I haven’t had a tournament where I KO’d 7 of the 8 other players at my table in a while. Truthfully, I can only recall it only happening once before, and I ended up getting 2nd place after KOing the first 7 players.
This time, I took first. Here’s how it went down:
- Early hand, I’m dealt AA as a gift, raise, get one caller, flop nut set. Check it, V pots it, and I flat. K on the Turn makes me nervous as it completes a straight for QJ, but any other holding I’m fine against. I decide I better assume they have at least a Q or a J, and I better close this down now if I’m still ahead, or just kill myself if I’m already dead. Or maybe I’ll river a boat and be OK. I put in a half-pot bet, which I think probably is a bad size if you want to fold a strong gutshot draw, and I get a call, which at least it’s not a raise, so who knows, I’m pretty good except against all combinations of QJ. 9 hits on a the river, a brick, so I’m not worried about it. If I’m beat, I’m beat; I shove, they fold. It’s a 2700 chip pot for me, which is awesome. Hand #609554424 · Replay Poker
- Same player, KO #1. A8s in the BB seat, I come in facing several limpers, so raise it 1/2 pot to 112 to try to fold a few out, which doesn’t work at all. Flop comes 3s4s7h, and I have 4 spades, and would be enthusiastic about seeing the rest of the board run out here. V(ictim) shoves, holding A5, 3 spades, and the table folds around to me; I feel fatalistic and shove back, to ensure the player behind me isn’t priced in and feel any need to call, they get out of the way. Turn card is an immediate disaster for me, a 6, completing a 3-7 Straight, but I suck out with a 9s on the river for the nut flush, and V1 is KO in 9th. Hooray. Hand #609555391 · Replay Poker
- KTo, lojack seat, I open to 2BB, pretty weak I know, and 2 players behind me call, along with the SB and the BB. Flop is beautiful, TTA, and it checks around to me, I check and the player behind me shoves 2k chips all-in. I have them covered by 3x and a strong hand if not exactly the nuts, but I’m only beat here by AA and AT, since I’m blocking TT. I reason that it’s very unlikely AA, AT shoves at this pot, since they’re not getting called, so I don’t worry about it, and call, they show K8o, and are drawing dead – two Kings needed just to chop are their only outs, and instead we see two deuces for a full house TTT22. I pull in 4300 chips and KO V(ictim 2). This one feels gift wrapped. Hand #609557704 · Replay Poker
- I go on an extended losing streak where I get pretty frustrated as my high end of my range fails to coordinate with any boards I play, and I run through about 2500 chips, dropping back down to a little over 6000. Forgetting momentarily that I’m not in a Badonk’s League game, I am mistakenly under the impression that somehow all my wins have evaporated and I’m back down to my starting stack, which has me feeling pretty tilted. But I’m actually still 2x over my start, and shouldn’t be upset. I’ve lost nearly a buy-in’s worth of chips playing a few hands that had good potential, and I got off most of them before I lost too much.
- KTo, in the BB, and the SB limps in holding AQ, I decide to go big and raise from 200 to 1200, or 6BB. SB of course calls. Flop is JQ4, and they check to me; I have OESD and bet big again, and put 2k up, which is enough to put them all-in to call. I’m assuming since they checked, they’ll fold here, and of course as usual it’s another trap for me. they call, flip up AQ, and I’m in trouble unless I draw out.
I end up Turning Kings for better Top Pair, and suck out on them. I’m so used to losing this hand when the King makes me a hand and then the board ends up completing a broadway straight for V, or a flush, that I don’t recognize that they’ve missed a nut straight, giving me the hand until the chips actually slide over to me; then I have to check and see if I have the flush or something. Nope, just Kings over Queens. 6500 chips to me, and V(ictim) 3 is eliminated in 7th. They thoroughly outplayed me, and I come away from it with the pot. Well, I can’t win them all with skill. Hand #609566464 · Replay Poker - TT, again in the lojack. I raise to 2BB, player in the Hijack raises to 3BB, it comes back around to me and I call. Flop is 69Q, and I figure I better show some aggression here and bet it, hope V doesn’t have the Q. He’s only got 350 chips left, a little over 1BB, and it’s not a problem if he does. I bet to put him all in, he shoves, flips up JJ, and the board runs out 7, 8 giving me a 6-T straight that beats his better pair. V4 eliminated 6th, and again I’ve gotten very lucky with the cards, but here it’s the stack to pot ratio that makes this a mandatory bet on the flop. This time the pot’s worth 5200 chips. Hand #609567979 · Replay Poker
- Not a KO, but a very marginal hand that went OK for me. I take 4400 away from A7 with A8 on a JA5 J3 board. I’m in early position and check-call the flop, turn, and river, and edge out a close hand. I could afford to lose, but might have folded to larger bets, especially after the second Jack arrived. Hand #609569595 · Replay Poker
- AKo, on the button, and same player as the hand above puts in half their chips to raise 2BB holding ATs. This should have been a shove for them, but even so I’m still calling with AK and so much of a stack advantage. I re-raise to put them all-in, they call. We each pair our bottom card on the flop, good, but then they end up with 4 diamonds on the Turn, worriesome, but the river is a brick and I earn KO #6, with KK66 over TT66, busted nut backdoor flush. 4000 chips to me, my stack is now up to 16.5k.
(Somewhere previously, runner-up jazzbythebay KO’d the #5th place finisher with a K-9 straight, and is sitting with a comfortable 8300 chips in 2nd place.) - It’s 3 up, I find myself with QQ on the button, and I open 4BB to 1200; small stack shoves 2800 chips, I call. BB flips up AK, we have a coin flip. Flop is pretty great for me, 9QT giving me top set, but then a K arrives on the Turn to make a possible broadway gutshot for V. They don’t fill it, brick river, and I take down the hand for 6000 chips. KO #6.
- It’s HU time, I have an immense stack advantage, but jazzbythebay is healthy enough to be dangerous if he doubles up. Which, he does. I get dealt pocket 99s, and put in for a 3BB raise, which he calls with a pretty questionable A2o. Flop comes in low, right in his wheelhouse, he has 352 on the board for bottom pair and a gutshot wheel draw. I have a big overpair, so I put in a pot-size bet, and he jams. Not a problem for me, I was hoping to get him all in this hand, mission accomplished. I call the remaining 1200 he put in over me, and the board runs out K, A, to give him two pair and beats my 99s. He takes 13.4k from me and now we’re dead-even in stacks, with me just 300 chips ahead of him. What did I say about Short stack invincibility? As soon as I put someone all-in, they can’t lose. 6 other couner-examples to the contrary notwithstanding… lol
- QTs, on the button, I win the game flush over straight, another river suck-out for me. I raise pre and get called by T8s. Flop is 657, then a 9 fills V’s straight, which I bet into, ad he jams.
I call for the possibility of an 8 or heart to fill my own draws, and I river a heart. Amazing. KO #7.
Hand #609572444 · Replay Poker
I know this was a long write-up, but I need to remember it every time I get sour about my bad beats, missed flops, and general bad luck.