Trip Report - Los Angeles

[ammbo]

Gonna be a short one!

I played a $200 tournament at the Bicycle Casino on Saturday. I had the opportunity to meet both Geormiet and niin, both of whom were playing the tournament with me. Both nice guys. I connected with Geo before the tourney and we had a chance to chat for a little while. niin and I were not able to make cell phone contact initially, so I just went and took my seat. The person on my immediate right was vaugely close to niin's description, and sure enough it turned out to be him. Out of 300+ people in the tourney, I was right next to one of the other two ITHers!

The tournament itself was fairly well run. We had 1000 chips to stars and 30 minute levels. The players were bad. I saw a lot of awful play and pegged maybe three people at the table as solid players. The rest were maniacs or weak calling stations. On to the action! Here is a recap of all of the hands I won: ________. That's right. I did not win a single hand. I had a maniac on my left and a calling station on his left. Rotten position. I bet my KQ with top pair and a flush draw into the calling station and she then made a huge bet when an ace turned and I folded. I then raised AQs and the maniac called. I missed and put out a fairly good sized bet and he called. I check/folded the turn. By the time the third level came around, I had 400 chips on a 50 blind. One player who had been quiet suddenly tripled up with AA by moving all in in the dark on two opponents. The next hand I got KK UTG (my first pair) and made it 150 to go. He called. I moved my chips in in the dark and he called on a 589r flop with a set of fives. Bye bye, ammbo.

Overall I had a great time. I met a few friendly ITHers and had a good time with the people at my table. I like to be a chatterbox at the table, but I usually back that up with good play. This time was not to be. I was very disappointed with myself that I made moves on two players I should not be making moves on so early and that my overall performance was so dismal. I have had a bit of a live tournament drought lately and I think I need to examine my live game for holes. I do think I lose a little bit of aggression when I am in a live game vs. online.

[niin]

Heh, not that I didn't enjoy chatting with you, Ammbo, but you were probably one of the last people I wanted to my left Ended up not mattering, my hands were about as bad as yours; I got AK once, a pair of 7s once, and I would have won a flush with 5c2c. Everyone knows you should be playing 5c2c!

I went out about 30 minutes after ammbo, when the blinds were 50/100 and I had about 500 chips left on a couple of fairly insignificant hands. I called a shorter stack than mine with KTs, they turn over Q9 and hit their hand. Then I pushed my last 175 chips in with J9s with 2 other limpers (figuring my cards would be live, and I could more than triple up if I won)... person to my left re-raised all-in pushing out the limpers for me, so it was J9 vs A3, and he hit his wheel.

I think I won a single pot that tournament, and that was on a pure steal on a rags board. My one pair I got all day missed the set. I had a pair of 7s on an 89Q board with people betting and raising.

I tied another pot; I had A9s in the BB, the flop comes AK9. I bet about a pot-sized bet, and the asian gentleman in seat 8 called. Turn was a K, totally negating my pair of 9s and making me worried now that if my opponent had an ace I was out-kicked. River was a Q, checked to me and he showed A7, so we split the pot.

I made one mistake, although Ammbo didn't seem to think it was a critical of one as I did. The maniac to his left raised UTG to 100 at the second level (25/50 blinds). Two caller if I remember right, and I was in the SB with AhKh and just called for 75 more... that to me was a mistake. I should have re-raised 200-300 or so, which would have been about half my stack. Flop was low rags, but I would have ended up winning with a backdoor flush. I should have raised to isolate the maniac, since there was a good chance I had him dominated.

Live and learn

It was cool meeting some ITHers. I really liked the structure. I liked the longer blind levels, and 1000 starting chips with 10/15 blinds as the first level was really nice; allowed you to sit back and play more. It didn't really become an all-in fest until about 2 hours into the tournament.

How'd you end up doing, Geo?

[ammbo]

Not sure if the AK was a huge mistake, niin. It was still fairly early in the tourney and you were likely a coin flip, even though he was a maniac. The callers would have concerned me more than the original bettor. Either way, you would have been unimproved on the flop with two overcards and a backdoor flush draw, not where you wanted to be. It was too early in the tourney to push small edges. You played it safe, especially since you were out of position. Of course, I didn't win a hand, so what the heck do I know??

Had a great time, it was good to meet you.

[Seadood228]

Sounds like a fun tournament... If only I had known a little sooner, I might have made the trip...

niin - I'm kind of in Ammbo's boat on the AK hand. I think out of all the possible moves you could make there, raising 3x his raise is the move I like least. With 2 callers (5 people in the pot), I think it's best to raise 5X the first raise. Since this pot commits you, might as well just push your whole stack in. There is a lot of potential dead money in the pot, so one can argue that going for the coin flip is definitely worth it in that spot, especially given the fact that a few dominated hands might call you there.

Calling and taking a flop isn't that bad of an idea either.

[Tilter]

Sound like you had fun. Shame ou couldn't win a hand though. I've played a $200 buyin and had a great time before. Can't wait for my casino to do another one, but they hardly host or it gets sold out too quickly.

[niin]

[ammbo]

Geo... How did you end up?

[geormiet]

Sorry for the delay...

Nice meeting ammbo and Niin. Was surprised to find out ammbo was only a few years older than me...definitely not who I pictured him to be based on his online persona.

I busted out maybe 60th. The prize structure was like $20k for 1st, 10k for 2nd, and by the time it got to the bubble (18th), $250. I had no desire to spend all day just to win my entry fee back, so I was taking plenty of risks to build a monster stack.

A few interesting hands, I would appreciate if any NL guys would comment on them:

1) Blinds are 15/30. I (1100) raise to 100 with Jd8d in early position. Guy on my left (1500) calls, everyone else folds.
Flop is A8x, two diamonds. I check, with the intention of checkraising allin, but he checks behind. Turn is the 2d. I bet 100, he calls. River is a blank, I go all in, he folds.

I know this hand was played stupidly on practically every street, but I'd like to hear other approaches to it. Of course the river bet is too big, but should I have bet the flop? Bet a different amount on the turn?



2) Blinds 50/100. Utg (2000) raises to 300, I (2000) push all in with with TT in mp. UTG calls with QQ. Flop comes no help, and then someone says, "I just mucked JT". The last T in the deck hits the turn, and I double up to 4000.

3) Blinds 100/200. I have 77 in the BB. Folded to the SB (shortstacked) who goes all in for about 1000 (I have around 3500). I call instantly, lose to his KTs. Does anyone NOT call here? I thought it was good for table image....I called extremely quickly without pausing to think.

4) Big stack at the table raises to 600, and I go allin for 3400 with 99. Folded back to him, he thinks for about 2 minutes, and calls with ATo. A hits the the turn, and I'm out.



I have to say, although I had a good time, tournaments are just not my cup o tea. The thrill of playing a final table, however, is just enough to keep me coming back every now and then.