“I’ve been real all my life, they confuse it with conceit. Since I will not lose they try to help him cheat. But I will not lose, for even in defeat there’s a valuable lesson learned so it evens it up for me.” Jay-Z – Blueprint 2

Today Was the $560 Deepstacked NL Event at the Borgata. You started with 30k in chips and 45 minute levels. The levels went 25-50, 50-100, and so on. I felt pretty good going into today. I really like deepstacked tournaments. They have a lot more room for play and it allows you to make more mistakes and you also have higher reward. When I got to my table I noticed some players. Online player “JOEYTHEB” was to my immediate left, Mike Sica, and Jacobo Fernandez.

I played a couple small pots here and there feeling out the table. I raised J8ss UTG to 300 and the big blind called. This is in the second level of play. The flop came 862r and I bet 400. She called. The turn came another 8. She checked, I bet 600, she made it 2k. At this point I thought she had a 6 and was feeling me out. She wasn’t that experienced of a player. I decided to call. The river was a 4. She checked to me again. I didn’t think she had anything at this point and decided to value bet 1200. She immediately raised to 3500. I thought about it for a minute. Her line made absolutely no sense and I figured she was full of it. I called and she mucked her hand claiming AK. -Shrug-

The next interesting hand came when UTG limps for 100, sica limps and the cutoff makes it 325. I called in the small blind with 66. UTG mucked, Sica called. The flop came A64r and I checked. Sica bet 575 and the raiser called. I made it 2300 and Sica mucked and the other guy called. The turn came a T, rainbow board. I bet 4k. The guy said “CALL” really distinctively. He was really vocal when he said it. I don’t think he believed me what so ever at this point. The river was an 8 and I thought for sure he was going to call the river. I bet 11.5k and he ended up thinking and folding. I wish I would have bet 9k or something. I think I might have played this hand too fast on the flop or bet too much on the river. It’s a really dry board on the flop but I wanted to get some more money in the pot there, especially out of position and vs. two players.

I get a little more aggressive and have some chips now. Jacobo raises the lady to my right calls and I call with 77. The flop comes K73ss and Jacobo makes it 700. I make it 2250 and Jacobo calls. The turn comes the Td putting two flush draws up. He checks and I bet the same amount I did on the turn in the hand before, 4k. He makes it 11k with 18k. I thought for sure he had AKss or KT here or maybe 33. I definitely thought he had to go with his hand at this point for raising the turn. I decided to move in and he tanked for a couple minutes and folding AK face up. I had 56.5k at the first break.

Sica makes it 400 at 75/150 on the hijack. I reraised in the small blind with AKo to 1475. He called. The flop came T89r. I checked and he checked. The turn came Jd putting two diamonds and a one card straight. I figured this was a good card to bluff at because he basically needs the Q here to continue. He could have JJ also but I think he either raises the turn or folds. I bet 2200 and he made it 7k more. I ended up mucking I think he had QQ here.

I raised to 400 with AKhh and JOEYTHEB makes it 1200. I decided to just call here out of position and keep the pot small. He hadn’t done anything crazy and I didn’t think he was 3 betting me light. The flop came 962hh. I flopped a flush draw. I checked and he bet 1400, I called. The turn came the Jc, putting two clubs on board. I checked and he bet 3100. At this point I figured he had AA or JJ. He played a hand earlier where he only tried to get two streets of value on someone with a big hand and played it cautiously. I think he might think I could smooth call his raise preflop with monster hands like AA or KK so if he had KK after this action I think he might check the turn for pot control. When he bet I figured it was AA or JJ because he wasn’t worried it seemed. I decided I could call 3100 and get paid of 7 or 8k on the river if I hit. I decided to call. The river bricked and we both checked and he had AA and won the pot. I am now down to 46k.

The guy I beat out of the pot earlier with a set of sixes raised to 500 preflop at 100/200. I called on the hijack with A5ss and the big blind called. The flop came QT4ss and he bet 1500. It was about a pot sized bet. I called. Heads up to the turn. I turned the nuts with the 8s and he checked. I bet 2400 and he made it 7400. I decided to just call here with the nuts and maybe let him bluff/fire at the river and hope the river didn’t pair the board. This guy wasn’t out of line at all so I think he just has a set here or a smaller flush and KK AA and small shot of AQ. The river bricks 6c and I still have the nuts. He checks pretty quickly, I bet 13k and he snap calls. I win the pot and am now up to 69k. He told me he didn’t have a set but he had a huge hand which probably means KK.

Jacobo opens to 900 at 150/300 25a after winning a big pot. The cutoff calls with only 7k behind. I have AQo in the big blind and decide to put in a raise. I make it 3400 and Jacobo makes it 9600. I mucked. Down to 65k. This hand was good because I think Jacobo might have just had enough of me. He plays pretty aggressive, continuation betting every flop he raises etc. I think he was tired of me too but I wish I would have just called preflop like I normally do. It’s alright though, I was mixing it up.

The girl to my right just lost a ton of chips all in preflop QQ vs. KK. She has like 7k left at 200/400 on the cutoff and moves in. I have AA on the button and call. She wins the pot J85QK.

I am now down to about 42k. The girl limps for 800 I limp with Q9hh. Two others limp and small blind and big blind are in as well. The flop comes AQ5r we all check the flop, turn is the 7 we all check again, river is another Q. The girl bets 2500. I decided to just call but I think vs. her I am supposed to raise here because she was in this spot a couple times in the tournament and made bad value bets on boards like these. I am up to 50k.

I raised JTo in third position before the break. This new guy at the table who is getting a massage, a younger kid, calls in the big blind. I made it 2100 preflop. He had about 20k to start the hand. The flop comes AJ5r and we both check. The turn comes the Ac putting two clubs up. He bets 3500 and I call. The river comes the Ts which I really hated and he moved all in for 14k. He gave a speech about how he could only win the hand if he moved in on the river and then moved in. Now he gave off a tell in the process of this action on the river and everything. I don’t want to give off the tell but it’s a tell that I discovered from myself doing it. So basically a tell that I had/have when I am bluffing he did it. I engaged in a little more conversation with him. I asked him what happens if I call and bust him and the massage girl has to leave what happens with your massage? He said I am hurting him and her and some other comment lol. It was a good comment actually, but in the end I thought he had QK or straight nada. I decided to call and he mucked his hand and I was up to 69k again.

I picked up a couple small pots and was now up to 73k. I raised A4ss on the button to 2600 at 500/1k. JOEYTHEB moved all in in the small blind for 16k. I wanted to muck but convinced myself he shoves QK here, which I know he does. But still I think I should have mucked. I’m never ahead only of QK even though I know A4 plays good on the button he had been relatively tight throughout the day, especially short stacked. He had 77 and the flop came 745ss. Action! The turn was a 6 so it brought chop outs and he rivered quads. I go down to about 57k now. This hand I should of went with my instincts and folded instead of calling off 13k more. Oh well it was a small mistake.

A new player who hadn’t opened any pots yet who seemed pretty tight raised it to 4k at 600/1200 on the cutoff. I have QQ on the button and decide what to do. He had about 60k, the same as me. I decided the best play here would be to just call and see what happens post flop. I didn’t want to get blown off my hand preflop and wasn’t sure about the player. The flop came T74r and he checked. I bet 6800 and he mucked. I am up to 63k now but when we go on dinner break I blind down to 53k.

I ate some dinner, did some pushups and stretched and got some fresh air. I got back to the poker room ready and refreshed to take some big pots down.

We are now in level 800/1600 200a I believe. The girl to my right had really bad tells with her raises and body language. She was making larger raises with good hands. She made it 3600 one hand. I looked down at 45ss and decided to three bet. I made it 9800. The button, who was a relatively new player to the table flat called. In a live tournament against normal live (non online players) this flat here is either JJ or AK almost 90% of the time. I guess QQ is also considered here but KK or AA they will get it in and don’t know how to trap for the most part. I was banking on him having AK and the flop bricking and maybe me taking it down. The flop came 998s and I bet 14.8k He called. I immediately knew he had JJ or QQ. The turn came 7 and I picked up 4 outs. I checked and he was motioning with his hand on the table knocking it on the table with his fingertips and it was taken as a check. He said he meant to bet. The river came Q and I checked. I decided to just give up on the pot. I had about 32k behind and didn’t think he would fold the turn or the river regardless. He shoved with JJ and I folded.

A couple hands later the girl makes it 5k on the button. She had been really active in late position as of late. I looked down at KJss in the small blind and shoved 28k more. She tanked and called with 99. The board ran out J24A2 and I scooped the pot. The next hand she made it 6k preflop at 1k/2k I believe on the cutoff. I shoved in ATcc on the button and she mucked again. I am now up to 80k.

A tight internet kid who was moved to the table who was playing really solid raised the cutoff to 5600 and I reraised in the small blind with AJo to 16.8k he mucked and I was up to 86k. This was the first time I had played back at him. He played well. He was tight but had a lot of big hands while at the table. He showed 6 big hands during play.

One interesting spot is when the girl limped in the small blind once it folded to us and I checked my option with Js5h. The flop comes AQJhh and she open shoved for about 50k. She did this earlier in the day with a flush draw and got called. I figured she had baby hearts. I didn’t really tank it but I guess maybe I should have. I am a 65% favorite here. I wish I would of thought about it more because I really 100000000% know she has a flush draw here. She could have Kxhh but I couldn’t see her playing a combo draw like that. Just a pure flush draw. Oh well. It was a ton of chips to call when I only had 2k committed but I think it might be a spot I need to think about again, just because I am pretty positive of her hand like that. I even told her I go I know you have small hearts here. She’s like yeah how did you know! And shoes the 74hh.

Couple hands later girl makes it 9k on the hijack. I shove 64k more with QKo. She shows 66 and mucks I am up to 93k.

Here is probably where the hand that cost me the tournament happens. There was this guy in the 10 seat. He plays a lot of small cash and satellites he said. He made a lot of crazy plays while he was at the table. One time he open shoved like 60bbs+ into a 2.5x raise I made. He also open shoved 88 at 1k/2k for like 100k into 4 stacks of 30k, 40k, 30k, and 80k. He wasn’t very experienced in tournament play and he made a lot of mistakes. One hand at 1k/2k I raised the hijack with QKo to 5200. He instashoved from the small blind for 60k and the big blind had 10k and called with A4. I wanted to call here sooooo bad. I told the guy I thought he had cheese and that was it. At best I thought this guy had 44 but I really thought he had absolutely nothing. I only had like 75k so I couldn’t make the call although my instincts were SCREAMING AT ME TO CALL! I mucked and the guy turned up QTo. Good shove. The big blind tripled up with A4. Another hand that this guy played extremely bad was when JOEYTHEB made it 8.5k preflop at 1.5k/3k. The guy reraised to 25k and it came back to Joey and he moved in for 30k more. There is about 100k in the pot and the guy has to call 30k to win 100k. He has about 35-45k behind. He tanked it for 3 minutes and folded. It was crazy. He was getting 3-1 on his money, turned his hand into a bluff, and folded. I couldn’t believe any aspect of the hand.

I have about 80k now and the blinds are 2k/4k. JOEYTHEB is on the button and I am on the cutoff. There is a dead small blind since he just busted and the player above is in the big blind. It folds to me I have Ad4s. I raise it to 12k (more than I normally would to tell the big blind, look buddy I am NEVER FOLDING HERE!@!!!) He moves in for 33k total and I snap call. He turns over Q9o. The flop comes JT3dd I have the ace of diamonds. The turn is the Kd giving him the straight, and I bricked the river. He won the 70k pot and I went down to 48k.

I folded a couple hands and there were only 10 minutes left in the night. I wasn’t stressing it though. If I had to go back to day 2 with 30k so be it. The blinds would be 3/6k on day 2 and I would be extremely shortstacked. I was still looking to shove in since people wouldn’t want to bust so late in the night or lose big pots. I would pick up 10k every pot I picked up without a call. I folded a couple hands where I could have shoved. I ended up shoving 78o for 38k on the hijack into the two tightest guys at the table’s blinds. The small blind had about 33k and he called with 77. Damn. I was surprised to see 77 here because he snap called me and I thought he was way tighter than that. I could see him maybe folding 77 there but oh well. I didn’t hit a T or 8 when the board ran out and I was down to 4.3k. Brutal. There was 10 minutes left in the night and I put my last 4k in with the 400 ante and lost to JJ. The guy who won with the q9 against me busted a couple hands after he doubled when he defended his bb with 67o vs. the tight internet kid who had QQ on a 688 board. Sucks. That 70k would have been much better in my hands.

I don’t think I could have done anything differently. I set everything up early and just didn’t get the hands when I needed. I had Aces once early in the day, Kings once in the middle of the day, and AK only twice. I really didn’t pick up any hands in the end either. It kind of seems like I say this in all my blogs. I wonder if it’s me or if it’s just me running below expectation? I mean I am going 40-50 hands without seeing a premium hand. Maybe I will log all my hands and see if I’m crazy or what. In 10 hours of play I probably see 300-400 hands and I should be getting more hands than I did. If I could have picked up some more hands I could have trapped some of the looser players, etc.

I don’t know what else I can do in these tournaments. Honestly, it’s rough. Playing for so long and getting nothing both times. At least I am able to play the 2k now on Thursday. I would have had to miss it if I made day 2 of this tournament. I would rather still be in this tournament though. I spent 13 hours today grinding this tournament and I hate losing. I wouldn’t have cared to miss the 2k one bit. Oh well, maybe the 2k is meant for me. I’m going to stay positive. There are a couple more tournaments to play and those are where the big money is. I am meant to win the big money not the small money!!!

Also I wanted to give a shoutout to Johnnie Walker who is currently blogging for the Borgata. He said some nice things to me about an article I wrote for pocketfives and I really apprecited the positive comments. Thanks again Johnnie.