Showdown at kenmore
I played a no limit hold em tournament at kenmore casino today, the entry fee was 75 dollars, however since i won it last month I was entered for free. It started off really well about the 3rd or 4th hand in, i won a nice medium sized pot to give me the chip the lead at the table, ofcourse a chip lead at this point is pretty relative to scoring a couple runs in the first inning of a baseball game so it means nothing. I took my early chip lead as an advantage on the next hand. Everyone folds to me, and theres 2 guys left to call the big and small blinds, i figure this would be a good oppurtunity to raise a pretty a decent number of chips about 1/4 my stack which was about 1/2 the other players who were in the hand. the next 2 guys both fold the raise, i kinda figured as much as they were shuffling there cards and not giving them another look, which often means theyve allready dismissed the hand. The small blind however re raises. I call.. The flop comes all the cards are duds(low cards) Im carrying A10 off suit and move all in, the big blind folds and I take a huge early lead. This is what pretty much got me started for the tourny.
after that i pretty much stole blinds to keep my chips growing at a steady pace along with winning a couple pots with a straight and a 3 of a kind. After the break there were about 32 players left and i had the chip lead with 17500 (you start with 2500). I start to get overly confident and try to continue to steal blinds, however i make a couple of mistakes no poker player should ever make and thats chasing 4th and 5th st, the 2 cards after the flop. I go down to about 12k.
A couple hands later after tossing out duds, i pick up 99 everyone folds cept for me and the blinds. I raise to about 5k at this point this is a huuuuge raise, you often figure out what the other person is holding while theyre deciding to call or fold or raise you. The big blind raises to 7k. At this point im pretty confident hes either carrying AK AQ or some kind of pocket pair that could very well put my 9's to death right there. well that virtually puts me all in from the bet i just made. I have 500 chips left if i call, so i move all in 500. He ofcourse calls without hesistation.
He shows JK, and instantly i was relieved that he wasnt carrying a pocket pair above my 9's, and i was pretty confident that my hand would hold up. Flop comes 44K. My heart started pounding I hate getting beat by overcards after a good starting hand. 4th card is turned over its a 2. And river card comes 9. I put the guy down to around 2k in chips and i am now back up there with the leaders, i would guess about 5th.
Well after this i played to many cards and started chasing, something you should always try to avoid with alot of chips, me being overconfident with a large stack suddenly look at it keep lowering and lowering down to the felt. By this time there was 14 players left.
I hold A5 same deal as before everyone folds and i happen to be in small blind, i raise about 3k which is a good chunk of my stack, so at this point the player knows im commited, he Calls. Flop comes 345. I Instanly bet 2k as i was pretty scared of him having a pocket pair which would easily beat my top pair of 5's with ace kicker. He stays in with 2k, an easy call for him because at this point he is the cheap leader. next card 7. I get a lil scared but not too much so i keep the pressure on by betting another 2k. he raises 2k. I go all in and he instantly calls against my shorter stack. next card K. He flips over A7... i stood up and left with 13th and 2 spots out of the money.
I would like to add that the person who knocked me out was pretty much the only person i was scared of at the table. He was constantly taking blinds, just as i was and was very unpredictable and a very smart player. We virtually owned our table the whole way through the tourny and he finally won the battle against me. I wouldnt be suprised if he easily ran away with the victory, cus i could honestly say theyre were few players at our table who impressed me with there play. Overall a pretty good poker experience.
This was probably my biggest lesson in poker so far and how to play with a large stack. Then i went skiing. the end.
after that i pretty much stole blinds to keep my chips growing at a steady pace along with winning a couple pots with a straight and a 3 of a kind. After the break there were about 32 players left and i had the chip lead with 17500 (you start with 2500). I start to get overly confident and try to continue to steal blinds, however i make a couple of mistakes no poker player should ever make and thats chasing 4th and 5th st, the 2 cards after the flop. I go down to about 12k.
A couple hands later after tossing out duds, i pick up 99 everyone folds cept for me and the blinds. I raise to about 5k at this point this is a huuuuge raise, you often figure out what the other person is holding while theyre deciding to call or fold or raise you. The big blind raises to 7k. At this point im pretty confident hes either carrying AK AQ or some kind of pocket pair that could very well put my 9's to death right there. well that virtually puts me all in from the bet i just made. I have 500 chips left if i call, so i move all in 500. He ofcourse calls without hesistation.
He shows JK, and instantly i was relieved that he wasnt carrying a pocket pair above my 9's, and i was pretty confident that my hand would hold up. Flop comes 44K. My heart started pounding I hate getting beat by overcards after a good starting hand. 4th card is turned over its a 2. And river card comes 9. I put the guy down to around 2k in chips and i am now back up there with the leaders, i would guess about 5th.
Well after this i played to many cards and started chasing, something you should always try to avoid with alot of chips, me being overconfident with a large stack suddenly look at it keep lowering and lowering down to the felt. By this time there was 14 players left.
I hold A5 same deal as before everyone folds and i happen to be in small blind, i raise about 3k which is a good chunk of my stack, so at this point the player knows im commited, he Calls. Flop comes 345. I Instanly bet 2k as i was pretty scared of him having a pocket pair which would easily beat my top pair of 5's with ace kicker. He stays in with 2k, an easy call for him because at this point he is the cheap leader. next card 7. I get a lil scared but not too much so i keep the pressure on by betting another 2k. he raises 2k. I go all in and he instantly calls against my shorter stack. next card K. He flips over A7... i stood up and left with 13th and 2 spots out of the money.
I would like to add that the person who knocked me out was pretty much the only person i was scared of at the table. He was constantly taking blinds, just as i was and was very unpredictable and a very smart player. We virtually owned our table the whole way through the tourny and he finally won the battle against me. I wouldnt be suprised if he easily ran away with the victory, cus i could honestly say theyre were few players at our table who impressed me with there play. Overall a pretty good poker experience.
This was probably my biggest lesson in poker so far and how to play with a large stack. Then i went skiing. the end.