Home Tourney #2

We had two members of the OC Poker Babe Triumvirate in attendance. And I think Oklahoma Jeff got a phone number.

Eerily, we had the exact same number of players as Thursday AND the exact same prize pool $88/$48/$24 = $160.
9) Kida (his 'away' record is atrocious)
8) Dave (once again, a guy named Dave is rebuy leader)
7) "Tabletalk" Tommy (made some good folds, which is rare for him)
6) Oklahoma Jeff (massive early chip lead, didn't add-on, hacked to ribbons after the first hour)
5) Swingdancin' Andy (folded two black jacks to 9d8d2c. turn ended up a 7d.)
4) PCS Derek
3) Esther
2) High Plains Drifter
1) Francesca

Heads-up began with Fran having a 6+:1 chip advantage, and I never recovered. Her Hilton Sisters held up against my AJ offsuit for the victory in the last hand. With the queens, she gave off the "I've got a monster hand" vibe right after she raised. Body language, mostly, leaning forward and down towards the table. I had been going all-in over the top of her last two raises - my K5 suited-diamonds vs her A6 suited-diamonds luckily caught me two pair and no diamonds. So when she raised with the queens, she gave off a vibe like "Come get some. Push all-in, just like you've been doing." I had a little disconnect in my brain. I put her on queens or kings, and I still called. I needed to double up just to be 3:2 down to her. I'll have to watch for that body language again - it was like that one time in Buena Park when Gene had pocket kings, his body just.. changed. And I really should be tenacious when it gets to heads-up and I'm a huge 'dog.

And if Esther raises preflop, fold everything but pocket aces. Seriously, she made one preflop raise tonight, holding KK, which I ended up calling with A9 of hearts. I've seen her limp and call with AKo a few times now, and I have yet to see her raise preflop with it. And the Poker Gods laughed, as she was busted out of the tournament with her kings, against T4, two pair on the river for Francesca.

And once again, Derek reraised me holding a suited connector when I had pocket queens. I made a small raise of the 25/25 blinds up to 125. Dave, on my immediate left, reraised me to 425, and Derek reraised to 925. I folded, Dave went all-in, and Derek folded. I told the table I folded my queens, and Dave showed his AK of spades. A rabbit hunt yielded an ace on the flop, so I suppose I should thank him for saving me chips. I didn't remember who it was that reraised me with connectors in the PCS regular season. That time, I flopped a set of queens, with an ace on the board. I gave a free card, wanting to check-raise, Derek didn't bite, and the turn gave him an open-ended draw, which he hit on the river. The next time Derek reraises me, I'm putting the motherfucking hammer down.

Dave seriously overrates AK I think, reraising/going all-in without hesitation. He pushes hard at a table of 9. He did make an interesting play, calling a pre-flop raise from the BB with pocket 2's. Oklahoma Jeff held AJo and I had pocket 5's in the SB. Flop comes 964, Jeff bets, I fold, and Dave calls. I think there was another bet and call before the showdown, and Dave's tiny pair held up. I made the bold proclamation that the BP crew (Tommy, Kida, Dave) will call your flop-bet with a small pair if the flop comes babies. They all "make the read" that you're raising with big cards. They are used to doing that because their game has plenty of raises with any two face cards.

I was very pleased with my play against Francesca. My read on her is still roughly the same (though she is smart enough to throw money at pots with a huge stack if she senses weakness). If she has something, she's firing at the pot, often overbetting. Slowplay + checkraise worked wonderfully for me. It was down to 4 or 5, and I was the shortstack at the table. AK offsuit for me in the BB, two limpers. I check, and the flop misses me, 974 rainbow. Lucky for me, it missed the other two, and was checked to a beautiful turn, a king. Now I figure I'm in the driver's seat, but if Fran has a king, she's going to bet. And if she does, I can be pretty certain she doesn't have two pair. True to form, Fran bets her K5, and I raise, all-in. Oklahoma Jeff, who has been whispering to her since he busted out, knows she's beat, but she calls and doubles me up. This was the best hand I played all tourney, and those chips propelled me into the money.

All in all, good fun. And I can't argue with two money finishes in two attempts. Here's to home field advantage!