PokerPlayer Magazine Tour 2012 - next leg Grand Final London Vic 17th/18th Nov

[Haichan]

Re: PokerPlayer Magazine Tour 2012 - next leg Grand Final London Vic 17th/18th Nov So now had time to reflect on my play in the Pokerplayer Grand Final. 25^th out of 129 is I suppose not bad especially given the start I made. However I do think I could have made the final table but for one mistake I made on what turned out to be a crucial hand. Within 15 minutes I had lost half of my 10,000 stack. Got QQ in mid position raised 3 time the big blind of $50 and got one caller in late position. Flop comes 358 rainbow so I raise the post by $350 and get called. Turn is 10 and I raise $650 and get re raised to £1200. Should have guessed he had a big hand but had put him on JJ's so called. River is a blank so I decide to check and he bets $3000. I should have folded but after some thought I call and he shows trip 55's. Bad call. For the next couple of hours I win several small pots but have nothing of significance and as the blinds raise I am slowly getting squeezed. By the time of the second break I am down to $2700 and on a new table with some fairly aggressive re raising. Finally after a raise and a call I get 55 in late position so decide to push. Their is already about $1200 in the pot. Push my $2700 all-in and the early position raiser calls. The guy in mid potion with a stack of about 10,000 thinks about it for ages and then folds. Turns out he had AJ. We turnover and early position has KQ. The flop comes AAJ and my 55's hold up. Guy in mid position is tilted and goes out soon afterwords. So I am up to just over $5000 well below the average of $20,000. Shortly after I get AK. Pot is raised in early position by a guy who had been playing a lot of pots and chasing draws. I call his raise of $1200 and flop comes 459 with 2 clubs. He raises the pot and I go all-in. He turns over KQ with one club and my A high holds up and I am up to $10,000. I then get QJ in late and the pot is limped into by 4 other players. I call the $1000. flop is J67 rainbow. Checked round to me, I push all in. Their is already $8000 in the pot as antis are now in play. Immediately get one call the big stack in early position who turns over J6. I assume I am now dead. Turn is a blank but river is a 7 giving me 2 pair with a better kicker. So now I am up to $28000. About 10 minutes later I get AQ and call a raise from the guy next to me who had been playing all kinds of marginal hands. The flop comes Q57 rainbow and he checks. I bet 2/3 the pot of $3000 and he raise to $6000. I re raise him to $12000 and he folds showing AK. So now I am up to $42,000. Then comes the crucial hand. A small stack in early goes all in for $9000. I have A10 off in mid position. After a lot of thought I fold. The big stack in late position calls. Early show QJ and late 88's. The flop is AAJ64. From then on I am card dead and the blinds by now are crippling everybody. By the time I am moved to Helens table we are down to 33 players but I have less than 15 big blinds with 20,000. I eventually get AJ and raise to $4000 only for the small blind to go all in very reluctantly with his 8000 stack. I call and he turns over 87 hearts. The flop gives him a heart draw which never arrives but an 8 on the river gives him a pair and I am crippled. Eventually I push with KJ only to be called by A10 and I am out in 25^th. I am happy with my recovery. However If I can cut out the couple of mistakes I am making when I play in Malta this week then maybe I can have a serious run at the money. Just need to learn from my mistakes.

[runadrum]

Re: PokerPlayer Magazine Tour 2012 - next leg Grand Final London Vic 17th/18th Nov My day ended two minutes before the end of level 6 (the dinner break). Played very little, except poorly, early on and by the time I was moved to Avon's and Bainn's table (with 90+ players still in) my original £10k was down to £6k or so. Continued to play very little - thanks to a particular spell of continual dross coming my way at this time - until doubled up with KK (against Bainn's AK), and when I moved to my third and last table I had about £9k. The first hand I played (not the first I was dealt) on that table was QQ. One raiser to 1200 (blinds 150-300) and I decided not to just push all-in. I figured if he called I was behind (he had more chips than me but not twice as many) and I thought if I flat called I could get away if an Ace came on the flop. The flop was 578 rainbow, so saw no danger, bet 3k, he called. J on turn, still see no danger, all-in for last £4.5k, he calls with the straight made by his 9T. Now of course I should have just pushed all-in, collected the 1200 and gone for dinner !! :(