Taj Trip Report
Went down to the Taj last night, mainly for their Wednesday night tournament. We got there a bit early, and I decided to play some 2/4 Limit. I bought in for a hundred dollars, and about an hour and change I left with nearly $200. I believe the words to use there were "running over a table." It's so much fun when the fish just keep paying you off. For a few minutes, I actually felt like Mike McD, looking across the table and saying, "Naah. You didn't hit it. Raise." The most notable hand of the session had me looking down on the button and seeing JTs. I limped in, to see a flop of 8-9-Q rainbow. Yahtzee. Knowing how loose/passive the table was, I wait. EP player bets, her loosey-goosey friend raises, and we get 6 callers, including me. Turn brings a blank. It gets bet again by the EP player, raised by her friend, re-raised by an MP player, and I cap. River brings the K, no flush on board. We get 3-way capped betting. Ouch. This is gonna hurt. EP player turns over 98o. Heh. Her friend flips over Q5o. Heh. MP shows me the case 9's, giving him trips. Heh. I turn over my well-hidden nut straight and scoop it. Huge. The aquarium was definitely full. After that, I started to buy pots, mainly since nobody wanted to play with me any more...
*whimper* Nobody wants to play with me!!!
We bought in early, and there was quite the large line waiting to get in around seating time. My only complaint about Taj tournaments is that the seating assignments aren't with your registration (a la Trop), but they are actually done when you hand in your registration form. They are done with little cards strewn across a table with table/seat assignments to them. They only assign three tables at a time, so naturally, Mrs. PokerShark and I get assigned the same table. Meh. Otherwise, the T5000 in starting chips, no re-buy, no add-on is a great structure. The blinds accelerate fast late, but it's a great tournament, and with the exception of the Chinese-fire-drill seating method, they do a wonderful job of hosting a first-class tournament.
The first pot I play, I end up heads-up with the Missus. Damnit. I have A7s on the cut-off, she's in EP with 25/50 blinds. I limp, flop brings rags with one heart. She bets 100. I call, turn brings another heart. She bets 200, river completes my nut flush. She had middle pair, I believe. She fires out another 500, and I just call (my heart-strings were being yanked--hard). I turn over the nut flush, and she's pissed at me. A few hands later, I get dealt AQs in MP. I call the blind, as she just limped (probably the biggest flaw in her no-limit game). Flop comes Q-J-5. She bets out 1000. I put her on something like QT, and maybe QJ, and I feel terrible about drawing out on her, so I toss it in. Chivalry isn't dead. I told her about it later, and she claimed she had QJ. Either way, I kicked it in for love. We got split up, and off we go. About an hour later, the missus comes over and tells me she's busted out. I feel terrible--she's a great player, and it hurts to see her go out. I give her a kiss, apologize to her, and she tells me she's going to walk around. Great. I should be done soon. She ran card-dead, and in a tournament, running card-dead is never a positive thing. I felt horrible, but I played on. I end up getting moved a few times, then I end up down near the TD's area, at one of the featured tables (yeah, like I'm on ESPN or something). The tourney had 286 entrants, much more than they're used to, so players were somewhat scattered around the room, so when we all got moved down toward the main area, we called it "the featured table." I soon found out why.
We had three local semi-pro players seated at the "featured table." I was winning small pots, losing small pots, and after a while, I had made some solid plays with the blinds at 800-1600 to build my stack to T55000 at the 2nd break. I looked around and noticed that I was one of the chip leaders, though with no chip counts, I couldn't be certain. I also noticed that we were down to about 45 players, with the money line at 27. It was then that I made my biggest mistake of the tournament. I had just called an all-in with A9o that I had significantly covered. The other player flipped K7o, and hit his king on the turn. No big deal, but I then limped with KTo from the button and bet into an A-4-6 flop. I got a single call. Turn card brought a 7. I threw in 10K, got called, river brought a J. I bet another 10K, got cold called, and the caller showed me his Ace. Wow. Huge hit. Now, it was about survival.
We are condensed down to 4 tables, and it's now a matter of push and survive, with the blinds accelerating along with the antes. Some players got knocked out, and I got dealt KQs in the BB, and the SB decided to go all-in. I had him covered but I decided to lay my hand down, with a MP player making the call. The SB had JJ, the MP player was slowplaying KK. His cowboys held up, and the SB went home. As he stood up to leave, and the next antes and blinds were posted, the TD comes over and moves us to 3 tables. What seemed like just a few moments later, the TD comes over and tells us that we've made the money! Woohoo!
Chip stacks are dwindling, and antes and blinds are popping HUGE. I'm in MP, with 4000-8000 blinds and 1000 antes, and I look down to see Paris and Nicky. I just call the BB, with about 28K left. An LP player pushes all-in with his 10K, the player in the CO raises it to his last 18K, and I call them both. LP shows 64o (bye bye), CO shows J9o (bye bye), and I flip over the sisters, much to everyone's chagrin. Right until the flop shows 6-6-K. The LP prayer-boy hit a set! The turn had the balls to fill him up with a 4. I was down to a two-outer on the river, and I didn't hit it, so now, with blinds accelerating, I'm crippled at 16K. With blinds eventually moving up to 8000-16000 with 2K antes, and the tourney down to 2 short handed tables, I pushed UTG with QTs, since the ante left me with just 16K (1BB). Of course, I ran into aces. Got a Q on the flop, no more help, and IGHN, in 13th place. I got a little applause from the tables and the railbirds, I stood up, picked up my $174 payout voucher, and walked to the cashier. Up a total of $200 on the night--a successful trip.
I didn't drop the hammer, but this has got to be close...We had completed about 2 orbits with an empty seat next to me, and a lady finally came to occupy the seat. I'm in the SB, she's in the BB. We're still early, blinds 50/100, no ante. I glance at my cards, call the BB, and she min-raises it to 200 chips. Without hesitation, I go all-in (I've probably got her covered by a little less than 75%). She folds almost as quickly, and I make a point of showing her my 83o. Not a hammer story, but, hey, I cashed, didn't I?
*whimper* Nobody wants to play with me!!!
The Tournament: Taj NLHE $50+$15
We bought in early, and there was quite the large line waiting to get in around seating time. My only complaint about Taj tournaments is that the seating assignments aren't with your registration (a la Trop), but they are actually done when you hand in your registration form. They are done with little cards strewn across a table with table/seat assignments to them. They only assign three tables at a time, so naturally, Mrs. PokerShark and I get assigned the same table. Meh. Otherwise, the T5000 in starting chips, no re-buy, no add-on is a great structure. The blinds accelerate fast late, but it's a great tournament, and with the exception of the Chinese-fire-drill seating method, they do a wonderful job of hosting a first-class tournament.
Early On
The first pot I play, I end up heads-up with the Missus. Damnit. I have A7s on the cut-off, she's in EP with 25/50 blinds. I limp, flop brings rags with one heart. She bets 100. I call, turn brings another heart. She bets 200, river completes my nut flush. She had middle pair, I believe. She fires out another 500, and I just call (my heart-strings were being yanked--hard). I turn over the nut flush, and she's pissed at me. A few hands later, I get dealt AQs in MP. I call the blind, as she just limped (probably the biggest flaw in her no-limit game). Flop comes Q-J-5. She bets out 1000. I put her on something like QT, and maybe QJ, and I feel terrible about drawing out on her, so I toss it in. Chivalry isn't dead. I told her about it later, and she claimed she had QJ. Either way, I kicked it in for love. We got split up, and off we go. About an hour later, the missus comes over and tells me she's busted out. I feel terrible--she's a great player, and it hurts to see her go out. I give her a kiss, apologize to her, and she tells me she's going to walk around. Great. I should be done soon. She ran card-dead, and in a tournament, running card-dead is never a positive thing. I felt horrible, but I played on. I end up getting moved a few times, then I end up down near the TD's area, at one of the featured tables (yeah, like I'm on ESPN or something). The tourney had 286 entrants, much more than they're used to, so players were somewhat scattered around the room, so when we all got moved down toward the main area, we called it "the featured table." I soon found out why.
Bullying With The Big Boys
We had three local semi-pro players seated at the "featured table." I was winning small pots, losing small pots, and after a while, I had made some solid plays with the blinds at 800-1600 to build my stack to T55000 at the 2nd break. I looked around and noticed that I was one of the chip leaders, though with no chip counts, I couldn't be certain. I also noticed that we were down to about 45 players, with the money line at 27. It was then that I made my biggest mistake of the tournament. I had just called an all-in with A9o that I had significantly covered. The other player flipped K7o, and hit his king on the turn. No big deal, but I then limped with KTo from the button and bet into an A-4-6 flop. I got a single call. Turn card brought a 7. I threw in 10K, got called, river brought a J. I bet another 10K, got cold called, and the caller showed me his Ace. Wow. Huge hit. Now, it was about survival.
Survival of the Fittest
We are condensed down to 4 tables, and it's now a matter of push and survive, with the blinds accelerating along with the antes. Some players got knocked out, and I got dealt KQs in the BB, and the SB decided to go all-in. I had him covered but I decided to lay my hand down, with a MP player making the call. The SB had JJ, the MP player was slowplaying KK. His cowboys held up, and the SB went home. As he stood up to leave, and the next antes and blinds were posted, the TD comes over and moves us to 3 tables. What seemed like just a few moments later, the TD comes over and tells us that we've made the money! Woohoo!
The Defining Moment
Chip stacks are dwindling, and antes and blinds are popping HUGE. I'm in MP, with 4000-8000 blinds and 1000 antes, and I look down to see Paris and Nicky. I just call the BB, with about 28K left. An LP player pushes all-in with his 10K, the player in the CO raises it to his last 18K, and I call them both. LP shows 64o (bye bye), CO shows J9o (bye bye), and I flip over the sisters, much to everyone's chagrin. Right until the flop shows 6-6-K. The LP prayer-boy hit a set! The turn had the balls to fill him up with a 4. I was down to a two-outer on the river, and I didn't hit it, so now, with blinds accelerating, I'm crippled at 16K. With blinds eventually moving up to 8000-16000 with 2K antes, and the tourney down to 2 short handed tables, I pushed UTG with QTs, since the ante left me with just 16K (1BB). Of course, I ran into aces. Got a Q on the flop, no more help, and IGHN, in 13th place. I got a little applause from the tables and the railbirds, I stood up, picked up my $174 payout voucher, and walked to the cashier. Up a total of $200 on the night--a successful trip.
A Postscript
I didn't drop the hammer, but this has got to be close...We had completed about 2 orbits with an empty seat next to me, and a lady finally came to occupy the seat. I'm in the SB, she's in the BB. We're still early, blinds 50/100, no ante. I glance at my cards, call the BB, and she min-raises it to 200 chips. Without hesitation, I go all-in (I've probably got her covered by a little less than 75%). She folds almost as quickly, and I make a point of showing her my 83o. Not a hammer story, but, hey, I cashed, didn't I?
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