So with Mank in town, I ventured down the road to Commerce on a Tuesday evening. Mank convinced me to play in yet a satellite and sure enough, chopped it up and virtually earned my entry into the $500+40 NL event.
The event started at 3:30PM with around 680 players. I take my seat next to Richard Lee, the 6th place finisher at the 2006 WSOP Main event. So what if he won $2.8 million…I was going to crush him, lol. Other players in the tourney, David (the Dragon Pham), Barbara Enright (first woman to make a WSOP final tabel) and many other recognizable faces. Fortunately, because it was such a low event players like Todd Brunson and Allen Cunningham opted to play the cash games. But my focus was not dumping chips to this guy Lee.
I fared well in the tournament, getting knocked out about 70th out of the 680 particiapants and really had a solid chance of going far but collapsed a little at the end there making a questionable call with a KQ vs. AK when I didn’t have alot invested. Oh well. Probably the most ironic of events was when we were down to about 30 tables (300 players), getting moved to table 13. Lucky 13 – Mr. Mankameyer’s table. 300 players, 30 tables, he travels 3,000 miles and we get sat 4 feet from one another. Was funny until about 10 hands in I pick up AQ under the gun and raise from 200 to 600. He makes it 1,600 and everyone else folds and he gives me that look. I show my AQ and he shows his Aces. He got knocked out about 110th so I think a solid showing by both of us.
Top 10 hands:
1) Round 3 – blinds 75-150, I have 5,3 diamonds in the SB, Richard Lee on my left checks his option behind me. KJ7 board. Check, check. Turn 8 diamonds. I bet my flush draw (300). He calls. River 6 diamonds. I check my baby flush, somehow fearing he has a higher one. He bets 500. I only call announcing his bigger flush beats mine. He turns over 4,2 diamonds and I drag the pot. Guess my reads are off.
2) Round 3 (75-150), Lee and I again to the flop. I have K2 clubs in SB and both checked our options pre-flop. Flop K77. I bet out 150. He calls. 10 on turn. I check, he bets 300. I think he’s stealing (thus the reason for his calling me on the flop representing a 7). I reraise him semi-bluffing (2 kicker ain’t that good, so I was playing 10 kicker). He mucks rather quickly.
3) Round 2 (50-100), I have J3 on BB, no preflop raise. Flop QQJ. I bet 200, he calls. Turn 10, both check. River a blank and I bet out 525 (representing a Q). He thinks for about 45 seconds and mucks (I’m guessing he had J).
4) Round 3, (75-150), I limp UTG with 88. Lee calls. He and I tangle again. Flop Q72. I check, he bets 300, I call. Turn, 6, I check, he bets 800, I raise him to 1800. He goes all in (it’d have cost me 2,100 more), I fold. Woops.
5) Round 7 (100-200, 25 ante) – I only have 3,300 and with one limper in ahead of me, I limp in the SB just calling with my K10 spades. Chip leader (15k) bumps it to 500. Middle guy folds and I push putting him on maybe an underpair figured I could get him to fold for another 2,800. Instead he calls with his 6,6 and I win the race by spiking a 10 in the flop, double up!
6) Round 9 (200-400, 50) – I have about 8,000 in chips and call a 2,000 bet with KQ in late position. Two to the flop of QQX. He rifles out 2800, and I have to contain myself. I push there for about another 3,000. He calls with his 2,2!!! Thank you.
7) Round 10 (300-600, 75) – I call the same guy’s raise again with KQ. Flop K10,7. He checks, I go all in for another 7,000, he contemplates and callswith his QQ. Wow. Same guy, same hand busting his. I’m sitting with 17K.
8) Round 10 – (300-600-75), tight older player makes it 2,000 UTG. I have AK and go all in (he has about 6K left). He has 77, I don’t improve. Poor judgment on my part. Down to about 7,000 in chips now. Ouch.
9) Round 11 (400-800,100) – moved table and get up to about 11K when my AJ fills up, but donkey off about 6,500 when I called a guy’s all in with ‘only’ KQ (a hand that’s been great for me). He had AK and although I hit my Q, he made a straight. 4,300 left.
10) Round 12 – (400-800-100) with 2 minutes left in the round before it went to 600-1200-200. I pick up 3,3 late position and push. Guy stares me down for about 10 seconds then looks at his cards and apologizes for appearing to slow roll (saying I call). He has AA and I’m done.
Next up, Wynn Classic.
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