LOL Donkament #10

Peppermill 6:30 $65 Bounty - 06.07.12

We had 29 runners for this one. I started with 9000 chips, and the levels were 15 minutes long with a fast structure. There is a $10 Bounty, which seems like a waste of time. You need to knock out seven players to get your buy-in back. If someone does that, then they will probably win the tourney.

I got off to a good start, and collected three bounties by the first break. Normally, my goal is to get to 15k by the break, which is before the 500/1000/100 level. This time, I got to almost 28k, and was one of the big stacks at my table.

However, things didn't go as well after the break. There was a young player at the table who we will call Alex. I've never seen him before, but he seemed to play straight forward. He limped in for 1000. I raised to 3100 from the Button with 77. Alex and the BB called. Flop was K94. They checked, I bet 6100, and only Alex called. Turn [K94] 9. We both checked. Alex bet 8000 on the River, and I folded.

I went rather card dead after that hand, but Alex kept scooping up pots without showing his cards. It was really annoying how he kept sucking up all the pots at my table. I don't know if he was getting hit with the deck, or just had wonderful timing when he stabbed at a pot.

We got to the Final Table towards the end of the 1k/2k/200 level. I had blinded down to around 11k. Alex had a monster stack, including a full rack of yellow 1k chips. There was another player at the Final Table, a 50's lady who we will call Joan. She's a regular around the Reno donkaments, and we've played together a lot. She was in Seat 10, and I was in Seat 1, so I had position on her. She asked me if I was gonna behave tonight. I told her that I had more bounty chips than tournament chips, which got a chuckle from the rest of the table.

Play resumed, and the shortstacks started shoving. I stayed patient, and shoved UTG with AJs for about 10k. Nobody called, and that was the theme for a while. During the 1500/3k/300 and 2k/4k/400 levels, I never got the big double up, but I wasn't losing much either. I was able to pick up two bounties from stacks shorter than I was. I really didn't care about the $10 bounty, as I was much more interested in their chips.

When we got to five handed, someone suggested we pay the Bubble. Even though I was somewhere around 3rd or 4th in chips, I immediately said No. Nobody made a stink about it, so play continued.

The bubble lasted a while, as everyone was playing not to lose. I was the only one playing mildly aggressive, although I'm sure the other players thought I was a total maniac. A few times, my stack got large enough where I could make a standard raise, rather than shoving. The first few times didn't go well, so I folded and went back to shove mode.

Finally, in the 3k/6k/500 level, I raised to 13500 from UTG with 66. The Button called for less with AQ, and the SB called for even less with A9. The 6 on the Turn popped the Bubble, and gave me two more bounties.

Three handed play lasted into the next level (5k/10k/1k). Alex was still the chip leader, I was in 2nd, and Joan was last. She shoved in the SB for over 40k. I called with A2o, and she showed K7o. We both airballed the Board, and I collect another bounty.

Alex and I were both over 100k, so I asked him if he wanted to make a deal or play it out. He said play it out, so we kept going. The TD was sitting at the table with the prize money chips, and kept mentioning what the chop money would be. He often tries to broker the chop so he can go home. It's inappropriate for him to be influencing the action, especially after we already agreed to play it out, so I snapped at him and told him what I thought.

Not much happened for the first few hands, and then we got it All-In preflop on a coin flip, my ATo vs his 55. I missed everything until the 10s hit the River. This left him with just over 30k, or 3 Big Blinds.

A couple of hands later, he shoved from the SB. I had K3o, and really didn't want to call. I don't like calling with just one card, but I felt like I had to call. Unfortunately, he had KJo. The Flop was 996, which was good for me as a chop was more likely. The 3 on the Turn was much better for me, but the J on the River was much better for him.

Play continued, as I still had a 2-1 chip lead. A couple of hands later, he limped from the SB, and I checked the BB with JTo. Flop was J 5 3. I checked my Top Pair, hoping he would do something. He was kind enough to bet 20k, and I check-raised All-In. He called with K5, and missed the Turn and River.

I collected both of our bounties, which gave me a total of ten. I got seven out of the ten bounties at the Final Table, including the final five. I mentioned earlier that if someone collected seven bounties, they would win the tourney. I guess I was right.

I left the Peppermill with $630 after the Dealer's tip. This was my biggest donkament cash since late January, when I finished a Cash Me Out with $700.

Look out, Vegas. Here I come.