Play a Tournament With Me

Last September I played in a tournament at the Four Queens in Downtown Las Vegas. It was no-limit hold'em with a $120 buy-in and one rebuy of $100. I started off the tournament rather uneventfully. I picked up a few small pots here and there, and managed to increase my stack somewhat. It was right after the first break that something astonishing happened. I won seven out of the first eight hands dealt. I have never had that type of rush in a tournament before.

The first hand, I raised from early position with pocket aces. No one called. The second hand, I raised from under the gun with A-K and got one caller. A king came on the flop. I bet, and he folded. The third hand, I got 9-2 in the big blind. There were two limpers, and the flop came 10-9-5. I bet, and they folded. The fourth hand, I received A-6 in the small blind. There were several limpers, so I called. The flop produced nothing for me, so I folded when someone bet. The fifth hand, I raised with J-8 suited from the button. No one called. The sixth hand, I raised with pocket sixes from the cutoff seat. Only the big blind called me. The flop was A-J-2, I bet, and he folded. The seventh hand, I called from late position with K-Q suited after four players had limped in. The flop was K-Q-5. An early-position player bet $500, I raised it to $1,500, and he folded. On the eighth hand, that same player raised to $250, I reraised him to $1,000 with A-K, and he folded. In 12 minutes, I went from $2,800 to $5,400 in chips. What a rush!

That stack enabled me to gain enough momentum to make it to the final table. There really were no more major encounters for me until the final table, when I raised all in with pocket eights from late position. The big blind called with pocket tens. The board was beautiful for me: 8-5-4-4-2. I made a full house and busted that player. My chip count was now $28,000, and the blinds were $500-$1,000. I then went for a while without getting any hands. Then, when I raised and got reraised, I had to lay down a couple of hands. My chip count went down to $6,000. I then raised all in with pocket deuces. Thankfully, there were no callers. Then, I raised all in with pocket sevens. Again, there were no callers. Three players then limped in, and I raised all in with A-K. They all folded. I increased my stack from $6,000 to $20,000 in 20 minutes. The blinds were now $1,000-$2,000, and I was in the small blind with my $20,000. We were down to five players. Layne Flack was the chip leader with about $60,000. He raised to $20,000, and everyone folded around to me. I know how Layne plays, and he could have had any hand at this point in the tournament. I thought for about a minute and finally called him with A-9. The big blind folded, and we turned over our hands. It was the best possible scenario for me. Layne had A-6 against my A-9. I was more than a 2-to-1 favorite. However, the worst happened, and Layne flopped a 6. Sometimes you make the right decision but get the wrong result. That is what poker is all about. I finished fifth and won $1,100. Good luck at your next tournament.