Why in the world would i be up at 5:29am on Father's day? Aww crap... i just realized my screen cap didn't work. Anyway... I made good on one of my New Year's Goals; To win an online poker tournament. This is why i'm up right now, because i just finished the tournament, and i'm still wired and buzzing from what just happened. The Re-Cap Well the tourney started pretty late, and early on I was keeping a good pace with my chip stack growth and the blind levels. I stuck to my guns, and constantly reminded myself of what i was doing wrong in other tournaments. Earlier today, i made a final table, but busted out in 6th because i got reckless with a hand i had no business in playing the way i did. (For those who care, i had A? 9?, and i knew the guy didn't hit the board so i thought my Ace good, but he had pocket 10s, which took a lot of my stack, then next hand i hit pocket 7s, and get called with the very hand that i misused, and got busted with the Ace) As the tournament doddles along, I realize that i sort of plateau at the 4th blind level, and needed to make a serious move. For once, i can't remember what happened, but i doubled up and somehow magically got whisked away to another table, where i got extremely lucky. Just a little back story before i go through this particular hand. I have officially deemed pocket Kings to be my least favorite pocket pair. Reason being that i misplayed them in one of my most valuable poker lessons and got out drawn with a lesser pair, and at Pokerroom.com, it was just relentless the way i was losing with Kings. Aces i almost always expect to lose with, because as good as they are preflop, they pidgeon-hole you into hoping that nobody outdraws you. Kings just seem to have a bit more flexibility to them, and maybe it's because they have faces. Regardless, after being outdrawn with kings over and over, i will play them almost reluctantly now. A little pre story, to the current story... prior to being teleported, there was a hand where the flop showed 3, 3, 7, and i had Pocket 5s. I make a pot size bet, and a dude goes WAY over the top and goes all in. I freeze in my tracks and just let the timer run and said that this wasn't my spot to double up. I asked if he had a big pocket pair, and he "claims" to have hit his set with the 3. I can believe it, since nobody raised pre-flop, and the good ol Ace-anything players always surprise those that stick to the hands they feel are more likely to win. So i grumble to myself a bit about that, because i wasted a pot size bet trying to steal it, and doubted this player's honesty in what he actually had. So here i am at this new table, and i look down to Pocket 9s. I raise pre flop, and then the 2nd chip-leader at the time goes all in. I look at the pot size, and my stack, and realize that if i call, i'm cut in half but still in good shape for a money finish. I put him on AK, or AQ. I say, "why not" and then badaboom, badabing, i'm facing cowboys. I was almost certain i was toast and even typed in the chat window "ooooh... nh". Flop comes down, and i hit a 9. I stare in disbelief as the win percentage shows in my favor, and he finishes 3 out of the money. In an effort to show remorse i say "sorry man" but i don't know if he caught it. I've had that happen all too often to me, and just a few nights ago, i had run into a similar situation where I dominated with Kings over Queens, and saw the Queen spike on the flop and just put me out of the money finishes. At this point i was dominant chip leader at my table, and in the overall tournament i had climbed my way into 3rd. I decided to slow down my play, and not wanting to over extend my luck, but i found myself catching pocket pairs, and i had to play them. I would raise pre-flop, and as people folded i opted to show what i was folding, just so they don't think i'm a table bully, because from that perspective, if i'm just buying pots with a huge stack, they are more likely to call my raises, but if i show that i'm not just being a table bully, they will be less likely to call me unless they have something really worth playing. As it came down to the final 40, i found myself reluctant to play borderline hands, even though i had the luxury to play them without fear of losing a lot of chips. I watched as i missed on 2 nut flush opportunities in a row. I drop in my chip count for a bit, but then i find myself staring at AJ suited. I freeze in my tracks, and debate how to play them, and decide to call a raise. Flop comes down all Clubs, and i'm thinking in my head "NUT FLUSH BABY!", but i check reluctantly, always fearing the worst, where he has 2 pair, and is drawing to a Full House. He checks, and another club on the turn. I check again, and he checks. River comes up and there's another Check. In my head i'm really hoping he has a medium club card so i can get at least a call from him. I bet pot size, and then next thing i know, he goes over the top and re-raises me. I freeze for a second and think "does he have a straight flush?" but that would have been the ultimate slow play and bad beat, so if that were the case, i'd pay him off gladly just to say "yo you know what happened in this one hand i played?...." So i automatically go all in, and he calls. What a fiasco... his cards show and he didn't even have a club at all. I guess he thought the board would play because i checked and he checked the whole time. On an obvious steam bet, when i'm in the small blind and he in the big blind, i limp in with AJ again, and he re-raises me to his all in, which wasn't much to mention at this point, but a double through would have really helped his cause. I call, and he had 6/8 suited. After that, there was a succession of bad beats i was dealing to people. Catching my second pair, outdrawing on straights, and when it came to the final table, i was 2.5 times the next largest stack for a bit. When we get down to 6, poker room announces a break for 40 minutes so that the billionth hand could be played out in a ring game, with the players at that table winning a trip to vegas. So me and the second place guy start the small talk, and even play "name that movie" for a while. Amazing how guys think so similarly. His first movie was Anchorman, where the dialog was Ron Burgundy going over the news team battle royale. I knew it immediately, and told him that i was going to use the "sex panther" cologne slogan. Next line was mine, and i said "If he dies, he dies" and he immediately knew it was Rocky 4. Then he said "sweep the leg", and i knew that was Karate Kid. That game was short lived, and everyone left at the final table made attempts to be at the billionth hand table in the ring games. The game resumes, and i watch as my mountain of chips, is met with the person i was playing the movie quote game with. It went back and forth, and i knew i was in my element, because i'm all about the short handed games. He dominated me at one point, and split the pot twice in what we both thought was going to be the last hand both times. Finally, i came upon pocket Queens. I raised him a minimum amound, and he called, so he had the intention of playing the hand. flop comes down, 9, 10, J, and i know i'm ahead, but just put out a minimum bet, and again he calls. next card comes a blank, and i still feel comfortable with this, and bet again, and again he calls. River comes up King. So my straight is now king high. i bet again, but this time he raises me. I re-raise him to all-in, and after a bit of thinking, he calls. He had 7, 8 and had the sucker's end of the straight. His chip stack is so low after that hand that he would have needed to in 4 consecutive all-ins to even make it a match again. He doubles up once, and then on the next hand i look down at 6/8 suited. Through ring game play, i have to say that this is one of my favorite "Rag" hands to have, and i'm willing to call sometimes with this. With him all-in, i type out "i hope you don't get mad at me for calling this", and he has J10 suited. Flop hits my 6, and thus ended my first big tournament win. out of 342 players, i made it to first, and after a bunch of money finishes, a few final 10 finishes, i couldn't be happier. What really stood out for me was the mutual respect you see when you get down to that final table. Everyone is just happy to finish in the money, and everyone at that point knows that everyone played well to get to that point. The guy i was heads-up with even slowed down play so i could go pee instead of blinding me out. All in all, it was a fun night, and hopefully this won't be the last of my detailed tournament win stories.

Source: The Pebble Says...