WPBT Gemini

WPBT Gemini.

The WPBT POY Gemini event was tonight.  The format was rather unique.  It was a multi-table tournament.  Rather than the usual $20 tournament, each player entered two $10 tournaments with points going to the players with the highest average finish.  I thought it was good idea, and 42 other players liked it enough to give it a try.

One unfortunate thing about the event is that everyone was at the same table in both tourneys.  I thought they would have randomized it more, but I guess not.

I wish I had better results to report, but alas, tonight was not my not.  On one table I got off to great start, winning a big pot with aces, and a few other little pots here and there.  On the other table I never really had anything.

In both cases, after the first level or two, it was basically an exercise in me folding, as I didn’t get very many playable hands, and the hands that were somewhat playable always saw large raises before my turn to act.

My downfall in the first tournament came pretty rapidly.   I had a nice healthy stack, and called a short stack’s pre-flop all in with my AQ.  He had moved in a number of times already, and I thought he could be pushing with any ace.  Maybe he was, he just happened to have an ace with a king this time.   That left me with plenty of chips to work with, but put me in the bottom third of players remaining.

A few hands later I won the blinds with a AQ and a pre-flop raise.  The very next hand I was dealt kings, and raised again.  I figured I would get action this time since people are more likely to put you on a steal when you raise pre-flop two hands in a row.  Sure enough, S.T.B. came over the top of me from the small blind, and I pushed all in.  He had AJs.  Everything was working just as I had planned, right up until the turn brought him an ace.  

Kings have definitely not been holding up for me lately.  It seems like every time I get them, there is an ace on the board.  And the one time there wasn’t, the other four cards for the bicycle straight showed up.  

Anyways, enough bitching, shortly after I busted I watched someone else’s kings get cracked, this time by pocket tens when a third ten came on the turn.  So it’s not just me.  

On the second table, as I said, I never really got going.  Ultimately I was forced into all-in or nothing mode, and finally got called by SirFWalgman, his A7 vs my A6.  The flop, 33J,  gave me hope since any card over a seven would give us a split pot.  It was close as a seven hit, giving him the better two pair and knocking me out.  

So I finished 24th and 30th out of 43 in the two events.  Not so good.  I’m starting to think that I’m not going to be POY award winner this time.