I played both the 250 and the 2500 but not the 25K. Go ahead, call me a nit.
My first opponent in the 250 was absolutely awful. He played 63/1 over the course of the match (he open limped his button when he didn’t fold it) and played pretty badly post-flop. I dispatched him tidily and drew a more challenging opponent in the second round. He was up nearly 2:1 on me when I 3-bet him with KK, bet a J95 flop, and called a shove. He had JT and caught another J on the turn, and that was that.
Things were tougher in the 2500. I didn’t recognize the name of my first round opponent, but my research revealed that he was a significant winner at 1/2 – 3/6 NLHE heads up cash games. He played well but a little too stubbornly, basically never giving a hand up on the flop. I sucked out on him once, AJ > AK, after getting kind of short. The way the hand went down we pretty much had to get it in pre-flop.
Then I really stuck it to him with this one:
PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 2600 Tournament, 40/80 Blinds (2 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
SB (t7955)
Hero (BB) (t12045)
Hero’s M: 100.38
Preflop: Hero is BB with 5
, A
SB bets t160, Hero raises to t555, SB calls t395
Flop: (t1110) K
, 6
, 10 (2 players)
Hero bets t789, SB raises to t1800, Hero calls t1011
Turn: (t4710) 4 (2 players)
Hero checks, SB bets t2200, Hero raises to t9690 (All-In), 1 fold
Total pot: t9110
Results:
Hero didn’t show 5, A.
Outcome: Hero won t9110
Remember what I said about him not giving up flops. One way I can exploit that is to call a flop raise and check-shove turn with a good draw in a spot where he’s repping mostly air.
He ground a bit of a stack back up then made an inexplicable 4-bet shove with 62s into my AQo, which held to bust him.
In Round 2, I drew teaccuppoker, who is sort of a buddy of mine. We met at the 2006 WSOP and have played with each other online quite a few times since. We have a friendly relationship and always wish each other well. This match was a tight one with a lot of back and forth and lasted nearly two hours.
I blew a chance early in the tournament to stack him:
PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 2600 Tournament, 30/60 Blinds (2 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
BB (t10375)
Hero (SB) (t9625)
Hero’s M: 106.94
Preflop: Hero is SB with A, 10
Hero bets t155, BB calls t95
Flop: (t310) A, 8, 10 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t199, BB raises to t540, Hero raises to t999, BB raises to t2460, Hero raises to t3921, 1 fold
Total pot: t5230
Results:
Hero didn’t show A, 10.
Outcome: Hero won t5230
He told me he folded T8, which I believe. I put him on a worse two pair, and while lesser players won’t fold that, I can see why he would. I think either shoving flop or calling and getting it in on the turn are both much better options than min-5-betting.
I got him in another big one here:
PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 2600 Tournament, 60/120 Blinds (2 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
BB (t10611)
Hero (SB) (t9389)
Hero’s M: 52.16
Preflop: Hero is SB with Q, 4
Hero bets t240, BB calls t120
Flop: (t480) 4, J, A (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks
Turn: (t480) 4 (2 players)
BB bets t240, Hero raises to t999, BB calls t759
River: (t2478) 10 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t1675, BB calls t1675
Total pot: t5828
Results:
Hero had Q, 4 (three of a kind, fours).
BB mucked A, 3 (two pair, Aces and fours).
Outcome: Hero won t5828
Then he coolered me to take a big lead:
PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 2600 Tournament, 60/120 Blinds (2 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
SB (t7821)
Hero (BB) (t12179)
Hero’s M: 67.66
Preflop: Hero is BB with 6, Q
SB bets t360, Hero raises to t1000, SB calls t640
Flop: (t2000) 3, Q, 9 (2 players)
Hero bets t1234, SB calls t1234
Turn: (t4468) Q (2 players)
Hero bets t9945 (All-In), SB calls t5587 (All-In)
River: (t15642) 2 (2 players, 2 all-in)
Total pot: t15642
Results:
SB had Q, J (three of a kind, Queens).
Hero had 6, Q (three of a kind, Queens).
Outcome: SB won t15642
Yeah, on the one hand, you have to expect some domination when you 3-bet Q6. But unless that case Q turns, I don’t lose my ass on this one. That’s legit bad luck in my book.
My bustout hand was also a cooler, though I think I could have played it better:
PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 2600 Tournament, 80/160 Blinds (2 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
BB (t12437)
Hero (SB) (t7563)
Hero’s M: 31.51
Preflop: Hero is SB with 10, 10
Hero bets t320, BB raises to t800, Hero raises to t7563 (All-In), BB calls t6763
Flop: (t15126) Q, 2, 8 (2 players, 1 all-in)
Turn: (t15126) 5 (2 players, 1 all-in)
River: (t15126) J (2 players, 1 all-in)
Total pot: t15126
Results:
Hero had 10, 10 (one pair, tens).
BB had Q, Q (three of a kind, Queens).
Outcome: BB won t15126
The size of the 3-bet just puts me in an awkward spot with this exact hand. I think shoving is better than 4-bet-calling, and I felt like my hand was a little too strong/vulnerable to call, but I also think the size of my shove means I’m not getting called by a lot of worse hands. I think maybe flatting is the best of some imperfect options.