Tables Turned

Certain people have told me they aren't particularly enamored with my bad beat and cooler stories. I know, nobody really cares. I do try and tell them with a little flair, but I hear you nonetheless. Thus, I'm not going to go through some of the more painful moments of the last few weeks online. It's been a very poor run.

I am going to tell you however about a couple of bad beats I laid on other people last night in the Thursday 100+10 at the club. There is something truly cathartic about flipping one of those back, especially when you've been on the wrong end a lot in recent memory.

I was supposed to meet the Korean ATM in time for both of us to join the tourney, but characteristic of his continued indentured servitude at Big Firm, he did not make the tourney. He did show up later and played the cash game, learning the valuable lesson: do not try the old "this little 70 raise into a 150 pot is intended look like a value bet and thus scare you into submission notwithstanding the fact there are 5 overcards on the board to my 23 (sooted!)" against a little old lady with top pair, second best kicker and a giant stack. He was helpful in Koreatown later, when something he said to the waiter in resulted in a tasty plate and large beer being served to yours truly--my guess as to the translation: "please bring the dumbass white boy some dumplings and a 40."

Anyhoo, we had 27 players in the tournament, a mix of familiar and unfamiliar faces. Structure is not quite as good as the 250+25 Sunday, but not at all bad (especially considering the very generous +10 juice, almost as good as online), 2000 chips with 25-25 starting blinds and 20 minute levels. I played through my first table for awhile under my buyin, making a good jump when I caught the button's AT on an all-in steal against my big slick in the big blind.

I got a bluff snapped off just before we consolidated to a final table and landed there with 3000, the second smallest stack. Only top 3 paid, and with the blinds at 200-400, I had an M at 5 and knew I had steal some blinds or double up soon or blind out with a whimper. I also got the feeling I did not have the luxury of waiting for cards--at this point after two hours I had been deal a pair (5s) exactly once.

My first chance came UTG with A9 and I pushed. Unfortunately, the button, with about 5500, found a hand to call me with, measly little kings. I can't really say I felt guilty when the ace hit.

Back in the thick of it, I noted that the table was pretty passive and moved to steal the blinds a few times. Going a bit further, when a medium stack attempted to limp UTG, I felt my 67 clubs(sooted!) was a good hand to make a move, so I raised the 400 up to 1500. It did not feel good when a late position shortstack went all in over the top with his 2100. Folded around to me facing 600 more to win 4600 (2100+1500+400+400+200), I sheepishly called knowing that as embarrassing as flipping my cards over would be, I had pot odds on pretty much any hand I could be facing, including the king of clubs and king of spades he actually had.

The flop was 767.

Take me down to the suck out city where the cards are mean and beats are shitty!

Next hand I actually got in preflop with the best of it against two all-in short stacks, and really built a nice stack when my sevens flopped the top set.

At one point I was up over 16k with only 54k on the table. We played on with six players for awhile and I had been nicked down to about 12k when someone proposed a six-way split deal. Me and the other two big stacks where not having it even, so we did a chip count offered to chop 5 cents on the dollars (remember 100 bought 2000 tournament chips)--I would have gotten about 600.

The small stack on my immediate right and on the button, would have taken 135, but he started dickering with 1700 chips and 300-600 blinds and DK'd the deal. When he was under the gun 3 hands later, he proposed to have a deal then, which really pissed off another player who was having none of that. IMNSHO, I agree that's a bullshit move and I too was hoping he'd bust out. Granted, he has every right not to agree to a deal for any reason, but I think waiting for the blinds so blatantly is an etiquette breach.

Justice was not there however, as two more orbits saw almost 5000 of my chips and half the angry guy's stack slide over to yet another player while the short stack doubled up. A deal was proposed again, with the short stack, now up to 260, holding-out for 40 more. I was down to 360 and was tempted to kebotch it on principle but restrained myself as the deal was happening while I was UTG, and with 500-1000 50 blinds and antes, I was not positioned to be the hold out (I don't think this is inconsistent--it's one thing to consider your position in holding out, even asking for a sweetener, another to refuse solely on those grounds because if everyone did that, no deal would ever be possible).

Looking forward to the blogger tourney on Sunday, and may even try to hit the 10+1 Wil Wheaton private tourney on Stars this evening for shits and giggles. It's a blogger tourney but open to anyone with the password (monkey).