Cabbage Tree - Thursday

Firstly, I would like to say a hello to some of the satellite poker players who actively read my blog. Hello to Kimmy, Punisher, Teach and everyone else I play with every monday and thursday :). I have a lot of poker to talk about today. Tonights tournament started off slowly, I did not get many hands to play with early on. I won a total of two pots before the break which left me at 1975 worth of chips when the break began. After the break was a different story... I dealt a K 5 suited to myself and decided to play it because I had the best position you could have (on the button). After no raising from the blinds I saw a flop of QC 5C 7C... I had flopped a K high flush... The first person to act bet out with a 250 bet, it was called by the 2 others in the hand... I raised, I bumped the bet up to 800 to play... hoping the AC did not follow... everyone folded and I took down a considerably large pot.
A few hands later I was dealt pocket J's under the gun (first to act). Blinds were 100/200, so I raised to 900. A considerable amount... I was reraised in late position for 1000 more... The raiser had only 1400 chips left so I reraised all in which he quickly called... I turned up a J J and he turned up A A. I had run into a monster hand (The best pre-flop hand you can get in fact)... From this point I was a 5 to 1 under dog. Having only around a 20% chance to hit a set and even less for a straight or flush. The flop was 10... J ...7 A SET!! The turn was an 8 and river a Q... I had cracked Aces! Something ive done only twice before after almost 2 years of playing. This put me in a pretty good mood.
Later, I was dealt pocket 3's under the gun... I had just won a fair few chips and I felt I could lay it down because if I was faced with a raise making a decision would be tough... Sure enough my instincts were good, there was a raise of 2500 right after I threw my cards in the muck... A massive amount which was called by the big blind... The flop was K 7 3... Your kidding! I would of flopped another set... :\ The origonal raiser pushed all in and was called. Big blind turned over a K J and the original raiser turned over 7 7... I was relieved. I could have got in so much trouble if I had decided to play my pocket 3's and hit my set on a rainbow flo... My thought process was immediately interrupted when I saw another 3 hit the turn... WOW! I would have turned quads... I bit my tongue and continued playing.
The next hand I was in the big blind... after one limper (button) and small blind folding I looked down at a K 4 and checked. The flop was K Q 5... Top pair heads up is most likely the best hand... He checked and I threw out a pet of 600... which he called... Before the turn had hit he checked... It was another 5... I though about betting again but I was 90% sure I had the best hand and if I check he may try and bluff on the river... I checked... the river was an 8... Sure enough he threw a 2000 bet my way... which I called quickly with top pair... He turned up a 9 10... he was bluffing and I took down the pot.
Two hands later I dealt myself pocket 10's. The same guy who had been in the last hand pushed all in which I called. Even though my nemesis hand is pocket 10's. I think they must only be bad when my tournament life relies on them... Because the flop was... K 9 10... ANOTHER SET!!... All my pocket pairs seem to be tripping up tonight... His A J was miles behind... Drawing to a Q only. It did not come and I took down another big pot.
One set of blinds later I was dealt a K J in the big blind. After someone in late position pushed all in for 800 on my 600 blind I called... An easy decision... The flop was 9 Q K... Top pair... Pretty strong but I decided to check... The turn was another Q... Not a good card to see but chances were my K was still in front... The river was another K... A full house!! The guy who originally pushed all in was happy because he thought his A high was good... I bet 600 into the side pot and was folded to... I turned up my full house and won the pot.
My next button (dealer position); I was dealt a K J... There was a limp in early position so I just called. The blinds called and I dealt the flop... K 4 J... 2 PAIR!! wow im getting some good hands today. It was checked around to me... There was a diamond flush and a straight draw out there but I figured I would take my chances... I checked to disguise the strength of my hand... The turn was scary... An A... The straight had hit... There was a bet of 600... I raised when action got around to me for another 800 on top... The guy who originally raised knows my play style and folded his top pair... I was called by someone however... The river paired the board... a 4 which hurt my hand I little since the A would now have a higher 2 pair. It was checked down however and my hand was good enough to take down the pot.
Another round of blinds later I dealt myself pocket A's. Everyone had folded however so I decided to only min raise to 2000 on 500/1000 blinds. I was called by the big blind... The flop was K 5 9... rainbow (different suits)... A great flop for pocket A's... She checked... I thought about betting... But I figured she would have done so herself if she had any interest in that flop... I checked as well... The turn was a 10... She checked and I figured one free card was enough... I bet 2000 and she folded to my reluctance... I turned up my Aces and added chips to my stack.
Final table bubble...! This hand I did not play but it is just too good not to include in the blog... Milenko (sorry if I got spelling wrong) a frequent player pushed all in... he was in middle position... Action got round to the big blind... He showed me his cards... 3H 4H... not a bad hand to have some fun with but definitely not a callable hand. He showed the table and asked what he should do with them... When he flashed his cards I thought he was joking and the decision was obvious... FOLD! He then shoved all but 1000 chips into the pot and announced “call”. The table was pretty shocked... Milenko showed up a J 10... The flop was 2H 5C 9D... A decent flop for him... Although 3 4 has an open ended straight draw... The turn was a 7H... 3 4 Now has loads of outs... Any 3, 4, A, 6 or Heart. The river... An A. The straight hit and Milenko suffered a horrible beat.
FINAL TABLE!
I came to final table about 3rd in chip position with 21,000 chips. A pretty good effort... What was not a good effort was the position I chose. Under the gun. Action was under way... After losing both my blinds I was down to 15, 000. My mind set was to play tight till i make the cash and let the short stacks be eaten up by the massive blinds (2000/4000). This was not happening... The short stacks were surviving... It was not until I was back in early position that someone was knocked out... I was dealt an A Q second to act... someone was all in blinded (forced to put all their chips in because they cannot afford the blind). I flat called 6000. leaving myself with 9000... With 4 others calling I immediately regretted not pushing... The flop was a low one... 2 5 6... Uhhg no pair no draw... Everyone checked... an 8 on the turn... check,check,check,check... The river was another 8... missed everything... check,check(me), '5000', 'call'... I folded... late position turned up a pair of 5's and won the pot...
The next hand I was dealt an A K... I pushed all in for 9000... Everyone folded and action was on the big blind... for only 3000 more I did not expect him to fold... But, he almost did... He threw in the chips and turned up Q 8. Surely, my A K can hold in a 60%/40% race... The flop 8 Q 10... My A K was out drawn... I called for an A, K or J on both the turn and river but it did not come and I was knocked out... placing 8th. It was a pretty good tournament... Heaps of runners made for a final table with massive blinds but I was happy with my performance.