After a Wild Ride, There at the End

I was able to play in a blogger tourney for the first time in a long while as a record 112 players convened in the Mookie.  I had a wild ride along the way.

Sweetie and I took the boys to see a movie (The Seeker) after All-In’s cello lessons yesterday.  It was a 5:00 show, and The Little Guy spent most of the movie alternating between drinking Diet Coke and heading to the bathroom.  It was a bit scary for the boys, but they made it through.  We ate out after the movie, and The Big Guy and All-In stayed with me to shoot Bighorn Sheep after dinner.

When we got everyone to bed, I settled down with Sweetie to watch Bionic Woman.  As soon as she started falling asleep (twenty minutes into the show), I sent her upstairs and decided to hit the Mook.  Fuel sent me an earlier email about a last longer bet, but I really had little confidence in my tourney play.  I’ve played very few tourneys in the last three months, so I didn’t have alot of motivation to make a $50 sucker bet that I would somehow survive.

It was a tough first ninety minutes.  Sweetie called my office phone around 10:30, telling me The Little Guy was up.  I sat out at the Mook and headed upstairs.  He had gone into our room and was crying in that sleep-fog cry that all parents have seen and dread.  From 10:30 until around 11:30, I would play a bit then sit out trying to work through things with him.  He wouldn’t take any Motrin (the wonder-drug for kids), and I finally convinced him to come to the basement.  He laid in the floor, asking once to go back upstairs for the medicine.  By midnight, he’d finally fallen to sleep.

I patiently treaded water for much of the tourney, down to 2550 with half the field gone.  I doubled through whiskigrl when I shoved pre-flop with 3′s to a K-10.  I knocked out pokerenthusiast when I raised with A-10o and had to call a Js-6s shove.  After a UTG limp with aces that flopped a set (no one had anything) and a decent pot when I bet at a J-9-9 board with a pocket pair, I’d climbed up to 10,600 in chips.  I made some timely aggressive moves against good players, shoving to Irongirl’s raise with a pocket pair among others.  I got extremely lucky when I was up against Mean Gene‘s big slick when I held AJ0.  We caught the wheel to chop the pot, and I was still alive.

I blinded down below 6k but was able to chip up.  Up to 12k, I shoved with big slick after oossuuu754′s raise.  My AK held up vs his AJ, and I was finally a bit flush with chips.  I folded a couple more orbits until I knocked out Mookie in this hand.

FullTiltPoker Game #3959477963: The Mookie – Slowrollin’ Dooosh (29914381), Table 5 – 800/1600 Ante 200 – No Limit Hold’em – 1:11:53 ET – 2007/10/25
Seat 3: katitude (10,653)
Seat 4: Astin (86,946)
Seat 5: summer_babe (45,062)
Seat 6: mookie99 (7,433)
Seat 7: irongirl01 (17,841)
Seat 9: csquard (17,306)
katitude antes 200
Astin antes 200
summer_babe antes 200
mookie99 antes 200
irongirl01 antes 200
csquard antes 200
csquard posts the small blind of 800
katitude posts the big blind of 1,600
The button is in seat #7
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to csquard [9c 9h]
Astin folds
summer_babe has 15 seconds left to act
summer_babe raises to 3,200
Astin: probably 10th
mookie99 raises to 7,233, and is all in
irongirl01 folds
Astin:
csquard raises to 17,106, and is all in
katitude folds
summer_babe folds
csquard shows [9c 9h]
mookie99 shows [Qs Ac]
Uncalled bet of 9,873 returned to csquard
*** FLOP *** [7d Td 4s]
*** TURN *** [7d Td 4s] [2c]
*** RIVER *** [7d Td 4s 2c] [2s]
csquard shows two pair, Nines and Twos
mookie99 shows a pair of Twos
csquard wins the pot (20,466) with two pair, Nines and Twos
mookie99: doh
mookie99: gg
mookie99 stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 20,466 | Rake 0
Board: [7d Td 4s 2c 2s]
Seat 3: katitude (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 4: Astin folded before the Flop
Seat 5: summer_babe folded before the Flop
Seat 6: mookie99 showed [Qs Ac] and lost with a pair of Twos
Seat 7: irongirl01 (button) folded before the Flop
Seat 9: csquard (small blind) showed [9c 9h] and won (20,466) with two pair, Nines and Twos

I made the final table with 29k, good for 5th in chips behind ricky424 (78k), Astin (75k), IGGY (46k), and irongirl01 (34k).  I took down a re-raised pot with jacks, then immediately doubled up AlCantHang with my A7o from the sb vs his early all-in of 6,321 with AK (blinds were 1k/2k with a 250 ante).  I folded my way down to five players with nothing.  I was 4th out of four with 37k against Astin (143k), IGGY (79k), and ricky424 (77k).  Unfortunately, we had a quartet of poker players left.  I was able to hold tight with a few walks and taking pots in position.  This was my last hand.  It didn’t work out, but I feel good about the play.

FullTiltPoker Game #3959735665: The Mookie – Slowrollin’ Dooosh (29914381), Table 4 – 1500/3000 Ante 400 – No Limit Hold’em – 1:44:55 ET – 2007/10/25
Seat 1: Astin (160,067)
Seat 2: ricky424 (66,783)
Seat 4: csquard (32,618)
Seat 5: summer_babe (76,532)
Astin antes 400
ricky424 antes 400
csquard antes 400
summer_babe antes 400
ricky424 posts the small blind of 1,500
csquard posts the big blind of 3,000
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to csquard [9d 8d]
summer_babe folds
Astin folds
ricky424 raises to 9,000
csquard raises to 32,218, and is all in
ricky424 calls 23,218
csquard shows [9d 8d]
ricky424 shows [Ad Jd]
*** FLOP *** [4c Jh Js]
*** TURN *** [4c Jh Js] [4d]
*** RIVER *** [4c Jh Js 4d] [3d]
csquard shows two pair, Jacks and Fours
ricky424 shows a full house, Jacks full of Fours
ricky424 wins the pot (66,036) with a full house, Jacks full of Fours
csquard stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 66,036 | Rake 0
Board: [4c Jh Js 4d 3d]
Seat 1: Astin (button) folded before the Flop
Seat 2: ricky424 (small blind) showed [Ad Jd] and won (66,036) with a full house, Jacks full of Fours
Seat 4: csquard (big blind) showed [9d 8d] and lost with two pair, Jacks and Fours
Seat 5: summer_babe folded before the Flop

Congrats to IGGY who bested Astin for the title.  This qualifies IGGY for a seat at the Tournament of Champions, with the winner taking home an Aussie Millions seat.  Thanks to FullTilt for the support for this.  I don’t know everyone who plays in the blogger tourneys anymore, but it was a welcome time to have some fun chat while playing.

Oh, and I had to step away to sign for my new Sony 40″ HD television, compliments of PokerStars.  Online poker may be rigged, but there are some nice fringe benefits.  Congrats to lucko for taking 4th in the $24k Guarantee on FullTilt while we were playing.  That is his second final table in as many Wednesday’s.  A real stud, no doubt.  Trip report from the television set-up, as well as getting the old 1,000 pound television to the basement.