Tourney: June 5th 2011 Venetian Deepstack Event #10: $340

Todays tournament was only the 2nd $340 event at the Venetian this summer, so it got an extremely good turnout. There were a total of 670 player today, paying 63 spots with 1st getting 41k. My opening table was pretty soft overall but it was also extremely nitty which was to my disadvantage as they were playing so tight and cally it was hard to play a big pot when you had a hand but hard bluff smaller pots because people loved to just call. There were only 2 real loose aggro kids at the table and they were in seats #3 and #4 and I was in seat #7. We started todays tournament with 12000 in chips.

Level 1: 50-100. I started off playing pretty aggressive and actually chipping up early on for a change. The LAG kid from seat #4 made it 250, I called from the button with QJcc, and the BB called as well. The flop came KT8, they checked to me, I bet 325, and they all folded. I made it 250 in MP with KJcc seat #4 was the only caller. We checked down Q7688 and I folded to a bet on the river. The kid in seat #3 made it 225 and I flatted in the BB with KK. We checked to the river on AJ994 and I bet 300 which resulted in him folding. I made it 250 with T9o in MP and the kid in seat #3 called the button. The flop came QQT and we checked and saw a 3 on the turn. I bet 325 and he called. The river came a 6, I bet 600, he called and I was good. I made it 250 from the button with 66 and the BB called. I folded to a bet on the turn on a J93Q board. A lady in MP made it 250 and I called immediately behind with AQdd. The flop came QT2, she checked, I bet 325, and she folded. This lady limped from her SB into my BB and I checked A3o. We checked to the turn on KQ33 (making me trips), I bet 125, and she called. The river came a Q, she bet 300, and I folded. She showed one K but later said that she had KQ and I made a good fold (got off cheap there). I made it 250 with AKo from MP and everyone folded. I made it 250 UTG +2 with J7ss and seat #4 in the BB made it 775. I folded and he showed KK. I made it 250 with 54cc from MP and got a caller in LP. We checked to the turn on JT2T where I bet 325 and he folded. I was up to 13725 and we went to the next level.

Level 2: 75-150. I made it 350 with QTcc and seat #3 called in the BB. The flop came J65 2 clubs giving me a flush draw, he checked, I bet 400, and he called. We checked down the turn/river of offsuit 5 offsuit 4 and he showed 76 to win it. A player UTG made it 300 and I 3-bet UTG +2 with 75dd and everyone folded. I made it 350 from UTG +1 with Q9o and from UTG with JJ and everyone folded both times. Seat #3 made it 300 in the cutoff and I called in the BB with ATo. The flop came KT2 2 diamonds and I check called 325. We checked down 4d9d (4 diamond board. . .I didnt have one) and he showed K9 for 2 pair. I made it 350 from the cutoff with T9o and both the blinds called. The flop came AK6, the BB lead for 525, I made it 1500, and they both folded. I called 400 from the BB with KJdd but folded an AT9 flop. Seat #4 opened the hijack to 375 and I 3-bet the SB to 1025 with 94o and he folded. Next hand, he opened MP to 375 and I 3-bet the button to 1025 with AQo and he folded. I had grinded my stack up to 15175 and we went to the next level.

Level 3: 100-200. I made it 475 UTG +2 with KTo and everyone folded. I made it 475 UTG +1 with AKo and got called by player in MP. The flop came A86, I bet 550, and he called. The turn came a J, which worried me a little bit as AJ is in his range. I checked (not necessarily because Im scared. . .its a pot control check) and he bet out 1200. I called and the river came the T (which worried me as well). I checked and he fired 2600. I think im beat alot of times here but the combination of 1)this guy had shown the ability to bluff already before, 2)my hand is pretty disguised and he could be trying to take me off of a hand that is weaker than I actually have and 3)my hand is probably just too strong to fold made me pay him off. I called and he showed TT for the rivered set (not quite how I thought he got there). This hand chopped me down to 10k or so. I then decided to spew off some chips with a bad river bet. There was a UTG limper and the kid in seat #4 raised to 600. The limper was a weak limp/fold limp/call/fold type of player and he was immediately to my left. Seats #3 and #4 had been taking advantage of him all day and I hadnt been able to do so because he was on my left. I know that seat #4 is isoing light here so when I found JTss in the BB, I chose to 3-bet to 1750. The limp folded but seat #4 called. We checked to the river on KJ572 where I bet 2100 and he called showing AJ. When he called before the flop I know he has some decent middling hand like AQ-A9suited/KQ,QJ,KJ/99-66 that he wants to see a flop with but doesnt want to inflate the pot. To be honest once he called I really just wanted to give up with the hand because the lines he had used in alot of previous hands were to keep the pot small so he could value call on the river (which is exactly what he was doing with this hand). By the river I knew that kings were out of his range so my bet was directed at getting value from a hand like 99. However, even though I really do think he his probably calling with the middle pairs in his calling range, I didnt take into account the fact that most of his range he is either calling and beating me (AJ QJ) or folding A high. Therefore my value bet was unnecessary and a costly mistake. I was down to 7k or so after this. I made it 475 from the button with KThh and everyone folded. I made it 475 from the hijack with Q8hh and got called from the cutoff and the BB. We checked to the turn on 654T and I folded to a bet. We went on the 1st break with me having 6550 and I went into my shortstack shell.

Level 4: 100-200 25. Tight and shortstacked (this shell had to be a little bit looser because the table was playing sooooo tight as a whole I had to maintain some sort of playing image so they all didnt just instamuck when I entered a pot). Seat #3 made it 500 in EP and I called the cutoff with KJss. We checked down AQJ67 and he showed QT for the better hand. I made it 475 with QTo from MP and the button called. The flop came KJ3 2 clubs, I lead out for 550, and he called. The turn came a 3, I bet 1125, and he folded. I made it 475 with QJo from UTG +1 and seat #3 made it 1050 from the button to which I folded. I took 5550 to the next level.

Level 5: 150-300 25. I made it 650 from UTG +1 with A9o and folded to a 3-bet to 1700 from MP. I made it 650 UTG with KK and everyone folded. aldkjf;slkjflas. I took 3925 to the next level.

Level 6: 200-400 50. It folded to me in he cutoff and I pushed my 4k with ATcc and everyone folded. I moved about 4500 in from EP with AJo and everyone folded. I moved about 5k in from MP with ATo and everyone folded. I was at about 5500 when there was both a dead SB and dead BB (both walking). I found A9o in MP and took my chances with a shove. The button reshipped and showed AJ. The board ran out 982T4 to give me an extremely lucky double up (A9 is a pretty weak ship but the dead blinds probably dictate a shove here). I was up to 11k or so after this. I made it 1025 from the button with 96cc and the BB called. I wont raise alot of the time here but the blinds were really weak players. The flop came AAT, he lead for 1500, and I decided to float and see what happened on the turn (I like to raise here but with a smaller stack its safer to just flat and bet the turn when checked to you). The turn came a 6, he lead for 2200, and I had to fold. I was at 8550 and we went to 2nd break.

Level 7: 300-600 50. I found A7o on the button and jammed my 8k into the weak blinds and the they folded. An EP raiser made it 1700 and I found JJ in the cutoff and jammed. He called and showed TT and I was able to double on the K6379 board. The lady limped into my BB from her SB and I checked T6o (she only had about 4k behind). The flop came AK8, she bet 600, and I float called. The turn came another A, she checked, I bet 1025, and she folded. I made it 1325 UTG +1 with T8dd and everyone folded. We went to the next level and I was all the way up to 19675.

Level 8: 400-800 75. I made it 1725 from the cutoff with ATo and everyone folded. I made it 1725 from the hijack with ATo and the BB went all in for his last 1975. I obviously called, he showed K9 and the board ran out 6337K and I lost. I made it 1725 from MP with K9hh and I folded. A really tight player made it 2200 from the hijack. I found QQ on the button and 3-bet to 6000. The BB went all in for both of our effective stacks. The hijack folded and I called. The BB showed KK and the board ran out all blanks busting me out of the tournament. I guess I could have folded. I know the BB isnt doing this without a massive hand but QQ is tough to get away from when you have 25bbs. Sigh. . .I dont know. What sucks is the table was soooo tight and nitty (even the new players. . .seats #3 and #4 busted in the last couple levels) I could have literally stole to build up a stack now that I had chips. I mean, folding QQ here is a really tough sell though and I am probably just being results oriented when I think that I should have folded it.

Another tough day and another big venetian tournament tomorrow. Ill try to TID.