$1000+25 satellite notes
Super-satellite notes
When I play I make a quick note of hands that are significant or interesting. I am a couple of days away from the notes so I may not now remember every detail.
There were 440 entrants at $1025 each. 42 players get a seat ($10K) and the 43rd player gets $6800. There is lots of play in the tournament. Starting stacks are $2500 and levels are ½ hour long.
$1.1 million in play. With ten percent of the field remaining the average stack will be just over $26,000 so that is the goal. If you can get and maintain a stack of that size you will win a $10K seat.
Level 1 25-50 My stack $2500
Levels are ½ hour. I have one problem right away. Someone beside me has BAD breath. I mean BAD. It takes me a little while to figure out what the problem is because the stench is not there all the time. In fact, I stand up several times to give myself various sniff tests worrying that it’s me.
The very first hand of the tournament I have Q-Q under the gun. I raise to $150. I am re-raised to $800. I, of course, know NOTHING about my opponent. I decide that Q-Q is too good to lay down against an unknown foe. Also, his raise looks to me like a raise that wants to win it now – not a bet looking for some action. I call. Flop is T-7-2 and I bet out $800. He folds. Woohoo. One hand in and I have added $875 to my stack.
Level 2 50-100 My stack $4025
I get is all in with A-A against 6-6 and win.
Level 3 75-150 My stack $7700
I don’t think I played a single hand this level. The whole table gets into a funny mood when a really , annoying, won’t stop talking, berates the other players, very attractive young woman is moved to our table. She carries on an almost continous dialogue with another player who paints himself to be a top player (I am VERY doubtful). The two of them yammering was REALLY annoying.
Level 4 100-200 My stack $7300
Annoying woman limps in. I raise on the button with K-9o. Flop comes three small. I check. She bets turn I fold. Not an interesting hand really. I would have tried to take if from her on the flop if an ace had hit since I figured her for a small to medium pair but I could not feel certain that she would fold without the ace being there.
Level 5 150-300 My stack 6225
Early O-Tuna limper (see my book). I raise to 800 on the button with T-8s. Limper calls. Flop 3-9-J two suited (not my suit). Limper bets $500 at me. There is $2000 in the pot. Easy call. Turn is 4 (no flush). Limper bets $1200. So, I have to call $1200 into a $3600 pot. I am not getting the odds to call but he has about $4000 in his stack and I felt confident that I would get it all if I hit me hand. I call. River card the dream 7. He checks. I tap. He goes into the tank and does, eventually, call.
Level 6 50 ante 200-400 My stack 14,800
Early raiser. Annoying woman re-raises. I am in the big blind with A-K. Her raise to about $5000. I re-re-raise. Initial raiser folds so it is heads up. She has J-J. King on the turn sends her to the rail. She berates me all the way out of the cardroom. Once she is gone, three people shake my hand and thank me.
Early position player limps. I raise with T-T. Limper calls. Flop is K-5-4. HE checks, I bet. He goes into the tank. Whenever a player goes deep into the tank I always make a point of watching to ensure that I feel it is legitimate. In this case, I thought it was. So, I ask myself, what does he have? He is thinking about something? I concluded that he was thinking about whether or not I was bluffing. He must have a pocket pair. Any of 9-9, 8-8, 7-7, 6-6, 3-3, or 2-2 was possible. I rule out 9-9 or 8-8 since both of those pair he would have raised pre-flop. So I announce to him “You better fold your sevens.†He then folds 7-7 face up in the middle of the table. Kewl. I show him the tents to make him feel good about his fold.
Level 7 50 ante 300-600 My stack $23,600
I have enough chips to win a seat. There are still, however, a fair number of players left and I doubt that I will be able to simply coast the remainder of the way. I am going to attempt to get my stack up to $30,000 and then I will put on the brakes.
I limp in with A-A one off the button. Both blinds call and the flop is 4-5-Q. Checked to me. I decide to check, still hoping to win some chips with my aces. Turn is J (now two hearts on board). Small blind bets 800. I raise to 2500. He called. River is K. He checks, I check. He shows Q-9 for s straight that he didn’t know he had. He called with a flush draw. Good thing I didn’t bet.
I played this hand VERY badly. At some point you REALLY want to avoid high variance plays. I should have simply been happy with the money in the pot on the flop. This was, I think, a very poor decision on my part. It didn’t hurt me too badly but it was a mistake nonetheless.
Level 8 75 ante 300-600 My stack 21,000
This is where my first table busted and I was moved to a new table. I have only been there for a couple of hands when the following hand comes up:
There is an early position limper. I put in a late position raise with T-T to $2000. The small blinds re-raise to $6,000. The limper calls all-in. I called. BAD BAD play. I knew nothing about either of these players. I had no business losing $4000 with the call in a dead pot. Flop is A-8-2. Small blind moves in. I fold. He shows A-Ts??? Bad hand. He wins, but it was educational. He is not a good player. I make a not of this and I will look forward to a chance at playing a hand with him.
Level 9 100 ante 400-800 My stack $15,800
The table has tightned up A LOT. There are about 90 players left so the prizes are within site. There is 2200 in the middle so I decide that I am going to REALLY lean on the table and see if I can’t chip up. The most interesting hand of the tournament, in my mind, comes up.
I have stolen two hands in a row. In middle position I raise with K-To to 2000. The button taps all-in. I have to call 3000 into a pot of 9000. The thing that caused me to call is that the button had been eyeing me over pretty hard for the preceeding two steals on my part. I felt that a little bit of “I am sick of that guy raising†was at work. I didn’t think I had the best hand but I thought that the range of hands we could be holding was pretty large. Certainly large enough that my K-T wasn’t a 3-1 dog. Also, if I called a lost I would still have $12,000 which was average stack. I called. To my relief he showed 4-4. To my dissatisfaction he won the hand.
Level 10 200 ante 600-1200 My stack 12,000 (exactly average)
Level 11 300 ante 800-1600 My stack 18,500
I raise in middle position with J-J. It is re-raised all-in to 14,000 by the big blind. Hmmm… This hand is also very open to debate I think. I seriously considered folding. On the other hand, this big blind has actually been trash talking me about often I raise si she was very aware of the fact that I am frequently out of line. I call. She shows A-K. I win. Whew.
Level 12 400 ante 800-1600 My stack 38,000 (average is 20,000)
Barring disaster I should be able to coast into a seat. UTG player opens for 13,000. I have A-A on the button. Should I fold? I can’t remember how many players we were away from the money. We were probably within ten and I felt that I could probably get there without playing any more hands. On the other hand, winning with this A-A would guarantee me the $10K seat. The consequences of the loss were not all that severe. I called. He turned over A-J and beat me with a backdoor flush. Dang.
Level 13 ante 500 1500-3000 My stack 28,500
Level 14 ante 500 2000-4000 My stack 53,000
We all get seats (woohoo).
Most interesting moment is a VERY short stacked player who has ONLY enough for the ante. It is folded to the small blind who folds? I am the big blind. The short stacked player wins the pot. Had the small blind called (which he should have) then the $500 man would have been eliminated. The VERY next hand the other table loses one and we are in the money – guaranteed $6800. The VERY next hand we lose another and mister $500 wins $10,000. Kewl.
When I play I make a quick note of hands that are significant or interesting. I am a couple of days away from the notes so I may not now remember every detail.
There were 440 entrants at $1025 each. 42 players get a seat ($10K) and the 43rd player gets $6800. There is lots of play in the tournament. Starting stacks are $2500 and levels are ½ hour long.
$1.1 million in play. With ten percent of the field remaining the average stack will be just over $26,000 so that is the goal. If you can get and maintain a stack of that size you will win a $10K seat.
Level 1 25-50 My stack $2500
Levels are ½ hour. I have one problem right away. Someone beside me has BAD breath. I mean BAD. It takes me a little while to figure out what the problem is because the stench is not there all the time. In fact, I stand up several times to give myself various sniff tests worrying that it’s me.
The very first hand of the tournament I have Q-Q under the gun. I raise to $150. I am re-raised to $800. I, of course, know NOTHING about my opponent. I decide that Q-Q is too good to lay down against an unknown foe. Also, his raise looks to me like a raise that wants to win it now – not a bet looking for some action. I call. Flop is T-7-2 and I bet out $800. He folds. Woohoo. One hand in and I have added $875 to my stack.
Level 2 50-100 My stack $4025
I get is all in with A-A against 6-6 and win.
Level 3 75-150 My stack $7700
I don’t think I played a single hand this level. The whole table gets into a funny mood when a really , annoying, won’t stop talking, berates the other players, very attractive young woman is moved to our table. She carries on an almost continous dialogue with another player who paints himself to be a top player (I am VERY doubtful). The two of them yammering was REALLY annoying.
Level 4 100-200 My stack $7300
Annoying woman limps in. I raise on the button with K-9o. Flop comes three small. I check. She bets turn I fold. Not an interesting hand really. I would have tried to take if from her on the flop if an ace had hit since I figured her for a small to medium pair but I could not feel certain that she would fold without the ace being there.
Level 5 150-300 My stack 6225
Early O-Tuna limper (see my book). I raise to 800 on the button with T-8s. Limper calls. Flop 3-9-J two suited (not my suit). Limper bets $500 at me. There is $2000 in the pot. Easy call. Turn is 4 (no flush). Limper bets $1200. So, I have to call $1200 into a $3600 pot. I am not getting the odds to call but he has about $4000 in his stack and I felt confident that I would get it all if I hit me hand. I call. River card the dream 7. He checks. I tap. He goes into the tank and does, eventually, call.
Level 6 50 ante 200-400 My stack 14,800
Early raiser. Annoying woman re-raises. I am in the big blind with A-K. Her raise to about $5000. I re-re-raise. Initial raiser folds so it is heads up. She has J-J. King on the turn sends her to the rail. She berates me all the way out of the cardroom. Once she is gone, three people shake my hand and thank me.
Early position player limps. I raise with T-T. Limper calls. Flop is K-5-4. HE checks, I bet. He goes into the tank. Whenever a player goes deep into the tank I always make a point of watching to ensure that I feel it is legitimate. In this case, I thought it was. So, I ask myself, what does he have? He is thinking about something? I concluded that he was thinking about whether or not I was bluffing. He must have a pocket pair. Any of 9-9, 8-8, 7-7, 6-6, 3-3, or 2-2 was possible. I rule out 9-9 or 8-8 since both of those pair he would have raised pre-flop. So I announce to him “You better fold your sevens.†He then folds 7-7 face up in the middle of the table. Kewl. I show him the tents to make him feel good about his fold.
Level 7 50 ante 300-600 My stack $23,600
I have enough chips to win a seat. There are still, however, a fair number of players left and I doubt that I will be able to simply coast the remainder of the way. I am going to attempt to get my stack up to $30,000 and then I will put on the brakes.
I limp in with A-A one off the button. Both blinds call and the flop is 4-5-Q. Checked to me. I decide to check, still hoping to win some chips with my aces. Turn is J (now two hearts on board). Small blind bets 800. I raise to 2500. He called. River is K. He checks, I check. He shows Q-9 for s straight that he didn’t know he had. He called with a flush draw. Good thing I didn’t bet.
I played this hand VERY badly. At some point you REALLY want to avoid high variance plays. I should have simply been happy with the money in the pot on the flop. This was, I think, a very poor decision on my part. It didn’t hurt me too badly but it was a mistake nonetheless.
Level 8 75 ante 300-600 My stack 21,000
This is where my first table busted and I was moved to a new table. I have only been there for a couple of hands when the following hand comes up:
There is an early position limper. I put in a late position raise with T-T to $2000. The small blinds re-raise to $6,000. The limper calls all-in. I called. BAD BAD play. I knew nothing about either of these players. I had no business losing $4000 with the call in a dead pot. Flop is A-8-2. Small blind moves in. I fold. He shows A-Ts??? Bad hand. He wins, but it was educational. He is not a good player. I make a not of this and I will look forward to a chance at playing a hand with him.
Level 9 100 ante 400-800 My stack $15,800
The table has tightned up A LOT. There are about 90 players left so the prizes are within site. There is 2200 in the middle so I decide that I am going to REALLY lean on the table and see if I can’t chip up. The most interesting hand of the tournament, in my mind, comes up.
I have stolen two hands in a row. In middle position I raise with K-To to 2000. The button taps all-in. I have to call 3000 into a pot of 9000. The thing that caused me to call is that the button had been eyeing me over pretty hard for the preceeding two steals on my part. I felt that a little bit of “I am sick of that guy raising†was at work. I didn’t think I had the best hand but I thought that the range of hands we could be holding was pretty large. Certainly large enough that my K-T wasn’t a 3-1 dog. Also, if I called a lost I would still have $12,000 which was average stack. I called. To my relief he showed 4-4. To my dissatisfaction he won the hand.
Level 10 200 ante 600-1200 My stack 12,000 (exactly average)
Level 11 300 ante 800-1600 My stack 18,500
I raise in middle position with J-J. It is re-raised all-in to 14,000 by the big blind. Hmmm… This hand is also very open to debate I think. I seriously considered folding. On the other hand, this big blind has actually been trash talking me about often I raise si she was very aware of the fact that I am frequently out of line. I call. She shows A-K. I win. Whew.
Level 12 400 ante 800-1600 My stack 38,000 (average is 20,000)
Barring disaster I should be able to coast into a seat. UTG player opens for 13,000. I have A-A on the button. Should I fold? I can’t remember how many players we were away from the money. We were probably within ten and I felt that I could probably get there without playing any more hands. On the other hand, winning with this A-A would guarantee me the $10K seat. The consequences of the loss were not all that severe. I called. He turned over A-J and beat me with a backdoor flush. Dang.
Level 13 ante 500 1500-3000 My stack 28,500
Level 14 ante 500 2000-4000 My stack 53,000
We all get seats (woohoo).
Most interesting moment is a VERY short stacked player who has ONLY enough for the ante. It is folded to the small blind who folds? I am the big blind. The short stacked player wins the pot. Had the small blind called (which he should have) then the $500 man would have been eliminated. The VERY next hand the other table loses one and we are in the money – guaranteed $6800. The VERY next hand we lose another and mister $500 wins $10,000. Kewl.
Comments
Sounds like you're playing at the top of your game. Keep it up!! 8)