Poker Olymp Open II - Event #2 [PF=21.45]

Todays tournament started simillar then yesterday ... going south. But on my second table things went much better and I was able to recover from less than 4,000 back to the 8,000 starting stack. And till the dinner break I made it to 11,000 with blinds going up to 200/400 after the break.

After the break I could continue with my run and went up to 21,000 without showing many of my cards. A little later Andreas Krause came to the table and I had a "Deja Vu". Andreas just called from EP, I raised from MP with QQ, everybody folded and Andreas went all-in for about 7,000. I thought for a long time and finally called just to see him holding Aces again (the hand was an exact replay of Bregenz). Therefore his Aces held like in Bregenz and I was down to 11,000 chips.

A little later I raised JJ and got an all-in from a calling station. Tough decision as this guy had called a lot, folded often on the flop against bets but never went all-in before. So I was sure he had some kind of a hand. The question was if he was just tired of getting pushed off his hands or had a real monster. Even worse he had only little less chips than me. I finally called and was relieved to see him holding AJ. I busted him and was back to 21,000.

Shortly before the next 5 min. break I raised 88 and got a call form an aggressive player in the blinds. Flop was K-T-6, he checked and I bet three quarter of the pot. He went all-in and I let my eights go (he showed pocket aces). Down to 15,000 again I was able to pick up two nice pots a little later. First I re-raised Andreas with KK after he had made an oversized raise. He thought for a long time and finally folded. Simillar situation with Gerhard Schiesser from the "Munich Poker School". In this case I wished he would have called as he was way behind with 99 against my Jacks.

But again the 400/800 level was my final destination. Shortly before the ende of the level I got Jacks again and Frank Debus (who was the commanding chipleader with about 50,000 chips) made an oversized raise to 4,000. I was sure he was protecting a vulnerable hand. Most probably a medium pair or AK. As I discounted AA or KK from the list I was favorite against any pair except QQ. And with AK or AQ it was a coinflip. Do I want to take a coinflip here? Well, with 34 players left and only 10 getting into the money it was still a long way to go. We had played 6 hours so far and I expected another 4-5 hours till the final table. So I decided to take my chances here and re-raised him to 12,000 being well aware that I have to go all-in for my remaining 6,000 if he doesn't fold. Of course he went all-in, I called and he showed AKc. No King, No Ace but two clubs on the flop and another club on the river. Out on 34th of 88. But in comparison to yesterday I have no problems with my exit. It may sound too aggressive for many of you but I rather take my chances in that phase of the tournament than getting blinded down and forced to play minor cards shortly before the bubble.

As a summary I can say that enjoyed the last three tournaments very much. Of course cashing in Bregenz was great but even without a cash both games in Schenefeld had been a great experience and I don't want to miss a minute of them!