This is the second in a three-part series on my performance in the $6,500 main event at the
Master Classics of Poker in November.
Having made it to the third day with an average stack of about 65K, I am happy to see that again there has been no redraw for seats. This way, I can try to use my tight play from the previous day to my advantage, now that the blinds have risen and the antes have kicked in. I am even happier when I find out that my table has been chosen as the televised table. This is what I have come here for; now, it is up to me to perform.
Despite the fact that I want to get as much airtime as possible, I don't just want to survive; I want to win this event. So, on just the third hand of play, I reraise a tight opening raiser for about 60 percent of my stack, holding just the J
8
. I know this person respects my play, and I know he would fold the hand that I figure he has, A-Q. (Later, in the TV broadcast, I find out that he folded that exact hand, A-Q.) Not much later, I make a big under-the-gun raise with the 6
3
, and I win that pot uncontested, too. I am gaining ground slowly but surely, but then suddenly the tide turns. I make my trademark big raise from under the gun, this time with the 8
8
, for about 17K total. The solid Michael Keiner decides to push all in with the A
J
, and I elect to call the extra 21K - but lose the hand. I now am suddenly down to 77K, after losing a showdown for just the first or possibly second time during this entire event.
Losing coin flips
Without playing a hand, my stack dwindles further to 65K - the same amount with which I had started the day. I am way below average now, and when the blinds rise to 3K-6K with a $500 ante, I decide to move into a different gear. Using the fact that I have not been caught making any moves, I bully my way back into the event. I raise or reraise three consecutive pots with nothing, winning them all uncontested, and then on the fourth consecutive hand, I again make a massive raise from under the gun this time - to 80K. Of course, this time I have a real hand, Q-Q, but my fellow countryman, the popular Thierry van den Berg, decides to call all in with A-K offsuit. I expect to win, but unfortunately a king flops. Having lost my second race of the day, I am now down to 55K - the shortest stack in the event.
I fight for my life. I continue to push all in about two hands out of three, for the simple reason that I don't want to move up one or two spots; I am playing to win. After regaining some ammunition, I lose my third consecutive coin flip, with Q-J against the 9-9 of a tight player in the big blind who decides to make a stand. Still, I recover by again winning two pots uncontested, getting me close to the 100K mark again. Then, I win a crucial pot. Facing a 25K raise from Micha Neuteboom, a Dutchman whom I already have reraised off his hand once, I am lucky to find pocket aces. I make the exact same type of reraise that I have made against him before, and despite the fact that he has just K-Q offsuit, there is just no way he can fold here. Indeed, he calls all in for 54K extra, and my aces hold up. I have 180K - and am back in business!
We are now down to 18 players, two tables, and at the televised table we have no fewer than four Dutchmen, out of the five who are left in the event. I win two pots because of good strategic maneuvering, but I decide to take my foot off the gas somewhat after all of the fireworks from before. I even fold 8-8 in early position and the A
Q
against a raise. Once I notice that despite my average stack of 205K (considerably less than the 700K of the chip leader to my right, Alex Jalali), all six players to my left have less than I do, I decide to change gears once again. Hoping to build my stack so that I can start bullying the players to my left, and with the blinds now 4K-8K with a 1K ante, I try to grab the 20K in dead money by making a massive raise to 82K with just the 5
4
. Because the chip leader has already folded and I haven't played a hand in a long time, I am pretty certain that I can get away with this move, thus starting to project my bully play. But Dutchman Menno Vlek seems to know what I am thinking, and decides to push all in for 166K total with just A-10 offsuit. I take my time to calculate my odds, thinking that I almost certainly am up against aces. But, getting slightly more than 3-to-1 on my money, there is just no way I can fold my small suited connectors here. I put on a little show for the cameras (saying something like, "Geez, who would be so stupid to first raise with a 5 high and then call a reraise with it?"), and the tension starts building. Of course, in the end, I do make the call. Immediately, I start calling for spades and little cards, and again, lady luck smiles on me. The same lovely Loeki from earlier in the event builds the tension even more by giving Menno top pair on the turn. But then on the river, she completes the runner-runner flush, giving the pot to the proper person: me. The crowd goes wild, Menno slams the table, and I get crazy looks, not just from the players and spectators, but from the lovely dealer - as if to say: "Rolf - what on earth were you thinking?"
On a hot streak
I have worked my way up to 400K now. Having never played any kind of rush before (being strictly a cash-game player, I don't believe in rushes; I believe in making positive expected value plays), I know that now is the time to collect. Knowing that by now my opponents probably view me as a total maniac who could move in with anything, I make an absolutely ridiculous 210K raise from under the gun with K-K. Thierry van den Berg calls instantly for all of his chips, pumping his fists in the air. Still, I am not 100 percent convinced that he in fact has aces - that is, until he shows them. Again, being a clear dog in a big pot, I start shouting for kings - and, indeed, on the turn, a king pops up. Now it's Thierry's turn to smash the table and curse his bad luck as the crowd goes wild - but not just in a positive sense, though, as three of their favorites (Micha, Menno, and Thierry) have all been eliminated by me. And taking into account the fact that quite a few people had percentages of some of these players, this doesn't make me the most popular player in the house. But after scooping a 400K-plus pot as a 4-to-1 dog, I have almost closed the gap on chip leader Alex Jalali, and I am in excellent shape now.
Going for the kill
But I am not pleased yet. With 10 players left on two tables, we are playing fivehanded - and I know that this is the time to accumulate chips. I reraise Jan Boubli with an A-5 to make him lay down, and then I reraise Jan Sjavik's under-the-gun raise. Holding just the Q
J
, I reraise enough to put him all in, and after some deliberation, he decides to fold a hand that has me dominated, A-Q. Phew! I go on in my bullying way, and also eliminate the last player before the final table - again as a slight dog. In no time, I have been able to work my way up from the short stack to the chip leader in the event. This means that at the next day's ninehanded final table, I will start as the clear chip leader with about 841K - approximately 25 percent of the total amount of chips in play.
While everyone is wondering what on earth has happened to the ultratight Rolf that they knew from the cash games, and while the Micha, Menno, and Thierry fans curse me for my arguably stupid plays, I go to bed very pleased. I have given the TV cameras what they wanted, and I know that for a very long time, everyone in Holland will remember "Ace" Slotboom. But more importantly, I have paved the way for my ultimate goal: taking home this very prestigious title. I know I have gotten to this point in a good but unorthodox and very lucky manner - and now it's up to me to pull the trigger at the final table.
