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The Art Of The Possible
By Jeff Israel
18 January 2007
I was obviously disappointed but pretty soon I realised what a decent performance I had put in to go so deep in both tournaments
Poker Verdict blogger Jeffrey Israel had a winning night in a couple of big MTTs last Sunday. Read all about it...
Sunday night is, of course, the big night for online MTTs. Being spoilt for choice I decided to plump for two last Sunday - the $50k Guaranteed on Pacific Poker ($65 $5), which attracted 700 entrants, and the £50,000 on William Hill (£110 £10) where 400 players signed up.Although I am not generally a big fan of playing more than one table at a time (you have to be a very good player for this to be profitable over the long term and because so many of your opponents are playing more than one table it gives you a massive edge to be able to completely focus on the one) I assumed that with big fields I was bound to get knocked out early in one so I would effectively be doubling my chances of going deep in either.
Anyway, things got off to an auspicious start on WH when I was dealt Q-Q on the first hand which added about 25% to my starting stack and I cruised serenely through the first couple of hours building up to about 6,000 from 2,500 just by playing small pots pretty solidly. I suffered a reverse soon after that left me with about 3,500 when I made a move at a pot that had a number of limpers with J-10s. Sadly I had been trapped by the only person I was worried about who was UTG, but because he had been playing quite wildly I wrongly assumed he was unlikely to have the goods. Sure enough he turned over A-A and all my chips were suddenly in the pot. Miracles do happen though and I fluked a straight on the river and I suddenly had slightly above average chips with 150 runners left.
As for Pacific Poker things were also going quite well as I managed to turn the 2,000 staring stack into 5,000 without too many alarms, and with about 200 left was slightly under the average.
Then, suddenly, the deck hit me in the face on WH and at the same time my timing seemed to be spot on. Every time I bluffed people would fold and every time I had the goods I got action. In addition, I managed to fold 8-8, A-K, and J-J pre-flop correctly on all occasions and I knew that I was playing well and was firmly in the zone. I had A-A twice in quick succession and got paid both times very closely followed by a double-up on Pacific with A-A.
A dream flop of A-Q-6 for my Q-Q versus an opponent’s A-K made me a real force on WH putting me in 4th position with about 50 left. Things didn’t end there as a combination of strong moves and big hands – including another Q-Q v A-K that stood up, a flopped set of sevens, and a number of pre-flop re-raises – saw me hit the 80,000 mark when second place had 50,000 with 30 left.
Over on Pacific the much faster structure forced a very different game. Although both tournaments started at the same time and Pacific had nearly double the entrants given the smaller starting stack and quicker structure they both finished at around the same time. Playing two tournaments simultaneously that have such a different structure is a very good way of seeing how different styles have to be applied depending on the situation.
Having climbed to the 10k mark on Pacific with blinds at the 500-1,000 mark I pushed pre-flop with K-Q to be called in two spots by K-9(?) and A-Q. A flopped K propelled me to a comfortable 34,000 with 45 players left. The very next hand I again pushed with J-J after a monster stack had opened for 10k and I was now close to 50k after he folded. Playing quite aggressively and re-raising pre-flop bettors when I thought they were out of line saw me climb to over 100k with 18 left.
Having such a big chip lead on WH saw me tread water for a while and maintain my stack at around 80k whilst others drew closer. Down to 18 on WH I was still chip leader whilst being in 3rd place over on Pacific and the impossible seemed to be realistic for the first time. Stepping up a gear on WH saw me reach the final table with 180k (the average being 90k) with two players having slightly more than me. I had been hovering around 130k with 10 left before my Q-Q dispatched the 10th place finisher’s AT and shipped another 50k to me.
Meanwhile over on Pacific the blinds had gone crazy being 5,000-10,000 with about 15 left. The average stack was about 90k so it really was not anything other than a crapshoot at this point. Having got as high as 135k at one point with 12 players left I got trapped by the SB in a BB v SB confrontation. Having raised with A-T pre-flop after he limped with J-9 he checked the 4-4-J flop and I pushed as I had him covered and there was 50k out there. Once he called and I failed to improve I was left with 36k. I pushed twice in a row and now had 60k. Still only six BBs, I pushed again with 10-8s only to be called by the BB’s pocket 2s. The 140k pot would have put me back in business and the 10 on the river would have had me jumping for joy were in not for the 2 on the flop and turn to give my opponent quads! Eliminated in 11th I won $450 which was a little short of the $11,000 first prize.
Still, with no time to dwell on my disappointment there was the small matter of £10,500 (or $20,000 if you prefer) up for grabs on WH. With a much more sedate structure (blinds were only 2k-4k with a running ante by the time the final table began and the average stack was 90k so there was plenty of play).
Having the other two big stacks in two of the three positions to my immediate left I made a conscious decision to play quite tight and not do anything rash. On the first hand I made it 16k with A-Js only for the SB to come over the top for 90k total forcing me to muck. Two hands later I had K-K v K-K and no miracle four-flush left me around the 160k mark. (Amazingly, twice on WH and once on Pacific I had KK all-in pre-flop and on each occasion my opponent also had K-K).
I was unable to break the 200k barrier and a combination of my tight play and lack of any real opportunities to steal saw me still on 160k when we were five-handed after some of the smaller stacks were eliminated. Suddenly I was one of the short stacks myself with the blinds now at 4,000-8,000 and a 500 ante. Having made one powerful move when I check-raised my pocket 8s on an Ace-high flop to force the chip leader to muck I continued to tread water.
Finding K-J in the BB against the SB who had been by far the most aggressive player on the table I raised following his limp. I kept pushing on every street and to his credit the BB made a brave call of 30k on the river with just A-K that was good enough to take the 150k chip pot.
Now I genuinely was the short stack with just 80k. I pushed with A-10 and everyone folded and after a round of antes and blinds I pushed again for 80k in the cut-off with A-9.
With my heart pumping the SB called and revealed A-J. The poker gods were in a playful mood as the first card off was a 9 to send my hopes soaring but the third card was a J. An ace turned so at this point I knew all of the chips would have gone in regardless of how the hand was played and one more miracle was too much to hope for on the river.
After being eliminated in 5th for £2,461 I was obviously disappointed but pretty soon I realised what a decent performance I had put in to go so deep in both tournaments. I knew I had played well and had got some luck which is a must in any MTT and on only one occasion was I sucked out on when my A-Q lost to A-8 on Pacific before I was able to climb back. On every other big hand the best hand when the money went in stood up so I knew I could not even moan about the Jack on that final hand.
Still, the thought of what might have been is one that I can’t quite shake off. There’s always next week…
Until next time,
18 January 2007
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