Tourney: June 21st 2011 Venetian Deepstack Event #26: $550

Todays Venetian drew 650 players, an absolutely astounding amount for a $560 tournament. The funny thing is despite this being a $560 tourney, my starting table was as bad as its been throughout the summer. There were really bad players in seat 4, seat 7, and seat 8, a decent player in seat 5, I was in seat 6, and the rest were just average. We started with 15000 in chips today.

Level 1: 25-50. I made it 250 from the button with JTdd and the bad player in seat 8 called from the BB. The flop came Q93 2 hearts and he check called my 325 bet. The turn and river filled out JhTh putting 4 hearts on board and his 5h5x was good. I made it 250 from the cutoff with T9o and got 2 calls. The flop came 993 and I decided to check it behind when it checked to me. The turn came a 4, I bet 325, and they all folded. I then had to make an interesting laydown in a biggish pot. I made it 250 from UTG with 44 and 2 calls from MP and a call from the BB. The flop came Q84 all hearts, the BB lead out for 550, and I was the only caller. The turn came the 3x, the BB lead out for 1250, and I just called. The river came Tx, he bet 8000, and I had to fold my set. Him leading out into 3 people on the flop is massive strength and I am just calling on the flop/turn for pot control and to try to pair the board because its very possible that he has a flush here. The river is an obvious fold because its such a large bet on an all heart flop when he leads 3 streets. I was down to 12575 and we went to the next level.

Level 2: 75-150. A player UTG made it 450, I called in MP with 66, the donk in seat 7 made it 1000, and we both called. The flop came 984, we checked to the donk, he bet 2000, we both folded, and he showed KK (obviously he had KK here. . .flop a set one time!). I then won a pot against the huge donk in seat 7 where I absolutely missed value. He opened for 300 in EP, got 2 calls to me in the BB, and I found AA and made it 1525 and he was the only caller. The flop came 744, I checked to trap him, but he checked behind. The turn came a third 4, I bet 2000, and he called extremely quickly. The river came an A giving me aces full, I bet 6000, and he folded JJ face up. Ugh. . .I wish I would have bet the flop I guess. He was sooooo spew I cant believe he doesn’t bet the flop or raise the turn and if the A doesn’t come on the river I still get 6000 of value on him. . .weak. I limped behind 1 limper from the button into the 2 donks blinds with Q4dd. The flop came KQ3, they checked to me, I bet 225, and the limper called. We checked down TK and I was good. The donk in seat 4 made it 625, I called in MP with T9cc, the BB made it 3100, and I folded. I was at 15450 and we went to the next level.

Level 3: 100-200. The donk in seat 7 made it 500 from UTG, got 1 call, and I called in the BB with 98dd. The flop came K64, the donk lead for 5000, and I folded. I completed 88 in the SB with 2 limps but folded on a KQ9. The only decent player on the table made it 525 from the cutoff, I found JJ on the button and called, and both of the blinds called as well. The flop came A76, the blinds checked, the raiser bet 850, I called, and the blinds folded. The turn came a K, the decent player bet out 850 again, and I folded this time. Next hand the donk in seat 4 raised to 550 in MP, I found TT and called in the cutoff, and the BB called as well. The flop came J63, they checked to me, I bet 700, and the raiser called. The turn came another 3, he checked, I bet 1125, and he folded. I was at 15025 and we went to the next level.

Level 4: 100-200 25. A player in EP opened to 600, I called in MP with 22, a new decent aggro player behind 3-bet to 2000, and we both folded. I made it 475 from UTG +2 with 88 and the BB called. The flop came K52 2 clubs, he checked, I bet 550, and he called. The turn came the Tc, he checked, and I checked behind this time. The river came a 4, he lead out for 1250, I called, he announced “five” and I showed my 8s that were good. This is actually an interesting call on the river. A lot of times I am not calling here but the thing that made me call was actually something he did on the turn. When the turn came the 3rd club, instead of instantly checking to me he thought about it for a while and then checked. I think that if he actually has made a flush here he instantly checks the turn to show weakness instead of the tank check. One last comment would be the sizing of the river bet. Since we have ruled out that he doesn’t have a flush here because of the timing of the turn check, why cant he have a K and be value betting? The reason is because it is basically faceup that I don’t have a K here so if he does have a K, he has to bet an amount that is going to get called by a hand that is worse than top pair. 1250 is a bit too big for him to credibly have a K so that is why I called here. I made it 475 from the button with Q8ss and the blinds folded. I then played an interesting pot where I lost some chips. I opened to 475 from the cutoff with A7ss and the new aggro player on the button 3-bet to 1175. He had been fairly active so I decided to call and see a flop. The flop came JT5 2 spades giving me the nut flush draw. I checked and he checked behind. The turn came an A giving me top pair with my nut flush draw. I checked, he bet 1650, and I just called. The river came an 8, I checked, he bet 6500, and I folded after a long while in the tank. I deduced that I am almost always beat here on the river. . .the one thing that confused me about this hand is the check behind on the flop. I know he is an aggrotard so I know he will be c-betting most flops after he 3-bets. The hand I actually think he is most likely to have here is KQ. He checks behind the flop because he doesn’t want to get blown off of his draw or have to play a bloated pot and then he bets the turn and river for value. I don’t know if this is his hand for sure but I can say that I am close to positive I was beat. I was down to 12600 after this and we went to the next level.

Level 5: 150-300 25. I then played another larger pot that involved me chasing a draw but missing. I opened to 650 from MP with 43hh and the donk in the 9 seat called from the button. The flop came J65 2 spades giving me a straight draw. I bet out 725, he made it 1500, and I called. The turn came a T, I checked, he bet 2000, and I called. The river came the As, I checked, and he checked behind showing QJ and I mucked. I normally will just fold the turn here but he bet so small compared to the pot and the implied odds (knowing that he is a donk and will pay me with top pair). The river was actually a PERFECT bluff card for me as an over and a flush draw hit and I actually did think about betting big here but its really hard for me to try to justify bluffing into an opponent who is a donk who hates to fold. It is actually likely to work but the chance of him spew/tilt calling is to high of a risk. I was down to about 9500 after this hand. I made it 650 from the cutoff with AQhh, the SB who was a new younger kid 3-bet to 1550, the donk in seat 9 flatted the 3-bet, I made it 8k (of my 9500), and they both folded. I made it 650 from the hijack with 66 and got called by the BB. The flop came KQ2 and he check folded to my 725 bet. I was back up to 14800 and we went to the next level.

Level 6: 200-400 50. A player in EP made it 1100, the decent player called in the cutoff, I found AKo on the button, 3-bet to 3200, and they all folded. I made it 950 from UTG +2 with AJo and everyone folded. I was up to 17000 and we went to the next level.

Level 7: 300-600 50. The donk in seat 4 opened to 1750 from EP and I found KQo in the cutoff and thought this would be a good time to play a pot with him so I called. The button decided to call as well and the SB went all in for 10k causing me to fold. I then lost my big pot of the tournament. The decent player on my right in seat 5 open shipped 10.9k from MP and I found AQo right behind him and decided to reship my 15k. Everyone folded and he showed 88. The board blanked out and I lost my big race for the day and was down to just 3800. Maybe I could fold here but its hard to pass up this spot. . .I don’t know. As with my 88 hand in the WSOP, I think that he is just raising for value his monster hands so his push means semi-weakness so I think Im at worst a flip and dominating him at least some of the time here. A could of hands later, I found KQo and went all in from UTG +1. It folded to the SB who reshipped to iso and he flipped over AQo. The board ran out KQ4K7 and I absolutely crushed it winning when I was dominating. I folded through the blinds and was down to 5950 when we went to the next level.

Level 8: 400-800 75. It folded to me in the hijack and I found J9o and made it 5000 (of my last 5800 or so). The cutoff called and so did the donk in seat 9. The flop came A62, the donk lead, I put the last of my money in, and the hijack went all in over the top, and the donk called us all. The donk held 66 for a seat, the cutoff held A9, and I was drawing dead before the turn busted out pretty unceremoniously.

It wasn’t as long of a day as Id liked and it basically came down to the one flip that I lost. Kind of a whatever day. I guess I could have played a few more hands in the 200-400 and 1st half of the 300-600 levels to try to get some chips but its likely that even if I tried this I would have still had to won my big flip to remain in the tournament. Tomorrow is another day and hopefully it turns out better.