2009 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure — Part III

I had gotten off to a good start in this tournament, and when we went to the sixth level with the blinds at 400-800, and a 100 ante, I was sitting with almost 52,000 in chips, which was more than double the 20,000 we started with. I played very few pots at this level, and twice had to fold after I put in a raise, once preflop and once after the flop. This took me down to about 40,000 in chips, which was still a decent stack, but I did not like the direction this was going.

I had a very aggressive young Internet player on my left, and had to fold to him more than once when he came over the top of me, so I decided that I would take a stand against him no matter what my hand was the next time he did it. Well, I did not have long to wait. I raised from the cutoff seat with K-10 offsuit, making it 3,000 to go. He made it 9,000 from the button. I decided that now was the time that I was going to take it away from him. I moved in, and he had to decide if he wanted to call about 30,000 more. He had me covered, but if he called and lost, he would be a short stack and in bad shape. He went into the tank and thought for several minutes before making his decision. He finally decided that I was making a play against him — which I was — and called with pocket eights. Now, even if I think I might be up against just overcards, this is not the type of hand that I want to risk my tournament life on in this situation. I would have folded if I were him, but I admit that his read was correct. However, the poker gods favored me and I spiked a king on the flop and doubled through him. That is a good example of making the right read but losing anyway, and sometimes it is better to put your money in when you are a bigger favorite. However, that is the aggressive style of play that we old veterans face all the time now, so we need to just deal with it.

I did not play any more serious pots until the final level of the day. I raised with pocket tens, making it 3,600 to go. The blinds were now 600-1,200, with a 100 ante. A very loose player with a big stack in the big blind called my raise with the 4 3. The flop came A-K-J with two clubs — not exactly what I was looking for. We both checked, and when a blank came on the turn, we both checked again. The river card was the Q. I had made my straight, but there was now a possible flush on the board. My opponent led out for 5,000. I knew that I was going to call this bet, and didn’t think I could win any more money if I raised. He would either fold or possibly reraise if he had the flush. I called, he sheepishly turned over his 4 high, and we soon ended the day’s play. I finished with 65,900 in chips, which put me in good position for day two.

On day two, we started with 800-1,600 blinds, and a 200 ante. There were 380 survivors out of the 1,347 starters, with 199 players getting paid. At this level, I won the blinds a few times and played one serious pot. I raised to 6,000 with pocket nines, and another player moved in for a total of 30,000. I figured (hoped) that this was probably a race, and decided to make the call. He turned over A-Q — a hand that I truly hate playing for any serious money — and my nines held up. I finished the level with more than 90,000 in chips, and thought I was really on the right track.

Things started to get dimmer at the next level, however. I raised preflop from late position with A-10 offsuit and got called by the big blind. The flop came 3-2-2, and I was pretty sure that he did not have any of that, so when he checked, I fired out a continuation-bet of 10,000. He then went all in for 8,900 more. I had put myself in a bad spot with my two overcards and no pair. Somehow, I forced myself to call, and he turned over pocket kings. This was the worst play I had made in the entire tournament, because he was an excellent player and I should have smelled the trap and shut down after the flop.

The rest of the tournament, I played only one other significant pot. I was dealt pocket aces in late position. We were just a few spots short of the money and I did not think I should slow-play, so I reraised. If I had just called, the player in the big blind probably would have moved all in. He agonized for almost five minutes, and folded. He figured that I had a big hand and decided to give up. This pot was critical, because it enabled me to survive to the money. After that, it was all downhill. I never had any more big hands or won any significant pots. I finished in 134th place. If I could have finished four spots higher, I would have gotten a bigger payday. But, the $12,500 I received was still better than what most of the players received — which, of course, was nothing.

Tom McEvoy is a representative of PokerStars, and a member of the PicClub Pro Team. He also teaches on the Internet at www.proplaylive.com. His website is www.tommcevoy.com.