Deepstack at the Montesino

This tournament started with a tough laydown. Early in level 2 (50/100) I flopped a set of sixes on a 6-T-2 flop. I had already raised pre-flop and now checked to the guy next to me. He makes it 500 and I check-raise him to 1,500. He then re-raises me to 3,000. What? I decide to see the turn with the intention to slow down. A Queen on the turn and I check. He now goes all-in for 10k which basically puts me all-in too.

Can you lay down a set here? To be honest if you had asked me that question in the past the answer would have been "No way! If you go broke on a set than it shall be." I'm not sure anymore if you can be that extreme. You have to recall the action that happend.

I was in the small-blind and he was in the big blind. If he just put me on a pre-flop steal move (which doesn't make sense in that level anyway) he most probably would re-raise me pre-flop. He then re-raises my check-raise (which already showed strength). But he does it only with a minimum re-raise. He must consider that he most probably doesn't make me fold that way. The only thing that didn't fit into the picture was the all-in which was still a bit too high for a 6,5k pot. Another factor is that I had absolut no read on this guy at this time.

There's no solution for this riddle. I never found out what he had as I open folded my set (again creating a nice discussion). He either had the set of Tens or way overplayed AA or KK. Another possibility could be QQ (overplaying on the flop but hitting the turn). He showed little reaction but from the little I got I tend think that I was right. He more looked impressed then releived about my fold. I later saw him luring an opponent into a big put with the nut-straight.

If this was a low-stack tournament I would have called instantly as you can't pass on those opportunities. But we were at the start of level 2 in a 15k, 40 min. tournament and even after giving up my hand I still had about 10k left. There's aboslutely no need to go broke with middle-set if there is a slight chance you're beat. The funny thing is that my open-fold labled me as a rock and for some time I was able to take down a lot of pots on the flop by showing the right aggression. Even more funny those who cried out loudest that they never would have been able to fold this hand were gone latest after level 4 (with hands like TPTK vs. small set etc.).

My time came when I got paid-off big with a well disguised set. Hit my set on the flop but the board again was dangerous. Blank on the turn and check-check. I now prayed for the board to pair and exactly that happend. He bet, I raised him and he called :-)

Somewhat later I took down another big pot with a straight that I already had hit on the flop. Up to 27k at this time. Unfortunately I had to give back a bunch again when I hit my TPTP on the flop but my opponent hit his TPTK on the turn. That hand was kind of nasty and the way it went I could have either lost a lot more if I bet the river or take it down (as the board looked dangerous for my opponent too).

So the most time of the next levels I bounced between 17k and 24k. But finally my stack slowly went down to 12k while the blinds went up to 600/1,200 (75). In the meantime I had to change the table and was faced with an all-big-stack table. I survived three all-ins. With two of them I just picked up the blinds and antes (and a small bet). With the third one I was extremely lucky: I had AQ and was called by AK. Ouch! Flop is J-J-2. Turn: 2. River: J. Split-Pot :-)

Finally my remaining money went in with AT and I got a customer with QQ. The flop was extremely good for me wit 7-8-9. I now was about 44% to stay in the tournament. But no help on turn and river. Out on 77th position of 142 players.

The deepstack at the Montesino is a very good tournament. Not only does it have a very good structure that allows for a lot of play but it also has a lot of players in it that don't know how to move a big stack. Not neccesarily bad players in general but open raises with 400 during the 25/50 level or 4,000 at the 400/800 (50) level are just ridicoulous ... and a waste of important chips if you are running a marathon instead of a sprint. The dealers are slightly better then in the past but still lack somewhat in quality and speed (compared to the CCC). Having a decent hotel (Roomz) around the corner is very nice and convenient. The Montesino offered a small selection of food for the players in the event which was nice too.

Haven't decided yet if I play the Montesino €30+5 Bounty Freezeout or the $20+4 Freezeout at the CCC (which has a slightly better structure) tonight.