monthly tourney report - a donkey call gets rewarded.

A great start to the monthly $50 buy-in holdem tourney tonight. I followed some limpers with 7Ts on my own button and rivered a straight for a decent pot. Then a big big hand - a free play with 46o in the big blind.

Flop comes 2 pair - but 456 with two diamonds, for draws-aplenty. I check, thinking I'll raise the aggressive players in the pot. A solid, straightforward player (but capable at stabbing at unclaimed pots) leads out. I call, as does a bad player behind me.

The turn is a welcome site - a six for the floating boat. I check again, praying someone hits a big hand (or already has one). The river hits a 7, with a nice 4 card straight on the board. I lead out for 100 into the 200 pot. The bad player makes it 200. The solid player makes it 500. Uh-oh. Well, the bad player has the straight, I'm pretty sure. Could the solid player have overboated me? Good god, that would blow.

Well, I could raise here, which would commit me for all my chips. But then one more thought occurs to me. If I raise, the good player might be able to get away from his straight if he has one, or trip sixes on the 4 straight board. The bad player might duck and run as well unless she has a great hand. But what if I just call the 500 and let her in behind me? Maybe she calls as well. This sounds like 300 more than I would make if I just shoved all my chips in the middle and they both ran away.

Plus, I provide a little protection in case the good player has overboated me. I call the 400 more, and the bad player calls too.

She shows two pair (ow) - the solid player shows the straight, and I drag a huge pot.

I win some more chips before the first break with some good cards. A very good player is sitting on my right raises it up to 105 (blinds are only 15/30). I look down on QQ and repop it to 350- there's very little three-betting at this point of the tourney. He calls, and the flop scares the piss out of me - AAT. I have position and he checks. He's easily capable of checkraising here, and I can certainly check behind. Or, I can play aggressively and find out where I'm at right now. I bet 400 and he folds.

(not sure if this is a great play - better hands never fold to this bet, and very few worse hands can call. I could easily check here and be just as safe, and might even set up a bluff opportunity later. But I still wouldn't know if it was a bluff or a value bet with an ace, seeing as he called a 3 bet and could easily be holding an ace).

A round later I get AA and he raises into me again. I repop it once more to 300, and he gives me a snarky remark like I'm picking on him. Then a player behind me goes all in for 310, only 10 more. Good player says "I have to call". Here I make a mistake and announce that I'm all in myself, which I can't do of course since I was the last raiser. Oopsie. I apologize and call the ten more chips. The board comes KQx and we check to the river - I don't want to risk building a pot with lots of paint on the board and getting my aces cracked by 2 pair - I also don't want to chase out a player that might beat the shortstack. In the end, I take the pot with my aces.

At this point I have 3600 and am looking pretty good. I tighten up and wait for good cards - folding KJ in early position and Ace-9o vs some limpers. I do steal a few blinds to keep busy.

Then for the killer hand of the night - I raise up AJo and get a call from Rob, whom I've mentioned several times in the past. Rob likes to call bets and then bluff the river when the draw comes in. He has made the big river bet at least 3 times tonight, and even shown the bluff one of the times - a busted straight draw. Rob is at plenty of final tables - he has also been the first out of the tourney on a few occasions when he bluffs into someone with a set or two pair who can't get away.

I hit top pair on the board with a jack and two spades. I lead out for value and he calls. The turn is a queen, higher than my jack. Rob checks, as do I, for pot control.

The river, of course, brings the third spade, a ten, and Rob leads out for 800. Ugh.

He loves to bluff the draws on the river. Did he actually have a spade draw this time? Crap. Ace King also beats me (would be a straight), as does any queen. He's capable of making this bet with eights or nines, or nothing. I finally decide he doesn't have the spade draw, and he would have bet most queens to protect against the spade draw. I make the call.

Rob announces "two pair", which of course beats my second pair. I expect him to flip over Queen-Jack, but instead he flips over queen-five. He called my 3x preflop raise with Q5? Then he called 400 with bottom pair?
Someone calls him on it, and he gives some obviously pre-thought-out logic about "well, I can easily get away and blah-blah-blah, if he would have bet more preflop, I wouldn't have called, etc. etc."

Whatever, dude - you just called a preflop raise from a tight player with Queen-five offsuit. I'll remember that.

This knocked me down into average stack territory. From there I went down to about 9 BB waiting for a hand. A short stack shoved all-in, over a limper, and I re-shoved over with AQ, hoping to dominate a smaller ace. I was up against the powerhouse 44 and of course didn't pair up, which put me at 3 BB. I went out a few hands later, taking a stand with KQ, in a 2 way all in vs. AJs and 99. Rob won this hand, too - his AJ flushed out on the river, and he knocked out 2 players.

A solid start to my night, derailed by Q5. My read was right, too - he didn't have the flush or the straight on the dangerous board, but he still had enough to knock my second pair for a loop.

Once back home - I took back my $50 investment with a win in a $20 online tourney. The big hand of the night was a thing of beauty - I raised up 77 and got a caller from a decent, overly aggressive player. Then a bad player in the blind thought and thought and then called as well.

I hit my set of 7s on a Q97 board and checked. The good player checked as well, and then the bad player made a pot size bet. I shoved over him, pretty much thinking he would call with top pair/overpair and I would have to dodge a couple outs. But then the good player called my all in also! Uh-oh. Flush draw? Better set? The bad player also calls, and we're off. The bad player has AA - he decided to just call preflop and trap, he trapped himself right into drawing to 2 outs. The good player shows JTo - an open ended straight draw, but on a 2 flush board - a strange play (maybe he's not so good).

Mr. draw is briefly rewarded with a king on the turn - hitting his straight. My core temperature starts to go up, but the river brings a second king and my boat sinks his straight and the aces. I win a 8,640 chip pot and coast into the money, bullying the other players as the big stack should, then hitting aces myself while heads up for a little more luck.