Bond18 – Around the World in 90 Days: Day 65

Posted by Bond18 | Filed under Bond18

The night before my previous final table, I slept like a baby. Unfortunately, last night, I didn’t have as much luck. I woke up a couple times and, due to anticipation, had some trouble falling back asleep. Still, I feel mostly well going into today, but most of all, just don’t want to do something retarded and blow it like I usually do in these kind of spots.

Tom gives Celina and me a ride to the Bellagio. A number of people have come out to watch the final table, not to mention several more who are playing today’s $5,000 No-Limit tournament. I’ve gotten lucky with the seating arrangements, having Keith with the other large stack on my immediate right, and pretty tight players on my left. They have the final table on a raised area, but nowhere for spectators to sit, so unfortunately, the good people who came out to support have to stand for the whole thing. Play gets underway with about 20 minutes of the 2,000/4,000 level left on the clock.

For the first 20 minutes I stay mostly uninvolved and the blinds go up to 3,000/6,000 without me playing a major pot. Keith is playing quite aggressively on my right, with mixed results so far. It’s not long before we’re involved:

My stack: ~330K, Keith: ~315K, blinds 3,000/6,000 with 500 ante. I hold K-Jo in the SB.

Pre-flop: Folds to Keith on the button, Keith raises to 16,000, I call (K-J being the worst hand I would call from the SB with here) and the BB calls as well.

Flop: 2h-Ks-Jc

I check (leading might be better here), BB checks, Keith checks.

Turn: 9s

I bet 35,000, BB folds, Keith thinks it over and calls.

River: 5h

I think over my bet size, then fire out 65,000. Keith goes into the tank and elects to fold.

Not long after, a similar hand plays out where I flat Kc-Jc in the SB against Keith’s button raise and flop top pair heads up. I check-call his flop bet and he checks behind on the turn. I lead out the river and he folds again.

A few of the more short stacked players bust out while Keith and I continue to tangle:

My stack: ~460K, Keith: ~320K, blinds 4,000/8,000 with 1,000 ante. I hold Kd-Td in the BB. I had raised his last two SB completes and he’d folded. I decided there was a decent risk he might re-pop here and I could also consider calling down with K high on the right boards, so I elect check.

Flop: 5-2-5 rainbow

Keith bets 9,000 and I call.

Turn: 4

Keith thinks it over and bets 24,000. I still think he might fire a second barrel pretty often here, so I call again.

River: 4

Keith checks and I check behind.

“J high” he says. I table my Kd-Td and he mucks.

“Got me on the river there, Jack Deuce.”

“Yea, I’m a pretty massive station.”

I also find a couple spots to blast Keith pre-flop, both times holding A-K, because I’m a massive nit. I keep finding good hands over and over pre-flop, and am able to re-raise people or open raise and not be screwed with. The table drops to six players, with Keith and Livb still in, though both are sitting with an average stack. During six-handed play, it folds to me on the button with 9c-Tc and I raise to 22,000. Will “The Thrill” shoves in the SB for 67,000 and the BB folds. I call and his A-J flops A-A-4, and has me drawing dead by the turn. Not long after, we drop another player and are down to a pretty aggressive five-handed game.

Not long after, I’m involved yet again:

My stack: ~470K, button : ~180K, blinds 4,000/8,000 with 1,000 ante. I hold Ks-Kc in the BB.

Pre-flop: Folds to the button, button raises to 25,000, SB folds, I call.

Flop: Q-9-3 rainbow

I check, button checks behind.

Turn: 6

I bet 35,000, button thinks it over and calls.

River: 2c

I think over my bet size, then bet out 66,000. The button thinks for quite some time, then folds.

Just a couple of hands later, I’m involved yet again:

My stack: ~540K, Will: ~140K, blinds 4,000/8,000 with 1,000 ante. I hold Qh-Qs on the CO.

Pre-flop: Folds to me, I raise to 22,000, button folds, Will goes all-in from the SB, BB folds, I call. Will shows A-Ko and starts begging for his six outs.

Flop: J-4-5 rainbow

Turn: 7

River: 2

I shake hands with Will and we’re down to four players, with both Livb and Keith still in. I have about 40% of the chips in play, and each of them have roughly 20%. The blinds go up to 6,000/12,000 before I get involved again:

My stack: ~640K, SB: ~330K, blinds 6,000/12,000 with 2,000 ante. I hold Jc-Tc on the CO.

Pre-flop: I raise to 30,000, button folds, SB calls, BB folds.

Flop: 7c-Qd-9h

The SB thinks over his move and leads out 60,000.He’s only got 240,000 behind, so I make the obvious move and announce all-in. He goes into the tank for quite some time and stares at me for a while. He stands up out of his chair, but doesn’t really move or say anything. When he gets up I know that means he’s going to call, but he decides to think things over for a while first. Finally, he mumbles call and I table Jc-Tc and watch his face. He noticeably winces, then starts shaking his head. Could he really have 8-T and I’m way in front?

“Is it eight ten?!” someone in the crowd yells.

The SB tables his 8h-Th and I’m in the best possible shape.

Turn: 6c

The SB looks elated but I don’t react. I look over at the dealer and tell him

“I really wouldn’t mind a club here.”

River: Kc

The tournament area lets out a huge cheer and even I erupt with a “Yes!” After I shake hands with the SB, we’re down to the three-handed I pretty much expected, myself, Livb and Keith. I’ve got about 900,000 of the 1.5 million in play going into three-handed, and the two of them are roughly equal, with Keith having a bit of a lead.

Only a couple orbits into the three-handed, the two of them get it all-in pre in a coin flip, which Keith wins. We enter heads-up play with my having almost a million to his somewhat over 500,000. We discuss the potential of a deal, and I tell him if he gets even in chips or within 100,000 or something, we can talk about it. However, while I have a lead so substantial, I’m not interested in it at the moment. The difference between first and second is $93,000, and hopefully I’ll get to keep it for myself. Whatever happens though, I’m sure as shit out of make up now.

At first we take turns sharing small pots. I chip him down slightly and I keep finding good hands to raise in the BB when he completes in the small. The fourth time it happens, we get involved in a larger pot:

My stack: ~1.1 million, Keith: ~450K, blinds 6,000/12,000 with 2,000 ante. I hold Kc-Qh in the BB.

Pre-flop: Keith completes, I raise 25,000 more, Keith makes it 100,000, I shove, Keith calls and tables As-Qc

Flop: 8h-Th-Ah

I manage to flop massive and now have 12 outs twice, making me almost a coin flip for the tournament.

Turn: 6d

Come on, make this easy for me, damn it.

River: 6c

Fuck. Keith suddenly takes over the chip lead and our positions are almost reversed, with his ~900,000 to my ~600,000.

We go back to playing smaller pots and I manage to make some progress. During play Keith and I are very silent, but we chat some between hands. The play is quite aggressive and, overall, the final table has been a very short one. It’s not too long before we get involved in a larger pot again:

My stack: ~680,000, Keith: ~820,000, blinds 6,000/12,000 with 2000 ante. I hold 6d-8d on the button.

Pre-flop: I raise to 30,000, Keith calls.

Flop: 8c-6s-3c

Keith checks, I bet 45,000. Keith quickly grabs some chips and raises to 105,000. Weird, this is his first strange-sized small raise. I really don’t think he’s drawing with a raise like that, but I guess he could be since he knows I probably haven’t connected often, and he doesn’t need to raise much to take it. I decide to call and try to get it in on the turn, since if he’s bluffing, I want to give him one more street to do so.

Turn: Jh

Now Keith checks, which is pretty odd. I reach for chips and slide out a bet of 150,000. Keith quickly announces all-in and I call instantly. Keith’s face betrays the strength of his hand and I table my two pair. He shows A-4o for a total bluff, no pair, no draw, just a hand that is drawing completely dead.

River: 7

Keith is now very short stacked with 140,000. When I’m on the button, I start open shoving a very wide range and he folds both times I do it. He also shoves a couple of times on the button and I find nothing to call him with. On his third small blind, we get involved:

My stack: ~1.4 million, Keith: ~140,000, blinds 6,000/12,000 with 2,000 ante. I hold 6-5o in the BB.

Pre-flop: Keith completes, I check.

Flop: Q-5-Q rainbow

I bet 16,000, Keith shoves, I call. Keith shows Q-7o and I’m basically dead.

Turn: 6

River: A

Keith doubles and starts getting back in the game. I keep missing flops and every time I try to continuation bet or fire a limped pot, he calls down or raises. I occasionally mix in check-raises on good bluffing boards like K-7-6 to keep him off balance, but for the most part, they don’t work. His stack ascends to nearly 600,000 at his high point. Again, we’ve had a pattern where I raise out of the BB a ton, having a good hand about every time. A period goes where I keep checking the big, and after a while of his limps going unstopped, I decide to raise light. We get involved as a result:

My stack: ~900,000, Keith: ~600,000, blinds 6,000/12,000 with 2,000 ante. I hold 6h-5d.

Pre-flop: Keith completes, I raise to 37,000, Keith calls.

Flop: Kh-Jd-Jh

I bet 45,000, Keith calls.

Turn: 7h

After every single continuation bet thus far without a hand, I have given up. I decide with the paired board he might call the flop wide, plus firing again looks super strong here since the flush card hit and I’ve never done it. I fire out 105,000 and Keith folds.

Again, I continue to lose small pots and Keith rebuilds his stack back to about 600,000 before we get involved again:

My stack: ~900K, Keith: ~600K, blinds 6,000/12,000 with 2,000 ante. I hold 6-7o on the button.

Pre-flop: I raise to 30,000, Keith calls.

Flop: 3-4-4 rainbow

Keith checks, I bet 45,000, Keith calls.

Turn: 6

Keith checks, I check.

River: 3

Keith checks, I bet 115,000, Keith quickly calls. I table my two pair and he mucks.

Not long after that hand, the blinds increase to 8,000/16,000 and reduce Keith to about 30 BBs. Not very long into the level, we get involved:

My stack: ~1.1 million, Keith: ~450K, blinds 8,000/16,000 with 2,000 ante. I hold Kd-8h in the BB.

Pre-flop: Keith completes, I check.

Flop: Kh-Td-6s

I check, Keith bets 21,000, I check-raise to 65,000. Keith quickly shoves and I snap call. Keith tables Ac-Jc and I just need to dodge seven outs. Everyone creeps up toward the stage and people start yelling and calling for certain cards. There’s 93 fucking thousand on these two cards.

Turn: 5s

Just one more, hold for one more card. Let me get my one time.

River: 9

“Yes! Oooooooh man, that is sick.” I shake hands with Keith then turn to the guys who have come out to watch the heads up, Greg and Matt, and shake their hands in a daze of elation. I find Celina and give her a kiss, then start getting the various onlookers congratulations and hand shakes.

They hand me over the bracelet and ask if we can do a photo. I tell the tournament director John I’d rather not wear the bracelet in the photo, that we’ll just put it on top of the chips instead. John takes a glance around the tournament area and realizes the photographer isn’t here, so we’ll do it some other time. When I take a good look at the bracelet, I’m surprised it’s a bit nicer than expected.

John and Jack McClelland take me into the pay-out room and hand me the appropriate tax paper work. Then John walks me over to the cage in order to get paid. The counterman pulls out a stack of shiny white $5,000 Bellagio chips and counts out $190,000. He shakes my hand, tells me congratulations, and walks back toward the room. I ask them for a box and they inform me they’re out.

“Uh well, I sure as hell don’t wanna walk out of here with this. Is there somewhere you guys can just… put it?”

“Well, we could have it on deposit.”

“Right, perfect. Let’s do that.”

He goes to get the paper work and I stand there in a daze, drinking a beer Mlagoo and NHfunkii have brought me to celebrate. I have him put the entire amount in the deposit and go back to the poker room. John gives me a comp to the Bellagio buffet for our group of four and we go over, but find a truly massive line. We decide to go over to the Korean BBQ instead, and that winds up being an excellent decision.

We head back to the house and invite anyone and everyone over to party, then hit a beer house over at Town Center Las Vegas. Adanthar demands I wear the bracelet for the remainder of the evening, and despite my pleading, he insists and wears me down. We down several beers and some kind of massive ice cream sundae at the bar, and I’m starting to get pretty damn drunk, though nobody gets particularly crazy. As we head home, I demand we go to the grocery store so I can get stuff to munch on and grill. We spend the rest of the night outside grilling, smoking, and eating.

After a year of frustration and failure, I’ve finally managed to run good and get my one time. Massive thanks to everyone who helped me get there with their help on my poker game, including just about everyone who hangs out in the multi-table tournament forums at 2+2. Big thanks to everyone who sent words of support as well, especially after the more spectacular failures and, of course, Steve and Timex for making the investment. I no longer hate you all.

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