I mentioned earlier that I was planning on playing in five events at the Peppermill's Chop Pot Classic. Well, I only played three of them. You've already heard about the first one, so here are the other two.
Since the HORSE tourney went so late, I skipped the 12p $240 Crazy Pineapple-8 on Sunday. This was a good thing for two reasons. First, I really don't care for the game. Second, they only had two tables for that one.
I did play in the 7pm $130 Stud-8 tourney, which had 31 runners. I ended up making the Final Table again. I wish I could bring you some hands, but it's really hard to remember all those cards while I'm trying to focus on the hand. Hold'em is much easier to blog about because there are only your two cards, the Board, and maybe the cards from one or two players.
When I got the Final Table, I had an average stack. I admit that the Stud games are among my weakest, due to lack of experience and I don't know the math. But the level of play in this tournament was pathetic. There was a guy, let's call him Mike, who was terrible, even though he arrived at the Final Table with one of the top stacks. He was playing 80% of the hands, and seem to be completely ignoring the Low part of the game. He would also have the chips in his hand ready to call or raise, even when the action was at the other end of the table. This was great for me because Mike was on my direct Left. When I saw he was gonna complete, I would usually fold.
Unfortunately, Mike was also having a very good day. Hence the large pile of chips he brought to the Final Table. While at the Final Table, he had three Full Houses. So there was no reason for him to slow down. It did manage to keep me from getting out of hand, and playing tight.
Eventually, I got really short-stacked. I had to wait for a quality hand to commit my chips, and it finally came (5h 4h) 7h. Even though the 6h was showing with another player, I had to go with it. Mike had the Bring-In but completed. One player called, and I raised. Mike 3-Bet, the other player folded, I raised All-In. Mike had KK. 4th Street was (5h 4h) 7h Ad, which gave me a ton of outs for both the High and Low. However, the last three cards were all bricks for my hand. I left the poker room in 4th place for $320.
On Labor Day, they had a $130 Omaha-8 at noon, and a $130 HORSE at 4pm. As expected, the Omaha had a bigger field then my other two tournament, with 49 players. Also, since this was a noon tournament, the levels were 30 minutes long instead of the 20 minutes for the evening tourneys.
I had started doing a Running Log of this tournament, but quit doing it after two levels. I just didn't feel like jotting down all those extra cards. As it turns out, I really should have done it, as I made another deep run. That's the reason I didn't play the 4pm HORSE.
Once it looked like I was probably going to make the Final Table, I did start writing down some notes and hands:
- 2k/4k level, 15 players left. I'm the Button, and raised (4k) with Ah Kh Ks Td. Four players called. I flopped Top Set, hit Top Boat on the Turn, and got two callers on the River with no Low on the Board. I have 47k chips.
- We got the Final Table of 10 players at the end of the 2k/4k level. I had 33k, which was an average stack. For whatever bizarre reason, the Peppermill decided to pay out nine spots in a tournament with 49 players, which is almost 20% of the players. Of course, since this is Reno, two of the players suggested that we pay the 10th person something. After all, they did make it to the Final Table. I normally stay quiet during these discussions because my opinions won't be popular, but I just couldn't stand it. I said that this tourney only had 49 players, and I vote we only pay six places, which would be more reasonable. That quickly killed the conversation.
- Towards the end of the 3k/6k level, eight players left. A very active player raised (6k) from UTG+1. I called from the Cutoff with Ac 3c 7h 4d, and so did the BB. Flop Qc 8c 4c. The BB and UTG+1 checked. I bet (3k) my Nut Flush and 2nd Nut Low Draw, and they both called. Turn [Qc 8c 4c] 2s. Nut Nut, Baby! They checked, I bet (6k), BB folded, and UTG+1 called. River [Qc 8c 4c 2s] 9c. UTG+1 checked, I bet (6k), he thought for a bit, and called. I just show the A3c at first. He got that "Are you serious?" look on his face. I don't know what he had, but I heard him mumble something like he only called because of the 4th Club on the River. I now have 67k chips, and am 1st or 2nd in chips.
- I knocked out the 6th and 5th place finishers, which put me around 125k chips. The 4-handed battle lasted for a while. I ended up doubling up a shortstack when they were in the BB, and check-raised me on the Flop with just Top Pair. I had another Pair, and some backdoor draws. Later, I raise from UTG with JTd 34c. He called in the BB. I flopped Middle Pair and a Club Flush Draw. Once again, he check-raised me with just Top Pair. We got it in, and I hit my Flush to knock him out. He was not happy with my play, but I know that hand ranges need to be widened when we are 4-handed.
- The 3-handed battle lasted even longer. There was a short-stack, and another player with a stack close to mine. The bigger stack is named Jason. He's a long time grinder from Northern California. I've seen him at various Reno tournament series, and have played with him a few times. Being 3-handed, there were a lot of Blind vs Blind hands. When Jason and I were Blind vs Blind, I was the SB and he was the BB. We kept getting into big hands that we would both hit hard on the Flop. I would have a J-high Heart Flush on a Low Draw on the Turn (Kh on the Board). He had a Set with the Q-High Heart Flush, but I hit my Low on the River for a chop. In another hand, I raised preflop from the SB with QQ43. The Flop was Ad Qd 5d. We got all All-In, and he had the K2d for the Nut Flush. I hit my Low on the River for a chop.
- Eventually, Jason knocked out the short-stack. He had a large chip lead over me. As I've said before, I try not to start the conversation about making a deal. However, the Blinds are very high now. I have never played Heads-Up Omaha-8, and have to admit that Jason probably has a small edge over me.
So I asked him, "Do you really want to chop pots for the next hour?" He looked at the tournament clock, then at the chips stacks, and then at the payouts. He asked me for a chip count. I had 96k, and he had 198k. He threw out some dollar amounts, and I agreed to it.
I walked out of the Peppermill just before 10pm with $1180 and a 2nd place finish.
As I've mentioned before, it has been a lousy summer for my poker. July and August were terrible, including -$1216 for cash games in August. It's really starting to affect me, and I was planning on taking a couple of weeks off to clear my head after I airballed these tournaments.
Instead, I got a 1st, a 4th, and a 2nd in three tournaments for a profit of $2210.
Sometimes poker is a funny game.
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