Unanderra - Monday

At the Unanderra Hotel again tonight. I started with some good hands early but my chip stack did not show it :(. I had limped in with an A 4, no one raised and i saw a flop. It was A J 4... a rainbow (cards are all different suits)... i check my strong hand. There is a min bet of 50 and 2 people call, I raise the bet up to 250. The original better folds and i get heads up (2 players). The turn card was a 6 and the action is checked to me. I bet a further 250 which he calls. The river is a horrible card for me... a J. So the community cards were A J 4 6 J. My 2 pair was what counterfeited by a higher pair on the board. This meant the best 5 cards i had were A A J J 6 instead of A A 4 4 J. You may think that making a better hand is a good thing in poker. In most cases this is correct however, i already had a strong hand. He could have been calling me with a J or even an A 7 and would beat me. If he had been calling me with an A with a 7 kicker his new hand would have been A A J J 7, his 7 playing and beating the 6 i was using. He checked and so did i and he turned over an A 5, we were both playing the 6 and it was a split pot.
The next hand i was under the gun (first to act) and i decided to only look at the first card i recieved just to force me to play the hand... It was a Q... i announced call. I still had not looked at my second card and the flop came 9 6 7... i looked at my cards... OH Damn! Q Q, pocket Q's. I had a really strong hand and immediately regretted not looking at my second card. I led out with a bet of 150... i was raised to 350... Most people would have reraised in my position but he could have just made 2 pair in which case i was behind... i called. On the turn came a 3, i thought about betting but then again if he did have a hand like 2 pair he would raise and i don't want to make the pot too big because his bets would get bigger. He bet 350 like i thought he would, i called. The river was an A, another card that could beat me but i did not put him on that card. I check and so does he, he turned over the nuts (best hand possible) a 10 8. He had flopped a straight which was way ahead of my Q's. I liked my play with those cards after the flop, i lost very little considering he had made a powerful hand.
Play was very slow after that hand... i limped... i folded... i lost chips. There was a lot of raising on the table i was at which made it virtually impossible to see cheap flops. I would limp in with a hand like Q J, the pot would be raised and i would have to fold. This was starting to damage my stack, to the point where i had to wait for a hand to push all my chips in with...
I had a little over 2000 in the big blind. 6 people limped and i look down at an A 6... i thought about raising but the amount of limpers was intimidating. I checked... the flop was 2 4 6. I pushed all in. I had hit the top pair and odds are people were not limping with a hand that would hit that flop. Turns out i was wrong... The shortest stack other than myself at the table pushed all in, she had 100 more than me... She turned over a 2 4, she had flopped 2 pair after limping with rubbish on a short stack. The turn was a J and the river a 9... i was knocked out earlier than usual, about halfway through the tournament.
I had to wait for some friends who were still in the tournament and the TD (Tournament Director) announced that he was going to run a Sit & Go. A Sit & Go is a side tournament where up to usually 10 people all post a buy in. The people who come in the top 2 usually get the money in a 70/30 split. I say usually because sometimes 3rd gets paid as well. I usually do pretty well in these mini games. Ive come either 1st or 2nd in my last 4. I decided to post the buy in pf $12 and play the game.
In an early hand that i played, pre-flop there was a lot of action. There was a strattle raise (betting first to act before your cards) and 3rd person to act announced he was pushing all in for 900 this hand. True to his word he pushed all in, a buddy of mine then pushed all in over the top for 2500... I looked at my cards K K. A massive hand, i pushed all in. The guy next to me sat there thinking for ages, he showed me his one A and folded... i then showed him my pocket K's and he felt better. Everyone else folds, i ask my buddy if he had pockets. He nodded and i told him "Mine are better". The guy who said he was going all in pre-flop turned over 8 3. My buddy turned over 8 8. I turned over K K and i knew i was a major favourite to win a massive pot. All i had to do was dodge an 8. There were atleast 3 8's already in play so all i had to do was dodge 1 8 left in the deck. It doesnt come. I win a massive pot.
I decided to tighten up my play. I had a massive chip lead and watched as people fell before me. Play continues and someone eventually overtakes me in the chip lead. He is sitting next to me, and pushes all in on my big blind... i looked down at J J and quickly announced "call". I turned up pocket J's and he turned up pocket 10's. As we are counting out our chips to make the pot we hear from the end of the table "Jacks win". We both missed the community cards... We both looked at the cards in surprise... We both had missed the suspense... I had doubled up.
In the end i was heads up with the same person who i won all my chips off. It was my big blind and he min raised and i called with a K 7... On a flop of J 6 8. I bet 2000 and he reraised all in. I did have a stab at the pot but im sure my K high was no good at that point. I had to fold. 2 hands after i had 1000 in the big blind and 1600 left. He pushed all in and i called without looking. I turned over a K 6 and he turned over A 4. The A hit on the flop and knocked me out. I finished the Sit & Go in 2nd place. A pretty good effort. Winning $30.