WPBT: Feburary 2005 PokerStars Event

I was feeling fairly confident that I'd win Maudie's T-shirt for first out but AlCantFold seemed to be on a bender to win that shirt on the first hand. The WPBT tournament was a good experience once again for me as I finished 28th (I think...).

Some hands I remember:

KK in middle position I rattle off a $172 raise (as opposed to the $127 raise with the hammer the previous hand). All folded to the BB who flat called. 2 - 3 - 5 rainbow flop and I bet out $300, the BB flat calls again. Hmmmm... the next card was a 4 and the BB insta-pushed. I knew he had an ace, he knew he had an ace, yet my finger clicked the call button anyway. He turns over A2o, an odd call with an inside straight draw and bottom pair, but I did bet representing the hammer I guess :D A nice little 6 on the river saved my ass and chopped the pot. Wheeeeeeeee.

KQo in middle position and the blinds were sitting at 75/150 with my original stack of T1500 plus 5 I decided to push and try to steal the blinds, but the man from the planet Vulcan (Signor) saw right through my logic in the BB and called with 77. No help on the flop, but a K on the turn and overkill Q on the river doubled me up. I was getting blinded down again to the 100/200 level with 66 in middle position and pushed getting called once again by the BB (sheesh, am I that transparent?) by AJo and once again I won the race when no A or J came up.

Then my three AQo hands that killed my tournament and a stack at the cash tables...
AQ in Middle position I raise for T1200 with stack of ~T5300, all fold to the BB who... pushes. Sigh. Because he had me covered and I figured he either had me dominated with AK, AA, or KK, or it was a coin flip I folded. Looking back, I should have just gambled in that spot since the blinds were escalating to the point where it made sense to take a gamble. Then AQo in early position with the blinds at 300/600 I pushed again only to get called by.... the big blind with 55. After the flopped set, I was crippled with ~1000 left and had to eat the blinds the next hand. Throwing away K7o (which would have tripled me up) I got set all-in by AQo while holding... 82o. Not good. But WAIT! An eight on the flop of K - 8 - 3 all spades and he held the Q of spades, I was looking good but not golden. Two more blanks came off and I was back to ~T2600. I folded my small blind and next hand I get KJo on the button and push to steal but THE MOTHERFU***** BIG BLIND CALLED AGAIN. Good god, I guess I need to play a little tighter next time? :P This time it was ATs and a K hit the flop.... along with 2 others of the same suit that matched his hand. Sigh. Out 28th and got a same money Al did 2.5 hours ago. The chat at the tourney rocked as the jokes poured out in usual manners. Great tournament once again.... even if it did cost me $100.

AQo in the NL cash game I raise it to 4XBB and get called by you guessed it the BIG BLIND. A flop of Q - 3 - 2 rainbow looks pretty peachy to me and I fire out a $6 bet, the big blind flat calls, my warning bells went off but did I listen to them? Noooooooooooooooooo. Turn card a 3, I fire $10 and he pushes, sure enough, he has 22 for the boat and I'm left to type one-handed to relieve the pain. I'm making the right call but, too lazy/stupid/thinking about Lindsay Lohan naked licking ice cream a dripping ice cream cone (mint chocolate chip of course), to fold when I know I'm beat. Yes, Allen Iverson we're talking about practice, and I need some more before I whittle away my bankroll. Practice and I'm never going to play AQo again, unless I'm in the BB and A - A - Q rainbow flops.