I did find time to eat Turkey and Duck with friends and family, but I also found time for some tourneys with full mental focus, which paid off well. I played three 45 player SNGs, and lost early in the first two to suck outs, and then played the third very well, so well that I was quickly the chip leader for the final table, and stayed the chip leader all the way to the finish, never seeing anybody even amass half of my stack.
Let's look at the day in detail, shall we.
First Tourney - I had been watching all hands carefully, seeing who was playing trash, who waited for cards, who made bluffs with nothing, who bet the bottom pair strongly, etc. I felt my play was totally justified in the hand below, but my opponent hit a three outer.
Hold'em No Limit - Level II (15/30) -
Seat 1: carvenator (1020 in chips)
Seat 2: FrankNagaiJr (740 in chips)
Seat 3: dedmn1313 (1320 in chips)
Seat 4: zoseman (4450 in chips)
Seat 6: dracotat (1820 in chips)
Seat 7: cholt23 (1590 in chips)
Seat 8: basiswgt (1910 in chips)
Seat 9: bigbear5773 (650 in chips)
*** HOLE CARDS ***Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [As Qc]
dracotat: folds
cholt23: folds
basiswgt: calls 30
bigbear5773:
folds carvenator: raises 90 to 120
FNJ - I had seen this player raising on as weak as AT0s, JTs, and limping with all kinds of unplayable hands. In fact, this player had recently limped 26s from late position and hit the two pair on the flop for a very nice pot. I wanted to isolate, and double up if possible.
FrankNagaiJr: raises 620 to 740 and is all-in
dedmn1313: folds
zoseman: folds basiswgt: folds
carvenator: calls 620
FNJ - Now exposed - My AQ versus carvenator's AJ. I'm obviously the favorite in this race.
*** FLOP *** [2s 8s 3h]
*** TURN *** [2s 8s 3h] [Jc]
FNJ - D'oh!
*** RIVER *** [2s 8s 3h Jc] [Kc]FrankNagaiJr said, "gg"
*** SHOW DOWN ***carvenator: shows [Ah Jd] (a pair of Jacks)FrankNagaiJr: shows [As Qc] (high card Ace)carvenator collected 1555 from pot
carvenator said, "u2"***
Second Tourney -
Hold'em No Limit - Level II (15/30) - 2005/11/24
Seat1: Chowda Head (1470 in chips)
Seat 2: zelta (1650 in chips)
Seat 3: Ashtray04 (1755 in chips)
Seat 4: sixtyfourty (1340 in chips)
Seat 5: dgagli1 (1680 in chips)
Seat 6: V Van Gogh77 (1010 in chips)
Seat 7: FrankNagaiJr (780 in chips)
Seat 8: samjus44 (2245 in chips)
Seat 9: hot-chocolat (1570 in chips)
*** HOLE CARDS ***Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [Ah Qd]
V Van Gogh77: raises 30 to 60
FNJ - I had seen Van Gogh play an awful lot of trashy starters, and habitually raise 1BB on any limping hand, so this initial raise meant nothing. I decided to go for an isolation raise.
FrankNagaiJr: raises 150 to 210
samjus44: folds
hot-chocolat: folds
Chowda Head: folds
zelta: folds
Ashtray04: calls 210
sixtyfourty: folds
dgagli1: folds
V Van Gogh77: calls 150
*** FLOP *** [Kc Jh 3h]
V Van Gogh77: bets 90
FNJ - At this point I've got a belly draw, two overpair draws, an opponent who may possibly have a K, J or 3, but I've already lost half my stack, and feel that this is my time to make a move or bust. If I give up this pot, I really don't have much left after this hand. Van Gogh had repeatedly bet with nothing, bottom pair, and lost a few minor hands, and sucked out a few times.
FrankNagaiJr: raises 480 to 570 and is all-in
Ashtray04: folds
FNJ - I expected Ashtray to fold anything below top pair. Wouldn't you?
V Van Gogh77: calls 480
FNJ - Exposed cards are now 7h8h for Van Gogh, and my AQos is now the 54.6% favorite. It's a coin flip.
*** TURN *** [Kc Jh 3h] [9d]
FNJ - Now I'm the 68.2% favorite
*** RIVER *** [Kc Jh 3h 9d] [8d]
FNJ - D'oh! At least I was the leader going in, as I thought I was.
*** SHOW DOWN ***V Van Gogh77: shows [7h 8h] (a pair of Eights)FrankNagaiJr: shows [Ah Qd] (high card Ace)
FNJ - Third Tourney
FNJ Hand 15- I had been playing the usual tight/conservative, 'getting-to-know-you' style I usually play for the first few stages, about even in chips with a few minor ups and downs, when I had a nice bit of luck in hand 15.
Me: SB [4d 5c], limping in with 2 others, and BB checks
*** FLOP *** [6d 3s 2s] - (120 in pot)
FrankNagaiJr: checks
JMR1: calls 600
FNJ - Mr. BJ tended to bet anything, so I assumed it wouldn't check around, and I didn't want to arouse suspicion, even in an on-line game.
Mr. BJ: bets 90
JMR1: raises 90 to 180
FNJ - Better Still!
dbrunner: folds
FrankNagaiJr: raises 600 to 780
Mr. BJ: folds , JMR1: calls 600
*** TURN *** [6d 3s 2s] [Ac]
FNJ - At this point, I can't believe that JMR has the same straight, so I put him on a flush draw or two pairs (or possibly middle pair, this is on-line, after all...). My preference is to not see the river, if possible.
FrankNagaiJr: bets 630 and is all-in
JMR1: calls 630
*** RIVER *** [6d 3s 2s Ac] [Kh]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
FrankNagaiJr: shows [4d 5c] (a straight, Deuce to Six)
JMR1: shows [3h 3d] (three of a kind, Threes)
FrankNagaiJr collected 3030 from pot
FNJ - And doubles up, thank you very much.
FNJ - Hand 24, where I come up against a dangerous clownfish. I had observed this player bet with nothing and get some miracles, so I felt top pair would be enough.
Seat 1: FrankNagaiJr (3160 in chips)
Seat 2: docjonesiii (4800 in chips)
Seat 5: bigmoney226 (2660 in chips)
Seat 6: btknurdo (3135 in chips)
Seat 7: regular2005 (2380 in chips)
Seat 8: yanik77 (1010 in chips)
Seat 9: spiderham (755 in chips)
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [Ts Qh]
regular2005: calls 50
yanik77: calls 50
spiderham: folds
FrankNagaiJr: calls
50docjonesiii: folds
bigmoney226: folds
btknurdo: checks
*** FLOP *** [6s 9d Th]
btknurdo: bets 100
regular2005: folds
yanik77: raises 100 to 200
FrankNagaiJr: raises 200 to 400
FNJ - I wouldn're reraise with top pair, mediocre kicker unless I had seen evidence that the player in question would raise with less.
btknurdo: folds
yanik77: raises 560 to 960 and is all-in
FrankNagaiJr: calls 560
FNJ - So now, it's two pair versus top pair. I'm behind, but I really did expect this player to have less. I'm just glad my stack was healthy enough that I only lost a third of my chips.
*** TURN *** [6s 9d Th] [5h]
*** RIVER *** [6s 9d Th 5h] [2d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***yanik77: shows [6c 9s] (two pair, Nines and Sixes)FrankNagaiJr: shows [Ts Qh] (a pair of Tens)
yanik77 collected 2245 from pot
FNJ - Hand 29, in which I more than extract my revenge against Yanik for limping 69os.
1: FrankNagaiJr (2600 in chips)
Seat 2: docjonesiii (4500 in chips)
Seat 5: bigmoney226 (2385 in chips)
Seat 6: btknurdo (3310 in chips)
Seat 7: regular2005 (1955 in chips)
Seat 8: yanik77 (2495 in chips)
Seat 9: spiderham (655 in chips)
FrankNagaiJr: posts small blind
50docjonesiii: posts big blind 100
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [8h Td]
bigmoney226: folds
btknurdo: folds
regular2005: folds
yanik77: calls 100
spiderham: folds
FrankNagaiJr: calls
50docjonesiii: checks
FNJ - I could tell doc was playing tight/agressive, and if doc was betting the pot, I would not have stayed for a draw.
*** FLOP *** [Jd Qh Ah]
FrankNagaiJr: checks
docjonesiii: checks yanik77: bets 100
FNJ - At this point, I've got a double belly straight draw, and I figure if I hit, I can take all of Yaniks' chips, since Yanik is probably betting middle pair, or something like that.
FrankNagaiJr: calls 100
docjonesiii: folds
*** TURN *** [Jd Qh Ah] [3d]
FrankNagaiJr: bets
FNJ - Not the most sensible bet in a live game, but frequently I find that on-line, the cheapest way to see the river is to make the minimum bet as the first to act.
100yanik77: calls 100
*** RIVER *** [Jd Qh Ah 3d] [9d]
FNJ - Yes! My belly has come in! Now how many chips can I extract? I figure a small-ish bet will represent top pair, and if he can beat top pair, he'll come over the top.
FrankNagaiJr: bets 300
yanik77: raises 1895 to 2195 and is all-in
FrankNagaiJr: calls 1895*** SHOW DOWN ***
yanik77: shows [Qs 9s] (two pair, Queens and Nines)
FrankNagaiJr: shows [8h Td] (a straight, Eight to Queen)
And my second double-up for the tourney, and I'm in the top 5 of 40 players at this time.
FNJ - Hand 47 - After a long series of folds, and small ups and downs, we get some action with this hand.
Hold'em No Limit - Level V (75/150) -
Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: docjonesiii (9960 in chips)
Seat 2: Briguy75 (1500 in chips)
Seat 5: Blade_180 (3010 in chips)
Seat 6: dave_jan (1925 in chips)
Seat 7: JACEY5 (6375 in chips)
Seat 8: FrankNagaiJr (4995 in chips)
Seat 9: jacknero (1735 in chips)
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [Jh Qh]
FrankNagaiJr: raises 150 to 300
FNJ - I'm hoping to weed out the 'any two will do's as there are a few at this table.
jacknero: folds
docjonesiii: folds
Briguy75: folds
Blade_180: calls 300
dave_jan: folds
JACEY5: folds ***
(FNJ - 525 in the pot)
FLOP *** [6s 9d Td]
FrankNagaiJr: bets 400
FNJ - A semi bluff, but Blade_180 is an 'any-two' player, so if he had nothing, I expected a fold to this bet.
Blade_180: calls 400
*** TURN *** [6s 9d Td] [Kh]
FNJ - Yay! Now if Blade is on a flush draw, I don't want to give up a cheap card.
FrankNagaiJr: bets 800
Blade_180: folds
FNJ - Now I'm at 7705 in chips, and yo-yo up and down to hand 78
Hold'em No Limit - Level VII (100/200) -
Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: docjonesiii (9710 in chips)
Seat 2: Briguy75 (2875 in chips)
Seat 3: Mr. BJ (1728 in chips)
Seat 4: hopper84 (6247 in chips)
Seat 5: Blade_180 (2270 in chips)
Seat 7: JACEY5 (5400 in chips)
Seat 8: FrankNagaiJr (8180 in chips)
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [Jd 9s]
docjonesiii: folds
Briguy75: folds
Mr. BJ: folds hopper84: folds
Blade_180: raises 400 to 600
FNJ - Blade had been a little too active for my tastes, and I had seen him make similar raises with very questionable holdings, win on a few suck outs, and take the blinds with no contest several times. Given my chip size, I figured I could look him up. Against a bigger stack or a tighter player, I certainly would have let J9os go.
JACEY5: folds
FrankNagaiJr: calls 400
*** FLOP *** [3d 9h 7s]
FNJ - Hey! Top pair against a guy who raises with damn near anything. Let's play 'em!
FrankNagaiJr: bets 1000
Blade_180: raises 645 to 1645 and is all-in
FNJ - Even if I'm behind now, I committed myself with the first bet.
FrankNagaiJr: calls 645
FNJ - And we see the KJos that was the 3BB raise, and Blade has six outs in two cards.
*** TURN *** [3d 9h 7s] [6c]
*** RIVER *** [3d 9h 7s 6c] [3s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***FrankNagaiJr: shows [Jd 9s] (two pair, Nines and Threes)
Blade_180: shows [Jc Kh] (a pair of Threes)
FrankNagaiJr collected 4765 from pot
FNJ - Now my chip count is 10675, and let's move ahead to hand 97, just to prove that a big raise is occasionally respected on line.
Hold'em No Limit - Level IX (300/600) -
Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: docjonesiii (7610 in chips)
Seat 2: Briguy75 (3678 in chips)
Seat 3: btknurdo (7425 in chips)
Seat 4: hopper84 (13994 in chips)
Seat 5: Darace (10318 in chips)
Seat 6: regular2005 (6200 in chips)
Seat 7: JACEY5 (4400 in chips)
Seat 8: FrankNagaiJr (13875 in chips)
FNJ posts big blind 600
*** HOLE CARDS ***Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [Ks Kh]
FNJ - Don't you just love getting a big pair in the blinds at an active table???
docjonesiii: calls 600
Briguy75: folds
btknurdo: folds
hopper84: folds
Darace: calls 600
regular2005: folds
JACEY5: calls 300
FrankNagaiJr: raises 3400 to 4000
docjonesiii: folds
Darace: folds
JACEY5: folds
FrankNagaiJr collected 2800 from pot
FrankNagaiJr: doesn't show hand
FNJ - I was just as happy not seeing a flop, as these were mostly players who would wait for decent starters before getting involved.
FNJ - Hand 99, just two hands later, I catch a player stealing who I felt had been way too active and stealing way too many pots. Against a tighter player, I might have considered just calling.
Hold'em No Limit - Level IX (300/600) -
Seat #8 is the button
Seat 1: docjonesiii (4510 in chips)
Seat 2: Briguy75 (3578 in chips)
Seat 3: btknurdo (7325 in chips)
Seat 4: hopper84 (16994 in chips)
Seat 5: Darace (9618 in chips)
Seat 6: regular2005 (6100 in chips)
Seat 7: JACEY5 (3700 in chips)
Seat 8: FrankNagaiJr (15675 in chips)
*** HOLE CARDS ***Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [9c 9s]
btknurdo: folds
hopper84: raises 1800 to 2400
FNJ - I had seen this player make a lot of raises of this size to steal pots, and was starting to get annoyed. I felt 99 was good enough to make a stand, since nobody else at the table seemed to want to.
Darace: folds
regular2005: folds
JACEY5: folds
FrankNagaiJr: raises 13225 to 15625 and is all-in
docjonesiii: folds
Briguy75: folds
hopper84: folds
FNJ - And as I suspected, this was a theft. Probably Ax os, or 33, or very possibly as bad as T8s....
FNJ - Now my Chip Count is 19,325, the chip leader, and I never let the chip lead go for the rest of the tourney, frequently having triple the chips of the #2 player, or better. It's good to be the big stack! I steal a lot of blinds, but not enough that many people confront me. A few times, I make a steal raise and give it up to an all-in bet. Other times I take their offer due to pot odds, but never lose too many chips at one sitting.
FNJ - Moving ahead to hand 115, here's a typical big stack play, where I assume the small stack is making a desperation play, and pot odds allow me to get involved. The other final tablists seem to be too worried about not being bubbled to get involved with non-premium cards.
Hold'em No Limit - Level X (400/800) -
Seat #8 is the button
Seat 2: Briguy75 (9812 in chips)
Seat 3: btknurdo (3225 in chips)
Seat 4: hopper84 (9316 in chips)
Seat 5: Darace (10978 in chips)
Seat 6: regular2005 (5438 in chips)
Seat 7: JACEY5 (1600 in chips)
Seat 8: FrankNagaiJr (27131 in chips)
FNJ - You can see I've been allowed to steal a few blinds, and have come out ahead in the conflicts I've been involved in.
HOLE CARDS ***Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [8s Js]
hopper84: folds
Darace: folds
regular2005: folds
JACEY5: raises 750 to 1550 and is all-in
FrankNagaiJr: calls 1550
Briguy75: folds
btknurdo: folds
*** FLOP *** [8d 9c 3d]***
TURN *** [8d 9c 3d] [Td]***
RIVER *** [8d 9c 3d Td] [6c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
JACEY5: shows [Ac 4s] (high card Ace)
FrankNagaiJr: shows [8s Js] (a pair of Eights)
FNJ - Moving ahead to hand 144. Getting really lop-sided in my favor now. I've been stealing and calling small stacks to grow my stack while everybody else whittles down.
Hold'em No Limit - Level XI (600/1200) - Seat #5 is the button
Seat 2: Briguy75 (5399 in chips)
Seat 4: hopper84 (7901 in chips)
Seat 5: Darace (8885 in chips)
Seat 6: regular2005 (8471 in chips)
Seat 8: FrankNagaiJr (36844 in chips)
FNJ posts big blind 1200
*** HOLE CARDS ***Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [Ks Ad]
Briguy75: folds
hopper84: raises 6626 to 7826 and is all-in
FNJ - Hopper had been making a lot of all-in blind steals. I figured AKos was plenty good for whatever he had.
Darace: folds regular2005: folds
FrankNagaiJr: calls 6626
*** FLOP *** [9c 4d 3d]***
TURN *** [9c 4d 3d] [2s]
*** RIVER *** [9c 4d 3d 2s] [2c]
SHOW DOWN ***FrankNagaiJr: shows [Ks Ad] (a pair of Deuces)
hopper84: shows [Js As] (a pair of Deuces - lower kicker)
FrankNagaiJr collected 16627
I go on to win at hand #159, in steamroller fashion. Gotta love being the big stack!
