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In yesterday’s tournament I made my 2nd Top 5 finish, once again with a 4th place.

I managed to triple my chips pretty fast with pocket Aces against QQ and AJs. After this I lost a few small hands and kept playing around the 3000 chips. Then one player lost about 8000 chips in 2 hands against the same player. He had about 1100 chips left and I knew he would go all in the next round. Being the big blind I received pocket 9’s and watch him going all in as expected. Everybody else folds, but I had a fair guess he had nothing in his hands and was playing on ‘Tilt’, so I made the call. If I’d lost, it only costs me 1/3 of my chips, so it was a call I had to make.
I showed my pocket 9’s and was curious to know what he played. He showed 3 5 offsuit
I had to be very unlucky now to lose this pot. Flop: K 4 8, he needed runner-runner now to win from me. Turn draw was a Jack and sealed my win. I love playing players on Tilt

Later, again with a pocket pair (QQ) I called a 400 chips raise. With the flop 10 9 K I only needed a jack for the straight so I made a 200 bet to see what action I’m getting. I got re-raised to 400, so I re-raised him to 800 to let him know I have good cards. He called to see the turn. Another 10 came up and I made a 200 bet again. Now he just called, instead of raising. This made me sure he didn’t have the king which gave me top pair and still a straight draw chance. He probably needed one more card and took the gamble for the river. With a 4 on the river I made a bet of 500 expecting him to fold as he probably was beaten anyhow. But his pocket 7’s didn’t stand up to my Queen’s winning me a nice pot.
Thinking about this hand afterwards, he was pretty stupid to call me on the turn. With 3 overcards for his hand on the flop and my raise against him, he should have expected he was playing a higher pair than his sevens. Maybe if he raised me on the turn I would played my hand different on the river, but he made it very obvious he hadn’t had a chance.

One thing I still need to learn is to not over estimate the power of AK, especially when nothing turns up on the flop or the turn. I lost almost 2500 chips by calling till the showdown, even with no pair at all. I should have folded that hand after the turn without hesitating.

Another big pot I won with 2 4 suited (diamonds) on the big blind. With blinds 250/500, 2 players joined the play to see the flop Qd 3d 2s. This paired my 2, but also gave me a flush draw. True, not with the highest cards, but the odds that one of those two other players got 2 diamonds in their hands where very small. Small blind checked, I made a 500 raise to get re-raised to 1000 chips. With a chance for a flush draw, I took the bet and called. The turn was a 7d, giving me the flush. I checked, not revealing I already had the flush and to see what he would do. He raised to 2500. Maybe he needed an extra diamond on the river, that certainly would mean I could fold my hand due to the low cards. But I didn’t believe he had a better hand than me, so I went all in. He called and showed Jh Qc and with only the river left he couldn’t beat me anymore. He’s out and I can add 7500 chips to my stack.

Not much later I received pocket Queens again and raised to 2400. Everybody folded, except the big blind. I was up to the player with the highest stack on the table now. He had more than 2 times the amount of chips I had and raised me to go all in. I thought he was bluffing and was trying to steal a nice pot, but with my Queen’s I called his raise, all or nothing now. He showed me pocket Aces. Damn I was in serious trouble now. With only 60 players left I was so close to the last 27 which would mean cashing.
This hand actually pushed me to a place in the Top 10 of the tournament as the flop gave me a 3rd Queen. When the turn and the river didn’t give him his 3rd ace I doubled up and could comfortably see other players making mistakes. I only played very big hands for the next 30 minutes, only losing 1 hand out of 8.
Once we’re in the money, the play speeded up again and very quickly only 12 players were left, me standing at nr 5. When I reached my 3rd final table this month, I was on the number 4 spot. After 6 hands on the final table I checked with J9 on the big blind and got trips with Q J J on the flop. Small blind checked, I checked, 3rd player made a 5000 bet. Small blind called and I raised to 20000. They both called my raise. With a 5 on the turn I couldn’t check anymore, 1 one of them had to go. I made a 50000 raise and got called by the both of them again? One of them probably has a jack also. And the other is playing the Queen, or could they both play the queen? With the king on the river I went all in after the small blind checked. And again they both called me. Should I be worried?
Well no, it was a split pot between me and the small blind (J 10) as we won from Q A. The 83000 chips added to my stack made me the current chip leader.

The first final table I’ve played, I tried to bluff 7 2, but it made sure I went out on the 8th place that time. With deuce seven in my hands yesterday at the final table I was thinking should I or not?
Well I did and I also won. Before the flop I made a 30000 raise on the small blind position. Only the player on the button called. With 8 6 5 of spades on the flop, I know it was now or never, I had an open end straight draw possibility, but that wouldn’t had a chance against a flush as I didn’t had a spade. But with a 54000 raise I bluffed my way to the win, letting him believe I do have the spades.
Being a sporty guy, I showed my cards to let everybody know they got beaten by 7 2

30 minutes later the lowest stack went all in for 106000 chips and with JQ suited I took the risk calling him. He showed pocket 9’s and won as the board didn’t pair me.

With only 4 players left I got pocket jacks and re-raised the player on the button. He re-raised me again and I went all in, knowing this could end my tournament. He called with pocket queens. Could I be lucky again and get me a 3rd jack? Well no, he did win and I was out. Too bad, just missed the top 3 once again, but I had a great tournament, especially at the final table. I was one of the 2 players that risked getting into action, most of the others just called on the blinds.

With my 4th place I can add another $7 to my account, giving me enough money to really start playing on the real money tables now.

I’m going to dive into some bankroll management tips from pro poker players the next few days to set me some boundaries so I won’t go busted. After I have worked this out I can really start my challenge.

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