Atlantis's $340 NLHE

"Shuffle Up & Deal" - Yesterday was the $340 2-Day tourney ($30k guarantee), which was the kick-off event for Atlantis's WPT Western Poker Challenge. This event has two separate flight, 12p & 5p. Each flight last 10 levels, or just over 7 hours. This is also a re-entry event. You can re-enter into the same flight before the first break, and then re-enter the other flight.

This is the 12p flight. There are seven tables with nine seats. My table has seven players. I'm the second youngest, and one of the players is a Reno Regular.

We get 10k chips, and 40 minute levels.

End of Level 1 (25/50) - Better turnout than I would have guessed. Our table filled up quickly, with one more Reno Regular sitting down. They also opened up an 8th table.

Things went well for me. The 60's guy on my Right had been raising a lot, so I called him down with ATo on an A-high board. He had QJ-high. A few hands later, I called a 150 raise with 87h, and the Flop was 8c 7c 8s. It wasn't a huge pot, but it was nice for this early level. I also hit a small flush against Top Pair (AK) for a decent pot.

I have 15050 chips.

Level 2 (50/100) - They opened up Table #9. I stayed quiet for this level. I only played one significant hand, but it was a good one.

Bunch of limpers, including me in BB with A2o. Flop was AA2, and I stacked the QJ-high guy from the previous level. He had the last Ace, and only had about 4k left. He really had a bad hour.

I have 20650 chips.

Level 3 (75/150) - Once again, only one hand to mention. UTG raised 400. UTG+1 3-bet to 1000. I have QQ in Hyjack, and just called. UTG+1 is a Reno Regular, and is on the Super-Nitty side. Two of us see a J-high Flop. He bet 1500, and I call. Turn was a check-check. He checked on the River, so I bet 2500 and he mucked.

I have 23000 chips.

Level 4 (100/200) - Cutoff raised 500, and he's new to the table. I'm Button, and call with J9s. The BB also called. and Flop was Qc Ts 8s. Both players checked. I flopped the world, and want to build a pot. I bet 625, and everyone folded. That's really annoying, but sometimes nobody has anything.

Later, UTG raised 525. He seems to be tight passive, but he's also been raising often preflop. Another player called, and I 3-bet to 2025 with 87d from Hyjack. Both players called, and Flop was 8c 6h 4h. They checked, and I bet 4100 with Top Pair & Gutshot. They both folded.

I have 26075 chips.

Level 5 (100/200/25) - Couple of limpers. Cutoff raised 625. I'm Button with QJc, and just called. Five players saw the Flop Qs 9h 8h. It checked around to me, and I bet 3100 with Top Pair & Gutshot. BB called All-In for 2450, and everyone else folded. He had Q3h for Top Pair and Flush Draw. The Board ran clean, and I won the pot.

I also raised preflop a few times toward the end of the level, and won all of them either preflop or postflop. I have 34425 chips.

Level 6 (150/300/25) - I raised to 825 with 66 from UTG+2. Next player made it 2500. BB went All-In for 2800. I was gonna fold, as this was the first aggressive action he has done lately. But I've now got some pot odds, and I want to see just how good I'm running today.

Flop 6h 3s 2s. I check, assuming he's gonna shove his last 5000-ish, but he checked. Turn [6h 3s 2s] 2h. I checked my Full House, and he also checked. River [6h 3s 2s 2h] 7d. I quickly fire 4k. He's confused, and said, "I thought we were checking it down. I have a Big Pair." He was into deep thought, as he had just over 5k total. After what seems like 90 seconds of torture for him, he called and mucked.

Towards the end of the level, they broke our table, which sucks for me because I can do anything at my old table. The bad news is my new table is much younger than the old table, and I don't recognize anyone. The good news is that it's Table #2, so I should be here for the rest of the session.

I have 42900 chips.

Level 7 (200/400/50) - UTG limps. I'm the SB, and called the 200 with A7. BB checked, and Flop was 987. I checked, and so did the BB. The limper looked like he wanted to bet, but checked. Turn [987] 7. I check, assuming the limper will bet, but he and the BB just checked. River [987 7] 7. I bet 600, hoping to get something for my Quads. BB folded, but limper raised to 2600. I don't want to scare him off, as I don't know if he has a hand or not, so I 3-bet 2500 more. He thinks for a bit before calling with 88 for Eights Full Of Sevens. If I knew he was that strong, I could have raised a lot more. Sometimes the 0.4% gets there.

Other than that hand, I basically blinded out. With the makeup of this table, there has been a raise most hands, and some 3-betting. It's not that I'm afraid to mix it up, I just don't see the point. We are only playing three more levels today, so why would I want to risk my stack. I have enough chips that I don't mind coasting into Day 2.

I have 44600 chips.

Level 8 (300/600/50) - It folded to me on the Button, so I raised to 1500 with 76s. SB folded, but BB 3-Bet to 4600. That seemed big to me, and I think he's just re-stealing. I made the call, and the Flop was Qs 8s 8c. He bet 3700, which seemed small. I grabbed some Yellow chips, and raised to 12k. It didn't put the BB All-In, but I am pot committed with my Flush Draw if he shoves. He thought for a bit, and folded. Like I said, I'm not afraid to mix it up; I'm just waiting for the right spots.

Later, I raised to 1500 with AQ in Hyjack. Cutoff 3-bet to 3350. He's a Kid who just got to the table, and I instantly put him on making a move. However, the SB 4-bet to 8500. He also just sat down from a broken table, and had over 20k behind. This is a bad spot for me. I don't know if he's making a move on the weak 3-Bet, or he has a real hand. I go into thought, and eventually remember "coasting to Day 2". I fold, and the Cutoff quickly ejects. BB shows AA, and I pat myself on the back for being patient.

Last hand of the level, it folded to the Button, who raised to 1900. I'm the BB with KK. I decide to just call. The Button is probably stealing, but he has a lot of chips. He can call a 3-Bet with a wide range of hands, and be in position for the rest of the hand.

Flop was Jh Tc 3h. I checked, and he bet 1900. I decided to check raise to 5500. He thinks for a moment. and raised to 12k. Yucky spot here, as this Flop is so wet. Even though I wanted to play Small Pot Poker, I think the best move is to shove. He snap-called with Th Td for almost 38k. The Turn [Jh Tc 3h] 9s gives me a Gutshot. The River [Jh Tc 3h 9s] 3c gives him the pot, and I have 5100 chips left.

Fuck!

Level 9 (400/800/100) - I finally get my 4400 chips in the middle with As Ad. The BB and UTG limper called. They checked down a Board of Td Tc 3c 6c 9c. Surprisingly, neither had a Ten or a Club, and I triple up to 14400.

I'm UTG with Ad Qs, and raised to 2100. Both Button and BB call. Flop was As Ks Jd. BB checked. I don't have enough chips to screw around, so I shipped it for 10800. Button thinks, and folds. BB ejects quickly.

Later, I raised to 2100 with KK from UTG+1. Only the Cutoff called, and he's been very tight so far. Flop was A-high. I checked, he bet 4000, I sighed and folded.

I have 15700 chips.

Level 10 (500/1000/100) - I raised a couple of times to 2600. I usually got one caller, and won it on the Flop with a 4100 bet, whether I hit or not.

Later, there was a limper, and I raised to 3100 with QQ from Mid. Button shipped All-In for 15700. Limper folded, and I called. Button had ATo. Naturally, the Ace hit the Flop, and I had 3000 chips left.

Three hands later, I'm the BB get a walk. I thanked the table for the courtesy double up. The SB said he didn't realize I was that short, but he only had 43o. By the way, I had Q8o.

At this point, we were under ten minutes to go in the final level of the day. I only had 3 Big Blinds, and was looking for a reason to shove my chips. But there was a couple of big All-In pots that ate up the clock, and I was completely card dead. I would have loved to see a hand as weak as 86o, just to have some sort of prayer.

After another huge All-In, AK>TT, there was only 20 seconds left on the clock. Some of the players didn't want to play another hand. I was sitting with 2600 chips, and praying that the Dealer started the next hand. I had no interest in coming back to Day 2 with just 2 Big Blinds for the 600/1200/100 level.

Fortunately, the Dealer started the next hand. I was UTG+1, and shipped it in without looking. The next player snapped called. The player after him was the one who won the previous pot with AK, and was still stacking those chips. He said All-In rather forcefully. He's also the tight player whom I folded KK to on the A-high Flop last level. The other player quickly folded what he said was ATo, and I knew I was screwed. The tight player showed his AA, and I turned over J3o. I did manage to pick up a Gutshot on the Turn, but bricked the River.

I finished 20th out of the 86 players for this flight, and the other 19 players started bagging their chips for Day 2.

Obviously, the KK vs TT hand was the critical hand of this tournament. Looking back at it, I think it was just a stone-cold cooler, as there was nothing I could do about. If I make a standard 3-bet preflop, like 4500 or 5000, then he will call and the result will be the same. If I don't shove on Flop, then I would have an Overpair and a Gutshot on the Turn, and the money will still go All-In. I think the only thing I could have done was to make it 20k preflop, but that would just be silly.

Even with that, I would still be in good shape if my QQ hold up against the AT. That pot would have put me around 35k with 15 minutes to go in the day. I wouldn't have played anymore hands, mostly because I didn't get any. I would have gone to Day 2 with around 25 BB, and that would have been very comfortable. But, once again, there was nothing I could do about it.

Fuck!

This one's gonna hurt for a while.