Hitting Bottom

I played two tournaments yesterday. Here's what happened.

Atlantis 11am $80 Bounty - We had 25 players, which is the most I've seen for this tournament. Our table had a player who was a First Class Calling Station. He was playing 95% of hands, and seeing 75% of Turns. For example, in the 100/200 level, he limped in the Cutoff and the SB called. I was the BB with AKc. I raised to 700, and they both called. Flop was 8 6 2. I bet 1500, AT&T called, and the SB folded. Turn [8 6 2] 6. I bet 2100, and he called. River [8 6 2] 6 5. I bet 2600, and he casually called with 44. As much as I want to complain about how bad he is, I was the one who "emptied the clip" into a Calling Station. So how good does that make me?

We started with 13k chips, so that was about half my stack. Naturally, I went very card dead after that hand. Plus, it's hard to steal when there is a player in every pot. Finally in the 200/400 level, three players limp in. I'm in the Cutoff with KJo, and I've only got 4100 chips. Limping is a bad idea, as I don't want to waste the chips. If I make a standard raise, I'll get a couple of callers. So I push All-In. The Blinds fold, but UTG called. He's a 70's guy who's played very few hand. I know at this point that I'm very behind. Of course, AT&T also called. Flop was Q 3 3. UTG bet 5k, and AT&T folded. UTG showed KK, and I miss my 3% chance to win this pot. I finish in 21st place.

Peppermill 6:30pm $95 Cash Me Out - This one had ended up with 23 players on two tables. Normally, the tables are nine handed, but the TD decided to squeeze ten players on the tables, and have alternates. I guess they were short on Dealers.

Very first hand, I have KJd UTG. Normally I would limp here in the first level, but I decided to do something different and put a small raise to 125. It folded around to the Button, who raised to 400. I know nothing about this player, so I have to assume he's got a real hand. I make the reluctant call, and I know that this will be a fun hand.

The Flop was K J 5. Oh, this will be a fun hand. I check, he bets 600, I check-raise to 1600, and he called. Turn was [K J 5] 2. I bet 2500, and he called. River [K J 5 2] 9. I go All-In for 2000. He thinks for a moment, and folds AK face up. Unlike most of the other players in Reno, I don't show my hand, and scoop a sweet pot.

Things were rather quiet with me for a while. I wasn't getting any cards, but I also wasn't getting into any trouble. This was fine with me, since I got so many chips in the first hand. I stayed patient until around 300/600/100 level when I started to step on the gas. This was partially because I started to get a few hands, and partially because the steady parade of limpers had finally stopped and I was able to steal a little.

When we got to the Final Table, I had around 36k chips, and was in second or third place. As you would expect, the Final Table rollercoaster had begun. Shortstack were going All-In, and they kept doubling up. Since I had chips, I tried to stay out of the way, but sometimes you just can't help it. I lost a chuck of chips when my KQ lost to A9, and 55 lost to AT. I then won with AJ against two players. I actually lost the small Main Pot, but won the much larger Side Pot.

We finally got down to seven players, and the conversion to Cash chips. I had 21k, and got $100. Three of the seven players cashed out, including two of the Big Stack. We could have chopped the remaining $340 at this point, but the extreme short stack stayed with $40. I started catching some cards, and it didn't take long to get rid of him. The three of us played for a bit longer, and decided to chop the remaining prize pool. I left the Poker Room with $290 after the Dealer tip.

As I have mentioned before, it's been a bad two weeks, and this was the first time in a while I finished the day with some profit. On Friday, I airballed the $120 Atlantis tournament, and on Saturday I lost $195 in a $1/$2 game at the Peppermill. Hopefully, this is sign that thing are starting to turn around. This time next week, I'll be in Las Vegas, and it's not a good idea to arrive there when I'm losing.