Pokertour.at final at the CCC

A total of 157 (of a max. possible 200) took part in the Pokertour.at final at the CCC. That made a first prize of little of €13,000 and payed 18 spots.

I got a seat at a table on the outer-end so it was clear that this one will be broken soon. Too bad because I got some nice hands and was able to trap some times with good pay-offs. But got also trapped one time were I shouldn't have paid the river bet!

The next table was amazing. You wouldn't believe that at the final of the Pokertour still so many calling-stations are present. Every raise got at least 2-3 callers. On time I got paid-off big on a obvious flush (were I hit the nut flush). The other time I got a pay-off with flopped two pair were the other guy easily would have gotten me off the hand if he played it aggressively enough. One guy thought he was the master bluffer himself and gave his 50K chips (average was between 12K and 20K at that time) to everybody else in just two levels. Too bad I only got 9K from him.

Unfortunately I got some good starting hands but didn't connect to the flop often enough to really take advantage of that situation. Another table change and at the end I was left with about 10K chips at the start of the 800/1,600 level and moved all-in with suited connectors (my best hand for a long time). Small-Blind found KK and that's it ... out on 57th of 157.

After watching Klitschko winning his boxing fight I was unsure what to do. There weren't SnG's going at the CCC but I was sure they were at the Montesino (which isn't too far away). After some time a new €1/2 NL cash game table became available and I decided to stay at the CCC and take a shot at this game with a €100 buy-in.

Had a good run and made it to €200 very soon ... although I made a horrible mistake in between. With A3s there were two callers in front and I wanted to call too. So I picked up two chips threw them in and the moment they hit the felt I realized that I threw in ... two €10 chips. Fast fold from the next players but of course everybody could see from my face that I made a mistake. One of the callers called my bet. The board wasn't too bad as I got a nice draw but missed and had to let my hand go. Very expensive mistake.

Little later I made some plays that I will avoid in the future ;-) and went down to break even. Then this situation occured: I was in MP and got dealt AKo. A call and a raise to €10 in front. I reraised to 30 (which most times got the pot in that situation) ... and then hell broke loose. The guy to my left (who just bought-in again for €100 after he lost a big pot) threw his chips in the middle announcing all-in. For some reason he was really pissed about all the raising and re-raising. Obviously he had a hand like a medium pair. The asian guy next to him (who was a some-kind-of-a-gambler) called his bet. The other two folded. Wow! Now I had to invest just around 70 for a pot that already was €240 big. I was sure one had a middle-pair and the other could have had anything. So I called the 70 (which was an all-in for me too) and the board had an ace but also a low straigt-draw. I showed my ace and the other two mucked their hands. A pot of over €300 was shipped to the Shadow. I ended the game shortly after with a total of €342. Not close to the €570 that 18th place would have gotten at the tournament but still a nice end for the day.

Some remarks: Although the result wasn't an ITM finish I really like my tournament play at this time. I still have to work of some post-flop things but in general I am on the right track. And most important: I am feeling comfortable and confident with my own style of play. For tournaments I can play live and online although I still prefer live a lot. For cash game it's definately only live. Regarding my style of play there's so much missing (that is important to me) at an online cash game. €1/2 is o.k. on occasion but at this time I would prefer €0.50/1 (which is unfortunately hard to find in a live game). And my cash game style still needs some work until I feel as comfortable as in a tournament.

Tonight I most probably play the €20+4 Freezeout at the CCC. Bad structure but seems to be the only available tournament in town. The Montesino has a big rebuy-tournament (€50+6). But this is beyond my comfort-zone (at least for rebuys) although it would have been interesting to meet Meike Busch (the former GIGA Pokernight moderator) in person who is their special guest tonight.