Making good decisions...

Friday MTT

10k starting chips, 100/200 blinds. 32 players, pays 6. first two levels 30 minutes.
There is EITHER a single rebuy OR a single add on of 10k at the end of level 2.

Strange, but it seems obvious to me that I want to play Über tight and just take the add on to 20k. To that end, I start in the SB with AJo and just fold it. So begins the reign of Tighty McTight. We are 10 handed.

Or does it. The next hand, I am on the button with QJ and limp. I flop TP. He bets out on the flop and I CALL. (ugh). The turn makes his draw and leaves me with an inside draw. I pay off his JT and am already in the hole. So much for tight, eh?

Few hands later,
Limp with 97 and flopped an open ended straight draw. I bet out 2/3 pot and got a caller. The turn added a flush draw, which allowed me to push hard and apply pressure. I got the fold and was back to 10k.

I make some player notes. Someone is playing any suited connector to the flop, someone else is under raising middle pocket pairs…

A MP makes it 2xBB and I fold KTo thinking GAP, even though I think he is a LAG. Turns out he had AQ.

Fold KTs from UtG. Again, I based this on the add-on strategy. Lucky too, considering a LP made it 3.5xBB.

I watched a player bluff into a flush board. And get away with it.

Folded Q9o when the board came up 6d9dTs when the button bet even though I suspect I had the best hand. Turns out he had A9.

Two players limp into a pot. From LP I raise to 4.5xBB with AK and they all fold. I pick up 700 free chips.

200/400
Board is 333Q and a player goes all-in with the Q. Hmmm.

More observations. Guy on my left is chasing, guy across the table is an “open book better”. Another players makes big laydowns.

Folded K7o even though the board was 456 rainbow. My lead bet (I was in the BB) was called and then raised. A third player called the raise and then its to me. I thought I was going to get beat here and folded. Very tight, eh? Weak? Maybe, but one player had QQ and the other 2 pair. When a Q came on the turn, the set took the two pair for his entire stack.

Won a big hand when I was in the SB and raised 3 limpers to 5xBB. I got a single caller. I had to work from out of position, so I am obligated here to the continuation bet. The flop was 883 and I make the ½ pot bet. Player folds.

I am on the button and everyone folds to me. I look down at 92o and think about a steal here. I decide not to since the player in the BB has a short stack.

BREAK and ADD on. I have 23.5k after the addon. Goal achieved. M is 25, Q is 1.
300/600, 9 handed.

I win two hands using position. One time my cards were 93o.

I am on the button and its folded around to me. I raise it up with 93o and the BB calls. We both check the flop of 3 spades. I push him off with a turn bet when he checks the turn card.

I fold QJ when a MP comes in for a raise. Flop of KQ8 all hearts. There was a second K on the river. No showdown.

In the BB with J9 and the flop is JJx (2 clubs). I check and “open book” bets. I smooth call here. The turn is a 3rd club and I miss my chance to slow play. I bet 2k and he folds. I think/suspect he had KK.

Here is a big laydown. LP player bets $3k! (5xBB). The cutoff player, who has played 4 hands all night, re-raises all-in. I am on the button with AKo!! I FOLD. The original better does also. Weak? Maybe.

400/800
I have ATs from LP and raise it to 2k. BB calls. The flop is 3 rags and after the other player checks, I bet 2k (1/2 pot). I get called?! The turn card is an Ace and I am feeling much better against the BB. Player checks and I bet $6k into the $8k pot. I get RE-RAISED $6k. Oh my god! What to do?! There is no flush draw or straight draw out there.

I process this hand pretty quickly (for me) and decide that the pot is now $20k and its $6k to call. The odds are just too good to pass up. But I have a sinking feeling. The river is a blank and since the other player now checks, I decide to check behind. The other player turns over A6 and I take a big pot.

I have about 47.5K I make a VERY loose call from LP with 85s and see a flop. I missed by a mile and fold.

500/1000
I get JJ UtG and make it 4xBB. Everyone folds. I show the JJ and the dealer rabbits the flop… AA9. phew.

I have A6s in LP and with it folded to me, I notice that the two blinds are not “defenders”. I decide to steal the blinds. I raise it up to $3k and the BB goes all in for $7k. Oops. I did not consider $7k a short stack so I did not expect that. I guess I should have. I stupidly call and meekly stare as AQ clobbers me. Without vigorish, he all-in here is at least AQ if not a pocket pair.

So, I am out $7k. But, I ended up taking that players ENTIRE stack a few hands later. In the meantime, I get QTo and raise it up from LP. (tilt?). The flop gives me an open ended straight draw and I call a pot sized bet. The turn MAKES my straight and he bets the same amount. WARNING: When you bet the same amount on the turn that you did on the flop, you are weak. I come over the top for a total pot size raise and he folds. I MAY have raised too much here, but I am back at 48k.

500/1000/100 ante
The player that took my $7k goes all in. In the SB, I look down at JJ and call. I beat him.

The table breaks and I move to table 1. As if by magic, I am now cold decked. I bleed off 20 hands of antes. A player goes all-in on my blind and even though its only 7.5k, I decline to defend with 69o.

1000/2000/200 ante
Players start busting and other players start accumulating stacks. I am still card dead. I literally bleed to a Q of .9 and get itchy. I limp with 89s and miss everything. Rare to get away with a limp at this table.

I get KTo and decide to play it strong. I make it 3xBB and the flop is all rags. I bet and the player calls. I bet on the flop and the player calls. I have nothing and check the river. He bets and I have to fold.

I have not won a single hand since moving to table 1. And I already told you what happened at the end… Decision wise, I thought I played well. Just some tiny adjustments to make.