Bond18 - Around the World in 90 Days: Day 44

Posted by Bond18 | Filed under Bond18

I arrive at the Rio well in advance for my 2pm start time. I’ve drawn a table with Raj and my friend StevoL, though ours will be one of the first in the breaking order.

At the beginning very little happens. A fair bit of the table is short stacked and players are moving in preflop and occasionally getting called. The only slightly interesting pot I play is with Raj, when I flat call his preflop raise with TT and take the pot on an 8 high turn. Our table breaks and we begin drawing very close to the money.

Approaching the money I find KK in the BB and online player ‘Mr. TimCaum’ raises on the CO. The button calls and after the SB folds I squeeze to 25,800 with about 70,000 behind. TimCaum goes into the tank and asks how much I have then after I tell him elects to fold. The button folds as well and I regret not making it about 3,000 less, since it would afford him more room to squeeze.

The player three seats on my left has amassed a huge stack and begins running over the table. I end up raising quite a few hands as I find some decent ones to open with. I always think the massive chip leader is about to pop me, but each time he passes and the bubble passes smooth and is very uneventful for me. I enter the money with 114,000 in chips, a bit above the average but not by much.

An orbit into the money I get involved in a pot with Stevo on my left:

My stack: ~100,000, Stevo: ~80,000, blinds 1,500/3,000 with 400 ante. I hold AhAc in MP2.

Preflop; Folds to me, I raise to 8,000, HJ folds, Stevo shoves, folds back to me, I call. Stevo shows AQo and we’re already shaking hands before the board comes out.

Flop: 4 4 8

Turn: Q

I tell Steve: “Well if anyone was going to do this, I’d prefer it’s you.”

River: T

Phew. With that hand my stack soars well above average and I find myself with some serious breathing room.

An orbit later I find myself involved in a hand with the fairly straight forward middle aged guy on my right:

My stack: ~180k, SB: ~50,000, blinds 1,500/3,000 with 400 ante. I hold J8o on the BB.

Preflop: Folds to the SB, SB completes, I check.

Flop: 5s 4s 3d

SB bets 5,000, and I decide to float since I think he’d fold his worst hands preflop.

Turn: Ad

SB checks, I fire 9,000. He quickly calls. Oops.

River: Jh

Sweet, I just sucked out to massive showdown value. I check behind expecting to look like a moron when he tables one pair and I show my rivered jack. Instead he tables 53o and I muck telling him two pair’s good.

Blinds go up to 2,000/4,000 and we lose more and more players as time goes by. My table is a pretty tough line up of mostly young and aggressive players. I see the player in seat 9 talking to online player ‘mastr’ and assume he’s an online guy. A couple orbits into the level we get involved:

My stack: ~160k, CO: ~200k, blinds 2,000/4,000 with 500 ante. I hold QcJc in the BB.

Preflop: Folds to the CO, CO raises to 11,000, folds to me in the BB, I call.

Flop: 4d 7s Th

I check, CO checks.

Turn: Qh

I bet 16,000, CO thinks briefly, then announces all in.

“What? Wait…what the hell?….I mean….what the hell?”

I sit back in my chair and go into the tank. Nobody would ever play a set like this. He can’t have AA/KK and check back the flop. KQ doesn’t shove the turn. QT bets the flop. AQ is the only thing that isn’t a draw that makes even the slightest bit of sense, and even still I think with any hand he thinks is good he raises to 46,000 instead of making such a large over-shove. The only thing that makes sense is a draw. Yes, he has to have a draw.

“I…call?” I announce. He taps the table and shyly turns over his hand, Jh7h, for a pair and a flush draw.

River: 7c

Whoa. I reel backwards slightly when the card hits. Shit, that was a pot to be second in the tournament with 46 left. I’d be angry about that card if I wasn’t feeling so fucking smug about my call. The whole table compliments the call and a couple of them come over to shake my hand.

As I’m walking off ‘Mastr’ chases me down and gives me a big hug. What could be better after busting a tournament than a big hug from a Seth Rogan lookalike? I finish in 46^th place for something like $11,800 or whatever; I don’t feel like bothering with the collection right now. At least tomorrow I’ll get to sleep in before I go play the Bellagio $2,000.

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