Poker, Poker ...

No guts, no glory..
If I had not dreamt about finishing first, maybe I would be 300 dollars richer
So close, yet so far..
Money and Dream.. often so together.. yet impeding one another .. ever so subtly.. so costly..

Let me summarize my tourny :) it started with 500 people, the total pool was 4.5k, the most enticing number of all is the 1st place finisher - 1200 dollars payday..

Nothing much happened in the first 30 minutes, I was not getting any cards, won a few small pot by betting, also lost a big one because someone caught me bluffing, started with 1.5k chips, was at 1k chips... way below average (short stacked)..

Then I was dealt AQ os, raised the blind 4x, got one caller, then the short stack (800 chips, only 300 less than me) went all in, I call ( had to make something happen).. He turned over Jkc; I was very happy.. my AQ held up, doubled up plus some more..

The very next hand, I got pocket 6, limped in, FLOP is A, 6, J, I made my set, decided to slow play it against two players, but they both checked :/ Turn is Q, I bet 100, got one caller, the other guy folded, river is another Queen, I made by boat and bet 100, he raised me 950 (huge raise), I went all in (put him on a queen), he called, flipped over 10/K.. he had a nut straight.. boy I rivered him =).. This was a turning point, I was at 4.5k chips now, well above average..

Back to no cards for a while, I was really patient, just folding and buying pots when opportunity presents itself, I busted a really loose player for 3k chips when my pocket 4 held up against his pocket 2.. Got moved to another table.. I was reading the old table quite well.

Nothing exciting really happened, I kept steadily increase my stack, blind was pretty high by then, my goal was just to steal one blind each round.. I took pots here and there by betting and raising, no real showdowns (which is good) .. I broke 10k chips and was always around rank 30..

After about 2 hrs, tourny down to about 45 players - so I was already in the money (top-45 pays), my stack was about average, but my stack took quite a hit down to 5k when I was caught stealing or bluffing couple of times, I guess this was because people were playing less tight since they were in the money already, bad time to try to make a move.. I was struggling to make top 36 (different payout), I ranked as low as 38/40 at one point when this hand happened, huge stack raised 2k preflop, I was BB held A3c, wasnt a good hand but I played anywayz (actually, I took Dan's advice and went all-in, thanx Dan!), he turned over 10Jc, I was up, my A3 held up, I doubled up and then some. Blinds were pretty high by then, 600/1200 and 50 ante, I kept pushing my stack all-in to steal, soon enough I was back on my feet with 18k chips, I was ranked about 10/25 ish..

I had a rush of good cards, pocket pairs/Ax/two face cards, was able to steal successfully, that was about 5k per steal.. worked my stack to 35k, in top-10, very hopeful for final table, one lucky hand happened, I was dealt J3 h in BB, everyone folded to me except one limper, I tried to steal, raised the blind 5x, got called!! I was like, damn.. Flopped came 3 heart!! OMG i was like! check raised him when he bet 5k chips, so won 15k chips there, stack up to 50k.. proceeded to steal couple of more hands, my stack was steadily at 50k, solid top-9

Right before the final table, i was ranked 6/10 or something like that, I made a great play that even got Dan to say "NICE!".. 10 players left, top-9 makes final table, I was in BB, preflop, i got 5/7 os, one of the shorter stack (40k) raised it to 14k (from 4k blind), everyone folded to me.. well, I have nothing, but I also know he is trying to buy it, even if he is not trying to buy it, If I put him all in, I cannot imagine him calling it unless he has a superb hand (AA, KK, AK) since he is SO CLOSE to making the final table, so I reraised him all in, he thought about it for a long time and folded, I showed my 5/7 :) .. stack up to 100k..

I then got caught stealing, a short stack doubled up at my expense, cost me 15k chips..

Now, FINAL TABLE!! This was the standing
Seat 1: visin (20622 in chips)
Seat 2: bfingur (59801 in chips)
Seat 3: orionstarr (45660 in chips)
Seat 4: JTriverrat (118017 in chips)
Seat 5: afroyo82 (86694 in chips)
Seat 6: wezer (47216 in chips)
Seat 7: Waccamaw109 (146269 in chips)
Seat 8: mlplayer (30960 in chips)
Seat 9: tripdoub21 (166261 in chips)

Blind was like 2000/4000, I would think if I had played conservatively, i would at least place 6th or 7th, which pays 200 dollars and 160 dollars respectively.. If i play well, I'd easily finish in top-3, which pays 500 dollars +..

But my final hand happened.. I was dealt Ah Js, I tried to steal, raised 12000 to 18000 (probably too little now I look at it), got one caller (the big stack).. Flop came 5h, 4h, 8h, he bet 24000 at me.. which is a huge bet, at this point I have two overcards and one nut flush draw, I cannot just call (too pot-commited) so I either go all in or fold.. I took a while and went all in, I did not want him to call me since I only have a draw and I cannot imagine him calling my 45k chip raise with anything other than a made flush, a set or AA/KK... he called, flipped over pocket 8.. top set.. Turn card was Qc, no help, River was a HEART!!! ( at this time I was jumping up and down the room as if I just won the tourny - I would've had 200k chips and be the chip leader).. However when I got back to my seat.. i realized the heart was a Queen.. which gave that foo a boat.. I lost and finished a disappointing 9th...

Would I make the same play again? In a heartbeat.. I think it is the right play, I want to win, I do not want a stinking 6th.. my dream was to win.. if my goal was to get as much money, sure I should've folded..
But I think most Pros would make the same bet.. well, 90% of them..

I can only say I played well.. my first final table appearence, disappointing? Yes.. but I played well throughout, did not make any big mistake and played aggressive and MORE AGRESSIVE as tournament progressed..
I did not have any huge showdown hands, which is good, I won most of my pots without showing my cards which is ideal.. One thing to remember, you do not need to have super good cards to win, NL poker is about betting! =)

Here is my final stats.. Good start to my one month poker marathon!!

283 hands played and saw flop:
- 7 times out of 34 while in small blind (20%)
- 9 times out of 35 while in big blind (25%)
- 22 times out of 214 in other positions (10%)
- a total of 38 times out of 283 (13%)

Pots won at showdown - 7 out of 12 (58%)
Pots won without showdown - 42