Starstealer's Tournament Report - $10+1 NL HE tournament with rebuys

Well, after yesterday's sad finish when my AK ran into AT and got crushed by a ten on the river, I was determined to make a better show in the tournament tonight. I wasn't going to miss the addon and I was going to play better.

Hand #5, I have pocket aces in MP. The player on my right (2880) limps and I raise to 100 (5xBB). I get one call (1440) and the limper calls as well. The flop is 39Q with 2 clubs. The first limper checks and I bet 380 into the 330 pot. The LP caller now raises me the minimum and the other player merely calls. I put it on the line here - raising allin - and both players call. I've got the raiser covered by 30. The raiser had KQo and the limper had JTo. My aces hold up and very quickly I'm up to 4410.

Hand #8, I have pocket queens in UTG+1. UTG (calling station...) limps in, and I raise to 100 (5xBB). The SB (6410) calls, as does the limper (2850). The flop is QJT. The SB checks and the limper bets 100 into the pot, I raise to 600. The SB folds and now the limper comes over the top all-in. I call without hesitation (if he's got AK - so be it). He has J9o and misses an 8 or a king to knock me off my hand. I'm up to 7380.

Hand #12, I have A3s (clubs) on the button. There are three limpers before me, so I limp as well. Both blinds come in and the flop is 3QQ. Everyone checks to me, so I bet 160 into the 120 pot and everyone folds.

I don't get anything playable until hand #42. Here I catch pocket kings in MP. There are two limpers before me (8k, 2.8k (fish)), so I raise up to 600 (6xBB). It folds to the fish, who calls. The flop is 568 with 2 hearts and he pushes - I call very quickly. He has A8o and doesn't improve further. I'm up to 10260.

Hand #48, I have ATo on the button. MP min raises to 200 (all-in) and is called by the fish on my right (4950). I call and both blinds fold. The flop is 56K - all diamonds (I have the ten). We check through the flop and turn ([Jh]). The river is the - I decide to check - but kick myself heavily because I didn't realize I had the flush at first... I take the pot. The all-in player had A4o and the fish had 82s (spades).

Hand #49, I have pocket nines in the cutoff. UTG+1 limps in and I raise to 500 (5xBB). Only the limper calls (15k). The flop is A26 with 2 diamonds and the limper pushes. I fold.

Hand #50, I have pocket nines in MP. There are two limpers in front of me (7600, 4750 - fish), and I raise to 500 (5xBB). The button (1700) reraises the minimum to 900 and it folds back to me. I call. The flop is AT3 and I push the other player in. He calls with AQo and takes the pot.

-- In this hand - if I'm just pushing him in anyway - I think it would have been better to do so preflop. The result would've been the same for sure - but at least I would be pushing in on a high board.

The first break happens after hand #44. I partake in the addon and now have a stack of 10360. There are 3 players above me (18.6k, 17.3k, 11k). The rest of the players have 8k or less.

Hand #68, I have pocket tens and raise from MP to 600 (4xBB) - everyone folds behind me.

Hand #69, I have A4s (spades) and limp from MP after UTG (28k) limps. The cutoff min. raises and the limper and I both call. The flop is AK7 with 2 spades. UTG bets 450 into the 975 pot and I call. The turn is an offsuit 9 and now UTG bets out enough to set me allin - I fold. He shows A9o.

Hand #81, I have pocket jacks UTG and raise to 800 (4xBB) - everyone folds.

In hand #87, the antes start in. I have pocket 3s in MP. Fish on my right (4700) limps, I limp and the button limps (5160). Both blinds come in as well (4205, 18.4k). The flop is 235 with 2 diamonds and it is checked to me. I bet 1600 into the 1225 pot. The button and the BB both call. The turn is the and I push in 6810 into the 6k pot. They both fold.

In hand #92, I have ATs (diamonds) in the SB and complete after 2 limpers (7760, 43.5k). The BB checks (29.7k). The flop is 7JK with 2 diamonds and it is checked to the big stack who bets 800 into the 1025 pot. I call but everyone else folds. The turn is the and he now bets 11k into me to put me allin - I fold.

-- This is the same player as in most of the other hands. He has this tendency to just push people in since his stack is large. I have no intention on calling him with my draw - but I'm definitely more vigilant about the hands I get involved with him in.

Hand #109, I have AKo in the BB. A MP raises to 1200 (3xBB) and it folds to me - I call. The flop is 58Q and I check - he checks behind me. The turn is a king and I bet 1600 into the 2825 pot - he folds.

Hand #110, I have AKs (spades) in the SB. UTG (15.6k) raises to 1200 (3xBB) and it folds to me - I call. The flop is 7TK with 2 diamonds. I bet 2k into the 3025 pot - he folds.

Hand #114, I have pocket sixes in MP. It is folded to me and I limp in. The SB raises all in to 2410 and it folds back to me. I'd have to call 2k here - about 1/6th of my stack - so I fold.

By the time the 2nd break came around after hand #120, I had 12735 in chips with the blinds heading to 300/600 with a 50 ante.

Hand #127, I'm in the BB with 35o and only one player limps in (18k - the guy who used to have 40+k before). The flop is 479 and I check - he checks behind me. The turn is a 6 (giving me the straight). I bet 1800 into the 1900 pot - he folds.

-- Here I was hoping he would perceive my bet as weak - though I suppose there wasn't much risk in letting him draw another card. Still - I was happy to take the pot.

Hand #137, I'm in the SB with pocket eights. A MP limps (8k) and the fish (39.7k) on my right raises to 5400 (9xBB). I reraise all-in to 11685 and the limper folds - the fish calls. He shows KQo. The flop is AT9 but he misses his cards and I take the pot. I'm up to 25020.

-- The funny thing is - in the next hand, he puts a comment in the chat window: "ill tell ya up my ASSSSS all night gh"

Hand #152, I have AJo in UTG+1 and raise to 2400 (3xBB). It folds around.

Hand #164, I have pocket sixes in the SB and it folds to me. The BB has 11k to my 21k. I raise to 3600 (3xBB) and he folds.

Hand #166, I have AQs (hearts). It folds to the fish on my right (12k), who pushes allin. I reraise all-in and everyone folds. He has K4s (clubs). He doesn't catch and I'm up to 37822. I'm actually kind of sad to see him go as I've taken the most chips off of him, but now I'm in good chip position (that is until I actually checked - I was slightly above average only...).

Hand #175, I have QJo in the cutoff and it folds to me. I raise to 6k (3xBB) and the others fold.

Hand #186, I have KTo in MP and raise to 6k (3xBB) and everyone folds. I'm still at 37722.

Hand #190, I have A8s (hearts) in the BB. A MP limps (29544) and the SB (10326) completes. The flop is 46Q with 2 hearts and the SB checks. I bet 4k. The limper minimum raises to 8k - which folds the SB. At this point, I suspect he's got a queen, but beyond that I'm not sure. I'm hoping the turn will be my heart, but an ace might just do it. The turn is an offsuit ace and I push him for his remaining 20k. He calls quickly - flipping AQo. I miss my heart on the river and now I'm down to 7878.

-- I guess I was a little surprised that the player would simply limp with AQo this late in the tourney. He earned his chips, but I was in bad shape now. We hit the break right after that hand. Blinds were heading to 1500/3000 with a 150 ante.

Hand #191, I have J4s (spades). It folds to the cutoff who raises allin to 10k - I call. He has AQo, but I hit a jack on the flop and now have 19806.

Hand #202, I have A8o in MP and raise all-in to 13656. Everyone folds. I'm back to 19356.

Hand #209, I have pocket sevens in MP and raise all-in to 16806. The player who beat me in hand 190 is the only caller. He has AKo and neither of us improve. I'm up to 36462.

Hand #224, I have AKs (clubs) on the button. UTG (34k) min raises to 8k and it folds to me. I push to 21512, he deliberates and decides to call. He has ATs and the board flops a ten.

I'm out in 105th.

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In general, I'm happy with my play in this tournament. Though I clearly got lucky in some instances, having the fish on my right really helped. This is the second time during the weekend that AK got crushed by AT to knock me out of a tournament. Go figure...

Losing to those 3 outers really sucks!

In hand #127, I don't see how a T1800 bet into a T1900 pot would be considered weak??? Now, T400 or T500 would be weak!

In hand #137, what range of hands did you put the fish on? Did you feel that he would make this play with a weak A or an underpair to your 88? This seems like a coinflip situation to me.

#137 - yes - the fish could really be playing any 2 in this position. If it was suited - he was there - and that includes 45s, 36s, 27s - he could also be on overcards and smaller or even bigger pocket pairs. Such that he was, I would take a gamble that I'm ahead here at least 50% of the time. Even in the coin flip situation, I'm the one ahead of him - so he's still going to need to hit. The only thing I wish I could say is that I had fold equity. Frankly - if he was in the pot at all - he was calling it down (he did fold once or twice - but it wasn't often...).

#127 - I agree - I thought I had put in a weak bet, but it turns out that I bet almost the pot, don't know why I called it weak. Maybe I was "thinking" weak - so maybe it would transmit... I don't know - moment of absurdity I guess. Minimum bet would've been 600 though - I guess I should've stuck with that...

(And thanks for the end game sympathy - yes 3 outers do suck...)

AK loses to AT again to knock you out. I see a trend.

One comment I like to make is that you may play too straightforward. Despite you occasional bluff, when you hit a hand, you bet out. You don't seem to try to check raise occasionally which could help. Second, when you call, you are on draws. Have you tried raising with draws? This could put you in some danger but you could win some more pots this way.