A Potpourri PCS, An Omaha Final Table

With a nod to my favorite Jeopardy category, this week's PCS tournament had a little bit of everything. What it didn't have was a huge attendance. 17 rsvp'ed, 15 showed. I started at the "Tough Guy" table (John & Tim were there), and was the only one moved before the final table formed.

Things picked up after I was moved to the red table. Derek was the table captain there. It was quite possible that he had more chips than the rest of the table combined. I started off by folding for an orbit. Then I decided to open up my game, when I had position. The results were disastrous.

With the button and a not-nearly-as-nice-as-it-looks 98 suited, I raised Ray S and Pistol Pete's blinds. Ray gave me some action out of the small blind. The flop came J54 with two spades. *woooosh* That's the sound of the flop missing me. But I've got position. Maybe he doesn't have a jack, or spades.

He checked to me, and I bet just under the pot. He hesitated, mentioned that he got a piece of the flop He's got a jack. but was concerned because it was a dangerous flop. The turn was an 8. Ok, now I have a piece of the board. I know I'm losing to a jack, but Ray is feeling uneasy. He checked, and I bet just about 3/4 of the pot. Once again, he reluctantly called. I swear, he was this close to folding. The river was a blank, and I couldn't help myself. I pushed all-in, and was called, after some thought, by Ray's AJ. I was overly aggressive when I smelled weakness. His cards were just good enough to stick around.

A few minutes later, I decided to raise Jesus's big blind with A8 offsuit. Hey, it's a steal. I figure my last preflop raise was with trash, so my opponents will think nah, not twice in a row. This one has to be legit. He called, and we saw a flop of Q98 with two spades.

He bet $5 into me, and I raised to $15. He went all-in pretty quickly. My brain was screaming, "You're beat! Fold now! Save the chips!!" My mouth was having none of that, and said "Call." (though I didn't have much left to toss in.) Sure enough, Jesus has whipped up a miracle with a flopped straight with his JT offsuit. Running spades or a running boat was not in the cards, and I ponied up my second rebuy in ten minutes.

Oh yeah, I was on tilt. There's no other explanation as to how I tried to fit such a square peg into a round hole.

I actually said out loud, "You guys know I'm just setting you up for when I have a real hand." Looks like I was the prophet to Jesus's gospel....

One orbit later, I'm in the big blind with pocket aces. Wooooooooooo!!! It's on now. And nobody will give me any credit for having any sort of hand, right?

Jesus did something that struck me as odd. He limped on the button, then reraised my 3x BB raise. I didn't want to blow him out of the water, and I exhibited a little bit of self-control. On occasion, I've acted way too fast when I was holding pocket aces. This time, I gave things a lot of thought, and called. I will be checkraising you later in the hand, Jesus.

The flop was an ab-so-fucking-lutely gorgeous AJ2, rainbow. I checked to Jesus, who bet at me about half the pot. Once again, I gave some thought. I wanted to look just a little pained, like I was wondering if my middle pair was good. I wanted to sell the idea that it was a tough decision for me. The turn was a five. No flush to be seen, and 43 is the only hand that beats me. Slowplaying still looks like a good idea. I checked and called. The river was an offsuit seven. The trap is still working, so let's run with it...

"Check".

"All-i..."

"Call."

"Fuck."
Jesus knew he was beat, and I had doubled up against his pocket queens. Oddly, this wasn't the first time Jesus ran his queens into somebody's slowplayed aces and lost to a set of them.

That was my double-up, and I vowed not to play like a retard. I folded until the rebuy phase ended. I did miss a shot to bluff at Pistol Pete, who won a hand that was checked down all the way with his queen-high. My J9-suited in late position could've picked that up with a bet on the turn.

Play continued until we had the tables consolidate. I had $80 moving over, and the blinds were $3/$6, with plenty of poker to play.

Butch enjoying seeing me come back. Friendly banter back and forth characterized my early stay over at the "Tough Guy" table. Butch remembered his second place finish to me when I sucked out a Broadway straight against his set of tens. He actually proposed a last-longer bet for this tournament, which I declined, even though I was two spots on his left, with the same amount of chips.

After an orbit of folding, I found pocket aces under the gun. I raised the $6 big blind to $15, which was just about standard for the level. It was folded around to Butch in the small blind, who reraised me all-in. I love calling all-ins with rockets. I just barely had him covered. His AK-diamonds didn't improve enough and he was out. Looks like I should've taken that last-longer bet. Oh well, his chips were excellent consolation.

I had uber-tight Pistol Pete on my immediate left, and he was nursing a short-stack. With the blinds at $4/$8, I found K9 offsuit in my small blind. It was folded to me, so I put the man all-in. He thought for a while, and eventually called with Q9 suited. I slightly surprised to see him call, and shocked to see him call with a weaker hand than my sawmill. He didn't improve, and I stacked some more chips.

I won a few decent hands playing the other players as much as my cards. Tim limped in late position in my big blind. I saw pocket twos, and raised. He called, I bet the flop - hey, three overcards! - and he folded. I love it when I sack up and it works. Especially late in the tourney.. the later it is, the sweeter winning a pot with a vulnerable hand is.

I had a hand or two like that. I was mean and aggressive, like a poker Mobster. I was breaking thumbs and kneecapping people. My stack was a shade over $200 with $5/$10 blinds, $1 antes when my world got rocked.

Hello, Mister Hellmuth. Two black nines, under the gun, six-handed? What would Phil do? He'd probably raise, then bitch when somebody called him with QT offsuit. Anyhow, I'll raise to $30 and see what happens.

Chris D called. Chris is insanely loose in the rebuy phase of tourneys. He bluffs a bunch, calls, and chases when he's got a lot of chips after the rebuy phase. And he's got me outchipped. Great. Good luck putting him on a hand now.

The flop screamed Danger. AQJ, with two spades. But I remember that I'm on a mission from the poker gods to play like a burly, marauding Viking post-flop, and I fired $35 at the $60 pot. Chris calls.

The turn is a red 2. Chris took his sweet time calling the $35 flop bet. I don't think he wants to stick around. Maybe he's on adraw. Maybe he's nervous about his hand. There's a disturbingly good chance that I'm beat right now with three overcards on the board. Strong like ox, I bet $60. I am a bad man. I command respect. I have balls of titanium.

I just got called. I'm fucked. Nevermind that Chris took even longer and looked even more pained doing it. I have a little less than $80 left, and I'm boned. I don't think I can move him off the pot with an all-in river bet.

The river is a red five, and Chris checks very quickly after I do. He's got... A8 offsuit. And the chip lead.

I ended up losing the very next hand, my big blind, without a fight...

In the small blind, I held Q6 offsuit. A computer hand. It was folded to me, and I gave thought to ditching it. I thought my hand is the very definition of average, and I have to call $5 to get into a $26 pot, so... "Call."

Derek thought for a minute, then checked. The flop was Q43. Top pair, shoddy kicker. I bet $20, and Derek went all-in over the top. I called instantly - I was reeling from my huge loss to Chris, and Derek had been making plays left and right at the final table. I had a hunch my top pair was best, nevermind the weak kicker. Derek showed bottom pair, J3 offsuit.

Turn: 5. River: J. Two pair for Derek, and a swift and painful exit for me. Sixth place when the top four were paid. Derek ended up making the money when new guy Alex was busted out, trying to steal the blinds with A5-suited, running into Chris's cowboys. I was happy for Derek - it was his first money finish in 2+ PCS seasons of play. Well, as happy as I can be for a guy that I would've crippled had I avoided five river outs...

$65 in, $0 out. 6th / 15 players.

Oh, and I just got done with a $1 rebuy PL Omaha tourney. I finished 10th out of 100 participants. I was only in for $3 (well, $1 + 500 UB pts), and cashed out for a whopping $4.68. But I can say I've made a final table in Omaha.

I started at the final table #6 in chips. The big final table hand I lost was a KK-double suited hand, with a flop of Q9x, rainbow. I was check-raised, all-in, by somebody I had outchipped, and I called to see his openended straight draw and pair of tens. But I had two of his kings, so he really had eight outs. Naturally, the turn brought me the king I didn't want, and the river avoided the board pair I did want. If I win that hand, I vault near the chip leader, and I move myself up the pay ladder.

Thanks to thebabykicker for sweating my PL Omaha play, and listening politely to the neophyte, PBR-fueled Omaha strategy I was spouting during the tournament.