A Not So Super Monday [04.26.2005]
I played in Super Monday tonight, and it started off great.
My first big hand was during 15/30 blinds. I raised QQ in EP and TT called me. The flop came 752, I bet 150, and TT called. I bet 175 on the J turn (which also put a 3 flush on the board) and got called again. The river was a 9, and I went all-in for 455, and TT called me. That brought me up to 1800 chips.
During 75/150 blinds, someone minraised, and I moved all-in with Aces to take down the pot preflop. The very next hand I found KK and raised a limper to 525. He called and the flop came J54. He checked, I bet, and he folded. This brought me to 2800 chips.
During 100/200 blinds, the cut off opened for 800. I called in the BB with KQo. The flop came K62, and I checked. The CO moved all-in for much more than I had. I insta called and my hand held up vs his 76o. This doubled me up to 6k chips.
During 150/300 blinds, I found aces again. MP opened for 600 and I raised to 1600 in the CO. He called. The flop came KK6. MP checked, and I checked behind. The turn was a 3, MP bet 525 into me. I raised to 1700 and took down the pot. It is very unlikely that my opponent was drawing to more than 2 outs there, so I think I made a mistake by not smooth calling the turn. I'm not sure, but minor mistakes can turn out to be very crucial, and they should never be ignored. After a K6 blind steal on the very next hand, I was up to 8500 chips.
A few hands later during 150/300 blinds, I found A6o in the SB. The button opened limped, and I completed. The BB checked. The flop came AQ2, and it checked to the button who bet the pot of 900. I didn't want to get involved with such a weak kicker. The bet seemed strange, and I was very tempted to move all-in. The Button started the hand with 4,000 chips, and I just wasn't willing to risk 4,000 to take down the pot of 1800. This was a very tough decision, and I think I may have made the wrong one by folding. A lot of this is hindsight because the button turned out to be a very bad player.
During 200/400 blinds, CrdSharpCook (a 2+2er) opened to 1000 with his 9k stack in MP. I had KQo in the small blind, and I called. The flop came T82. I bet out 1500, and CSC folded. That and another bind steal brought me up to 9.5k chips.
An orbit later I stole the blinds w/ KK and showed my hand. A few hands later I found QQ utg. I opened for 1000 and CSC Called on the button. The flop came K85, I checked and CSC bet 1400. I folded. This left me with 9200 chips.
During 300/600 blinds I found KK utg. I opened for 1500 and only the big blind called. I bet 1800 on the T32ddx flop and he checkraised me all-in. He had a huge stack and had me way covered. He had J8dd, but missed his flush draw, and I doubled up to 17.5k.
I stole a ton of hands on the bubble, and restole a couple of times to bring my stack up to 31k.
During 750/1500 blinds a loose player with 16500 opened for 3100 in MP. I called with AJs, also in MP. In retrospect, a fold or a reraise would have probably been better. The big blind called and we saw a 3 way flop. We all checked around on the 964 flop. Much to my surprise, the BB went all-in for 8250 when an ace hit the turn. MP folded, and I called and lost to his AQ. I sitll had 20,000 chips after that.
My next double up came at 1000/2000 blinds when I shoved AQo utg. JJ called me, and I won the flip.
I had 40,000 chips during 1500/3000 blinds when a 36k stack opened for 10,000 in MP. I found 99 on the button and pushed all-in. I took down the pot and this brought me to 52k chips.
I found AQo again when the aforementioned CSC pushed all-in in MP for 32k. I had an easy call in the big blind. Unfortanely, my AQ was no match for his K6s. This knocked me down to 30k chips. A couple of well timed steals, including one with 54o were enough to take me to the final table, although I was the smallest stack there.
I had 51k chips utg+2 when I found AJo. Blinds were 4k/8k, but I decided to fold this hand preflop and wait for a better oppurtunity. I am a big advocator of folding weak aces with short but not desperate stacks in EP in situations where a lot of people will feel forced to push them. Even though the blinds are right around the corner, there are better situations.
I took down the blinds twice on the next orbit with KQo and A7o, and that brought me to 70k chips when I found TJs in the CO. Blinds were 5k/10k at this point, so I decided to shove. CSC woke up with AKs on the button, but I lucked out and hit a ten to win as a 30% dog. All the sudden I had a slightly above average stack with 8 players left.
An orbit later I found JJ utg. The blinds were still at 5k/10k, but the small blind only had 4k chips, so he was forced all-in. I found JJ utg and opened for 27,000. Only the big blind called. The flop came J65 with 2 spades. The BB checked, and I checked. The turn was the 4 of hearts, and the BB bet 35,000 into me. I pushed all-in, and he folded. The SB had 97s, and the river did not help him. Those jacks brought me up to 206k chips.
A few hands later I found 55 in the CO. I opened for 27k again, and only the chipleader in the BB called. The flop was T96, and he checked. I bet 40k, but had to fold when the BB checkraise me all-in. I was left with 140k after that.
I was happy to find QQ next orbit in the cutoff with 5 players left. I opened for 27k again, and the SB reraised me all-in (he had me covered). I called, and the SB showed AKo. The $ 32,000 for first place was not meant for me as the SB hit a king on the turn. I finished in 5th for $ 7.5k.
I couldn't help but be frustrated with this result. In large tournaments, I have now finished 4th and 5th a total of 5 times. I have never finished in the top 3 in a large tournament. The way big MTT's are structured is so that you really need some top 3 finishes (especially 1st place finishes) to be a big winner. I guess I have just as much good luck as anyone else, but it doesn't seem to come out when it is needed the most. I hate to say it, but you really do need some good luck for hours on end to win one of these tournaments. Overall, I did get very lucky. My preflop cards were good, my table was great, and I never ran into aces or kings. I even sucked out once with JTs vs AKo, won a coinflip for all of my chips, and my KK held up vs a flush draw. It is hard to ask for more luck than that, but if only my QQ held up vs AKo, I would have had a great chance to take home 32k.
I apologize for complaining so much in this blog. I know no one likes a bad beat story, and the 7.5k is some nice compensation. Also, I want to thank all the people that cheered for me, especially those that started before the final table. I love having support, and it is always appreciated.
-thank you all
-Justin Bonomo
