Tourney: Venetian April 14th $340 2009 Venetian Deepstack Extravaganza II Event #14 recap

Todays tournament was a little bigger, with around 270 players first place was worth around 25k. I went into todays tournament planning on playing hyper aggressive early on again to build my image and then getting paid off in the big pots when I make hands.

The first 2 levels kind of all blended together. I played a TON of pots and was able to steal on a lot of flops after I missed. I did make some hands. I won a small pot when I raised with AJo in EP and I bet the A92 flop and got called in one spot. The turn came a J and I bet out again and he folded. I was able to win a funny pot. I raised in MP to 125 with 23o and got called by a guy in LP and a guy in the BB. The flop came 459 and I checked it around. The turn came a K and the BB checked, I bet 150 and both guys called. The river came a 6, giving me a straight. The BB bet out 500 and I raised to 2000 and the LP guy folded and the BB called and my straight was good and I was up to 14.5k or so. I split a couple of decent sized pots with AKdd vs AKhh on an A high flop and another with A9o vs A9o on an A high flop.

I peaked at the 14.5k in the first 2 levels and dropped to about 12.8k by the time we went to level 3 (100-200). I raised to 475 with K7o in MP and got called by an EP limper and a LP guy. The flop came JT2 with 2 hearts and I bet out 625 on the flop. The first guy folded and the next guy called. The turn came the A hearts and he checked. I thought that this would be a perfect bluff card for me if he had a J or a T so I bet out 1450 and he called. The river came a blank and he lead out for 4000 and I folded and he showed KQ for the straight. I was down to 9k or so after this hand. A littler later, I raised UTG to 475 with T7cc and got called by one guy behind me. I c-bet a flop of 942 and he called and I check folded a Q on the turn. I was down to 8300 or so after this hand and went to the 1st break with this much (8300).

After the break, we came back to level 4 (100-200 25). I raised with 27o in MP to 525 and got called by a guy in LP and the BB. The flop came T42 and I c-bet 625 and the LP guy raised me and I folded and I was down to 7k or so. I then was able to get very lucky in a hand (I shouldn’t have to do this playing the way im playing but whatever, maybe Im playing poorly but I feel very in control of the game). I raised UTG+1 with KQo and the person behind me called and so did the cutoff. The flop came Q52 with 2 clubs and I bet out 750, the person behind me raised to 2200 and she only had about 4500 total after the flop so I put her all in for her last 2300 and he called and showed KK and I was drawing almost dead. . .until the turn came another Q and I sucked out big time in a decent sized pot and was up to 12k again.

A shorter stacked guy raised in MP to 600 and got 2 callers and I decided to call from the button with KQcc. The flop came JT9 rainbow flopping me the nuts and the short stack moved all in for 4k. One of the callers called the 4k and I pushed all in for about 12k and the caller called me as well and showed KQss. The short stack showed AJo and we faded his runner runner full house and split his chips and I was up to 13.5 k or so. I then raised in LP with J6ss and got called by the SB. The flop came A86 and he checked and I c-bet 625 and he called. The turn came another 8 and he lead out for 1200 and I folded and I went back down to 12.5k.

After this, the blinds went to 200-400 25 (level 5) and it was time to play some poker. A shortstack pushed about 2500 in UTG and it folded to me in the BB and I found QQ and instacalled and won the race vs his QJ and was up to 14.5k. I rasied to 975 in MP with QJo and got 2 callers, one from LP and the BB. The flop came QT7 with 2 diamonds. The BB checked, I bet out 1125, the LP caller folded, and the BB called. The turn came the Ad, putting an over on the board and completing a Fl draw. He checked and I checked behind. The river came a blank and he bet out 4k and I thought a long time before deciding to fold and I was back down to 13k or so. Then a pretty big pot came up. I was in the BB and it folded to the lady in the SB and she raised it to 1200. I found QQ in the BB and reraised to 3000 and she called. The flop came AQ3 and she checked, I bet out 2500, she minraised to 5000, and I pushed all in for 9500 total. She thought for a while before deciding to call and she showed A9o and I dodged her runner runner full house outs and was up to 25k or so.

After this, the blinds went up to 300-600 50. I raised with A8o in EP to 1450 and got one caller in the BB. The flop came JT8 and my c-bet was good to take it down and I was up to 27k. I then called a raise to 1500 from the BB with 99 with one other caller. The flop came all overs and I folded to a bet on the flop. I then raised with 84o in LP and got called by the SB. The flop came Q52 and my c-bet was good enough to take it down. After this my table broke and I got moved to a new table. First hand at the new table, I found 44 from UTG +1 and raised it to 1450. I got a caller in MP and a caller in the SB. The flop came AQ3 and I c-bet 1600 and the MP caller called. The turn came an A and I checked and he bet out and I folded and he showed me an A. Next hand at the new table, I found 99 UTG and made it 1450 again but everyone folded this time. Next hand, I was in the BB and found AQo but folded to a raise to 2k and a call. Soon after this, the level ended and I went on the 2nd break with 24275 in chips.

We came back and played level 7 (400-800 75). I raised in MP with 85cc to 1925 and got called by a guy in MP. The flop came out AQ9 and I c-bet out 2200 and he called. The turn came a blank and I checked and he bet out and I folded. A little later, I raised in MP with Q3o and I got 2 callers. The flop came KTT and it checked around. The turn came a 5 and I took a stab with 2350 and I got raised by one of the callers and folded. I was down to 18k or so and the level ended.

We colored up the green chips and I finished the level with 17500, and we went to level 8 at 600-1200 100. I was on the button and a short stack pushed all in for 7500 in MP and I found JJ on the button and reshipped and he showed A2ss and my JJ held and I was up to 26.3k. I raised 2 weak/tigher players blinds from MP to 2700 with 72o and one of the blinds called. The flop came KT8 and the blind bet out 4k and I folded. Then an interesting hand came up. I was down to about 24k or so and I found 64cc UTG +1 and made it 2700. The guy who had called all of my previous raises called me from MP and everyone else folded. The flop came QcTd8d and I c-bet 3300. He called and the turn came 3c, giving me a fl draw. I didn’t want to push all in here and get instacalled but I didn’t just want to check fold. I had about 17.5k behind and I figured that since I had c-bet and check/folded in 2 or 3 previous pots with this guy, I would get respect if I 2 barrelled here. I fired the 2nd barrel for 5100 in chips, leaving myself with about 12k. He thought for a while and decided to put me all in. I thought about calling with my draw but ended up folded and saving my last 12k. He showed the Qd after I folded and said that he had top pair + fl draw. I know hes not going anywhere on this board but its too bad that I wasn’t able to see the river. I blinded down to 9500 or so waiting for a spot to push. A guy in EP raised to 5k and I found AQdd in mp and pushed my remaining chips in the middle and he called and showed TT. The board ran out A high and I was able to win this race and double to 20.6k. A couple hands later, I found 55 UTG and made it 2700. The guy right behind me pushed for 12.5k and it folded to me and I timebank folded and I was back down to 18k or so.

The blinds went to level 9 (800-1600 200) and it was time for me to get moving. I maintained my stack by pushing with some garbage hands once/round or so (T7o, 96o) and was at 18k or so when the following hand occurred. I was in the SB and the BB in my SB only had about 14k so I was planning on just putting him all in with ATC just to take his blinds and the antes to build my stack if it folded to me. It folded to me and I found 95o and put him all in and he decided to call and he showed A9o. The flop came an LOL of A95 but the board blanked for me and I was down to 3400 or so. Next hand, I had 3200 after my ante and there was a raise and a call in front of me so I just pushed my stack with 62o. Im pretty certain that I flopped the best hand when they both checked the flop of Q52 3 hearts but the turn came a 4th heart (which I didn’t have) and one of the players had the A of hearts and I was eliminated. There were only 7 tables left when I got out so I finished about 70th place or so. It was a decent run but I had to get lucky a couple of times to make it there so hopefully I wont have to do that from here on out.