sandwiched

Bad month continues in my first tourney tonight. I won a few hands early, but then lost a few and got short. Shoved into a limper with a low M and 67 offsuit, thought he would fold, nope, he called with 88. Crushed.

In tourney 2, couldn't get a playable hand. Had loose passive limpers before me, with cards not good enough to isolate. then once they got knocked out, the table got aggressive. My stats were 3/0/0 after 31 hands. (my one play - a limp into a multiway pot with A-x suited).

In hand #32, 2 black Aces UTG, raised it up 2.5 times BB, somone in position calls. Flop comes 5c 2d 8c. I check with the intention of checkraising, he checks behind. I'm about to bet any turn card when the Ad comes. I slam on the brakes and check again. He checks behind. Then I see there are 2 clubs on the board and he's been drawing for free. Uh-Oh. Of course the river comes the Tc. I bet about half pot - for value if he doesn't have the flush, and enough to get away from if he does (I also figure since I have the Ac, he would have many fewer hands he could have called a bet with that had 2 clubs). He calls and shows A5. Whew. Couldn't have asked for a better result there.

Then I raise up with 99 vs. the shortstack. If he shoves over I'll have 2-1 odds and will have to call. He shoves over and I call, expecting TT over my nines. Nope, 88! It holds up and I'm now third in chips. From a frustrating 31 hands to third in a mere 2 hands...

With 5 players left and the stacks pretty even, I get caught stealing twice - once with J4s, and once with J9o, but I hit a top pair J both times and bet in position and the blind defender folds. Still fighting, now in second place.

Then, 2 big hands.

In the first, I get AcJc in late position. Blinds are 100/200. A loose aggro player minraises it up to 400. I think about repopping, but I'm not sure I want to stake my tourney life on AJ in case his minraise means a big hand. I call in position, as does the big blind with fine odds.

Flop comes Kh Js 3c. Middle pair and a backdoor flush draw, not too shabby. Both players check to me. I could fire out a bet here, but I decide to let my position do the work and check behind. (if I raise and get checkraised, I have to let middle pair go).

The glory card comes on the turn - Jd. Now it's on. (If he has KK, KJ or 33, I'm going broke). The big blind leads out 400. He's an aggressive player, and I decide he's got a King and was hoping to checkraise someone on the flop, but it didn't work. The original raiser folds. I could raise here, but I think I can extract some more money by calling and hoping he fires again on the river. (one other thought that occurs to me now - my image was pretty unclear to this player b/c I played so few hands early. He could have me pegged for a calling station shooting for a gutshot or something since I've played this hand with so little aggression).

The river comes the Ace of diamonds. This hand keeps getting better and better! Now I'm ahead of KJ and 33 and only behind AA and KK. Still going broke if necessary. He does fire out a bet - 400 again. Too small, he doesn't have much, I decide. I raise it up to 100. I am rewarded by the single chat response "crap" in the chatbox and a fold.

During the next hand (which I fold), I type, "got caught with your hand in the cookie jar?", seeing what info I can get. He writes "I had a nice piece of that on the flop". I type back - "something like "KQ"? He writes "can you see my cards?" which makes me feel pretty good. I thank him for the information by replying "no, just a guess. I had AJ", which lets him know his fold was a good one.

While this conversation is ending, I get invoved in another hand. I've got 56o in the big blind and get two limpers - the same two players from the hand above. I check my option and we're off to the flop... which comes 4s Ac 3d. I've got a nice straight draw, but I figure someone who limped with Ace rag (or represents an Ace) will make it too expensive for me to draw to this straight, so I check. The villain bets 300, just under half pot. This is the same guy who bet half pot at me two hands ago. I don't really have odds to call this bet, but I'm currently chipleader and decide to take a shot at some implied odds. I call.

The turn comes the Jc. I check, knowing his limp could have easily connected with this card, but he checks behind. Another thought enters my mind. If my straight card doesn't come, I can bluff at something. He would have re-bet a pair of Aces, right? Even if he did pair this Jack, my guess is that he's worried about my check/call, now.

The river doesn't oblige with my straight card or a third club, but it does bring up another opportunity - the Jack of hearts! Now there's an Ace and two Jacks on the board, just like the hand we were just playing only moments ago. I decide that it's a great opportunity to bluff at the pot and I fire off a half-pot bet of 600, just small enough to look like I want him to call, but also small enough that I can gladly fold if he's been dragging a set of 4s or somesuch. He folds almost immediately, and I collect a 1300 pot, putting me squarly in the chip lead.

I carry this lead into second place in the tourney. This gives me another $10 profit on the night - not great, but hopefully a slow climb out of my negative September so far.