Fitz Last Night Sunday 16th

Iago

What a night!

Being at a loose end, I decided to go in early for the freeroll tournament, arrived at 7 and by 7.30 I'd bought in another 2 times, to say that the table was a bit loose would be the understatement of the century!

Flash forward an hour, we're in the freezeout and I've managed to amass a reasonable stack, about 7.5K or so when a guy down the table goes all in for 5K, the guy to my right goes all in for 10k and I call.

Down the table he turns over QQ, the guy to my right turns 99 and I have the hooks, flop doesn't help anyone and the turn brings a 9 and with it my exit from the game. Probably going to be one of those nights...

To console myself (and while i was waiting for the 9:30 tournament to start) I decided to play a little 3 card brag. In the space of about 20 minutes I've lost another €75 and it's definitely turning into one of the worst nights ever. I've the princely total of €8 left and I put it in and get BRAG! You can't imagine the relief, so I've now got €150-€160 in front of me and can relax, definitely the turning point of my night.

In the main tournament I was drawn at a table with no less than 7 of my mates, we all play a home game together every single week, but because they arrived in late and together they all ended up at the same table! Absolute disaster, and I didn't fancy it all to be honest. Luckily I got moved after about 20 minutes and was able to start working on building up my stack.

I'm up to around 15K and cruising when I'm dealt AQ, I raise 2,000 and everyone folds around to the guy on my immeadiate right, he goes all in for 9K, with those cards and with 2,000 already in the pot I have to call him. He turns over JJ, so I've two overcards and a decent chance of winning, flop comes J 10 J, goodnight and goodluck! Definitely picked the wrong time to call him, so now I'm down to 5K or so and cursing myself for calling, even though I know it was the right thing to do. Freezeout comes about half an hour later and I've got just over 10K including my top-up, it'll be tough from here, then it happens...

About 3 hands in I look at my cards to see I've been dealt the bullets and I'm first to act, I was going to slowplay them but changed my mind and threw in 3,000, the guy across the table goes all-in for 7.5K and the guy who hit me with the poker goes all in for 15K! I throw in what I have left and we turn the cards, AQ KK and my bullets, the bullets hold up and I've got 30K in front of me!

I start bullying the table stealing blinds when I don't have cards and raising big when I do have cards, before I know it we're down to the final table, Luke makes his stand second hand in, but the blinds are 2,000 and he only has 2,500. I raise to 10,000 to scare people off the hand and get 1 caller, check through and Luke has a pair of deuces, I have a pair of threes and Luke is out.

Players got whittled down from there, until there was only three of us left, I had just over 50K and was small stack, it was 2.30 in the morning and I was wrecked, a guy went all in with the flop showing J Q K and even though I only had a pair of queens and I knew I was going to be behind, I called him. He had a pair of kings and they held up.

To be honest at that stage I was just exhausted, I had already won €70 on blackjack and €160 on Brag so I was well up for the night. I figured If I won we could split first and second, and if I didn't then I'd still get third place, so third paid €325 and from what had started out as an expensive night I left with a smile on my face.

Still took me about an hour to get asleep after making that stupid call at the end of the game, but I was happy enough with the night.

Lafortezza

Fair play Gary, when I went out you were firing on all cylinders.
It was an interesting night of cards for me too. I started in seat 1-1, with norman on my left. I was hitting sweet cards early on, pocket tens making trips on the flop, norman betting into me like a madman. AK with ace of hearts hitting K82 hearts on the flop, never been so comfortabel going all in.

moved table and wasnt getting hands to sat tight chucking away the muck an not risking my 7000 or so. then the very very last hand before the top up and break, I was in late position and decided to have limp with K9. The flop came KK3, ding ding ding ding!!! small raise from pokertroll in early position, I go all in, he thinks for a second then calls with the words 'I might have kicker trouble...' and turns over K10....I was down to about 500 chips and could only top up to 3000.

Back after the break, chip and a chair, moved table again, was just looking for a chance to go all-in to try to get a double through, never came. soon I moved table again, started to hit some reasonable cards got my stack back up to about 6000, with Iago on my left raising as many pots as he could!!
Moved to second last table. I tried to be aggressive as possible when I had a decent holding and thought any opponents could be pushed off the pot. I won about 3 hands with top pair, crap kicker by just pushing my stack in willy-nilly (pudding style), I stole more than my fair share of blinds as well.

We were down to 2 tables, 6 on one 5 on ours. Everyone trying to last until the final table. Then it happened...
AK under the gun, raise to 5000, fold fold fold, guy thinks and thinks then goes all in for about 9000, I'm happy enough to call, he turns KQ against my AK, I'm nicely ahead.
Flop comes with a K, turn a blank, and river brings him a miracle Q. I'm down to 2500, with blinds at 1000-2000 but at the final table when the other table loses players.
I draw seat 3, under the gun in the first hand. K7, all-in, Iago raises to 5, I think Protection!, one caller, they check down a board of 2, A, Q, J, x, Iago has pocket 3's and they other guy has paired the 2.

careca

Well done Iago. Luke, you did well to last that long. you were fairly short stacked when I went. That early play by Norman was crazy. I reckon he went all-in five out of six consecutive hands. It cost me two early re-buys which meant I couldn't top up later on.

Some of the play last night was terrible. One guy called an all-in bet by his brother with Q2 after the flop with the flop showing AK10. Said he didn't mind because he was giving it to his brother!!

another guy at the first table was calling everything in sight. Called an all-in bet with pocket 8s and the board showing AKJ. Of course he got his eight on the river to amass a huge stack. Still, he went out early.

I'm beginning to think the monday €100 freezeout is the best option. Play it once a month. At least if someone makes a bad play they walk.

Lafortezza

Originally posted by careca
Some of the play last night was terrible. One guy called an all-in bet by his brother with Q2 after the flop with the flop showing AK10. Said he didn't mind because he was giving it to his brother!!

I remember that hand. Worst call I've seen in a while. Which seat were you careca? I was seat 9, two to Vivian's left.

Originally posted by careca
I'm beginning to think the monday €100 freezeout is the best option. Play it once a month. At least if someone makes a bad play they walk.

You are preaching to the converted! bit pricy though

Samson

Originally posted by Iago
Players got whittled down from there, until there was only three of us left, I had just over 50K and was small stack, it was 2.30 in the morning and I was wrecked, a guy went all in with the flop showing J Q K and even though I only had a pair of queens and I knew I was going to be behind, I called him. He had a pair of kings and they held up.

I think that might have been me, I had a run of extreme good luck on the final table (started off at the table with just 5K).
What was your seat number?

henbane

Originally posted by careca
One guy called an all-in bet by his brother with Q2 after the flop with the flop showing AK10. Said he didn't mind because he was giving it to his brother!!

Did he do that shit again? I would've been seriously pissed off to see that attitude in a serious game. You can't play with someone who doesn't mind doubling through his mates... just gives them a ridiculous advantage. Isn't it chip dumping or something?

Iago

Originally posted by careca
Some of the play last night was terrible. One guy called an all-in bet by his brother with Q2 after the flop with the flop showing AK10. Said he didn't mind because he was giving it to his brother!!

That was two of my mates, it was one of the brothers birthdays, the one with the baseball cap on, I'd say it was him who called the all in bet was it? That's what I was saying earlier, there's about 8 of us who play every week, but whereas I try to play the "right" way, those guys are lunatics. We play freezeouts, and still if you go all-in you're guaranteed at least 2-3 callers, regardless of what they're holding!

They're the same when they come into the Fitz or the merrion, the younger brother is probably the most sensible of the lot, he got to the final table as well and finished 6th. I warned him before the final table started, he had 35K and there were probably 4-5 players with smaller stacks than him. I said to him to play it slow, let others do the betting and only go in when you have a big hand, you've plenty of time and you'll end up in the money.

Within about 10 hands he'd called two all-in bets from other players and lost them both, then when there were 6 of us left he was down to about 18K, the bet was to me and I raised to 10K, I had QQ, he hadn't put any chips in, so he should have folded, instead he raised all-in all fold to me so I call him and he turns over A2o...

Needless to say the ladies held up and he went out, I couldn't believe that even after being warned he did it, still hopefully he'll learn for the next time, and it wasn't a bad finish for his first night in the Fitz...

Iago

says he who called an all-in bet with a pair of Q's with J Q K showing on the board...

Lafortezza

Originally posted by Samson
I think that might have been me, I had a run of extreme good luck on the final table (started off at the table with just 5K).
What was your seat number?

How did you finish?

Samson

Originally posted by lafortezza
How did you finish?

I won it.

Iago

I was in Seat number 5, if it was you then you would have been to my left in seat 7 I think....

You beat me on three hands in about 10 minutes, the first two I thought I was unlucky, the third one was lunacy on my part..

careca

I was to your immediate left luke. Met you beforehand watching the free entry game. Went all in with A7, pretty low at the time. Fellow at the end takes 3 minutes to call with Kings!!! Strange.

TBH Iago I think the younger brother had a good few jars in him. At least he was honest about it. to give him the benefit of the doubt, i'd say it was just a terrible call rather than handing the chips to his brother. At least I hope so.

Well done samson. Are we allowed to ask the prize money for 1st ?????

Iago

Prizes were as follows, IIRC

5th €145
4th €225
3rd €325
2nd €650
1st €1,250

I'm open to correction though..

Samson

Originally posted by Iago
I was in Seat number 5, if it was you then you would have been to my left in seat 7 I think....

You beat me on three hands in about 10 minutes, the first two I thought I was unlucky, the third one was lunacy on my part..

Yeah, I was in seat 7.
And yes, you were unlucky, I just could not miss on the final table, I won every hand I played.

Samson

Originally posted by careca
Well done samson. Are we allowed to ask the prize money for 1st ?????

Thanks.
Of course you can ask, it's public knowledge. As Iago says, it was €1250.00

Iago

In fairness Samson, it wasn't all luck, you were down to your last 2-3,000 at one point with only 5 players left and you played the cards well. There may have been luck involved but it still takes a good understanding of the game and the odds to get back from there.

Congratulations on winning, I felt you would once you had taken my chips, it put you in a commanding position.

DeVore

Congrats Samson, you're run of bad luck at the final table had to run out sometime!

DeV.

Mr. Flibble

Hi All.
Iago, that was me who went all in with AQ when you had bullets. I came here to ask about that hand and saw this thread.
I'm quite new to playing in tournaments; I'm wondering, do you (or anyone) think that should have been a definate call/definate fold or 50/50 call for me?
As you said, I had about 8000 in chips with the blinds at 800, so feeling a little short stacked. I'm probably going to be looking at AK AQ or a a high pair to that sort of raise - its just the crazy sort of calls (such as all in with 83o) earlier in the night made me think u could have had anything, not knowing what sort of player you are.


Any way, whats really annoying me is that the guy with KK who went all in after me jumped the gun and said all in before I'd put my chips in. I thought he was saying all in for me, so I continued to put my chips. Wish I'd realised what he was doing and I would have pulled my chips out quick smart!!

Iago

Hi Mr. Flibble,

My two cents worth is this, if I'd been in your position that is.

As you say the blinds were 800 so a 3,000 raise isn't hugely significant, but big enough. It had been done about 4-5 times in the previous 15 minutes, so it could be someone trying to steal the blinds or with a low pocket pair not really wanting any callers.

When all fold to you and you're looking at AQ calling isn't an option as it would have taken 50% of your chips, if I'm bluffing or holding a low pair then an all in raise should see me off the hand. Even if I have a high pair, unless I have AA, KK or QQ you have two overcards and therefore a 48% chance of winning the pot, so I think your bet was correct for where you are.

Where it gets messy as you say is the guy to your left going all in out of turn, that's about 15,000 and means that he more than likely has a very good hand, particularily because the only hand he had really played in the pst 20 minutes was a pair of pocket J's which gave him a poker against me. Faced with that, I would probably have folded my cards and waited for another hand, after all you hadn't commited anything to the pot.

It is always very hard to drop AQ before the flop though, and as short stack it was a good chance for you to double through. I don't think there was anything very wrong with your play, just unlucky with the timing.

As I said just my two cents worth, doesn't mean I'm right or wrong

henbane

Originally posted by Mr. Flibble
its just the crazy sort of calls (such as all in with 83o) earlier in the night made me think u could have had anything, not knowing what sort of player you are.

That doesn't mean people are always at that. As it gets later in the night the standard of play gets better. You will get people chancing their arm with Ax to steal the pot but it's up to you to decide on their previous play. Depending on your opinion of iago 3k with 800 in blinds isn't a ridiculous raise with AQ in your hand if you had position on him.

Any way, whats really annoying me is that the guy with KK who went all in after me jumped the gun and said all in before I'd put my chips in. I thought he was saying all in for me, so I continued to put my chips. Wish I'd realised what he was doing and I would have pulled my chips out quick smart!!

He can't say all in for you. If you hadn't acted the smart thing to do would've been to fold if you felt he had strength. He gave you free information - probably hoping you would fold but use every bit of free information available to you and don't be afraid of these people at a tournament.

Davey Devil

Dear Oh Dear. Last night was an education in itself. I'm not going to go into details, jeasus there are too many examples to go into. The quality of play had my head in a spin, it was that bad. I thought pre-freezout was to be expected all-in frenzy, I hardly covered myself in glory either, thought I played poorly at best. It was after the break that shocked me the most. Some rank out ****e play on display. I think I'll just go into those tournaments and watch for a laugh.

Anyway that's my last 20 euro event in The Fitz. Friday's (50+5, 1 rebuy or top-up) are looking far better value as long as you don't need a top-up.

How'd you other lads get on in The Merrion, how many tables, quality of play, etc?

Mr. Flibble

He can't say all in for you. If you hadn't acted the smart thing to do would've been to fold if you felt he had strength. He gave you free information - probably hoping you would fold but use every bit of free information available to you and don't be afraid of these people at a tournament

I know he can't call for me, I thought he was just a sideliner commentating on the action.

MrPudding

Originally posted by Mr. Flibble
I know he can't call for me, I thought he was just a sideliner commentating on the action.

It can be a bit intimidating at the start. If someone says something like that do not be afraid to say "are you suggesting what I should do or acting out of turn?"

No-one will think badly of you. Most people get quite annoyed by people acting out of turn. Especially if they think they might be bullying.

MrP