Table Image & Pocket Queens

Poker has been going so well for me lately, I'm afraid the alarm is going to ring and I'll find myself late for school. Friday was the 12th poker tournament I played at the PCS, and I finished first out of 27 people. I'd love to proclaim this as a turning point in my poker game, that's it is a sign that I've turned the corner and am rapidly becoming a Dangerous Poker Player. But the truth of the matter is that this tournament was chock full of mistakes that other players made against me. I stayed out of harm's way a lot, and pressed when I thought I had the best of it. When the money went in, and I was often a favorite, my hands held up.

It started with odd circumstances. My rsvp was a little late, so I was the last person with a chair at the two inside tables. Derek's friend Shawn (the same Super-loose Shawn who's been to my home game) decided he didn't like the cold and the bugs at the outside table, so he went home. So I was moved to the outside table, sandwiched in between Carlos on my right and Moss on my left. Moss had finished in the money in the first three PCS tourneys he entered. He's sneaky-good. Carlos isn't as scary, but he did beat me heads-up the previous tourney with his unpredictable play and frequent checkraises. The rest of the table had players brand new to the PCS.

The rebuy phase was frustrating for me. I couldn't get much going. I'd raise preflop with quality cards, and the flop would come with two diamonds. A new guy would throw a small bet at me, screaming of "flush draw". I'd counter with a solid raise, holding TPTK or an overpair. New guy would call, and the turn would be another diamond. New guy would bet large at me. And I would fold. (I consider calling and bluffing the flush an advanced move, and these new guys were not advanced.) This happened to me twice in a half-hour. The set of kings I flopped helped calm me, but I couldn't get any action with them.

The hand that started it all was the Hilton Sisters, pocket queens. After rebuys were over, in early position with the blinds at $1/$2, I opened with my standard 3x BB raise. I figured even the new guys would pick up on the fact that I'm fairly tight, so I was surprised when Steven called me from the button and Eugene from the big blind. I was pleased to see the flop: 9h, 7d, 4c. That relief was short-lived when Eugene pushed all-in for $33 into the $19 pot. I couldn't figure out what would make him push like that... two pair? A set of sevens?

I called, and Steven did too. What? What the hell am I up against? Steven had played the previous hour and a half like he had picked up hold'em that week. Not to be mean, but he was still grasping the concepts of "burn cards" and "checking". He could be holding any two cards, really. The turn was the Jh, putting two hearts on the board. I pushed all-in for $30 more, and Steven called again. He had me covered, with seventy-five cents to spare.

Eugene: A7 offsuit. Steven: pocket tens. Wow. The river was a blank, and I started stacking my $170+. Wide-eyed, Carlos and Moss repeatedly congratulated me on sticking with that hand. It was a huge pot so early in the tourney, and an early exit for Eugene. Steven would follow suit in short order, so we drew for inside seats. I hit the red table, with Moss on my immediate left, and Carlos on his immediate left. The size of my stack did not go unnoticed at the new table.

The red table remembered the last tournament. That time, I decided to flex my large stack at the final table and pressure the small stacks. My button-steal with 64 offsuit stood out. I made a play on Ray V's big blind, and he took a stand and pushed with KJ offsuit. Everybody at that final table saw my move.

Back to this tourney.. I folded a few hands, then found pocket Hellmuths on the button. Plenty of $2 limpers, and I wanted to narrow the field, so I bumped it to $12. Even though it looked like a positional bully move, everybody folded, even "Tenacious Blind Defense" Dallion. I told them I had a pocket pair, but didn't show. In the next rotation, I held AQ-suited in the cutoff, and raised Black Widow's big blind (and some limpers). Her monologue followed about how I like to be a bully when I'm flush with chips. She reluctantly folded her KQ offsuit, so I showed my cards.

With the blinds at $3/$6, I defended my big blind with that death-hand, AJ offsuit. Ray V had raised 3x my BB in early position. I was the only caller, and the flop was an interesting rainbow: A, Q, 9. So, what read do I have on Ray? He overrates "blackjack hands" like KJ, and he's not as concerned with what you're holding as he should be. Even though he raised from early position, I thought there was a good chance my hand was best, and checked to him.

Sitting behind a medium-large stack, he bet $35 at a $40 pot. I decided to test him, raising to $80 total. If he's got two pair, I expected him to push. If he's got AK, I expected him to think for a little while, and call (or maybe push). Ray got a little flustered. He started talking about what I could be up to, at one point seriously asking me if I held AQ. When he wondered out loud if I had him outkicked, I knew I was in the driver's seat. I put him on AT-suited.

He reminded me of my play two weeks ago on his big blind. I got caught with my hand in the cookie jar holding 64-off instead of Oreos. I could see the wheels turning in Ray's head. I might be making another play on him. As he sat there thinking, I wanted to twist the knife a little. "Hey Ray, do you think I'll fold if you reraise me all-in?"

In Ray's mind, the answer was "yes", and he pushed. I called and gave a whoop to see his lonely 7-kicker to his ace (But it was soooooted!). The turn and river were no help, and Ray went from player to spectator.

The next big confrontation was with a new guy, Jessie, who had a decent stack in front of him. Seated immediately on my right, Jessie raised under the gun for $40. I thought this was a bit of an overbet with the blinds at $4/$8. He didn't want to be called. I held AK offsuit, and I thought I'd play the bully. "Raise. Make it $80." Everybody got out of the way (as it meant most of them would be playing for their whole stack). Jessie called me, instead of pushing all-in with his remaining $35. I thought this was a little weak. Perhaps he had a middle pair like eights. The flop came QJ2 rainbow, and then he pushed in. I thought I had ten outs (three aces, three kings, four tens), and at such a cheap price, I had to call. I was shocked when I actually had the best hand to his A7-suited. Again, the turn and river were no help, and I had busted another player. At this point, I had $500+ with the blinds still at $4/$8 and the chip lead by a significant margin. Apparently playing A7-suited against me is a bad idea.

We consolidated, moving to the final table. Everyone had a comment or two about my chip-mountain. This time, I didn't have the cards to be a bully, figuring that this table would also think I was making plays on them and challenge me. After two or three orbits of nothing remotely useful, I stole Butch's big blind from the cutoff with T7 offsuit, Negreanu's "favorite hand". I showed the table. By the time the cards started hitting me again, I'd want them to think I might be stealing.

It was about this time that a side bet was proposed. Somebody was offering the prop-bet that I would/wouldn't win the tourney, at 6:1 odds. I had the chip lead, and there were seven other players remaining. Debate ensued, but the bet was never made. I was proud and nervous at the same time. This is me we're talking about. Mister Second Place. The same guy that went from chip leader at the add-on break to out of the money a few months ago.

My cards were cold as the field narrowed down. I made a few steals, but didn't defend my big blind much. I thought about taking a stand with Q9-suited, but decided that I should take Geoff's big UTG raise seriously and let him have it. Play progressed to 4-handed, with Geoff on my left, Brian on my right, and Butch in front of me. My chip lead had evaporated, but at least I had avoided a big blunder and was a few rungs up the pay ladder. If I was still the leader, second place was hot on my heels.

Once again, I noticed something odd and capitalized. Brian was first to act, and started to stack his chips like he was going to raise. After an inordinate amount of time, he pushed all-in. $180+ was a big overbet to steal the $5/$10 blinds and $1 antes. Clearly he didn't want a call. I like AQ-suited four-handed, but I wasn't thrilled with calling an all-in with it. Had I not been suspicious about his overbet and the time it took him to push in, I would have given more thought to folding. I called, and his KT offsuit didn't improve. Gimme the chips, we're down to three.

Three handed, we felt each other out for a while. Blinds were stolen. Not many confrontations were had. Geoff was making more moves, pushing in with his openended straight flush draw on the flop, or king-high when I tried to limp in my small blind preflop. I figured I had to trap him to get his chips, or outflop him. With A7 offsuit in the small blind, I chose to trap him. After Butch folded, I simply called, and he went all-in from his big blind with his KQ offsuit, another overbet from him. Something just felt a little off. I hate ace-rag, but I thought it was best here, so I called, after determining that I wouldn't be down to the felt if I lost. The flop hit all babies, the turn was an ace, and Geoff was out in third place. It was down to me and Butch, and I had Butch outchipped. Time to find out if my heads-up skills had improved any.

It wasn't going to be easy, though. The $20/$40 blinds were small compared to the stacks we had. I started with a 2/1 chip lead, and we battled for more than an hour heads-up. Both of us were tight and aggressive. I think we may have actually had a showdown once before the last hand. Action rarely got past the turn. I was the aggressor, even though I held poor cards, and I used positional advantage as best I could. I'm still no fearsome heads-up opponent, but I'm better than I was before I found the poker blogger community. I'll shout it from the rooftops - I'm a better poker player because of the writings of other poker bloggers.

At one point, Butch took a large pot when I avoided the temptation to make an all-in river bluff. That was probably the big mistake I avoided while playing heads-up. He had me outchipped right then, but I rallied right after. All the while, the blinds were escalating from $25/$50, to $30/$60, and finally $40/$80. I didn't have the stranglehold on Butch that I had on Esther, but I was never in serious danger.

And finally, it happened. I knew that it was going to take a strong hand for each of us to get all the money in. I saw pocket queens, and thought This is it. Butch raised from the button, I went all-in, and he called quickly with pocket tens. Yes!! A shout went up from the crowd - the handful of onlookers had been waiting for the tourney to end so everyone could grab a bite to eat.

Then the nightmare flop hit: A, K, T with two clubs. Neither one of us had a club. Six outs. If Butch's hand held up, he'd have me outchipped at least 8/1. The turn was a five.

And the river was a Jack! A river suckout gave me the Broadway straight, and my first PCS victory. It was fitting that my tournament figuratively started and literally ended with me holding pocket queens. I love the Ladies!!