Sunday, September 27, 2009

About That 3rd Tourney

So I left off the last post when I was still playing a $4K guaranteed rebuy PLO tourney on Friday, and I haven't gotten a chance to report on the results. Well, here's how it ended:


I'm pretty sure you won't hear me talking about how upset I am that I didn't win this thing. 2nd place is pretty nice, and so is the $1K prize.

Early on, I was in for 2 buy-ins and took a river beat on a pretty wretched call (naked Q-high flush draw calling off his stack). It was right before the rebuy period ended, and I really didn't intend on buying in for 4-5 buys, but given the quality of play that had busted me at that point, I figured I still had a solid edge, so I bought back, took the optional 2nd rebuy, and then also took the add-on. So there I was, in for $50 in this thing, and feel a little stupid about it.

But sure enough, I stuck around, and hit the final table in ho-hum position:


All I can say about this run is that I hope I didn't use up all of my poker luck for a while. I had to dig out of some nasty spots and hit some very lucky cards to survive as long as I did. Consider a few hands here....

Just inside of the money, with 14 players left, I played this hand:

Full Tilt Pot-Limit Omaha Tournament, 1200/2400 Blinds (7 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
saw flop saw showdown
MP1 (t55468)
MP2 (t33600)
CO (t63904)
Hero (SB) (t65434)
BB (t108438)
UTG (t65941)
UTG+1 (t88296)
Hero's M: 18.18
Preflop: Hero is SB with J, 7, K, Q
UTG calls t2400, UTG+1 calls t2400, 1 fold, MP2 calls t2400, 1 fold, Hero calls t1200, BB checks

Flop: (t12000) 8, K, 10 (5 players)
Hero checks, BB checks, UTG checks, UTG+1 bets t5000, 1 fold, Hero raises to t21000, 2 folds, UTG+1 calls t16000

Turn: (t54000) 7 (2 players)
Hero bets t42034 (All-In), UTG+1 calls t42034

River: (t138068) 9 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: t138068
Results:
Hero had J, 7, K, Q (straight, King high).
UTG+1 had 9, A, J, K (straight, Jack high).
Outcome: Hero won t138068

So I was a 3.4-1 dog going to the river there, and hit one of my 10 outs.

I tried to offer my condolences, and the chat conversation went like this:
noldmax: u had me crushed...tough beat
TopKorneR: u and u were 2 stupid to see it
noldmax: so what, you're just mucking in my spot? please
TopKorneR: not shoving

I'm pretty sure he's wrong...I pretty much have to shove here, since I am still going to have to call if I check and he shoves. And at this point, I have 2-pair to go with my OESD and 3rd-nut FD, so this could well be for value.

I had one more miracle go my way, midway through the final table. I was short-stacked and just looking for a hand to shove. I saw what seemed decent to shove with, and turned out to be pretty far behind:

Full Tilt Pot-Limit Omaha Tournament, 4000/8000 Blinds (6 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
saw flop saw showdown
SB (t69464)
BB (t75893)
Hero (UTG) (t64159)
MP (t233222)
CO (t137732)
Button (t358530)
Hero's M: 5.35
Preflop: Hero is UTG with 7, Q, Q, 2
Hero bets t28000, 4 folds, BB raises to t75893 (All-In), Hero calls t36159 (All-In)

Flop: (t132318) 2, 9, 7 (2 players, 2 all-in)
Turn: (t132318) 5 (2 players, 2 all-in)
River: (t132318) K (2 players, 2 all-in)
Total pot: t132318
Results:
BB had A, 7, A, Q (one pair, Aces).
Hero had 7, Q, Q, 2 (two pair, sevens and twos).
Outcome: Hero won t132318


With my opponent holding both a Q and 7, I'm hurting badly pre-flop, but even as a 4-1 dog, I luck out and hit a miracle 2-7 on the flop, which holds up and keeps me alive.

I took this snapshot with 4 players left, on the assumption that I'd be documenting some sort of meltdown when I went from chip leader to busto with 4 left.


But I managed to outlast 2 more, getting heads-up at a pretty big disadvantage. The final hand went like this:

Full Tilt Pot-Limit Omaha Tournament, 8000/16000 Blinds (2 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
Hero (SB) (t181732)
BB (t757268)
Hero's M: 7.57
Preflop: Hero is SB with 2, J, K, J
Hero bets t38000, BB raises to t114000, Hero raises to t181732 (All-In), BB calls t67732

Flop: (t363464) 3, 4, Q (2 players, 1 all-in)
Turn: (t363464) 9 (2 players, 1 all-in)
River: (t363464) 9 (2 players, 1 all-in)
Total pot: t363464
Results:
Hero had 2, J, K, J (two pair, Jacks and nines).
BB had 9, A, 7, K (three of a kind, nines).
Outcome: BB won t363464

Hey, if my lucks gonna run out, it might as well be once I've wrapped up a $1K prize, right?

It could be a long time before I get a wide open day to fire up some more tourneys like this, but when that day comes around, there will be a pretty high standard to reach after this monster tourney day. Until then, I'll be back grinding the 6-max tables.

6 comments:

Memphis MOJO said...

Congrats on the very nice ca$h(s). When you have a day like this one, it seems so easy.

The Poker Meister said...

CONGRATS dude! Speaking from the vantage of having never won any tournament more than an SNG, outlasting 189 opponents is quite an accomplishment!

Unknown said...

Congrats, man. I need to brush up on my PLO. I think you'll find those tourneys are far more beatable than the NLHE tourneys simply because so many players have no idea what they are doing.

And there are less players in them, so they aren't marathons (usually).

noldmax said...

Thanks all, it was especially nice since I was out of practice playing tourneys. I definitely was lost playing tournament end-game in the PLO format. I just tried to play tight and selective, for lack of knowing any better.

Here's to getting lucky, and here's to not blowing all your tourney winnings at the cash tables!

Anonymous said...

Dude, nice work!!!

Hef

au trader said...

Congrats Max, good job. Maybe move up to a higher cash table now?

I hate rebuy tourneys, btw.