CAESARS MEGASTACK #1
So, after a pretty successful start to the trip, time to get a touch more serious. This is the MegaStack series at Caesars, which is pretty much the ’standard’ tournament for us here in Vegas during the WSOP trip. Although I didn’t play brilliantly the other day, some of the old instincts kicked in and a 4th place gives confidence. Today started at noon with 15k, 40 minute levels, 160 runners (lower than normal apparently) and paying 18 places with a decent prize pool.
Well, the early levels were fairly noneventful for me, I ducked and dived enough to stay at pretty much the starting stack for the first few hours without anything really exciting happening. This was fine for me, as my game is kind of built on being patient, and I won most of my pots by c-betting after raising pre-flop. At the 600/1200 level, (quite a long way in), I went on something of a tear up and built a stack of around 50k, (much more comfortable). I had a few good hands and busted a few people. At the dinner break at 6.30pm I was pretty happy, despite making an iffy laydown with jacks in the last hand. There were 40 left. 18 paid.
After the break I was really card-dead and blinded down horribly. Players ahead of me stole my position for raising or moving in, and the blinds grew and grew. I beat myself up for a while for not shipping in the big blind with A2s after a raise from a loose player and a call from a tight player which probably have given me 16k more chips but I just couldn’t pull the trigger, but other than that I’d had no opportunities. This continued for ages and I ended up with about 6 big blinds at 1500-3000 with a 400 ante, and I needed to shove blind. I ended up with 9-2 v A-Q with some dead money in the pot, and I won – bringing my all-in blind record to 5 out of 6. This was lucky, and it gave me some crucial breathing room.
With 35k and not feeling too bad, but still with only 10 big blinds left (and therefore still not in great shape) I picked up KQ. Only 21 left – remember, 18 get paid. I shipped it and got called by a shorter stack, and he showed K-10, which was awesome. I was well ahead until the river, which was a jack and made him a straight. A truly sick beat at a truly sick time. Win that hand and I’m coasting to a second straight cash, and a good one at that, and a real boost having not played for so long. Bad beat stories are boring, every player has so many, and this is one to add to the collection for me, and will be memorable for me mainly because it came at such a sick, sick time in the tournament.
So, down to 19, and I have 15k left with blinds at 2000-6000 with a 500 ante and clearly I am now running on fumes and am once more in “all-in dark” territory. This hand was going to mean I either got a second straight cash, or I busted on the bubble, the worst possible spot, and I needed to get lucky just one more time… Ten and a half hours of play, comes down to this.
My opponent shows K-J and I flip up 9-2 again. The flop was 10-8-7 so I was open-eneded, probably the best flop I could see without actually hitting. I need a deuce, a 6 or a jack to win. A 9 popped on the turn, but sadly this made a straight for the other guy. The river was a deuce, giving me 2-pair, but it wasn’t enough and I was out in the worst place of all, the bubble (one before the money).
Again, a very deep run, lots of patience, picked good spots, got it in good, (other than when I was all-in blind). So plenty to be pleased about. On the other hand, being all-in dark does not imply brilliant play, so still a lot of improving to do. However, given my lack of practice and time since I went deep in a big event this, and the last tournament, are huge confidence boosts and I can’t wait to play again. At the same time, it’s truly gutting to bubble the cash, I should have been adding several thousand more to the kitty if not for the sick beat with the K-10.
Wine and cigars in the Baccarat Bar in Bellagio for a few hours, (it’s now 1.20am), and it doesn’t seem so bad.
But it is.
Next case…