Final tabling the Venetian 150

The last time I was in Vegas I ended up chopping this tournament heads up. The structure of this tourney suits my game so well because of the antes and the importance of blind stealing.
Its a long tournament but so much fun. It normally starts with around 100 players. On this day it had 123. The interesting part of this was that at 125 players they pay top 18 instead of top 9. This meant that first place was about as big as it could get. I have been blogging this tourney since I got home writing bits a pieces here and there. It turned out really long but I left it this way because there were some interesting moments in this tourney.

I had a pretty good table draw in seat 4 and table 28. The 3 players to my right were very tight but really nice to talk to. 4 of the players to my left were locals who play the tourney everyday. The other cool thing about this tourney is you get to keep your 25 chips for a long time because of the antes. So I was making really weird raises to 525 or 1125 and everyone kept talking about it.

The blinds start at 25/50 with 7500 in chips. By the time the 100/200 level hit, I had 9700 without showing down a hand. I also had pretty much chit chatted my way with every player and was pretty much driving everyone nuts. The one thing I can't believe in these tourneys is the amount of limped pots. I think the single biggest thing people can do to improve their game is to never limp however there are some people that limp 2-3 times per orbit. The other thing I need in a tourney like this is some kind of big hand that gives me a stack.

The first big hand of the day I have around 9500 in the sb and there are 3 limpers. I complete with TcJc. The BB checks and the flop comes Qc9c6s. Now basically I know when I see this flop, there is no way I'm folding in this spot ever. In fact, I want my chips in the middle. I quickly fire 500 and a Vegas local calls after limping UTG. One of the tight late position limpers thinks for a second and makes it 2500. Before he has his raise out all of my chips were in the middle. The local folded and the tight guy sat for a while and finally said "I can't fold this" and turns over 99. Lol, you think you can't fold that? He was a nice guy, I wished him luck and the dealer brought the Ac on the turn for such a beautiful sight. The river was a Jd and I held.

I was now up to 18k and I started really putting the pressure on. I raised about 5 hands in a row then raised to 525 UTG with KJo. The flop came Ks4s6c. I did not have a spade so I checked and the mp player who called bet 1200. I decided to slow play a little and just flatted. The turn was 8s. I checked and he fired 2k. Well this was weird. He had about 6k behind. I knew he didn't have a flush and then I started thinking that my play looked so much like a flush draw and I thought I was ahead so I made it 5k and he folded. I was now over 20k and my table started mumbling to themselves.

I grew my stack over 23k and finally raised to 1125 on the button with 74o. The sb folded and the bb called and left himself with around 3k. I was pretty sure he was going to stop n go so I was calling with any piece of the board. The flop came K72. He checked to me and I bet half his stack and he shoved. I obviously called and he tabled 79. The turn was a T and river an A. The dealer tried to award the pot to him but after quite the argument we chopped it up.

I then bled some chips after raising and getting re-raised or missing flops. I was all the way back down around 16k. With the blinds 200/400, 3 limpers again to my sb and I look down at AK. I raise 1200 more on top because I really just want the pot there or to get heads up. The BB calls and all the limpers call. The flop came AK9 with 2 clubs. No one but myself had more than pot in there stack so I just went all-in and everyone folded.

The very next hand I'm on the button and everyone limps again and I look down at AJ. I raise to 1200 total. The bb seemed like a young Internet player. He looks at his cards for 2 seconds and goes allin for about 5k total. It folds back to me and I insta-call and flip over my cards and he says wow you called so quick, I thought I was in terrible shape and he turned over AQ. I explained to him that my read was that he thought I was trying to steal dead money and AJ was way ahead of his range so to me it was an instacall. The flop came JJ7 and that was my only suckout of the whole tourney and I was now back up around 24-25k and our table broke.

I then moved to Marco's table for the 1st time of the tourney and I really didn't play any significant hands before getting moved again. I finally was at a table now with someone who had me covered. The table I was at was table 38 which is actually the table they use for the final table so I was pretty happy I probably wouldn't have to move again.

Blinds were now 400/800/75 and I had around 33k. I didn't play many hands here either when there was a limp UTG and UTG+1 shoved for 9700. I was in cutoff with TT. Now this was quite the situation but I was fairly sure the limper was not strong as he had just limped the hand before and showed when he hit a set with 33. He also only had around 15k. The 3 players to my left also did not have very big stacks. After some thought, I decided to move all-in. Everyone including the limper folded and the shover showed 33. I held and now had around 45k. Shortly after this the TD tapped me on the shoulder and told me I was getting moved for the 4th time of the tourney.

So off to table 37 I went which is always the last table to bust before the final table. My very first hand at this table I am utg and still unracking my chips when I look down at KK. For the entire tourney which lasted 8 hours for me, I did not see a pp better than TT until this hand or after this hand. I raised and everyone folded and I showed.
My 2nd hand blinds are still 400/800/75 and the button shoves on my bb for about 7200 total. I looked down at A8o and insta-call. (The player next to me told me after that this guy was tighter than anything). The button turns over A7 and the board comes J6J6 the obvious chop until the river is an 8. This brought me over 60k and there was all kinds of small stacks at my table and the only player with chips was to my right.

I went on a flurry of raising nearly every 2nd or 3rd hand. Finally the other big stack called when I went to raise his blind. I had KJo and the flop came AQJ. He checked to me and I was trying to keep the pot small so I checked. The turn was an 8 and again he checked. At this point I thought he had a small pp or even suited connectors and there was no value in betting so checked. The river was a T giving me the nuts. He checked and I bet half pot and he folded. My stack was growing every hand and by the time the blinds were 800/1600/200 I had over 75k.

There were 2 older female players at my table that I kept joking with that I was afraid of. They seemed pretty tight as I was constantly stealing their blinds as they were directly to my left. Finally one of them min-raised UTG to 3200 on my bb and I flat called with 66. The flop came A65 with 2 diamonds. I checked planning to make it look like I was on a diamond draw and try to get her to commit on the turn. She had about 40k so my thoughts were she may not be able to lay down top pair with half her stack in the pot. Everything backfired when she checked and we saw a 2s hit the turn. Disaster went through my head that she had AA. I led out 4k quickly on the turn. I'm not sure why it was such a weak bet with almost 10k in the pot but she quickly raised to 8k. I almost fell off my chair. I started thinking to myself did I just run into AA. What does she check the flop with and the min-raise the turn. I literally thought for a good 2 minutes. I would love to tell you a story about how I dodged top set but I announced raise, threw in the 4k and said all-in. I really felt after the fact that the correct play on that board would have been to flat and check/raise the river. If she had AA then I was dying anyway and any other playable hand I had crushed. She quickly folded and shortly after this we were down to 20 players left and blinds were up to 1k/2k/100. I had about 50bbs at this point and I felt really comfortable.


Now that we were down to 2 tables Marco was sat at my table and he had a good stack as well around 80k. I had position on him and the other capable big stack at the table. I really wanted to final table with Marco and did not want to get in any big hands with him.

The first hand I played the big stack raised from the hijack to 4500 and Marco flatted in the cutoff. I was in BB and knew if I raised from here it would look like I was stealing so I was really hoping for a hand. I look at my cards and I have AK. I did a rough calculation that once I called the raise there was around 20k in the pot. Being out of position I really didn't want to see a flop so I made it 20k more. The big stack folded quickly and it was up to Marco who thought for awhile and folded. He later told me that he tried to get fancy with AK and he knew I wasn't folding if he shoved so he folded. He was right, I wasn't folding.

The next time I was in the SB, the button limped and left himself around 25k. I completed with A3 in the SB and the BB checked. The flop came 44A. I checked, BB checks and the button bet 4k. I just called because the BB was deep and he could easily have a 4. The BB folded and we were heads up. The turn was a 4. I checked again, the button bet 8k and I went all-in and he said, I can't beat an Ace and folded. I told everyone I had a 4 and figured he had an ace. Not sure why I said that but they believed me.

I stayed under the radar for a bit and watched everyone get into some big hands. Really was card dead and fluctuated from 120k to 100k. Marco busted 15th which kind of sucked.

Blinds got to 1500/3000/500 and I called an allin for 14k with 88. The lady had AK and I won the race. Down to 12 now I went on a tear, raising again to 8500 almost every 2nd hand. So many players were fearful of the bubble. Again the other table started talking about taking money from 1st and 2nd and paying 11th and 12th. I was adamantly against this because I was cruising along building my stack. My highest point was 172k and we got to the final table.

I did agree to paying $20 from every player to 10th place so they at least got their money back. There were 2-3 players with less than 6 bbs so I didn't think it mattered really.

I slowed down at the final table and blinds were going a bit nuts. There was 922k in play and I really wanted to get to around 350k to guarantee top 3. My first crack at stealing the bb was from the sb with J5o. I raised to 18k total. The BB who appeared to play the part of a really tight player flatted me. The came 923 with 2 spades. What a terrible flop for me so I bet 25k and he flatted. At this point zachjackmom and Marco arrived to rail. I was so happy to have Ange's support because I've never played a live final table with her there. I was in a mess of a hand at this point though so I probably didn't look that happy. The turn was a 9c which put 2 clubs, 2 spades and 2 nines on the board. I had J5, a heart and a diamond. I decided I invested too much and checked and he bet 25k. I was so close to flatting and then betting the river hoping he missed but I had absolutely no idea what he had and I decided it wasn't worth my tourney so I folded and my stack was right around 100k.

The next time I was sb I raised the same guy's bb with Q7o. He called and the flop came AJ2. I bet 25k again and he flatted AGAIN. The turn was a 5 and I just didn't want to give up the pot to I bet half of my remaining stack and he finally after some thought folded. This brought me back around 150k.

We were 6 handed and the one solid player left had around 300k. I got 88 UTG and raised to 18k. One of the ladies on the button made it 20k more. I really thought for awhile about calling and shoving a low flop and check/folding a high flop. I finally decided if was putting 20k in it was all going in so I had to push or fold. I decided there was no fold equity and I folded.

I faced the blinds but was given a walk and the stole the tight player's bb again. I raised in mp with KhQh. The solid player called me and he made a comment along the lines of "I don't want to double you up". The flop came Th8sTd. I checked and he checked. I couldn't understand what he would possibly call with pre that he wouldn't bet that flop with. It really baffled me and I decided he had AJ/AQ, maybe even a low pp like 55-66. The turn looked great it was the 9h. I decided I was going to represent a monster and I checked again. He said 22k, and before he finished talking I said 60k, not to be out done, I'm still pushing my chips in and he says all-in. I looked at my stack and I only had around 50k left but I figured I was drawing close to dead and I elected to fold after a lot of thought leaving over 80k in the pot. After I folded he showed 88 for a flopped boat. Not exactly the hand you want to make a move on.

I got up from my seat and told zachjackmom I wasn't going to blind out and it may mean I turn over the craziest cards if one of my all-ins was called. I managed to walk my big blind again but blinds were 4k/8k/1k and going up to a whopping 6k/12k/2k in 12 mins. The next time it open folded to me I was in the cutoff and I looked down at 3h4h. To be honest there wasn't really a hand I was going to look at that I don't shove there. I was just not going to get a lot of chances to open and the button and sb were tight players. The bb was the good player who was smart enough not to want to double me up by calling me thin. The last final table I played at the Venetian, I open shoved about 12 of 15 hands and never got called. Here I shove in the cutoff with 4 high and I hear the button say 'call' right away.

I was literally sick inside. One because I was called and two because I was going to have to show my cards. I had not been all-in for my tourney life the entire tournament and now I'm sitting with 4 high. He turned over his cards pretty quickly to show AQ and I breathed a huge sigh of relief. The flop came 848 and I was yelling hold and practically standing on the table. The turn was a beautiful 8 and the river a nothing 7.

This got me to 120k and I felt like I could really make a run at first as my stack could hurt everyone now but blinds were going up and they did on my BB. Marco actually told me to start talking chop with everyone. I hate chopping 6 handed and I am so against it but I knew Marco wouldn't tell me to do it if it did not benefit me. Marco said basically the blinds were so big, I had lost any edge I had.


I didn't agree with Marco, I still felt that I had an edge because I wasn't worried about shoving in the right spots however I still brought up the chop because I believe that when your head is really into winning, chopping should never be a consideration however there are some cases when chopping is +ev. It is very difficult to realize these situations when you are deep into the tournament so you are best to listen to people you trust. I convinced the TD to pause the tourney so we could discuss a chop something they wouldn't do for us when I was there in November.I basically offered a chop where we took the remaining prize money about $15k and we divided it up based on the chips we had. Marco said I would have gotten around 2k which seemed so far from $5k but still he said it was fair. The payouts were basically the same for 6th, 5th and 4th.After a few minutes of discussion, the 2 players who had slightly less chips than me both refused a chop.

Off we were to continue at 6k/12k/2k. I was in the BB with 12k and 110k back. I started thinking that was going to be blinded out in 3 orbits and we were 6 handed. For the last year or so, I have really been in the habit of not looking at my cards until its my turn to act. I don't even know or believe it gives me an advantage but its become almost a superstition now and I never do it. It also gives me some time to think about the situation without know what my cards are and it makes my cards much easier to play when I look at them. In this particular hand it folded to the button who limped. Now I had played with this lady for around 4 hours and she limped exactly once when we were 6 handed and still 2 tables and she did it utg and got it all-in with K9 vs KJ on a KT6 board. I was so sure she had AA and she didn't and this really changed my perception of the kinds of hands she would limp with. I knew deep down she was not strong and she did not have a big hand. While the sb is completing, I still have not looked at my cards but I said to him jokingly "get your chips in so I can shove'. I looked down at A9o and there was no thought put in and my chips were in the middle. The lady on the button thought for what seemed like 20 minutes but was more like 4 minutes. She had made some very thin calls earlier with weak aces when she thought someone was trying to make a move.

The more she thought about it, the more I convinced myself I was 70/30 to win. She finally called and I quickly turned over my cards not realizing the sb still had not acted. The TD said that the sb could still call but my hand was not dead.Then the sb starts asking the button if his K high is live. I turned around and looked at Marco practically in shock. I even said to him "look man, you can't call if you can't beat A high" he folded and the button turned over a surprising 66. It was definitely not the worst call I have ever seen. She had about 195k and this was basically her tourney however she saw me shove with 4 high and I guess in her mind there was a chance she was way ahead and a very good chance she was racing. She was calling a good portion of her stack though getting terrible odds (110k into 48k).

I want to tell you now that I won this race but I did not. I was still very happy with my play. 6th place paid $972 which was a good payout. Even better was the trip to Samba Grill after the tourney.

I will try to blog about some of the cash games I played on this trip. I can honestly say for the first time in a while, that I ran good at the cash tables and hit some boards hard.