"47 mins in

GreaterThanU mins from utg. I call with 22, flop a set. Min raise his 150 bet, he folds."

I had 44...nice suckout chief.

I'll talk about a few hands that I remember.

Early on when we were 5 handed...I pick up A9 and raise to 80...Cactus re-raises to me to like 240 or so...I'm like "great...he's gonna f-ckin push me around like I'm some kind of joke" I fold..he shows QQ.

Cactus raises to 60...I call in the BB with A9...flop completely misses me..I think it was like J8x...I check...he raises to 80...I fold. I wonder if this was a big hand too.

I was basically card dead. I was in the SB with 82...flop was K6x...I figured it didn't hit anyone...I bet the pot...and Tommy and Juskimo fold...I show and called them both bitches.

I picked up AQ twice on the button and it folded to me...I raised...and both the blinds folded.

I got AJ one time in the BB...it was 3 limpers to be and I just check. I just couldn't hit any flops.

My first pair I get is 22...I raise and everyone folds.

I get another pair! 22 again...I min-raise this time...flop is K9x or somethin similar...I believe it was flafishy who was a shortstack at the time..he checks to me...I bet like half the pot...he pushes...I fold.

I min raised UTG with 44...flop is Q72...Juskimo checks...I bet 150 and he raises to 300...I fold...

I was pretty shortstacked for most of the time and completely card dead. Finally I get JJ in the SB...it folds to me and I get pissed...I just complete hoping Tommy will raise like he did last time...instead he checks...F-CK...flop is J8x...and I'm like "sweet...I need to double up"...I check...Tommy bets 100...I push for like 595 more...he folds..

I pushed with AK when I was still under 1000 and everyone folded.

After the break I started to get a few more hands...first hand I get A8 suited and push...everyone folds.

Next hand I get A9 suited and push...everyone folds.

Next I get 99...folds to SB who completes and I raise to 600...he folds...

Then I get 55 UTG...I push...and Juskimo takes me out with 77...

That's all my exciting action.

Was a good tourney against tough players. While everyone had their eyes on me, I had to watch Juskimo, who quietly made a big stack and made life a lot harder for me. He pushed me off several pots when he was out of position. Not an easy thing to do.

I'll comment on one hand which raised a lot of eyebrows.

I called TripleBets all in A9 with 87s. Here's why. First, TB was on the button and I was in the big blind. TB was rightfully opening up his range at this point, so I couldn't put him on any really big hand. I had him covered by 3 to 1 in chips. If I bust him, I've got a much better chance of winning and if I lose, I'm still in okay shape with about 2000 chips.

87s is a very good hand in this spot because you figure you're not going to be dominated unless they are holding something like A8 or A7. You've got live cards. As the hand played out, neither of us improved, which isn't unusual. A pair most often takes it. A9 and 87 are the same as regards to odds of pairing up. A9o has no possibility of making a straight and the slimmest chance of making a flush, where my suited hand has both. Therefore, I figure I have enough chances that it's worth calling in this spot. If he has a pocket pair, I'm toast.

A comment or two about how I played, which I think surprised some people. One said I was playing far differently than I recommend on the forum. Very, very true. Against this table, I felt the best strategy was being ultra-aggressive and pretty loose. I was very loose in comparison, but not quite as loose as it appeared because I caught a lot of good hands. Not as many as players thought, but so many I could use my apparent "card rack" luck to my advantage. I played a lot of small ball and raised with some hands that most would fold, and no doubt would be the correct decision. Because this table was no doubt going to be very tight and are all good players, I had to go opposite if I were to have the best chance. I got a lot of chips when I had a good hand, and added to my stack when I didn't. I got very lucky.

I couldn't recommend anyone, even these very good players, playing the way I played. In most $10 SNGs, you'd lose. These guys could fold a hand that might be the best hand. That won't often happen in the regular tourneys we play. These guys are smart, tough and experienced players, the exact opposite of the usual. They may even have recognized what I was often doing, but given the number of good hands I showed and the position I held when making the moves, there was often nothing they could do about it. Having played a few tourneys, I've racked up a lot of experience. I can get away from hands that I'm unsure about, keep the pot within a range that doesn't get out of hand, and played position. I had huge chips swings which most would not be comfortable playing with, and have done this kind of thing so often that I don't get concerned when I go from penthouse to outhouse. It's not the recommended path to glory, but against good competition, you can't afford to out TAG everybody. It's risky, and you aren't going to win every one, but good players really hate playing against and ultra-LAG. I know I do.

I take my hat off to all you guys. No one donked it up. Everybody played to the best of their ability and forced me to play at the highest level of mine. Luckily, I got the cards more often. I didn't outplay them. I outlucked them.

I hope this was as rewarding an experience for everyone as it was for me. This is the kind of competition we'll be seeing down the road. A great experience on the cheap. Very high value.

CJ--luckbox extraordinaire

Although it was 4 am for me and that I was feeding the baby in the first 15 minutes I had fun.

I really liked the different play styles and the way people could fold hands.

Myself I had some great hands but at the wrong moments. I was really wondering of what you would bet or call or reraise in my position.

AA in BB all fold only GTU in small blind calls. He has a smaller stack and I don't want him to get too lucky and I also like a pot with this hand. So I minireraise ( 50-100 blinds ).
He folds saying he is not gonna play this game. Would you have called any other raise GTU? Or should I have taken my chance and give him a free flop?

As I scroll down the handhistorie there still were a few hands I could have been killed with ( or big with ).
When I held 99 and CJ raised on a K high board. For some reason I had a huch that he did not have an K but still too much for me. ( I do quite well with my hunches ). I laid the pair down and CJ showed me Tens.

First palyable hand I get is AQ I raise to 150 and Roy (Godlike ) reraises to t$400. I folded that hand where it could have gotten expensive . What you had...huh huh.?

I get A9 next hand and want to get my blinds back. All folded to me and decide to fold because CJ is getting tricj=ky at this point and I don't know what to bet. He raises and shows AQ. So playing against CJ is difficult because you don't know what to bet and throw away ok blind stealing hands. On the other hand it makes it easier to play because you can get some action on descent hands.

Next hand I get A9 again but suited this time I am OOP and GTU rasies standard raise. I fold, Flafishy called. Flop is K94 with one of my suit. GTU goes all in anf FLA folds. I don't believe him for a K but it could have been expensive here.

I get AQ and call a $250 raise By SEBQ and now that idot Jack comes in again with a $400 reraise Seb goes all in and I gotta bail out knowing that Jack is serious about it.
We have a JJ vs KK battle and Jack is holding the Kings (confusing huh) K9Q85 board and jack torpedo's the Sub.

I get a lot of Ax hands but decide to fold them all in middle of the game.

A9 again GTU goes all in for $900 which is half my stack with 6 players behind me I fold.

in SB and devious jack in BB. I mini raise thinking this would scare him like hell. Jack calls. flop. I bet $150 and jack raises $300. Now in a normal game my $150 would have been enough and being reraised would in most cases be the end of the betting 4 me.But I know Jack is representing something he does not have.
I call ( why not raise when you are so sure Tommy..huh huh ).
Turn brings the I check Jack makes it $600 and I CR him all in $1200. Jack calls saying he has 5:1 . and he makes his str8 but it lightens up my flush.

44 I raise the blinds to $600 ( 100-200 ) Jack goes all in and I fold looking at his A10.

sb and make it $600 again against CJ. He calls. . I already decide to play all the way here but want some of his chips in I check. CJ bets $1200 and I throw my last chips in pot ( starsted hand with $1800 vs 3K of CJ.)
Scare me because it's been like that all week ( 2 now ) and what you fear most has to come. Turn and I get that same feeling of dispair, rage and unjustice. Untill shows up on the river.

in BB again and I get a warm feeling. My eyes are on jack..come on boy make a move...no...nobody? only Triple calls his SB and I am in the same position again. I think he will fold any raise and I check in the hopes he flops something small ( i normally justraise). flop oh boy did I woke a monster. Triple checks and I BTP he folds. Now thats the third time I get a #1 hand in the BB and don't know how to play it. I would like some info here.

Next hand I get AJ of and put Jack all in for his last $900. Ofcourse he calls with 108 o. I loose this %65-35 hand when he makes a str8 and I pumped the life back in to him and I know he is gonna run over us now.

Next hands are all without any face cards and I move all in with against of juskimo and he improves.

It was a great game and liked it very much.
Going for number 2 next week?

I have to check that one I am at work now so look tommorow the hand does not ring a bell.

Next time, we'll make it more convenient for TB. 4 a.m. is either too early or too late, I think. Gotta admire the man's dedication.

Funny, I played pretty well against the guys in the BTP Big Game and in this. Too bad I have to go back to playing the donkeys who don't know how to fold a hand and don't know you don't draw to the fourth suited card to make a flush. sheesh

I know flafishy didn't get any hands. With me on his right, he would have made life tough.

Tommy ripped me good with that K boat on the river. I returned the favor later with a flush on the river, and the world was once again in balance.

It's very cool to play good players. You know you gotta work for your chips.

Thanks for the participation. I'm all set to defend.

CJ

CJ,
Can you look in PT and tell me what you had against me in HH# 4112377416? I had ATo and shouldn't have called your CR on the flop after I had bet ~½pot but I'm still curious what you had that you made that CR with. Was that a CR bluff? I finally did lay it down after you led out on the turn, but I was so damned curious. Other than AJ, KJ or ANOTHER DAMN PP, I couldn't figure what you might have that you would have called my 4xBB PFR with from the BB. I knew I should have folded to the CR but for some reason I had a hunch you were pulling a fast one so I called since I had the gutshot str8 and BD flush draws and position going for me. Obviously when that rag hit the turn and I lost any chance at the flush, I had to lay down to your bet. Believe it or not, that hand hurt worse than the JJ vs KK hand that you put me out with even though it was only about 30% of my stack at that time.
-Seb

Here's the HH from my PT db.

saw flop|saw showdown

SB (t1670)
BB (t2355)
UTG (t800)
UTG+1 (t2090)
Hero (t1840)
MP2 (t1635)
CO (t1370)
Button (t1740)

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with , .
2 folds, Hero raises to t200, 4 folds, BB calls t150.

Flop: (t425) , , (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t200, BB raises to t500, Hero calls t300.

Turn: (t1425) (2 players)
BB bets t600, Hero folds.

Final Pot: t2025

You're right, CJ. I wasn't getting much to play. Looking back over the HHs, the only decent hands I got I didn't get any action on. I folded a couple of PPs to preflop raises, but after losing about half my stack early to Juskimo, I had to tighten up and find places to strike.

I just noticed that the only two times I got any action on a pot I raised was the second hand of the tourney when Juskimo nailed me with a flopped set against my top pair and the hand Juskimo took me out on.

CJ, I'm curious. What did you have on this hand? I was ready to strike with an all-in raise against TripleB but you beat me to the punch.

PokerStars Game #4112988756: Tournament #20023318, Hold'em No Limit - Level V (75/150) - 2006/02/26 - 23:16:53 (ET)
Table '20023318 1' Seat #2 is the button
Seat 2: CactusJack49 (2190 in chips)
Seat 3: flafishy (1900 in chips)
Seat 5: Juskimo (3660 in chips)
Seat 7: Triple B2 (1920 in chips)
Seat 9: tommyhawk (3830 in chips)
flafishy: posts small blind 75
Juskimo: posts big blind 150
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to flafishy [7c 7d]
Triple B2: raises 300 to 450
tommyhawk: folds
flafishy said, "all i knew is that you didn't have the K. That's all I cared."
CactusJack49: raises 1740 to 2190 and is all-in
flafishy: folds
Juskimo: folds
Triple B2: folds
tommyhawk said, "bot push?"
CactusJack49 collected 1125 from pot
CactusJack49: doesn't show hand
Triple B2 said, "nb"
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 1125 | Rake 0
Seat 2: CactusJack49 (button) collected (1125)
Seat 3: flafishy (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 5: Juskimo (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 7: Triple B2 folded before Flop
Seat 9: tommyhawk folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Yeah, that was a great tourney.

I drew almost the perfect position once the tables merged. Budge did not quite seem comfortable with the table talk or the style of play and I kinda stuck it to flatfishy before the merge when I (super passivly) rolled a set of 5s into his TPTK. I had great position Seb, TB and GTU, all of whom were relativly short stacked on my left and flafishy and budge on my right. CJ was in almost perfect position for me 3 to my right, while Tommy and Godike had to deal with him directly to their left.

There is really only 1 hand that I think I misplayed. Right after we got down to 4 handed.

To Preface, we finally got CJ down to a little more than 1k in chips. He had gotten a good run of cards early and had used that momentum to play a very laggy game and had been in command in the early part. I had been picking my spots and trying to push him off of marginal hands when I knew he was using his stack and position. I thought I did a pretty good job of doing it when he had position on me, kind of counting on him knowing that I was less likely to be making moves OOP. but anyway.

We got CJ down to 1090 or so when these two hands happened in quick succession. I think that hand #2 was the only hand in the tourney that I really misplayed. Had I folded on the turn, I think I might have had a better chance once we got down to HU.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t200 (4 handed)

saw flop|saw showdown

BB (t1090)
Hero (t7960)
Button (t1590)
SB (t2860)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with , .
2 folds, SB raises to t1000, BB raises to t1090, SB calls t90.

Flop: (t2180) , , (2 players)

Turn: (t2180) (2 players)

River: (t2180) (2 players)

Final Pot: t2180

Results in white below:
BB has Ts 8h (straight, jack high).
SB has Jc Ah (one pair, jacks).
Outcome: BB wins t2180.

This was the very next hand. My one mistake.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t200 (4 handed)

saw flop|saw showdown

SB (t2180)
Hero (t7960)
UTG (t1590)
Button (t1770)

Preflop: Hero is BB with , .
2 folds, SB completes, Hero checks.

Flop: (t400) , , (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets t600, SB calls t600.

Turn: (t1600) (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets t600, SB raises to t1380, Hero calls t780.

River: (t4360) (2 players)

Final Pot: t4360

Results in white below:
SB has 2h Jh (flush, ace high).
Hero has Js Td (one pair, tens).
Outcome: SB wins t4360.

I dont think he was going to lay it down. I should have either pushed the flop or check folded.

Beyond that, it was a very good time and I look forward to playing next week.

-Jus

Seb,

#4112377416

I had KJ for TP with K kicker.

flafishy

#4112988756

KQ Woulda been a race.

Jus,

For someone who doesn't like to play HE, you are some tough player.

Some interesting notes from PT...

With all the PPs I got, I only had 2 sets. Those two sets busted 2 players. One set didn't matter, as I had KK over JJ.

I played no hands at all from UTG+1. I had a VP$iP of 50% from the button and 29% from the CO. The stats show I played fewer hands in each position closer to the blinds, except UTG where I was 50%--2 hands. I did play a lot of hands from the blinds.

Played 52% from the first level, but fewer in the second and third. Made a lot of hay in that first one, although I should have value betted a straight when I hoped I'd get a bet on the river.

Interesting stuff from PT.

CJ