I had a quick Phil Hellmuth sighting while I was on my way to my room. He and Norman Chad are pretty much the only poker celebrities I've seen so far at the tournament, although MM may be someone famous for all I know.
The dinner break (75 minutes) went faster than I thought. After a quick meal, it's back to the grindstone.
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My son Josh gave me his usual excellent advice during the break: "Play smart!"
I can't argue with that. In fact, I may get it tattooed on the side of my right index finger to remind me every time I play a hand. But I'm not sure if Lisa would approve. She likes me just fine the way I am.
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It’s been pretty uneventful until just now (one hour into Level 4). I had 55 on the button. The hand folds around to Scary Seat 8, who raises 1200. I call with position and hope to improve.
I don’t. The flop is three clubs and two overcards, but no ace. Seat 8 bets 2000 and I can tell he doesn’t have the flush. We check the nothing turn, then I hit my set of fives. Since I checked, Seat 8 bets 4000. I re-raise to 12,000. He stews and then folds.
If he had a better set, my bet represented the flush which scared him off. If he had two pair, I think I got all I was going to get out of him.
Now at 78,800.
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The worst thing about tournament poker is being on a draw against an aggressive bettor. You know you are going to get paid if the hand hits, but it’s still a draw and you might end up with bupkis.
My friend Anar has been counseling me to be more sensitive to the pot odds when calculating my bets. He probably would not have approved of the last hand.
J 10 spades, and Seat 4 in position raises my small blind to 1200. I call, and the flop gives me two spades. I check and he bets 2400. I call, and the turn is not a spade, but it does complete the nut straight if I have AJ. I think about re-raising a substantial amount to represent the straight, but I don’t think my story would make sense to him. Why would I call the 2400 on an inside straight draw? I think better of it and retreat.
But man, I wish I’d hit that spade.
73,700.
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We lose our first player at Table 666. Seat 9 has a queen and hits top pair, but the laughing Romanian has KK and dispatches him easily. Seat 9 doesn’t say goodbye as he leaves.
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Ouch. AQh and two hearts on the flop. Scary Seat 8 just won’t go away, and I bluff off 12,000 on the turn and river. Back to 60,700. This game is HARD.
Now that I have my one idiot play behind me, I will buckle down for the rest of the night. Nothing but AA, KK and maybe QQ.
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Well, I lied. Last hand before the break, I look down at AK. I raise to 2200 and MM calls. The Giggler re-raises to 6000. I call and MM calls. The flop is a bunch of nothing. First to act, I bet 10,000. MM folds and Giggler goes into the tank for three minutes. He then tells me he has AK and folds.
Whew. Now at 74,200 and on break.
Absolutely correct I would not be able to find a reraise on that River with a set. Two ways he plays that hand. Either he flops the nut flush leads out to show weakness. Checks turn for pit control and bets the River knowing that u don’t have him on a flush in which case your raise is just giving chips away. This is a perfect trap with pit control. Or he did what most armatures do. He C-bet the flop. Got scared, checked the turn and tried to buy it on the River. Again if it’s a bluff why raise he is never calling there. I would of just called the River as I can’t put him on a hand which I’m beating and which also makes a call on the River. Glad it worked out. Keep it going. Great stack to take into day 2!!!!
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