Tourney at Fort McDowell

Hello.. yes, I still exist -grin- Sorry for not posting much, as I hardly find time to play (or do too much of anything), now that I deal... However, Thursday Felicia and I traveled to Phoenix for a doctor's visit, and she felt well enough afterwards for us to hit Fort McDowell. Bonus! :D

Felicia heard tell of mixed games being played there and wanted a chance to play before she started chemo (she had an appointment with her oncologist the next day), so wanted to take the chance she might not have again for a while...

When we got there, the mixed game was not going yet, so she put her name on the list. I put mine on the 2-150 (sounded like the 5-150 game at Casino Arizona), then we both found that there were 2 seats available at a 4/8 stud hi/low table and we asked to sit there.

We played a few hands until we found out that we were, in fact, playing "hi/low", NOT "8 or better"...that is, NO qualifier! {And this was after Felicia had asked the guy at the desk if it was in fact "8 or better", and was told "yes", that it was...dork -grin-} We might as well have been playing Razz ;) And, actually, I had fun playing it :)

Passive, passive game... I loved it. Only a couple aggressive people, the rest just loved to check along and take and give free cards. A couple times I won the bring-ins and antes (50cent ante) on fifth after everyone checked on 4th. One of the times, the only other woman at the table had limped in with an Ace showing and checked 4th. After I improved on 5th (not sure if I already had the low or just 4 to it) I bet out to make others pay for drawing. Folded back to the lady, and she folds face up, showing her other Ace in the hole.. she limped with Aces, checked them on 4th, then folded them on 5th to a bet from an obvious low (draw or not)! LOL!!!

Felicia only played for about a half an hour when she finally got called to the 30/60 mixed game. I played on in the 4/8 stud hi/low. As I was playing, a lady came around to stamp cards people had with them. I found out that this was for a tournament that they had that night. You could get the cards and get them stamped while in live games before the tournament. Each stamp got you more chips. I found out that the tournament was only $30 and took a quick glance at the structure sheet ("hmm, starting with 1000T and starting level of 25-25, then 25-50, 50-75; 20 minutes levels....dang! Where do I buy in?!?").

I got myself one of the cards, and the lady went and gave me a couple stamps right away, like I had been there the whole time (bonus!). By the time that the tournament started, and I gave the dealer my seat card and the additional cards from playing in the live game, I started the tournament with 4000T. Beauty!

I played my speculative way with limping in with marginal hands, bluffing and semi bluffing. By the end of the first hour I had almost doubled up, ending with a chip count of 7500T.

One hand I was in the SB with A5o and completed after several limpers. Flop came 532 and I checked my TPTK--top pair, top kicker--and gutshot straight draw. I wanted to see if someone would bet an overpair or a draw; based on the bet, I'd either call, raise or muck...but it got checked around...hmm. Turn comes another 3, so I pot the scare card with my two pair, and I get one cold caller--I believe we were on the 25-50 level, I remember betting 300T. On the river came a deuce to double pair the board. I had thought about checking the river, thinking he might have a draw or an overpair, but I thought this was a great card to continue semi-bluffing and bet 300T again. My cold-caller looked in agony...flashed me A4s for the flopped wheel, and folded. :D I figured he would have raised me on the turn if he had flopped the straight, but now his slow playing got himself and trouble. After he mucked, I did NOT show...said something like, "ouch, runner-runner", and shook my head :p

Another interesting hand, I had QQ. At the 50-75 level, there were five limpers too me (besides the blinds), so I over-bet the pot and made it 600T to go; content to take the pot then and there. The BB asks, "proud of your pair?" I reply, "yes". But then he goes ahead and says, "make it 1000T". Uh oh... did I just bump up against AA or KK?? Newbie players seem to just love to min reraise with those. All the limpers folded to me. I then corrected him (and the dealer who was trying to tell me it was raised to 1000T) that he had to double the bet..I raised it 525T more, and since he didn't declare his reraise and put in too few chips, then his raise must be 525T more to 1125T. After all this I sat there considering whether or not I should call. I really didn't want to lose any of my lead when I could very well be up against an overpair and drawing too slim. While thinking about it and counting my chips, someone says, "you better call after all this". I think "yeah? you can bite me!"... Instead, I say, "hey, if I think that I'm too much of a dog, I don't need to." Finally, I notice that I actually have 550T just in green chips. I remove one and put them in to call. Flop comes down JXX rainbow. BB shifts in his seat, shuffles his cards and checks. Checks?? He min-reraised me with AK?? I figured if he's trapping me, so be it, but I'm not giving any free cards to AK and shove in. He shuffles his cards more and goes, "they were suited too", and mucks. Yup, AK.

After the break, I found out that the levels were now only 15 minutes...what?!? I quickly got up and got one of the structure sheets and looked more closely: after the first break all levels were now only 15 minutes. Additionally, after the 2nd hour, all levels had an ante AND all levels doubled; no more gradual increases. Can you say, "let's hurry them up and get the tournament over?" I also failed to read that there was a $20 add-on for 2000T more chips. I was more than 2K over anyone at my table, so I didn't take the add-on; had I read the rest of the structure, I probably would taken it anyway. My bad for not reading more carefully ;-(

I did over play one hand after the break. I open-raised in mid-position with 77 and the BB called. The flop was T53 and the BB lead into me for 300T (the amount I raised to pre-flop with the blinds at 50-100). I was thinking that he was putting me on high cards like AK or AQ and that I totally missed so bet into me...I raised him 500T more, reprsenting the overpair. He called...oops...wonder if he really has the Ten or he still just doesn't believe me. Turn comes a Jack, and he leads into me again, this time for 500T. Huh? Beginning to think he either has AJ (which he might have bluffed with on the flop) or JT, which he would have just pulled two pair. I consider the fact that I'm most likely beat and fold.

Not long after the break, our table broke and I got moved to the 2nd to last table. This was a terrible move for me. My cards went cold and my passive players were gone. I got moved to a table with a very aggressive player 2 to my right, raising me out of most pots that I actually got something that I would have liked to play, but nothing strong enough.

Once, this aggro guy showed the table a bluff (which of course was the worst thing he could have done). While obvious no one can have a hand as often as he raised, once you show a total stone bluff with 84o (yes, that was his cards), people tend to find the balls to start playing back at you. Fortunately for me, I was one of them. I found JJ in the SB after a raise of his and I shoved all-in, he called, and I doubled through (unfortunately, I had been so blinded down, that it was correct for him to call, and it really didn't dent his stack, nor make mine overly healthy again).

I sat and waited while I got blinded down some more until I found KQo UTG and shoved in. Aggro-guy goes, "I call, I actually have a legitimate hand". The blinds fold and I find that I'm a coin flip against TT. Q on the flop, and I double through him again. This finally put enough of a dent in him that he was left with about as many chips as me (about 7000T and I think we were at around the 400/800 level...I would judge that when I got to his table, he had about 20,000T! His aggressive ways had been catching up to him as he kept getting reraised by better hands).

Finally, somewhere after the 2nd break (i.e. into the 3rd hour of play), Aggro-guy put in the last of his chips on my BB. Fortunately for me, it was only about 1/2 of a BB for me to call. The SB goes, "ah, I'll just call". Later he stated that he was going to go all-in, but decided to just call ... I'm assuming he was hoping I'd call too and we'd check it down vs the all-in. Check it down we did, even though I made a straight on the river and was last to act; I figured after checking all the way, he couldn't call a bet anyway, plus, figured it would be rude :p

Aggro-guy chuckles, shows his cards to the people on his right (where I couldn't see) and mucks face-down. We all tell him "good game" and play on.

At one point I actually got on a little run and went all-in a few times and got up to about 16000T. We were at the 750-1500 level and I see from the tournament clock that I have average chips, although little more than 10x the BB. Ouch! Its a crap shoot now.

After more blind-offs and desperate stacks shoving all-in time and again (and me getting nothing), I'm getting short stacked yet again. I went all-in once or twice and was treading water when we finally got to 13 people left and hand-for-hand...with the final table getting paid. Tenth got $85, almost triple my buy-in, so I went into Sklansky mode and folded, folded, folded!

At 11 handed I was UTG and close to all-in. I thought, geez, I might have to risk being the bubble. Then, I saw the UTG player on the 2nd table take a huge hit that put him all-in on his (and my) BB. When it got folded to our SB and he raised all-in, I promptly folded me 52o and watched to see if the BB from the other table got knocked out...he did! I had folded my way to the final table!

I drew seat 6 and figured that I'd be going all-in the next few hands (since I didn't even have a BB left) and I was the shortest stack anyway. Then, first hand of the final table, the guy to my immediate right goes all-in in front of me! With how short I was, I thought it pretty stupid. He gets called and he shows A6o (??) vs AQ for the caller. Dummy gets a 6 and doubles up. I then folded the next two hands thinking, if these people are going to be that dumb, I'll let them knock themselves out and see if I can move up another position...9th was $110, another $25 if they're so stupid as to not wait for me.

Two hands later I get 66 and figure I better stick in the chips; they stopped being stupid it seems ;) After I put in my remaining 2000T, someone raised to try to get it heads-up. Folded to the chip lead and she looks agonized, but goes ahead and calls. I figure I'm in deep doo-doo, but nothing I can do now, just hope no one flops anything.

Flop comes down TTx, the original raiser looks at the chip lead who's frowning and checks to her. She says she's all-in and the raiser says something like, "I hope you have it, I'm laying this down". I'm thinking to myself, "a ten? She called a raise with...what...AT? Must be soooted." It was soooted alright.. but not ATs... try QTs. Let me follow this up so that you can say, "ooooh, I see"...I found out that she works there...she's a dealer. OK, everyone now: "ooooh, I see!" HAHAHA

Anyway, I got no miracle 6 on the turn or river and I was out.

Still, was nice to get to a final table and get a cash! :)

I went over to Felicia looked over her shoulder and saw she was about 300 ahead in the game. I said, "hmm, you're not doing too badly.. but I tripled my money, can you say that?"

HEHE

Posted by Glenn