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This was posted in my blog. Feel free to comment on the hand.

No HPT Main Event run this year but I played my best...

I went up yesterday to play my $340 qualifier. The way it works is the Main Event is a $1700 buy-in tournament but in Colorado there is a cap at $500 on tournament buy-ins so you have to Satellite in. This means that instead of paying the full amount you have to play in a $340 tournament and for every $1700 in the pot 1 person advances to the Main Event. So my tourney had 100 people who each paid $340 to play and the top 20 get into the Main Event.

I started out strong. I was raising and taking pots with some decent and some not so decent hands. I was trying to create the image of an action junkie and snap someone off with a big hand. In reality the blinds were so small compared to our stacks that I could easily afford to play this way, setting up my image at a small price. In fact I was actually making chips playing this way so it was a double bonus. No big hands to speak of early but there was one a few hours in worth talking about.

I am in the Small Blind. Blinds are at 400/800 100 ante and I have about 15000 chips. The villain in this hand is in early/middle position and is new to the table but has already demonstrated that he is a gambler. one player under the gun calls, the villain from early/middle position calls the 800 and 1 late position player calls the 800. I am happy to look down and find A8 suited in spades in the hole. I happily limp into this already large pot hoping to catch at least a flush draw or some miracle like 88 or fold. The big blind checks and we see the flop 5 handed with $5000 in the pot.

The flop: AhTsAd. Wow is this flop great or scary for me? Sure I have 3 aces against a table full of limpers but I can easily be outkicked... or splitting with someone who limped with a ace/bad kicker like me. I decide the best plan of action is to bet now to see where I am. I understand that I completed the SB in this put and I can be put on any ace at all by betting here, I want info now to avoid going broke later in the hand. I bet $3000 into the $5000 pot. The big blind folds and the Villain goes into acting mode acting like he absolutely hates this flop. He shakes his head, huffs and puffs, and calls the $3000. Seems real upset to me. The late position player folds and we see the turn.

Turn: 7h. This card changes nothing unless the villain limped with A7 suited (which he has played worse) so honestly this is in his range. I took my time acting first here. I remembered his acting job on the flop and was trying to decide whether he was acting or just being a total station. I figured the best way to find out was to check and see what he does. I check and he fires $5000 into the $11000 pot.

This is a hard spot to be in. Now that I have talked it all out and given my read it may sound east but trust me, it was not. I don't think many people can fold here. I am getting better than 2/1 on my money with 3 aces and no other real draws out there against a loose aggressive opponent. I really take my time and think it through. His call on the flop mixed with this board says we may be splitting this pot as he may have a little suited ace. His acting job says that he does have an ace. I was able to decide that he was in fact acting as we was "upset" to call my flop bet but bet on the turn. He was acting, he loved that flop. His turn bet is for value. But is he betting a little ave for value? I decide not. I am guessing he has something like AJ, AT, or A7 and I muck my hand. He says "you were beat" and I say "I will take your word for it." He says "here" and shows the table AJ. The table asks and I tell them I folded A8. Many players were pretty amazed that I folded against him there. I simply took all of the information available and put the story together. I was beat, no reason to lose the tournament in this hand.

I ended up taking 28th of 100. Like I said earlier 20 got seats. I had gotten low stacked and come back up to about $19000 but it slowly dwindled away. by the time there were 28 players left I had gotten down to about $8000 by barely playing a hand. With $8000 chips and blinds at $1000/2000 200 ante I really had no choice but to go all-in under the gun with KJ spades. I knew I was probably going to lose but if I wait one hand I have 6800 chips and 2 hands I only have 5800 leaving me with about an orbit until I bust. I guess I could have folded but I jammed and ran into both AA and QQ. GG me.

It was fun but it just wasn't in the cards for me yesterday. It is a fun tournament and I will be playing when they come back.

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"You will succeed far more by capitalizing on your opponents mistakes than you will by the greatness of your own play." --- I am not sure who said this but it is a great quote and piece of advice.


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[i]Posted via Mobile Device[/ i]Sry to hear you missed your seat, powda. But like Ed has said in past posts, you lose,lose,lose a lot of tournaments, then all of a sudden, everything clicks, your A-game is on, you're getting great cards, hitting flops and find yourself way up the $ ladder, or even hit the top spot on occasion! Next time is your rime, powda!

[i]Posted via Mobile Device[/ i]Sry to hear you missed your seat, powda. But like Ed has said in past posts, you lose,lose,lose a lot of tournaments, then all of a sudden, everything clicks, your A-game is on, you're getting great cards, hitting flops and find yourself way up the $ ladder, or even hit the top spot on occasion! Next time is your time, powda!

Posted via Mobile Device

Which event was this, a Colorado one?

I've missed them all, so many series now and midwest is getting such a great cash game scene - I keep meaning to go.

How did you find the quality of players?

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