A Couple Of Vague Recollections

(Since I can't get tourney hand histories from Party, I don't have any numbers.)

Thursday night's tourney was the first time where I felt like just about everything I've learned about playing poker hit me. I never got A-A. Not once. It seemed like I got 9-9 a lot. I'd played tight-aggressive almost throughout, but not to the point where I couldn't get any action (though I should have slowplayed my flopped quad 10s) I got K-K cracked early when my opponent rivered a Broadway straight, but this transgression would be avenged...

Hand 1 (It Pays To Get Lucky... Literally)

About 160 or so players left. 140 get coffee money. I'm in the big blind with K-K. MP raises, CO+1 calls, folded to me, I re-raise. MP short stack goes all-in, CO+1 calls, I call. We both started out with above-average stack sizes, so no need to push just yet.

I hit my set on the flop and push into a dry side pot. I've got CO+1 covered and she calls, flipping over her cracked Aces. MP says "I picked a bad time to go all in" and shows A-10. I bust both players and am assured my first MTT cash.

Hand 2 (Brain Freeze)

In middle position with A8o, which is a hand I despise most of the time. My stack is just below average at this point, which is actually a vast improvement over where I usually am (the rail.) Reason being is that I got good cards early and was able to pick up chips for once, so I could survive getting in behind and the dry stretches, which I must have been in the middle of to do what I did.

I make my standard raise of 3-4x the big blind. Player next to me calls, and seat 10 either min-reraises or smooth-calls; I don't remember anymore. Now, normally with A8o, I'm done after that (A6o-A9o are four of the worst hands in poker IMO). But something tells me that I need to win this pot.

So I push.

The player next to me folds. Seat 10 has me covered and calls immediately with... K-K. I feel weak and sheepish.

Flop: J-J-A.

Turn: J.

River's a blank and I've hit a two-outer to donk my way to top three in chips.

Why only two outs? Well, Seat 6 (the player next to me who folded to my push) said he also had A-8. Another player said, "nh, but shoving preflop with A8?"

I didn't say anything. They don't need to know that I don't know why I did that.

Hand 3 (Battling Blind[s])

Not long after I double up a player who was all-in in the big blind with Aces, this hand comes up. It's late in the tourney at this point, maybe around 25 players left. I'm in the big blind, and it's folded around to the small blind, who completes.

Flop comes 3-K-x. Check, check.

Turn: 3. SB bets, I raise, SB calls.

River's a 5. SB checks. I push my last ~T45000. SB thinks for almost 30 seconds and folds. She says "nice bluff."

I say, "if you say so" and muck my Q3o.

Hand 4 (The Leak)

I'm not used to playing a big stack. A couple of weeks ago I won a play-money SNG on PokerStars despite winning exactly one pot before it got down to four-handed. There, like at the final table on Thursday, someone must have sprayed me with some Good Cards OFF! or something. I haven't learned how to win with utter crap yet - my conscience won't allow me to play a hand that bad.

When we got to the final table, I resisted the urge to type "holy crap" into the chat box. Act like you've been there before and all that.

Blinds are 10k/20k with 500 antes. It's folded to the small blind, who completes, and I check with Q-4. Flop is a King and two rags. He makes a modest bet. I can't put him on much, but I'm not a big fan of my hand, and I call. Turn is an... 8? Another small bet from the SB and I call.

The river Ace is... unfortunate. He checks, I bluff at it (which is likely why he checked) and he calls, probably thinking if he comes over the top, I'm gonna fold. He didn't need to hit it because he already had an Ace, but it sealed my defeat. I should've folded to the flop bet and not called off 40 percent of my stack with Queen high. I need to not do that in the future.

After that it was waiting for a spot to make a move. I get A-3 UTG with about T140,000 left and push. It's folded around to the big blind, who calls with 4-4 and you know the rest.