My First MTT Win

You know, these 180 SNGs on PokerStars are working out quite well for me.  This year I’ve played two and cashed in two.  I’ve also made two final tables.  And finished in the top two spots both times.  Last time I came in second.  This time I emerged victorious for my biggest tourney win ever.  I can now cross the “win a tournament with more that 100 players” item off of my to-do list for the year.   To be honest I don’t feel like I played nearly as well as I could have in this one, but as they say its better to be lucky than good. Its tough to complain when you end up winning.  




Some hands of note…

Late in the first hour I had wired kings twice in three hands.  The first time there were four or five limpers followed by a large raise before I got to act.  I went all in to get rid of the limpers and was called by the raiser with AQ.  My kings held up and I was looking good.  Especially when I looked down and saw another pair of kings two hands later.  This time I was the initial raiser, with a call and then an all-in behind me.  I reraised all-in to isolate the small stack, but got called anyway.  The small stack had AK, the other guy AQ.  A queen came on the flop and an ace on the river, delivering me a nice sound kick in the balls.  I wouldn’t have been so bad if I wasn’t already been counting my chips and planning on running over the table with my newly acquired monster stack.  Let’s just say I was a bit tilty after that.  I tried not to get into any more pots for the remainder of the round as the break was coming up and I needed to calm down a bit.

The second hour I played like crap.  And I was no longer tilting, so that’s not a good excuse.  In fact, I doubled up shortly after the break when another short stack called my AK all in with garbage.  I think I managed to climb up into the top 10 chip stacks for a little bit after that.  Then I began what would become a theme for this hour.  Going all-in or calling all-ins with the worst hand.  I flopped a pair of kings with KT out of the small blind, and when I couldn’t get the other guy to fold I went all in. Of coarse he didn’t fold because he had AK.  I kept doing things like that and then kicking myself for not being able to properly read the situation at least some of the time.  Fortunately it seemed that whenever I found myself in these situations with fewer chips than my opponent, I would suck out and double up.  

The theme for the third hour was the bubble, as I was constantly on it.  I would go from a comfortable chip stack, to just about last in chips, and then I would double or triple up.  The top 18 pay, and when we were down to 25, that was my only concern.  I had just enough chips that I might be able to fold into the money.   I tried to ruin it with 20 left when I was forced to go all-in, but my cards somehow held up and I was back in a comfortable spot again, coasting into the money.  

Once we made it to the final two tables it became an all-in fest and soon we were approaching the final table bubble.  My new goal was to make it there, since that is where the prize money really starts jumping.  Again I was the short stack heading in, but another well timed double up saved me.  

At the final table I was the short stack by far, but I had enough chips where I could just sit back and pick my spots while the others knocked each other out.  And that is what they did.  With four remaining we were pretty even until I took out the player to my left when my AKs beat his AJs.  We played three handed for a while with two of us gradually climbing away from the third guy.  I ultimately knocked him out when he made top pair/top kicker on the flop with AT.  Unfortunately for him I had AA and we were heads up.  

The heads up match was not as exciting as I expected.  I think I was content to finish in second since I didn’t really expect to even make the money so I wasn’t too concerned.  We went back and forth for a bit, with neither one of us gaining a significant advantage.  Then came this hand:




I’m surprised that he didn’t back off and give me credit for at least and ace high flush since we went back and forth raising on the river.  Although if a spade other than the three or eight came on the river I probably would have gone broke.   He must have been really confused when he saw the chips moving my way. I know I would have been.  Who expects a straight flush to come out of that garbage?  He started to make a comeback after that but didn’t have nearly enough chips.  Ultimately I put him all in with A6 against his JQ and my hand stood up.  

So yeah.  In summary….  I rock.