Bodog's $25K 6-Max Tourney (Part 1 of 3)

So now that Billy’s earned a spot in a WSOP satellite that I’m expected to play for him, I’ve decided to practice No Limit Hold Em multi-table tournaments. I don’t want his fine play in the Blogger Poker Tour quarter-final to go to waste. So I bought into one of Bodog’s $25,000 Guaranteed tournaments (6-Handed) to see how I could do with something on the line. Below are some of the highlights … I hope you enjoy.

The Miseducation of the Mackerel
The tourney was 6-Handed, like the one in which Billy took second on the BPT. So I asked him for tips on how to play short-handed. He told me that my hands would have more value, and that people would often bluff with middle and low pairs in the later rounds of the tournament, so my top pairs would usually be good. Well, early on I misapplied these pointers and played too loosely and too aggressively. I lost about 40% of my stack from failed semi-bluffs, and I realized then that I had better tighten up quickly or risk losing my buy-in within the first two rounds.

Advertising Value
The good side of all this bluffing is that I got paid off in the next few rounds. I won some huge pots with top pair when people missed their draws but hit smaller pairs. I took the chip lead at my table … and moved to about 10th place in the tourney out of the remaining 255 players.

Why doesn’t anyone believe me???
A few rounds in, I get dealt Ace-Queen of hearts in early position and pop it up to about 5x the big blind. I get called by the button only. An Ace hits on the flop, and I bet the pot … which happens to be about half of the other guy’s stack. He moves all in, and I call. He turns over pocket 7s. I have him beat by a huge margin. The turn and flop make the board a runner-runner wheel straight, and so we tie for the pot. Yikes.

Normally I would explode in frustration here, but this time I didn’t. The situation was amusing enough, and the hand didn’t cost me any chips. I didn’t lose any ground. I just couldn’t believe he would push all his chips in with that holding. I typed into the chat function, “What, you just felt like gambling?” He simply laughed in reply. No one believed that I had it when I bet, no matter how many winners I showed down. At that point I could only hope that this would pay off later.

A Key Hand in the Tournament
I pick up Ace-King offsuit in middle position, and again I raise it to 5x the big blind. Everyone folds to the small blind, who goes all in. He has almost as many chips as me, so this isn’t such an easy decision. If I call here and miss, I’ll be crippled in the tournament. This hand will be the turning point, I realize ... one way or the other.

I use all of my allotted time turning it over in my head. Finally I call, and he reveals pocket Jacks.

It's a race, for almost all my chips.

A coin toss for my chances of cashing in this tourney.

Heads or tails.

I miss the flop. I miss the turn. My girlfriend and I are s c r e a m i n g at the computer ...

But the river is an Ace. HUGE sigh of relief! I virtually double up, and now I’m sitting on a mountain of 20,000 chips. But I feel more like I’m sitting on Cloud 9 ...
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Read about the consequences of angering me at the poker table in Part 2. ;-)