I double up. Nice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A few hands later I raise from middle position with 10\/10<\/a> and someone to my left goes all in for about 80% of my stack. I think a little but call. My 10\u2019s hold and I\u2019m starting to have a fair amount of chips. My second elimination of the night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Again a few hands later and I raise with A\/Qo. Again someone goes all-in against me, this time for more than my stack. I think a little but end up calling. He turns over A\/Qs. I\u2019m a little behind before the flop, but have 3 of my suit after the flop. It goes runner-runner to give me a flush and suddenly I\u2019m playing with the big boys with a HUGE stack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Again am having a good time making some moves and generally nurturing my stack. Make some light check-raises as well as some nice bluffs. Lose a little here and there, but my stack is solid so have room to maneuver. Gotta remember that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Greg moves all-in. One caller and that gives me enough to call with K\/10. We get to the river on a 10 high board and my 10\u2019s are good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I limp, Tyler raises and I call with Q\/5s. I\u2019m hoping to flop something amazing, or a flush draw or a straight draw just to get something going. The flop is Q\/low\/Q. I check, Tyler bets, I go all-in and he calls with K\/K. My Queens hold up and Tyler is on life-support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I call a raise with 10\/Jc and flop top pair. Tyler moves all-in. I think a little as he\u2019s mostly been playing big cards. I finally decide that he has overs only and call. He shows 9\/9. My 10\u2019s hold and we\u2019re down to 2 players.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Go into heads-up with about 150,000 vs 120,000. However, I get my butt handed to me. No matter what I raised with he was calling with K\/10, Q\/10, etc. and flopping top pair. I could have slowed down but decided to just plow through. Lost with J\/3 after I flopped bottom pair. Went all in and he called with K\/10 and top pair. 2nd<\/sup> place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Folded for a good amount of time and only played my blinds.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been working on my patience as it\u2019s hard to not play \u201cfun\u201d hands when you\u2019re in the first few levels. Finally got a hand I could play … Continue reading