Bad beat on the bubble

With no football games of interest on the tube, I took a little trip to a hall to play some poker. A friend of a friend had thrown together a small game with a $70 buy in. There were bounties being paid out as well to the tune of $10 with a special mystery bounty at $30. The structure of the tournament wasn't too bad either. You were given a start of 1200 chips. Blinds were starting at 5/10 and moving up every 40 minutes. Thus you would get plenty of time to wait for some cards. And I would need to wait.

There were a few familiar faces there. Tigers hat, his wife and T from Badger Poker fame were in play. There was another guy I had seen play before as well. I drew a table with Tigers hat and T. With only 23 people signed up, we were starting with just 7 players. And what a bunch they were. I had Tigers hat on my left. On my right was Shades. I noticed how the shades came down only when he had a big hand. Otherwise they stayed on top of his head. There was Any Pair, an older guy who was staying in with any pair, no matter how many over cards are on the board. Holey Shirt had an Earnhardt (not quite sure and I didn't need to check it out too closely) shirt on with a hole on his right shoulder. 3 neck was across from me. This guy was big. Big enough that he had 3 rolls of fat for a neck.

I usually don't know what to expect at these events. With a lot of new faces, I like to take it easy at first, but play aggressive with great cards. Problem today was that I wasn't going to get any good cards. I limped in on a couple of pots, played the blinds but nothing was coming my way. I didn't win a hand in the first hour and a half. Not one pot came my way. And when it did, it wasn't that big. That totally sucked because there was some loose play going on. Holey shirt would play any ace or face. Any pair was playing, well, any pair and taking it to the river. 3 neck was rather tight but would bet when he caught the hand, but otherwise had little clue on effective betting (which was good as he allowed me to draw out to many a hand when I had limped). Shades was predictable too. He was one of the few guys who would raise preflop. There was one big pot when Tigers hat raised it to 50 preflop. 3 guys called. On the flop, he bet out 200. They all called. He didn't like that. I thought it didn't make sense. He checked the turn and Holey shirt now bet out 200 which got 2 callers. Tiger hat folded pocket 10s. That was a good move as there was a J and K out on the board. There was another big bet on the river. Holey shirt won the hand with a pair of jacks. Any pair called all of that down with a pair of nines, while 3 neck folded on the river. This was typical of many a hand. Guys calling down with just a pair or maybe A high.

As mentioned already, it was an hour and a half into the game that I won a hand. I limped in with K J. Flop came J high and I bet about 1 1/2 times the pot. Everyone folded and I finally stacked some chips. But that was not a sign of things to come. One of the table was short so they moved me because I was the short stack. Though we could have gone down to 2 tables, he kept 3 going with 6 to 7 players per table. Because I was always short stacked, I was the one who kept moving. I went to a new table and played 3 hands before I was moved again. I was put at a table with Tigers hat, Holey Shirt, Dog man (guy looked like Pedro Martinez but smelled like he wrestled his dog. Also looked like it as there was a lot of dog hair on his shirt), Fubu, and Any Pair. I was down to roughly 800 in chips. Blinds were sitting at 50/100. I tried to limp in with any connectors or suiters but Dog man kept raising it up. He had two buddies behind him that had already busted out. Every time he raised me, it was 3 in a row, I started to complain, hoping that he would show me his cards or give me some info. It worked as I was starting to see what he was raising on. He raised on good hands so I was avoiding some danger. Any pair would get knocked out and we would down to 5. Blinds went up again and with just 525 left and in the big blind, I had to push all in. Fubu, a terrible player, had called. I pushed all in blind. This is a favorite move of mine. I also got them to play the board without me showing the cards. Fubu had called on a pair of 3s. Flop came with an A and K. When all was said and done, I turned over A 2 and had doubled up. Fubu had somehow gotten himself a big stack of chips. I don't know how as he pretty much sucked. I got a read on him early and he was showing people his cards as well. I knew that he was going to raise the pot by only the big blind if he had an A or a small pair. He would raise it more with a big pair. Time and time again he did this.

Having double up, I decided to try and get on a roll. In the small blind, I saw A 8. Dogman is on my left and has about 3 times the amount of my chips. I push all in. His buddies go nuts and he thinks about it. He claims he wants to call but he can't. Turns out he had only a J 3 suited. Now I need to make things count. Two hands later I look down and see 2 red aces staring at me. I push all in. 3 pushes in 4 hands. This is great for table image as they now think a small stack is pushing on anything. Dog man quickly calls. Tiger hat folds. Fubu thinks. This guy isn't very bright to begin with. Case in point is the two-yes two- barbed wire tattoos on his arm. What a dork! He folds as down Holey shirt. Dogman shows Q Q. No help and I double up again to over 2000. Next hand, Dogman goes all in for his last 1000. It folds around to me. I see A Q and call. He has 7 7. A queen comes on the flop and I knock him out. Best yet, I collect the last $10 bounty. Suddenly I have about 3500 in chips which looks to be above average. Before I know it, we are down to 8 players and they set us up for the final table.

The top 6 get paid. I notice that I am probably in 3rd place, maybe 2nd at this point. Fubu looks to be the chip leader. Tigers hat and his wife are on the low end with a quiet guy and T in between. I get the button and deal. A couple hands in, Tigers hat's wife goes out. I had limped in with Q J suited. Holey shirt was in as well. We both checked the flop when it came with rags. Turn was a K and he bet. I didn't like that. Apparently this guy doesn't understand tournament play as the right move in to check it down. That way there are two hands that could possibly knock the all in player out. A Q hit the river and he knocked her out with 2 pair. Next hand, I try to steal blinds from UTG. The table is playing very tight at this point as no one wants to go out on the bubble. I see 6 6 and raise it to 1200 (blinds are now 200/400). Big blind calls. Flop comes A K 2. He checks and I bet 1000. He immediately calls me and flips over his cards. A K. I do not catch a 6 and he doubles up.

On the next hand, I would go out on the bubble. This pissed me off because I am sure I made the right play. You decide. I am in the big blind. Fubu makes his usual raise to 800. It folds to me. I see A K offsuit. I have about 3500 or so. I am not sure what my chip total is but I know Fubu has more. I go all in hoping to take it down right there. I am confident he went in on a ragged ace. He asks me to count out what I have. I start to and he decides he will call. He shows A 7 off. WTF? He called with that? Very bad call. Flop comes 3 5 6. Shit! Right then I knew I was in trouble. The feeling was rising through my bones. I told the dealer not to turn the 4. Turn is a 2. River is the 4 of diamonds. This idiot hits his 3 outer and I am done. I was shocked but then again, I wasn't. It was one of those things I could see coming when the flop hit. I got in with the best hand, made a good read on this clown and received a bad beat. I don't know if I should have played it any differently. If I had just called pre flop, I would have bet the flop with the 2 high overcards. I am pretty sure he would not have folded. The only thing I could see was calling to see a flop and then folding just so I could survive into the money. But the aggressive play was the right move in my opinion. Maybe next time I don't have a moron calling that bet.

Funny thing was that this clown was now in a commanding position. But he would go out in 5th! He gave all his chips away to Tigers hat. I don't know how he messed it up, but then again, he is a very bad player. Don't know who won exactly. I was starving.

Me and B, who had won over $300 in side games, went to Hooters where I collected on my last longer bet. At least I got something out of it. $10 bounty and some wings is a good collection on the day.