Poker recap from Sunday night
so Sundays are my day off from the Speakeasy, & I usually go to the Park Inn Casino for their weekly 20€ rebuy tournament ... I got in touch with Drago, one of the oldschool Spkez poker team to see if he was up for it, but he was thinking of playing in the 120€ "double chance" tournament at the Spielbank am Potsdamer Platz, which I refer to as the riffraff casino, since they have no dress code or aesthetics, nor do they have a view from the 37th floor over the city. I've never played terribly well there, & have only won a couple of sit-n-go's there but never a tournament.
Anyhoo, I suggested we meet at the PP Spielbank to play inan afternoon Sit-n-go, & if I/we won, we'd play in the 120 tourney, if I lost, I'd go to the Park Inn. As it turns out, I was too late to join a sitngo, so I hung around to wait for Drago, & he wanted to go ahead and play in the 120... so I decided "What the Hell, I'm already here," & I plunked down the 120€. So come 7:30, shuffle up & deal, 40 players at 120€ each made the prizepool a nice 4800€, 6 places would make it in the money: 6th=288€, 5th=384€, 4th=680€, 3rd=830€, 2nd 1030€ & 1st prize= 1920€.
Starting chip count was 2000, so I played pretty tight, wona few good hands, & by the first break 1:15 minutes later, I had about 6000 in chips, & since I hadnt needed my 'second chance' ticket, I got an add-on of another 2000 in chips. there were still 4 tables with 9 players on each after the break, & I played an aggressive couple hands & lost pretty big to some young punk-- down to under 4000 chips when we consolidated down to three tables. When the next hour was done, Drago & I were seated together, & it was down to 20 players, 2 tables. By then the blinds were getting heavy & they started taking Antes as well, so I had to act quickly. I got a K-10 suited and went all in with one caller & doubled up when a King hit the board. We held on for a few other dropouts, so Drago & I both made it to the final table, but he was the short stack. Two other players asplode, Drago still hangin' on, but his 7-8 offsuit in big blind position didn't help him against a pair of fishhooks & he went out in 8th place just under the bubble. Since 7th place wasn't paid squat, everyone at the table made a deal to fork out 20€ each to the 7th place winner so he'd at least get his buy-in back (the old gentleman's bubble-boy agreement). Once the bubbleboy was out, I relaxed knowing I'd win at least 288€. I was probably 3rd in chips on the table, so I felt pretty good about my chances, I just had to fold and let one or two more drop out on their own. There were two very short stacks on the table, so I pushed one of 'em all-in when I was in position, & then there were five. two others failed soon after so I was assured 3rd place at least. The guy who was now chip leader had earlier sucked out on the river with a seven completing his set, and trebled up soon after that. the third player was kinda weak, so I forced him in when I had a pair of Queens & he was out. I now had 100,000 in chips & the suckout guy had about 60,000. He asked if I wanted to make a deal for the remaining prize money, split it 50/50 & we each walk away with 1400€ roughly. I thought about taking the offer coz 1400 was better than 1000 if I lost, but I had worked hard & played well to get tp that point, & I felt he didn't deserve to be there after his earlier suckout, so I refused the deal & we played it out. It went back & forth for about 30 minutes of heads-up, till I called a bet, he went all-in, I called with pocket 9's, and a 9 showed up in the flop... Yay me!
Reprinted from earlier email to Gonzo
Focus without distraction, pattern recognition & playing people.
Unfortunately, my bills & two cancelled gigs last month still prevent me from running off to Gravis to buy a new Powerbook, but I tipped the dealers 80, will purchase my buy-in to the big tourney in Feb tomorrow, will put aside maybe 360 for buy-ins for the next 8 weeks, will pay rent, some overdue bills, & buy a few nice things for the lovely Miss M, maybe try and find a nice winter coat for me.
I will also czeck the Mac prices in London in case it could warrant a trip there (don't think Marz has ever been)-- especially if there's a good tourney in town ;-)
I gotta say, this little victory felt pretty good... especially because I didn't win it so much as I simply earned it.
Namasté,
R
Anyhoo, I suggested we meet at the PP Spielbank to play inan afternoon Sit-n-go, & if I/we won, we'd play in the 120 tourney, if I lost, I'd go to the Park Inn. As it turns out, I was too late to join a sitngo, so I hung around to wait for Drago, & he wanted to go ahead and play in the 120... so I decided "What the Hell, I'm already here," & I plunked down the 120€. So come 7:30, shuffle up & deal, 40 players at 120€ each made the prizepool a nice 4800€, 6 places would make it in the money: 6th=288€, 5th=384€, 4th=680€, 3rd=830€, 2nd 1030€ & 1st prize= 1920€.
Starting chip count was 2000, so I played pretty tight, wona few good hands, & by the first break 1:15 minutes later, I had about 6000 in chips, & since I hadnt needed my 'second chance' ticket, I got an add-on of another 2000 in chips. there were still 4 tables with 9 players on each after the break, & I played an aggressive couple hands & lost pretty big to some young punk-- down to under 4000 chips when we consolidated down to three tables. When the next hour was done, Drago & I were seated together, & it was down to 20 players, 2 tables. By then the blinds were getting heavy & they started taking Antes as well, so I had to act quickly. I got a K-10 suited and went all in with one caller & doubled up when a King hit the board. We held on for a few other dropouts, so Drago & I both made it to the final table, but he was the short stack. Two other players asplode, Drago still hangin' on, but his 7-8 offsuit in big blind position didn't help him against a pair of fishhooks & he went out in 8th place just under the bubble. Since 7th place wasn't paid squat, everyone at the table made a deal to fork out 20€ each to the 7th place winner so he'd at least get his buy-in back (the old gentleman's bubble-boy agreement). Once the bubbleboy was out, I relaxed knowing I'd win at least 288€. I was probably 3rd in chips on the table, so I felt pretty good about my chances, I just had to fold and let one or two more drop out on their own. There were two very short stacks on the table, so I pushed one of 'em all-in when I was in position, & then there were five. two others failed soon after so I was assured 3rd place at least. The guy who was now chip leader had earlier sucked out on the river with a seven completing his set, and trebled up soon after that. the third player was kinda weak, so I forced him in when I had a pair of Queens & he was out. I now had 100,000 in chips & the suckout guy had about 60,000. He asked if I wanted to make a deal for the remaining prize money, split it 50/50 & we each walk away with 1400€ roughly. I thought about taking the offer coz 1400 was better than 1000 if I lost, but I had worked hard & played well to get tp that point, & I felt he didn't deserve to be there after his earlier suckout, so I refused the deal & we played it out. It went back & forth for about 30 minutes of heads-up, till I called a bet, he went all-in, I called with pocket 9's, and a 9 showed up in the flop... Yay me!
Reprinted from earlier email to Gonzo
Focus without distraction, pattern recognition & playing people.
Unfortunately, my bills & two cancelled gigs last month still prevent me from running off to Gravis to buy a new Powerbook, but I tipped the dealers 80, will purchase my buy-in to the big tourney in Feb tomorrow, will put aside maybe 360 for buy-ins for the next 8 weeks, will pay rent, some overdue bills, & buy a few nice things for the lovely Miss M, maybe try and find a nice winter coat for me.
I will also czeck the Mac prices in London in case it could warrant a trip there (don't think Marz has ever been)-- especially if there's a good tourney in town ;-)
I gotta say, this little victory felt pretty good... especially because I didn't win it so much as I simply earned it.
Namasté,
R