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#038 – FTOPS #7 Update A – The View from a Very Tough Table
There were 703 entrants initially. 527 remain. There were 811 rebuys and 366 add-ons. The average is 5,687. The prize pool is just over $375,0200. 72 will be paid. Bottom-money gets $850 or so. First place gets over $90,000. I am hanging tough. I did not rebuy at the start, hung around 1,200-1,300 chips, then picked up enough chips to be ineligible to rebuy. Then things got better from there. At the break, I have 8,754 (boosted by by 2,000 add-on). So I have $416 riding on this one, plus the fact I’ve played every one of these and haven’t cashed yet.
These are my notes taken during the first hour.
I started off drawing a ridiculous table, including 2 Full Tilt Poker pros and the winner of Event #1:
1. PohkerIzPhun
2. Me
3. Paul Sexton
4. jpo123 (winner of Event #1 last week)
5. nuwildcat50
6. Tony Pisser (an extremely successful Full Tilt tournament player)
7. nvestr21
8. Aaron Bartley
9. Bluechip200
On the second hand, in the small blind, I picked up J-J. It was folded to me, I raised to 60, and Paul Sexton in the big blind folded. On the next hand, Tony Pisser and jpo123 were all-in ater a flop of Js-Ts-6c. Tony had 9s-3s. jpo12 had Qs-6s. jpo was ahead and got further ahead with another 6 on the river. Quickly, he had 6,000. Tony Pisser discovered that the auto-rebuy feature works.
22 minutes in, I just noticed that Toto Leonidas is the first pro to bust. No rebuy?
26 minutes in, I win my first real pot, calling a raise with T-9o in the small blind. The flop is 9 high. I check to Tony Pisser, the raiser, but he also checks. I bet the turn and he called. We both checked the jack on the end. Tony had 3-3. The table folds to my raise with 2-2 on the button. 1,720 chips.
On the eighth hand, I open-raised in middle position. jpo123 flat-called and Tony Pisser moved all-in for 2,900. I folded, as did jpo. Tony said, “I thought we were gambling.”
Tony’s been moving all-in pretty frequently during the first 15 minutes. I raised with blind with A-Qo. jpo flat-called behind me (notice a pattern here?) and Tony in the big blind called. The flop was 7-8-9, with two hearts. I bet 3/4 the pot, and braced for an all-in. They folded.
After 15 minutes, I have 1,390, and am ashamed to say I’m playing like a scaredy-cat. It’s certainly not the money. I just like to play flops with substandard hands and put myself in a position to get lucky. Tony Pisser wants to make me bet that I’m GOING TO get lucky. Even though he is betting on the same thing, the folding equity he has is huge, at least at the start.
17 minutes in, YourTimeIsUp has 24,000. No one else has 10,000. Chip average is 2,500. That table has nearly 50,000 in chips. 649 of the 703 in the field are still in. There have been 421 rebuys.
21 minutes in, I pick up my second decent pocket pair, T-T. Just like with the jacks, everyone folds. 1,420.
30 minutes in, notice David Chiu and Stuart Paterson are on the first page of the leaderboard. Average chips are 3,061. 536 rebuys so far.
33 minutes, I win a pot raising with Th-7h in late position. The big blind, nuwildcat50, calls. We both check the flop, 9-5-9. We both check the 7 on the turn. After an 8 on the river, he bets out and I call.
My pair beats his A-3.
I double up to 3900 on the next hand when I get K-K. Tony Pisser in the big blind calls my raise, as does a limper. After a flop of Q-5-2, I bet 360 into the 500 pot. Tony moves all-in, the limper folds, and I call. He has A-3o, and jokes “7 outs, ship it.” But he doesn’t catch any of them, and he soon rebuys again.
40 minutes in, I win both hands on my blinds. Aaron Bartley raises my 50 BB to 150 and I call with K-9. After a flop of K-Q-6, I check-raise and he folds. On the next hand, on my small blind, PohkerIzPfun raises to 180. I think maybe he’s doing that beause Paul Sexton, the big blind, appears to be absent. I call with 8s-5s. The flop is 5-3-J, one spade. I just check-call when he bets 200 into the 410 pot. We both check the turn, Ts. When the river 7s makes me a flush, I make a small bet, 1/3 the pot. Pohker folds.
A few hands later, I re-raise with Q-Q and everyone folds. I have 4,945. 15 minutes to the break.
Under the gun, I raised to 150 with Jc-Tc. I was flat-called by – who else? jpo123 and Tony Pisser. The flop came Ah-Qs-6s. I figured I’m EXPECTED to have an ace here, so I bet 300, a bit more than 1/2 the pot. They both called.
The turn – come on, non-spade queen! – is the six of hearts. I have no pair, an 2 overcards on board, an inside-straight draw, and there are 2 flush draws out there.
I’m thinking these guys aren’t flat-calling me with an ace, and they are expecting me to have one, so I fired a seond bullet, half the pot. jpo123 folded right away. Tony Pisser thought it over. Then he folded.
“Arrgh.” “I was this close to calling.”
Me: “I figured it would be all-in or nothing on the turn.”
Tony: “yeah.” “I was pretty sure you weren’t folding.”
7 minutes to the end of the rebuy period and I still haven’t rebought. I have 5,160 and something BAD has to happen for me to need a rebuy. I will, however, add-on at the break.
On the last hand before the break, I get 8s-7s in late position. I flat-call an early-position raise. When the flop is 3-2-7, the raiser checks. I bet 2/3 the pot. He moves all-in and, though I’m afraid I’ve been trapped, I call. He has A-K and does not improve. This moves me up (I had lost one of my call-along-from-the-BB-with-a-pair dealies to A-A) to 7,600.
