I cashed in my first ever MTT this weekend. I joined a $10 NL tournament where 607 people entered. It was a lot of fun, and I did pretty good. I was in the top ten for a long time, and ended up going out in 19th place.

Thanks to Suhleafs for sweating me.

Here is how it went:


Level 2: First hand I've played, and I get KK on the button. I raise to 5x the BB. SB, and 1 limper call. Flop comes out 9, 7, 4 rainbow. I bet 3/4 pot and take it down.

Level 3: I limp in on the button with J8s. 4 people see a 3, 4, 6 flop. Checked around. turn is an 8, completing the rainbow. I make a 3/4 pot bet and get one caller. River is another 8. I make 1/2 pot bet and he folds. I'm up to 1965 in chips.

level 3: I limp with 34s. 6 people see the flop of 6, K, T with 2 diamonds. I make a semi-bluff bet of 2/3 pot. Raise and re-raise behind me, so I fold. Down to 1715.

level 3: I limp with pockets 6's UTG (Under the Gun, first to act). 4 people see the flop of A, 6, T with 2 spades. I make a pot bet with my trips and all fold. Up to 1890.

level 3: I'm dealt AQ on the button. UTG makes a min raise. I pop it for 3x his raise. BB and original raiser calls! Flop is4, 5, 9 with 2 spades. Checked to me, and I make a healthy 3/4 pot bet for half my stack committing myself. Both fold. Up to 2440.

Its now level 4, and I haven't had to show down a hand yet!

Level 4: Steal some blinds with KJ and AK.

Level 5: I'm in the Cutoff (position right before the button). It's folded to me and I have K9o. I raise 3x BB attempting to steal. SB goes all in. It's only 750 more to call, so I do. He shows AQ. Flop comes 9 high, and I take it down. First hand I've had to show down. I'm up to 4150.

Level 6: I'm in MP and get dealt AT of clubs. Big Stack to my right limps, and I raise 4X BB. The small stack in BB goes all in (only had a little more than the BB left). Big stack calls. Flop is 8, 5, 5 with 2 clubs. We check it around. Turn is a 2 of clubs, giving me the flush. I bet just under half pot, and big stack calls. River is a blank. I bet the rest of chips, which is about half pot, and big stack calls. He shows an over pair, and I double up. I now have 7200 chips.

Level 7: I'm in MP with AK. I raise it up to 3.5 BB, and get two callers, Yuck. Flop is 7, 9, T, with 2 spades. I check and button makes a 3/4 bet pot. I fold.

Level 8: Blinds 200/400. I have 5429 and an M of 7. Wild big stack to my right bets 3x BB. I move all-in on him with A7o. He folds!

Level 8: I'm in the SB with AKs. EP with about the same stack as me bets 3x BB. I go all-in and he folds. I'm up to 9000 in chips.

I turn on the aggression, and start stealing a lot more blinds. I even steal with 37o from the SB. up to 11,000 chips.

Level 9: I raise 3x BB with 78o from the CO attempting to steal. Button calls. Flop comes out 7, 9, 2. I bet half pot, and button folds. Up to 14,000

level 10, and we are in the money. Woot! I think I am in the Top 20, with about 60 left.

Level 10: Big hand here. I have 18,000, villain has 26,000. I bet 3x BB, 2400, in EP with pocket Tens. Villain raises it 4000 to 6400. I go all-in. Pot is at 25,400. he needs to call 11,600 more giving him odds of 2.2:1. But he folds! Wow! Up to 25,000 in chips.

Next hand: I'm BB with A6s. EP bets only 2x BB, so I have odds to call. Flop is J, 7, 6 giving me bottom pair. I bet 2/3 pot and he calls. A Ten comes on the turn giving 3 clubs out there, which I have none of, and I check. He bets small, like 1/4 pot and I call. River king and we check it down. He shows pocket Tens and takes it. Yuck. Down to 19,000

Still level 10: I get pocket 9s in MP and make a 3x BB raise. SB who has 1/3 as many chips as me goes all-in and I call. He shows AK, and I win the coinflip. Up to 28,000.

Level 11: I get AK in EP and raise 3x BB. Small stack in LP goes all-in and I call. He shows A2 and I knock him out. Up to 38,500 chips.

Level 12: I get AQ in MP. I bet 3x BB, and the button calls. Flop comes Q high. I make a half pot bet and take it down. I'm up to 45,000. I think I am about 6th or 7th place.

It's now level 13, and I've been stealing lots of blinds and build my stack up to 52,000.

Level 13: I get TJo in the SB. 1 limper, and I call, so 3 see the flop. Flop is 7, T, Q. I make half pot bet, and dude who has me covered calls. Turn is a 4. I check, and he bets small, like 1/8 pot. I call. River is another 4. I check and he bets 20,000, which is pot. I fold. He shows 67s. I would have won. Damnit, I should have bet that turn. He probably would have folded. he limped UTG with 67s. I'm down to 38,000. If I would have called that bet, I think I would have been in the top 3.

Level 13. Another bad hand for me. 6 people on the table. I get A9 in the BB. Maniac dude bets 2x BB. Big Big stack calls, as do I. Flop is 2, 3, 9 giving me top pair, top kicker. Good flop for me, right? I act first so I bet 3/5 pot. They both call! Yuck! I think I'm done with the hand. Turn is a Ten. I check, stupid maniac guy min bets, and big stack raises, which is only 1/3 pot. I fold, and stupid guy calls. River is another 2. Stupid dude checks, big stack bets 20,000 (about 1/4 pot), and stupid dude folds. I'm pretty sure I played this bad. Do you think I was beat? I had a hard time putting anyone ona hand there. Down to 25,000 in chips.

Level 14: I'm dealt A4s in MP. I raise it 3.5x BB. Dude who has me coverd min-raises. ugg, I fold, figuring I'm beat. He shows pocket 5's.

Level 14. Next hand. 19 people left. I'm dealt pocket tens in MP. I go all-in, as my M is 3. Small blind calls with AK. I'm good after the flop, but an Ace comes on the turn, and I go home in 19th place

1 spot to the final 2 tables. If I would have lasted one more spot, I would have made at least another $30. I did end up making a profit of $25 for my 19th out of 607 place. Going from 6th place to out in 19th in 9 hands. Ouch!

It sure was fun though. I played really good poker up until those last couple hands. I never got dealt Aces, Queens, or Jacks. And only got dealt Kings once. About halfway through, the chip leader at that point got moved to our table and got aces. He said that was the 5th time he got dealt rockets already. Talk about luck.

Cheers!