HugePoker

I don’t know what possessed me to do it. I had a performance last night (Saturday) and we had our cast party at the theatre after the show. I had made delicious cocktails and had consumed a few of them, and when I got home some time after midnight I realized that there was one more helping at the bottom of the pitcher, and I certainly wouldn’t want that to go to waste, so why not? The final cocktail-dregs returned me to the state of mild-tipsiness I had achieved earlier in the evening, and I was a little wound up after the show and the party and I didn’t think I’d be able to go to sleep soon. There wasn’t any possibility of winning a triple crown, since I only had one crown in the bag and fast approaching was the last possible moment of the qualifying period from the first win last weekend (the first victory was in a tournament that started at 1:00AM last Sunday, and the last time I could play a tournament for triple crown consideration would be exactly one week later) … so even if I was gunning for a miracle there just wasn’t any way this could work. And there’s no award for a “double crown”, so there just wasn’t any sensible motivation to play this tournament. But I was wound, and I had some alcohol in my system, and it was only a $50 tournament, starting at exactly 1:00AM, which seemed auspicious, so I thought I’d just splash around for an hour or so and probably end up busting out quickly and then go to bed. “Best laid plans”, right?

Pretty quickly two things became apparent. The first was that this was not a turbo tournament. Most of the tournaments that I play late at night are turbos – the blinds go up faster, and as a result the tournament goes by pretty quickly (usually two to three hours for the tournaments I typically play), but I don’t tend to play in $50 tournaments, thus this one had been under my radar. So I started to suspect that I could be in for a long haul. The second realization was that there must have been a blinking sign on my avatar, visible to the other players, or at least the unskilled ones, indicating either that it was my birthday or that I was in direst need of charity, so they should all hurl chips at me, in great quantity and with great force. It was frightening, actually, because I was afraid that someone would eventually suck out on me (someone did, eventually) or that someone would actually turn over the big hand they were representing (this fear was never realized).

[I'm going to insert a lot of hand histories into this post - I've found a couple of different hand history converters that I'm playing around with, let me know if you have trouble reading the histories.  If you don't want to read the actual poker hands, it should be easy to skip over the colored ink to get back to the story]

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 10/20 Blinds (9 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP1 (t2891)
Hero (MP2) (t3678)
MP3 (t3000)
CO (t3280)
Button (t2750)
SB (t3430)
BB (t3000)
UTG (t2780)
UTG+1 (t3000)

Hero’s M: 122.60

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with 10, 10
1 fold, UTG+1 calls t20, 1 fold, Hero bets t111, MP3 calls t111, 2 folds, SB calls t101, BB calls t91, UTG+1 calls t91

Flop: (t555) 2, 7, 5 (5 players)
SB bets t200, 2 folds, Hero raises to t866, 1 fold, SB calls t666

Turn: (t2287) 2 (2 players)
SB bets t2453 (All-In), Hero calls t2453

River: (t7193) 3 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: t7193

Results:
SB had 8, Q (one pair, twos).
Hero had 10, 10 (two pair, tens and twos).
Outcome: Hero won t7193

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 120/240 Blinds 25 Ante (9 handed) - Full-TiltConverter Tool fromFlopTurnRiver.com

SB (t4593)
BB (t6821)
Hero (UTG) (t7026)
UTG+1 (t4469)
MP1 (t3570)
MP2 (t11039)
MP3 (t36702)
CO (t6227)
Button (t23625)

Hero’s M: 12.01

Preflop: Hero is UTG with 4, 4
Hero bets t555, 2 folds, MP2 calls t555, 4 folds, BB calls t315

Flop: (t2010) 8, J, 4 (3 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t777, 1 fold, BB calls t777

Turn: (t3564) 5 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t1999, BB raises to t5464 (All-In), Hero calls t3465

River: (t14492) K (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: t14492

Results:
BB had J, 9 (one pair, Jacks).
Hero had 4, 4 (three of a kind, fours).
Outcome: Hero won t14492

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 200/400 Blinds 50 Ante (9 handed) - Full-TiltConverter Tool fromFlopTurnRiver.com

MP3 (t12518)
CO (t21273)
Hero (Button) (t11810)
SB (t10943)
BB (t1200)
UTG (t4340)
UTG+1 (t11963)
MP1 (t28613)
MP2 (t34938)

Hero’s M: 11.25

Preflop: Hero is Button with 3, 3
2 folds, MP1 calls t400, 3 folds, Hero calls t400, 1 fold, BB checks

Flop: (t1850) A, 3, 10 (3 players)
BB checks, MP1 bets t1850, Hero raises to t3700, 1 fold, MP1 raises to t5550, Hero raises to t11360 (All-In), MP1 calls t5810

Turn: (t24570) 6 (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: (t24570) K (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: t24570

Results:
Hero had 3, 3 (three of a kind, threes).
MP1 had Q, Q (one pair, Queens).
Outcome: Hero won t24570

Somewhere in the midst of all that carnage, I actually fell asleep in my chair. I remember waking up and seeing that I had KJs in the big blind and thinking that I’d better click the “I’m back” button before I auto-folded it (it was limped to me, I raised and won the pot). At the time I thought I had only fallen asleep for a hand or two, but just now looking at the hand history I can see that I was asleep for almost ten minutes, and missed 16 hands. The guy next to me must not have realized it, because in the middle of that stretch when I had the big blind, he gave me a walk (meaning he folded to me when he could have taken the pot just by limping). This allows me to claim that I can effectively play poker in my sleep.

As players kept emptying their wallets to me, the hours seeped slowly by, and as night gave way to morning light, I was doing very well in the tournament, and was a bit more alert, and by the time someone called my 3-bet with KJ (I had AA) and then shove-raised 45BB on me on the Jack-high flop (hmmmm, let’s see … I re-raised preflop and then bet strongly on a Jack-high flop … hmmm, how good is your KJ now? … you still like it? … really? … well OK, I mean, you could just call and see what I do on the turn, right? … that could be one option … no? … you say you’ve got top pair and you really want to raise? … for all our chips? … you think that’s going to make something good happen? … well, I can’t quite imagine what that might be, but … who am I to deny you?) I had climbed the mountain and was the chip leader as the tournament slowly, ploddingly, hypnotically approached the bubble around 4:00AM.

We made it to the money around 4:30, and got down to three tables (27 players) around 5AM, and I was still the chip leader. A good-natured opponent saw how much fun it was to just give chips to me and tried hard to follow the example (I do give him credit for trying), but his donation went awry:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 600/1200 Blinds 150 Ante (7 handed) - Full-TiltConverter Tool fromFlopTurnRiver.com

MP1 (t30043)
MP2 (t40891)
CO (t30065)
Button (t35252)
Hero (SB) (t101518)
BB (t43148)
UTG (t20104)

Hero’s M: 35.62

Preflop: Hero is SB with K, K
2 folds, MP2 bets t2400, 2 folds,Hero raises to t6777, 1 fold, MP2 calls t4377

Flop: (t15804) 7, 8, 2 (2 players)
Hero bets t13333, MP2 raises to t33964 (All-In), Hero calls t20631

Turn: (t83732) 4 (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: (t83732) 7 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: t83732

Results:
Hero had K, K (two pair, Kings and sevens).
MP2 had 7, A (three of a kind, sevens).
Outcome: MP2 won t83732

This knocked me down to 4^th in chips with 20 players remaining in the tournament. When we got down to the final table bubble (10 players) I was 3^rd in chips, but the two bigger stacks were at the other table, so I pretty much just rolled over my table, and when the final table wobbled ponderously into view I was 2^nd in chips behind the monster chip leader, and it was 5:30AM.

At 6AM we had seven players left, with stacks that looked like this:

Seat 2: 4_trelaze_49 (58,549)
Seat 4: AceofNor (107,736)

Seat 5: Next Bite (35,156)

Seat 6: hugertilt (88,118)

Seat 7: Luni2007 (85,700)

Seat 8: zondagje (60,395)

Seat 9: paggo65 (479,346)

So kind of a top-heavy distribution – it felt a little like we were all fighting for second place, but then again the guy with all the chips was pretty terrible, so I had hope.

I doubled up with the following hand, after which my opponent typed “fu” in the chat window before busting out one hand later…

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 2000/4000 Blinds 500 Ante (7 handed) - Full-TiltConverter Tool fromFlopTurnRiver.com

BB (t119598)
UTG (t126986)
MP1 (t33656)
Hero (MP2) (t71118)
CO (t71700)
Button (t52895)
SB (t439047)

Hero’s M: 7.49

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with 5, A
2 folds, Hero bets t9555, CO calls t9555, 1 fold, SB calls t7555, 1 fold

Flop: (t36165) 9, K, 8 (3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets t22222, CO calls t22222, 1 fold

Turn: (t80609) A (2 players)
Hero bets t38841 (All-In), CO calls t38841

River: (t158291) 5 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: t158291

Results:
Hero had 5, A (two pair, Aces and fives).
CO had J, K (one pair, Kings).
Outcome: Hero won t158291

OK so I got a little lucky on the turn, but we were pretty much a coin flip on the flop – no need to get all pissy and hostile about it. And you could pretty much fold your hand on the turn anyway buddy – I’m not sure what you thought you were beating. OK I guess I could have J, 10 … whatever … nice hand, sorry it didn’t work out for you, don’t go away mad.

So now I’m firmly in 2^nd place, but the chip leader has almost triple my stack. I stay in 2^nd as we get down to 5-handed … the chip leader spews some chips so that I have more than half his stack (normally not something to cheer about, but it seems like luxury at this point). At 6:15AM the chip leader sucks out to knock out one of the short stacks with A6 beating AQ and we’re four:

Seat 2: 4_trelaze_49 (164,697)

Seat 6: hugertilt (212,102)

Seat 8: zondagje (75,240)

Seat 9: paggo65 (462,961)

I get a little too creative with a missed flush draw, and my opponent plays it smartly to let me spew off some chips:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 2500/5000 Blinds 600 Ante (4 handed) - Full-TiltConverter Tool fromFlopTurnRiver.com

BB (t160397)
Hero (UTG) (t202802)
Button (t179580)
SB (t372221)

Hero’s M: 20.49

Preflop: Hero is UTG with 4, 5
Hero bets t12222, 2 folds, BB calls t7222

Flop: (t29344) 7, K, 2 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t16777, BB calls t16777

Turn: (t62898) 9 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks

River: (t62898) J (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t31111, BB calls t31111

Total pot: t125120

Results:
BB had J, K (two pair, Kings and Jacks).
Hero had 4, 5 (high card, King).
Outcome: BB won t125120

And all of the sudden I’m on the bottom rung of the chip ladder. At 6:30AM the blinds go up to 4000/8000 and I’m at my bleakest moment of the final table:

Seat 2: 4_trelaze_49 (257,557)

Seat 6: hugertilt (101,842)

Seat 8: zondagje (253,730)

Seat 9: paggo65 (301,871)

The (terrible) chip leader had been limping weakly a lot, and a hand came up where I thought I could push him off a hand pretty easily. It turned out I was wrong, but it worked out OK:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 4000/8000 Blinds 1000 Ante (4 handed) - Full-TiltConverter Tool fromFlopTurnRiver.com

SB (t317444)
Hero (BB) (t159955)
UTG (t176730)
Button (t260871)

Hero’s M: 10.00

Preflop: Hero is BB with 5, 9
1 fold, Button calls t8000, SB calls t4000, Hero bets t42222, Button calls t34222, 1 fold

Flop: (t96444) 5, 7, 4 (2 players)
Hero bets t116733 (All-In), Button calls t116733

Turn: (t329910) K (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: (t329910) 9 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: t329910

Results:
Button had 6, A (high card, Ace).
Hero had 5, 9 (two pair, nines and fives).
Outcome: Hero won t329910

And just like that I’ve gone from bottom stack to top stack in the blink of an eye. On the next hand, 6:40AM, our seemingly-unassailable former monster chip leader busted out, which evened out the stacks somewhat for three-handed play.

At 7AM I had reached the conclusion that the other two players were pussies, terrified of busting out in third, and that I could pretty much run over them. I’m going to just copy the next several hands here because I think it’s pretty fun to watch (it certainly was fun to play):

——————
HAND #1
——————

Full Tilt, NL Hold’em Tournament, 5,000/10,000 Blinds, 1,000 Ante, 3 Players

BB: 212,943
Hero (BTN): 302,941
SB: 399,116

Pre-Flop: (15,000) T T dealt to Hero (BTN)
Hero raises to 23,333, 2 folds

Results: 25,000 Pot
Hero showed T T and WON 28,000 (+18,000 NET)

——————
HAND #2
——————

Full Tilt, NL Hold’em Tournament, 5,000/10,000 Blinds, 1,000 Ante, 3 Players

SB: 201,943
Hero (BB): 319,941
BTN: 393,116

Pre-Flop: (15,000) K 9 dealt to Hero (BB)
BTN raises to 26,000, SB folds, Hero calls 16,000

Flop: (57,000) K Q T (2 Players)
Hero checks, BTN checks

Turn: (57,000) 6 (2 Players)
Hero bets 25,555, BTN folds

Results: 57,000 Pot
Hero showed K 9 and WON 60,000 (+44,000 NET)

——————
HAND #3
——————

Full Tilt, NL Hold’em Tournament, 5,000/10,000 Blinds, 1,000 Ante, 3 Players

BTN: 195,943
Hero (SB): 352,941
BB: 366,116

Pre-Flop: (15,000) 7 A dealt to Hero (SB)
BTN folds, Hero raises to 27,777, BB folds

Results: 20,000 Pot
Hero showed 7 A and WON 23,000 (+18,000 NET)

——————
HAND #4
——————

Full Tilt, NL Hold’em Tournament, 5,000/10,000 Blinds, 1,000 Ante, 3 Players

BB: 194,943
Hero (BTN): 364,941
SB: 355,116

Pre-Flop: (15,000) 5 Q dealt to Hero (BTN)
Hero raises to 23,333, 2 folds

Results: 25,000 Pot
Hero showed 5 Q and WON 28,000 (+18,000 NET)

——————
HAND #5
——————

Full Tilt, NL Hold’em Tournament, 5,000/10,000 Blinds, 1,000 Ante, 3 Players

SB: 183,943
Hero (BB): 381,941
BTN: 349,116

Pre-Flop: (15,000) Q J dealt to Hero (BB)
2 folds

Results: 10,000 Pot
Hero showed Q J and WON 13,000 (+18,000 NET)

——————
HAND #6
——————

Full Tilt, NL Hold’em Tournament, 5,000/10,000 Blinds, 1,000 Ante, 3 Players

BTN: 177,943
Hero (SB): 388,941
BB: 348,116

Pre-Flop: (15,000) J K dealt to Hero (SB)
BTN raises to 20,999, Hero calls 15,999, BB folds

Flop: (51,998) 6 Q 8 (2 Players)
Hero bets 26,666, BTN folds

Results: 51,998 Pot
Hero showed J K and WON 54,998 (+38,999 NET)

——————
HAND #7
——————

Full Tilt, NL Hold’em Tournament, 5,000/10,000 Blinds, 1,000 Ante, 3 Players

BB: 155,944
Hero (BTN): 421,940
SB: 337,116

Pre-Flop: (15,000) 2 A dealt to Hero (BTN)
Hero raises to 23,333, 2 folds

Results: 25,000 Pot
Hero showed 2 A and WON 28,000 (+18,000 NET)

——————
HAND #8
——————

Full Tilt, NL Hold’em Tournament, 5,000/10,000 Blinds, 1,000 Ante, 3 Players

SB: 144,944
Hero (BB): 438,940
BTN: 331,116

Pre-Flop: (15,000) Q A dealt to Hero (BB)
BTN raises to 25,000, SB folds, Hero raises to 76,666, BTN folds

Results: 55,000 Pot
Hero showed Q A and WON 58,000 (+43,000 NET)

——————
HAND #9
——————

Full Tilt, NL Hold’em Tournament, 5,000/10,000 Blinds, 1,000 Ante, 3 Players

BTN: 138,944
Hero (SB): 470,940
BB: 305,116

Pre-Flop: (15,000) 2 T dealt to Hero (SB)
BTN folds, Hero raises to 26,666, BB folds

Results: 20,000 Pot
Hero showed 2 T and WON 23,000 (+18,000 NET)

——————
HAND #10
——————

Full Tilt, NL Hold’em Tournament, 5,000/10,000 Blinds, 1,000 Ante, 3 Players

BB: 137,944
Hero (BTN): 482,940
SB: 294,116

Pre-Flop: (15,000) 8 7 dealt to Hero (BTN)
Hero raises to 23,333, 2 folds

Results: 25,000 Pot
Hero showed 8 7 and WON 28,000 (+18,000 NET)

——————
HAND #11
——————

Full Tilt, NL Hold’em Tournament, 5,000/10,000 Blinds, 1,000 Ante, 3 Players

SB: 126,944
Hero (BB): 499,940
BTN: 288,116

Pre-Flop: (15,000) 3 2 dealt to Hero (BB)
2 folds

Results: 10,000 Pot
Hero showed 3 2 and WON 13,000 (+18,000 NET)

——————
HAND #12
——————

Full Tilt, NL Hold’em Tournament, 5,000/10,000 Blinds, 1,000 Ante, 3 Players

BTN: 120,944
Hero (SB): 506,940
BB: 287,116

Pre-Flop: (15,000) A Q dealt to Hero (SB)
BTN folds, Hero calls 5,000, BB checks

Flop: (20,000) Q T 2 (2 Players)
Hero checks, BB checks

Turn: (20,000) 9 (2 Players)
Hero bets 10,000, BB folds

Results: 20,000 Pot
Hero showed A Q and WON 23,000 (+18,000 NET)

——————
HAND #13
——————

Full Tilt, NL Hold’em Tournament, 5,000/10,000 Blinds, 1,000 Ante, 3 Players

BB: 119,944
Hero (BTN): 518,940
SB: 276,116

Pre-Flop: (15,000) 5 K dealt to Hero (BTN)
Hero raises to 23,333, SB folds, BB calls 13,333

Flop: (51,666) A 5 6 (2 Players)
BB checks, Hero checks

Turn: (51,666) 8 (2 Players)
BB checks, Hero bets 17,777, BB folds

Results: 51,666 Pot
Hero showed 5 K and WON 54,666 (+31,333 NET)

——————
HAND #14
——————

Full Tilt, NL Hold’em Tournament, 6,000/12,000 Blinds, 1,500 Ante, 3 Players

SB: 95,611
Hero (BB): 549,273
BTN: 270,116

Pre-Flop: (18,000) T Q dealt to Hero (BB)
BTN raises to 28,500, SB raises to 94,111, 2 folds

Results: 69,000 Pot
SB showed and WON 73,500 (+51,000 NET)

——————
HAND #15
——————

Full Tilt, NL Hold’em Tournament, 6,000/12,000 Blinds, 1,500 Ante, 3 Players

BTN: 139,111
Hero (SB): 535,773
BB: 240,116

Pre-Flop: (18,000) 2 J dealt to Hero (SB)
BTN folds, Hero raises to 28,888, BB folds

Results: 24,000 Pot
Hero showed 2 J and WON 28,500 (+22,500 NET)

——————
HAND #16
——————

Full Tilt, NL Hold’em Tournament, 6,000/12,000 Blinds, 1,500 Ante, 3 Players

BB: 137,611
Hero (BTN): 550,773
SB: 226,616

Pre-Flop: (18,000) T Q dealt to Hero (BTN)
Hero raises to 28,888, 2 folds

Results: 30,000 Pot
Hero showed T Q and WON 34,500 (+22,500 NET)

——————
HAND #17
——————

Full Tilt, NL Hold’em Tournament, 6,000/12,000 Blinds, 1,500 Ante, 3 Players

SB: 124,111
Hero (BB): 571,773
BTN: 219,116

Pre-Flop: (18,000) T 7 dealt to Hero (BB)
BTN calls 12,000, SB calls 6,000, Hero checks

Flop: (36,000) 4 J 8 (3 Players)
SB bets 24,000, 2 folds

Results: 36,000 Pot
SB showed and WON 40,500 (+34,500 NET)

——————
HAND #18
——————

Full Tilt, NL Hold’em Tournament, 6,000/12,000 Blinds, 1,500 Ante, 3 Players

BTN: 151,111
Hero (SB): 558,273
BB: 205,616

Pre-Flop: (18,000) K K dealt to Hero (SB)
BTN folds, Hero raises to 24,000, BB folds

Results: 24,000 Pot
Hero showed K K and WON 28,500 (+22,500 NET)

——————
HAND #19
——————

Full Tilt, NL Hold’em Tournament, 6,000/12,000 Blinds, 1,500 Ante, 3 Players

BB: 149,611
Hero (BTN): 573,273
SB: 192,116

Pre-Flop: (18,000) Q 3 dealt to Hero (BTN)
Hero raises to 28,888, SB folds, BB raises to 148,111, Hero folds

Results: 63,776 Pot
BB showed and WON 68,276 (+51,388 NET)

——————
HAND #20
——————
Full Tilt, NL Hold’em Tournament, 6,000/12,000 Blinds, 1,500 Ante, 3 Players

BTN: 270,999
Hero (SB): 529,385
BB: 114,616

Pre-Flop: (18,000) 2 5 dealt to Hero (SB)
2 folds

Results: 12,000 Pot
BB showed and WON 16,500 (+22,500 NET)

——————
HAND #21
——————

Full Tilt, NL Hold’em Tournament, 6,000/12,000 Blinds, 1,500 Ante, 3 Players

BB: 269,499
Hero (BTN): 521,885
SB: 123,616

Pre-Flop: (18,000) 3 9 dealt to Hero (BTN)
Hero raises to 28,888, SB folds, BB calls 16,888

Flop: (63,776) 3 A A (2 Players)
BB checks, Hero bets 33,333, BB folds

Results: 63,776 Pot
Hero showed 3 9 and WON 68,276 (+39,388 NET)

——————
HAND #22
——————

Full Tilt, NL Hold’em Tournament, 6,000/12,000 Blinds, 1,500 Ante, 3 Players

SB: 239,111
Hero (BB): 559,773
BTN: 116,116

Pre-Flop: (18,000) 2 Q dealt to Hero (BB)
2 folds

Results: 12,000 Pot
Hero showed 2 Q and WON 16,500 (+22,500 NET)

——————
HAND #23
——————

Full Tilt, NL Hold’em Tournament, 6,000/12,000 Blinds, 1,500 Ante, 3 Players

BTN: 231,611
Hero (SB): 568,773
BB: 114,616

Pre-Flop: (18,000) 2 Q dealt to Hero (SB)
BTN folds, Hero calls 6,000, BB raises to 113,116, Hero folds

Results: 24,000 Pot
BB showed and WON 28,500 (+28,500 NET)

——————
HAND #24
——————

Full Tilt, NL Hold’em Tournament, 6,000/12,000 Blinds, 1,500 Ante, 3 Players

BB: 230,111
Hero (BTN): 555,273
SB: 129,616

Pre-Flop: (18,000) K 8 dealt to Hero (BTN)
Hero raises to 28,888, SB raises to 128,116, 2 folds

Results: 69,776 Pot
SB showed and WON 74,276 (+51,388 NET)

——————
HAND #25
——————

Full Tilt, NL Hold’em Tournament, 6,000/12,000 Blinds, 1,500 Ante, 3 Players

SB: 216,611
Hero (BB): 524,885
BTN: 173,504

Pre-Flop: (18,000) 6 3 dealt to Hero (BB)
2 folds

Results: 12,000 Pot
Hero showed 6 3 and WON 16,500 (+22,500 NET)

——————
HAND #26
——————

Full Tilt, NL Hold’em Tournament, 6,000/12,000 Blinds, 1,500 Ante, 3 Players

BTN: 209,111
Hero (SB): 533,885
BB: 172,004

Pre-Flop: (18,000) 2 4 dealt to Hero (SB)
2 folds

Results: 12,000 Pot
BB showed and WON 16,500 (+22,500 NET)

——————
HAND #27
——————

Full Tilt, NL Hold’em Tournament, 6,000/12,000 Blinds, 1,500 Ante, 3 Players

BB: 207,611
Hero (BTN): 526,385
SB: 181,004

Pre-Flop: (18,000) A 7 dealt to Hero (BTN)
Hero raises to 24,000, 2 folds

Results: 30,000 Pot
Hero showed A 7 and WON 34,500 (+22,500 NET)

——————
HAND #28
——————

Full Tilt, NL Hold’em Tournament, 6,000/12,000 Blinds, 1,500 Ante, 3 Players

SB: 194,111
Hero (BB): 547,385
BTN: 173,504

Pre-Flop: (18,000) T 6 dealt to Hero (BB)
2 folds

Results: 12,000 Pot
Hero showed T 6 and WON 16,500 (+22,500 NET)

——————
HAND #29
——————

Full Tilt, NL Hold’em Tournament, 6,000/12,000 Blinds, 1,500 Ante, 3 Players

BTN: 186,611
Hero (SB): 556,385
BB: 172,004

Pre-Flop: (18,000) 3 K dealt to Hero (SB)
BTN folds, Hero raises to 26,666, BB folds

Results: 24,000 Pot
Hero showed 3 K and WON 28,500 (+22,500 NET)

——————
HAND #30
——————

Full Tilt, NL Hold’em Tournament, 6,000/12,000 Blinds, 1,500 Ante, 3 Players

BB: 185,111
Hero (BTN): 571,385
SB: 158,504

Pre-Flop: (18,000) K 3 dealt to Hero (BTN)
Hero raises to 26,666, 2 folds

Results: 30,000 Pot
Hero showed K 3 and WON 34,500 (+22,500 NET)

——————
HAND #31
——————

Full Tilt, NL Hold’em Tournament, 6,000/12,000 Blinds, 1,500 Ante, 3 Players

SB: 171,611
Hero (BB): 592,385
BTN: 151,004

Pre-Flop: (18,000) 7 5 dealt to Hero (BB)
BTN raises to 149,504, 2 folds

Results: 30,000 Pot
BTN showed and WON 34,500 (+22,500 NET)

——————
HAND #32
——————

BTN: 164,111
Hero (SB): 578,885
BB: 172,004

Pre-Flop: (18,000) 7 A dealt to Hero (SB)
BTN calls 12,000, Hero calls 6,000, BB checks

Flop: (36,000) A 3 5 (3 Players)
Hero checks, BB checks, BTN bets 24,000, Hero calls 24,000, BB folds

Turn: (84,000) Q (2 Players)
Hero checks, BTN checks

River: (84,000) Q (2 Players)
Hero bets 12,000, BTN calls 12,000

Results: 108,000 Pot
BTN mucked T K and LOST (-48,000 NET)
Hero showed 7 A and WON 112,500 (+70,500 NET)

So at the end of my reign of terror the stacks looked like this:

Seat 2: 4_trelaze_49 (114,611)

Seat 6: hugertilt (641,885)

Seat 8: zondagje (158,504)

…and I was liking my chances. A few hands later one of the short stacks shoved with QJs, the other one surprisingly had enough balls to call with AA, and the AA held up:

Seat 2: 4_trelaze_49 (338,114)

Seat 6: hugertilt (576,886)

I bullied him pretty well, whacking him down to 100,000 until he lucked out to double up with KJ beating my A5, but then I finished him off with this hand, a nice little twisty-turny suck and resuck hand to finish an exciting tournament:

Full Tilt, NL Hold’em Tournament, 6,000/12,000 Blinds, 1,500 Ante, 2 Players

BB: 203,396
Hero (BTN): 711,604

Pre-Flop: (18,000) 5 3 dealt to Hero (BTN)
Hero raises to 24,000, BB calls 12,000

Flop: (48,000) 5 3 2 (2 Players)
BB checks, Hero bets 686,104, BB calls 177,896

Turn: (403,792) Q (2 Players)

River: (403,792) 3 (2 Players)

Results: 403,792 Pot
BB showed 7 J and LOST (-189,896 NET)
Hero showed 5 3 and WON 406,792 (+210,896 NET)

So that’s it … victory in the end for $3,812.50 … a second crown at the last possible second, in a tournament that started exactly one week after the last victorious tournament started. I can honestly claim in this triple crown quest to have legitimately won two tournaments outright and finished second in a third one, but I can’t quite throw a tantrum about how I would have won the triple crown if only I had been able to finish off my opponent in the middle tournament – because both that tournament and this most recent win were on FullTilt, and in order to qualify for a triple crown the three wins need to be on three different poker sites. I’m still going to strut around saying that I won 2.5 out of the three needed crowns and just hope that no-one gets too picky about it.

I managed about two hours of sleep because I was meeting my family for lunch before my closing matinee show. 6.5 hours after finishing the tournament I was on stage, and somehow I managed to remember my lines and didn’t go into a daze (in fact it was one of our better shows, which is always nice for a closing). Another walk on the boards is over and I’m back to being just a poker player.

While this tournament doesn’t nail me a triple crown, it does reset the clock on another one. So if I can win two more in the next week (as I’m finishing writing this it’s Monday afternoon, so I’ve got 5.5 days) I’ll bring in another TC. I’m getting a little less cautionary in the way I look at the triple crown hunt - I used to say “I’m sure I’ll never win another one, but it’s fun to try - that first one was kind of a fluke”, but after last week I think I have to give myself more credit than that (while still acknowledging that it will always be a longshot), and I’ll give it my best shot this week. I’ve already had one solid run … last night I finished 15^th out of 305 in a $55 sniper tournament on UB, and I almost certainly would have final-tabled it with a very good stack if not for this hand with 20 players left:

Ultimatebet NL Hold’em, $1.00 BB (8 handed) -

MP1 ($17978)
MP2 ($7931)
CO ($14708)
Hero (Button) ($14415)
SB ($51386)
BB ($16886)
UTG ($7874)
UTG+1 ($24505)

Preflop: Hero is Button with A, A
UTG raises to $7774 (All-In), 2 folds, MP2 raises to $7831 (All-In),1 fold, Hero raises to $14315 (All-In), 2 folds

Flop: ($23937) 8, 5, 9 (3 players, 3 all-in)

Turn: ($23937) Q (3 players, 3 all-in)

River: ($23937) 7 (3 players, 3 all-in)

Total pot: $23937

Results:
Hero had A, A (one pair, Aces).
UTG had 6, 6 (straight, nine high).
MP2 had A, K (high card, Ace).
Outcome: Hero won $228, UTG won $51244

ARRGGGHHH.

As I prepare to hit the “Publish” button on this post I’m well above average in a $50-rebuy on Stars, with 114 of the original 255 remaining…

Stay tuned for further updates on Crown Quest #3.

-huge