My First NL Real-Money Final Table

In perhaps my fifteenth no-limit real-money tournament, I made my first ever final table. I'm more pleased than I was with the 102 person limit tourney. This late-night one had 207 entries, and a $5+.50 entry fee. I think first place clocked $300 or so. Would've been nice to just about double up the bankroll. As it is, my 7th place finish netted me $25.87.

Only a few hands stick out, and the first was very early in the tourney. It was three-handed, and I held pocket nines. I raised a moderate amount, somebody reraised, someone else coldcalled, and I decided a call was in order. The flop was a gorgeous 9, 8, 3-rainbow. I love top set. I wasn't the last to raise, and the board didn't look dangerous, so I thought I'd try to milk this one. I checked, Raiser bet small, Coldcaller called, and I called. The turn was another 8, putting two clubs on board. Jackpot! Still, plenty of time to let the other guys catch up a little. I checked, Raiser bet small, Coldcaller called. The river was a red queen. Once again, I checked (all the while thinking about how much I love how aggressive the monkeys are early in tourneys), Raiser bet, Coldcaller called, and I pushed all-in, about a pot-sized raise. Raiser called instantly, and Coldcaller reluctantly follows suit. Raiser had JT offsuit for a queen-high straight, Coldcaller had QT of clubs for a busted flush draw-turned-top-pair, and I had a glorious full house.

Real-money tournaments are slightly different than freerolls. Most importantly, fewer mistakes are made, costing people most or all of their stacks. When I jumped out to a very healthy stack, the rate at which others were catching and passing me was much slower than in freerolls. Basically, an early advantage in a real-money tourney means a lot more than it does in a freeroll. Having everybody at your table outchipped affords you some leniency about blind-stealing, and gets more folks to fold earlier in hands. Fewer people want to go to the river with somebody that can bust them easily, when that person is showing strength the whole time.

It's also been said you need a little luck to get to a final table, and this hand is my proof. I was UTG with pocket tens, and the SB started yapping about how it's time for him to go. (It was very late at night, even on the West Coast.) I had two callers to my 3x BB raise (450), and SB pushed all-in for another 1500. I had the two callers covered easily, and pushed all-in myself. They folded, and there's a huge pot I felt great about, until the crafty SB flipped over AQ-spades. Absolute nightmare of a flop, too: AQJ, two hearts. I needed a king, a ten, or running hearts to win. After a useless black three, the river saved my sorry butt with a fantastic king for the ace-high straight. Losing that hand wouldn't have busted me, but I would've been looking at a sub-average stack of 2000 with 75/150 blinds.

I also cut 'n paste two key hands that I considered "make or break" hands. I'll summarize the hand histories rather than paste them.

With the blinds at 200/400, with 50 antes, and me in the cutoff with A5-offsuit and a stack of 13K+, I raised it up to 1000 total when the action was passed to me. The BB, who has me slightly outchipped, was the only caller. The flop is 6, 6, 4 with two hearts. Hmph, there's a very good chance that my naked little ace high isn't the best hand here. But what I do know is that low, paired boards are great news if you've got an overpair, so long as you've come in with a raise. It's time to pretend I've got one of those. He bet the minimum at me, 400, which often means "flush draw". I raised to 2000, which I figured I'd do if I had a nice overpair. I was a bit concerned by his call, but then again, he's got more chips than I do, and is probably itching to bust me if he gets his heart. The turn is a black eight, and he checks. I bet another 2000, figuring he's got one card to come, and that eight didn't scare my pretend pocket tens. I figured that a flush draw will fold here, so if he does call, I'm shutting down and not putting any more money in the pot. I was tremendously relieved when he folded, as that hand meant the difference between me with less than 6K in chips and me with more than 17K.

Down to two tables, I decided to defend my big blind with average cards. I was in the BB with Q9 offsuit and a stack of 19K, faced off against a very aggressive blind-stealer who had my stack doubled. With the blinds at 600/1200 and antes at 125, he min-raised, and I called. The flop was a nice (or dangerous) 9, 7, 4-rainbow. I had top pair with a decent kicker. Is my hand the best? Judging by all the steal attempts he was making, he could have any two cards, and the chances of him having an overpair were lower than normal. So I checked. He bet the pot, more than 5K. I checkraised him, all-in, for an additional 10K+. And he thought about it. And thought some more. And used up all of his time before folding. Ooh, it felt good. Down to twelve people, I made a min-raise blind-steal from UTG with AT-suited. The shortstack expert on my immediate left pushed all-in, and one of the blinds called. I folded to watch Mr. SSE's pocket queens hold up against pocket nines, though that ace on the flop would've minted me. (yeah, I stole that from Tilt. Sue me.)

I hit the final table, got cold decked a bit, and made my stand from the BB with A8 sooooted, only to be busted by Mr. SSE, who no longer had a short stack, with his AT sooooted. Neither suit played, and he flopped two pair.