Borgata or Bust

I started the tourney up with a belly full of beer and Hooters wings. Now that I was in the proper mindset, I had to get to work.

246 started. 4 seats awarded. 5-7 pay cash. I am a bit surprised it got another 90 players from when I checked this morning.

Right away I notice a guy at my table who was on my right in the SnG I won to get here. He is a pretty aggressive player. Will have to remember that and use it to my advantage.

I start with a couple of hands that don't hit. J 10 suited catches no flop. K J off no flop. It has to get better. And it does. I am dealt K K and chip back above the starting count of 2000.

A Q off gets me some chips on a flop bet and I am the early chip leader at my table.

7 7 get a caller on the raised flop. The board of 3 3 2 looks good too. No action on my flop bet.

A K off. I re-raise the EP guy. He just calls. I like that. Flop of J 10 7, two diamonda. He checks. I figure him for a pair, Q Q tops, but most likely 8s or 7s. I check behind him. Turn is a rag. I bet half the pot and get no action.

A couple hands later, I have Big Slick again. But no action. Even the EP limper bails. But now he looks angry. Oh no!

Table is feeling pretty soft. Or maybe I am actually getting some respect? With J 10 off I raise preflop from mid position. Only the BB calls. A high flop. Yuck! Bet just over half the pot. He folds. I will have to try that again.

Don't play any hands for a while. Then the snowman come to visit. My 8s meet a flop of 9 9 2. The two guys who called don't want to throw snowballs around and fold to my bet.

I finally run into a bad spot. A K in the BB. I raise it up and get called by a limper. Flop comes J 10 8. I bet and he calls. Wait! That isn't suppose to happen. The turn is a rag. I check. He checks. River is a rag. Crap! I bet 500. He raises. Damn. I fold and get back to where I started.

Soon I get moved to a new table. Only a couple bigger stacks here. Not too bad. I get A K off on my second hand. Raise but no calls.

At the first break, I have just 2670 (up from the starting stack of 2000). I had doubled up to 4010 but the A K hand hurt. I am sitting in 81st place with 144 left. I have basically played my style so far so I am not unhappy. I feel good that I can chip up and be a factor.

I get K J off after the break in the small blind but I have to fold the push monkey UTG who puts in his last 1075. I soon get A K off again. An A high flop greets me and the BB. I bet he folds. Seems to be a theme there except for the one guy who didn't want to play by my rules.

I then put the pedal to the floor a bit. A 10 off. Raise. 9 10 suited. Raise. A J off. Raise. A K off in the BB again. Call a push monkey. Uh oh, he has 8 8. No help and I am down to 1600. Ouch.
I then see 5 5 on the button. Early raise and the same push monkey does it again. Pushes. I fold. Early guy has A A. Thanks monkey!

I watch one guy start to run over the table. Hitting top pair, sets. Getting ugly. I was about to take him on with 7 7 in the BB but the SB pushes. WTF? I can't play this and fold. The bully folds as well. Damn! I could have taken them chips. With blinds at 80/160 and only 1290 left, I need to make some kind of move.

Then the Cowboys come along. I am in the cutoff and just raise the pot size hoping to get some action. Nope, not this time. Next hand I do the same with K Q. No action again. Damn. At least the table seems a bit tighter. Maybe I can do some thieving. K Q UTG. Raise. Get raised by the BB. It will cost me 850. I don't think he has much. Or maybe it is I don't think. I call and see his A Q. An A on the flop hurts and I am crippled to 420. Hey, 420! Light up!!!

Next hand in BB I get K 8 suited. It folds around to the SB who calls. I raise my last 220 (blinds are 100/200). He calls with Q 2 suited. Flop is K K 8. Where was that last hand??? I double up. In the small blind, I get A 7 off. I just call, resisting the urge to push. Flop is A 7 3. I push but get no callers. Back up to 1240. A little breathing room but not much.

Blinds come flying around and I see the Hammer. I fight the urge to push and fold. Sorry guys but the guy who raised is pretty tight.

Then the jacks come. I am a bit scared of these guys after reading this (see the 4th paragraph). I push and get called by the SB. He shows A 5. I see the A right away on the flop and cringe. But then I notice the Jack of Diamonds and breathe a sigh of relief. Up to 2080. I soon get A J spades. A raise gets no action.

I now fold for a round. Blinded down a bit. I then see some 3s. I feel like pushing but the player on my right raises. Guess I will fold this.

Blinds go up and antes are in play. Gotta step it up again. A 10 suited. I push. Yeah this hand is deadly but I need to do something and don't mind being the aggressor with this hand. They all fold. Good. Back to 2335 but still need to double up. Here come the blinds. There go the blinds with my money.

I see some 10s and push. The guy on my right who had min-raised calls. He has only K J. The A on the flop is meaningless for once. I double up to 4300. I feel like I am just about back in it. Because I say "just", I fold my K J suited in EP. UTG raised to over 1000. I don't like that. I can wait for something a bit better. It folds around and he shows the A K suited. Whew!

I then get moved back to the table I started at. This is where the tournament leader is. Great! At least he isn't near me and I can make some moves on the blinds.

I try to chip up with A 10 clubs in the SB. But the BB then pushes. Damn! I feel he doesn't have a big hand as it takes him time to make a decision. But I don't like to see a flop with this hand when it cost me all of my chips. I fold. Then I push on the next hand with A J off. No action and I go back to 3300. Still need to make a move. Raise with K 10 suited and get the blinds. Back above 4k. Until the blinds take me down again.

Then the table push monkey starts again, pushing every hand. Great. I will probably go card dead for a while. No sooner typed than it happens. That isn't good. Maybe I should type, "I go on a killer rush" and see if it happens?

At the second break I have a total of 3850 and sit in 45th place with 51 left. Still alive. That is what matters. But on hand after the break, in the small blind, I raise it up with A J off. It had folded around to me. The BB then pushes. I know he has an A at best. I call to see his A 4 off. The flop comes with a 3 and 5, the turn a 2. His wheel knocks me out at 51. A bad beat sends me home.

At least I felt good about my play. A couple spots where I got caught were erased. I made a nice comeback, but a bad beat sends me to the showers. That's poker for you.