Pairs Are King!

Played the Shootout at Riverside Casino last night and made the money this time!

Last time, I _did_ make the final table, but I only got the $50 (buy-in back) consolation prize going out in 7th position; only the top 5 get paid from the main prize pool. So, I’ve won the “shootout” table 2-out-of-2, and made the (serious) money 1-out-of-2.

The shootouts are a little different there. Normally when you think of a shootout, there is only one winner per table. Since the Riverside is not a large card room like Bellagio, they only do 5 tables for the first round, then the top-two, or last two standing, advance to the final table.

Last week, the first time they had the shootout, I made the final table when my 44 stood up against 2 others: A3s and AQo. This week (yesterday as of this writing), I made the final, again, based on small pairs that held up.

We didn’t bother getting to the room super early this time, as last week it didn’t sell out. Last week we ended up playing for about 3 hours to make sure we got a seat (many of their tournaments sell out), in a tournament that didn’t completely fill up to the maximum of 50 players. I’m guessing it’s partly due to being a Monday night, and possibly partly due to no rebuys, LOL.

I got to play two hands in the ring game before starting the tournament, KQo and AQs, catching no flop either time. This sucked since we had an action table and any good hand was paid off.

Got to the tournament table to see two others who made the final table the week before, plus another player that I recognized as a solid player, chewing on a toothpick. Not the easiest of tables, I thought, but in the end, I was kind of wrong. Only one player was super loose, an older player named Bob. He was one of the final table people. And he was just as loose this time, too. Calling an obvious over-pairs pre-flop raise with 99. Over-pair shoved on the flop of T9x, and Bob couldn’t get his money in fast enough. This made him chip-lead for a while. But as all loose players, can’t keep it unless they continue to get lucky.

I played tight myself in the early rounds. During the second round, it got folded to the button who limped. Button was an older guy (yes, _most_ of the players are older –grin-) who was probably legally-blind; he had funky glasses with what looked like thick magnifying lenses fitted about an inch and a half over the first pair of lenses giving him a kind of bug-eyed look. Tight-lady in SB completed. I saw AKo in the BB and decided to check. I had a feeling that I could trap the button who I felt would bet either way. This before has burned me, catching no flop and having to give it up to any bet. However, if I got no flop, it might be because the button is sacking AA or KK and is trying to get some value, but I took the chance either way. Flop came AQx. I was pretty sure that the button would have raised to just steal the blinds with AQ, so I went ahead with my check-raise plan; after the SB checked, I checked too. Sure enough, the button bet, and I check-raised all-in. He thought about it, looked at his hand again, and then mucked. I think this was a good play for me, not only to get a bet I might not have initially if I just raised pre-flop, but also to let the others know that I was capable of trapping.

Between this hand and just a couple steals with AQo and A9o (actually, I think the A9o was an all-in that I survived when I spiked a 9 vs. a better Ace, but I was short-stacked), I was still about even in chips from the start after the 2nd level. I need chips badly!

Caught my first double up not long after when a tight older guy went all-in in early position, folded around to me in the SB and I found 44. I sat there looking at the guy and his chest started heaving. Hmmm, he doesn’t want a call, I was thinking. If he had AA, KK, QQ, he’d be more sure and calm. Of course, could be heaving because he DID have AA, but I need chips. As a famous dame (who doesn’t like to be called a lady) once said, “you have to be willing to die, in order to live.” So, I called all-in. BB thought about it for a second and got out of the way. I turned up my 44, never slow rolling, and the old guy turned up…AQo. Yippee! I was ahead. 44 stood up for me last week against two players, and stood up for me this week too! I raked in my T3K chips and waited for another opportunity. This left the gentleman with only T300, not even enough for the T400 BB. He went all-in, then all-out, the next hand.

At this point, I think we were down to five players, when I got my next, sort of big hand. I say “sort of”, because I think I basically broke even with JJ! Solid-toothpick guy was still in, and folded UTG. One short stack, who might have stolen a pot from me, went all-in UTG+1. Next player, the blind-guy from the AK hand earlier went all-in over the top. I look down in the SB and see JJ! I dislike going against two others with Jacks, but we were getting close to crunch time and I had to believe that they both could just have big Aces and not an over-pair, so I shoved. The BB looks at his hand, and I guess cause he just got lucky a hand or two before, plus, being close to crunch time, decided to call with Q9s! Not the best of hands considering all the action, he was really gambling. Blind-guy is the only one who had me covered, the other two were shorter, which was good for me, as it came, little, little, little on flop; little on turn; Queen on river! Ugh! I ended the hand with T2800. I can’t recall what I started with, but I think I _might_ have gotten a couple extra chips from the side pot between Blind-guy and me. So, I knocked out one player (the UTG+1, he held TT), put a good dent in the chips the Blind-guy had, and the BB quadrupled to about T6K (allowing him to just fold his way to the final).

Crunch time…what is it? These first two shootout tournaments, the Riverside decided to put a time limit on the play for the first table! Last week, it was one hour; this week it was 5 levels (15 minute levels, so just one more level than last week). We were on that last level. Solid-toothpick guy, understandably, looked surprised and said something like: “there’s a _time_ limit on a shootout?” Course, it’s up to him to read the rules, but I’m glad he didn’t, he probably would have been much more aggressive.

Knowing that he had to pick up chips, Solid-toothpick went all-in UTG. Me, back in the BB, I find 22. I still need more chips to get into 2nd place so I go all-in. BB, Mr. Q9s right-fully folds (although he did actually think about calling, dummy), and Solid-toothpick spikes a Jack on the flop with his AJo. But the river comes the miracle two-outer, giving me deuces-full on the paired board :-D (Solid-toothpick tried to say that I sucked out on him, and I stated that I had the best hand to start with. He tried to argue _that_ too! I checked it out in twodimes.net and found that, yes, I was right…so :-p to Toothpick!:

http://twodimes.net/h/?z=69445
pokenum -h as jc - 2d 2h
Holdem Hi: 1712304 enumerated boards
cards win %win lose %lose tie %tie EV
As Jc 811193 47.37 891623 52.07 9488 0.55 0.477
2d 2h 891623 52.07 811193 47.37 9488 0.55 0.523

After the end of that 5th level, it was just Mr. Q9s, myself, and Blind-guy. Blind-guy ended up being about T800 shorter than me, so it was Mr. Q9s and me to the final! Two-for-two for my shootouts.

At the final, I did the optional $20 add-on to try to get some more chips. Alan, the TD, wouldn’t allow us to chop the 3rd guys chips from the shootout, meaning that I was at a chip disadvantage from the start! They don’t restart us with even chips at the new table, which Felicia and I think is wrong in this type of shootout. If anyone knows a site that shows the rules for a shootout, let us know; we can’t find any.

So at the final, we all start out kind of tight, which is good for me. Only problem was I had only about T8K _after_ the add-on, and the blinds started at T400/T800, since that’s where our table left off. (Another thing about the shootout that we feel is wrong; starting out at the same level the last shootout table left off at.)

First level I stayed even when I just stole the blinds with raises with AQo and ATo. Then I got card cold and got a whole lot of nothing, nothing, nothing; deja vu of last week!

Got to a point were I was just thinking about surviving to the money. Granted, 5th was only $110, but that’s better than just getting the $50 back—I’d be making _something_. A couple people had been knocked out right away; people who were also short-stacked, made a move or defended and lost.

Once down to seven, there was a raise from Leon, a younger local (yes, we do have some younger locals ;) who drinks too much and becomes very obnoxious (see Felicia’s “buttmunch” post). Older short-stacked guy who saw Leon raise earlier with QJo (to get called all-in by QQ), called. Another younger guy on my right (this table, for once had half the table a younger crowd—under 40, so I get to count myself, hehehe), I’ll call him Tipsy-tourist since he was drinking too much and I’ve never seen him before, said “alright, all-in!”. I immediately put him on AA or KK, since he was really tight for a younger guy. Leon called, and the short-stack called all-in, since he was pretty committed by that point. Leon showed QQ, older guy had AJs, Tipsy had KK. Flop is Q99; obnoxious Leon flopped a full house. Turn, King, for the turned bigger full house! I was very happy, lol. Short-stack was knocked out. Tipsy-tourist congratulated him and we were down to six, the bubble.

Gene, one of the older locals in a wheelchair, was the bubble. He played a great game, but I think a little too tight (see Felicia’s posts on “Polio Gene” from Canterbury). He got one good double up to stay ahead of me on the waiting game of getting into the money, but then I doubled up too to stay in. I had to fold T4o after Tipsy-Tourist went all-in from the SB to steal my BB. I couldn’t see him raising without a better hand than T4o and I prayed for a better hand next round or for Gene to bust. Next hand, it again got folded to the SB, me, so I just put my chips in blind. BB quickly called and turned up AJs; oops. I turned up J4o, just a little dominated ;) A4x on the flop…4 on the turn, I got another two-outer to stay alive.

This meant Gene had to made another move, but this time got bumped on the bubble. Everyone at the table, all the young guys, got up to shake Gene’s hand and congratulate him on a good game. That just tickled me pink and gave me hope about the new poker players to see them being so gracious.

We talked about chopping—and with my amount of chips I was happy to—but the Tipsy Tourist on my right asked for a break for a “Day of Reckoning”. I thought this meant that he had to take a dump and joked with him in the men’s room, lol. When he headed for a urinal, I said, “hey, you said ‘Day of Reckoning’, so I thought for sure you’d be headed there”, pointing to one of the stalls. He laughed and said he just meant he had to think and pee. Which, to me meant, no chop.

Sure enough, after the break, he said he had too many chips and wanted to play for first. I completely understand, he had more than anyone else, but the blinds at this point were T2K/T4K. When I got the BB and it got folded to him again in the SB, he went all-in. I saw 55 and called. Tipsy turned up A6s and the race was on. Flop came two of his suit and I thought for sure I was out. I had to dodge six over-cards AND 9 clubs; giving him a 56-44% advantage on the flop. I was able to survive, put a good dent in Tipsy’s stack, and actually became co-chip lead with the guy on my left.

At this point, Tipsy goes, “ok, now do you want to chop?”. Even he chuckled. After counting out what I had T22K, with being in the SB next hand, I really only had 5xBB. Plus, player on my right had exactly the same count. Tipsy still had between T15K-20K himself (we never did get a count from him). So I agreed to the chop. Considering how I went from the chip dog with only 2xBB to chip lead in only 2 hands, it’s too much of a crap shoot and I took the $466 on the 5-way chop.

So, for that night, pairs were king!

We’re headed to LA tomorrow for Commerce’s LA Poker Classic.

See you in a few weeks!

Posted by Glenn