Spring Poker Festival at the CCC in Vienna - Event #2
This was a tough one ... and lasted 8 hours for me.
During the middle stage (400/800 blinds) I was able to push my stack to 20,000 chips. Basically it took two hands for that. The first one was an open ended straight draw with KJ on a T-Q-x flop. The other guy went ballistic how I could call his all-in (AT) when a King hit on the River. Well, 13 outs is sometimes good enough. The second hand was much more difficult. With AJ on a A-T-4 flop I had a much more difficult decision to call an all-in from a bigger stack. I had raised the last four hands before and assumed that he just didn't believe my raise and continuation bet this time. Good call here as I was up against A8.
Unfortunately I lost two big pots during the 600/1,200 level. First I raised K9s from the button to 3,500 and got re-raised from the big-blind who went in for 5,900 total. I hated to call here but a fold would have been a mistake. I was up against AT ... a nine on the flop gave me hope but an Ace on the River put me down to 14,000. Somewhat later I raised 77 to 3,500 from LP and got an all-in from a slightly smaller stack. I hoped for a coinflip (folding was out of question with 800/1,600 and higher antes round the corner). No coinflip but JJ again. No help and almost out of the game with 2,500 chips left.
I waited a few rounds, paid some antes and then the miracle began: With 1,600 left at 800/1,600 I went all-in with 62 from UTG. The small-blind didn't realize that I was all-in and folded. Big-Blind had 45 and a 6-high kicker(!) was good enough. Somewhat later I went in with T4 and 4,000 left. Got called and flop came T-T-4 ... wow! Some more all-in's with Ax to pick up the blinds and antes several times and my stack was up to 16,000,
But my luck didn't last long enough and my stack was eaten up by blinds and antes. During the 1,500/3,000 level (300 ante) we had 29 of 261 players left (with 27 getting paid). My stack was down to 5,600 chips and I moved in with JTs. Of course the big blind called with Q7 and I got no help. Out one off the bubble. Am I dissapointed? Yes, of course. It's always dissapointing to bust that close to the money. But I got incredibly lucky with 45 players left 90 minutes before and I had no choice at the end (it took them half an hour more to bust the bubble boy).
Lesson learned: "A chip and a chair" is no myth. O.K. - I had little more than that but it is very important to understand that every chip is valuable. And there is no reason to give up before it is over!
Skipped the tournament at the Poker-Club in Salzburg tonight because I just wasn't in the right mood. Will play the Sunday Million on Sunday instead.
During the middle stage (400/800 blinds) I was able to push my stack to 20,000 chips. Basically it took two hands for that. The first one was an open ended straight draw with KJ on a T-Q-x flop. The other guy went ballistic how I could call his all-in (AT) when a King hit on the River. Well, 13 outs is sometimes good enough. The second hand was much more difficult. With AJ on a A-T-4 flop I had a much more difficult decision to call an all-in from a bigger stack. I had raised the last four hands before and assumed that he just didn't believe my raise and continuation bet this time. Good call here as I was up against A8.
Unfortunately I lost two big pots during the 600/1,200 level. First I raised K9s from the button to 3,500 and got re-raised from the big-blind who went in for 5,900 total. I hated to call here but a fold would have been a mistake. I was up against AT ... a nine on the flop gave me hope but an Ace on the River put me down to 14,000. Somewhat later I raised 77 to 3,500 from LP and got an all-in from a slightly smaller stack. I hoped for a coinflip (folding was out of question with 800/1,600 and higher antes round the corner). No coinflip but JJ again. No help and almost out of the game with 2,500 chips left.I waited a few rounds, paid some antes and then the miracle began: With 1,600 left at 800/1,600 I went all-in with 62 from UTG. The small-blind didn't realize that I was all-in and folded. Big-Blind had 45 and a 6-high kicker(!) was good enough. Somewhat later I went in with T4 and 4,000 left. Got called and flop came T-T-4 ... wow! Some more all-in's with Ax to pick up the blinds and antes several times and my stack was up to 16,000,
But my luck didn't last long enough and my stack was eaten up by blinds and antes. During the 1,500/3,000 level (300 ante) we had 29 of 261 players left (with 27 getting paid). My stack was down to 5,600 chips and I moved in with JTs. Of course the big blind called with Q7 and I got no help. Out one off the bubble. Am I dissapointed? Yes, of course. It's always dissapointing to bust that close to the money. But I got incredibly lucky with 45 players left 90 minutes before and I had no choice at the end (it took them half an hour more to bust the bubble boy).
Lesson learned: "A chip and a chair" is no myth. O.K. - I had little more than that but it is very important to understand that every chip is valuable. And there is no reason to give up before it is over!
Skipped the tournament at the Poker-Club in Salzburg tonight because I just wasn't in the right mood. Will play the Sunday Million on Sunday instead.
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