The Adventures of Willing2Die: 2nd in FTOPS #9 satellite/8th in Full Tilt $16.5K

A couple of days off and a cathartic blog post may have done the trick....I played very focused poker last night and it's amazing what can happen when you a) don't play cash games at the same time and b) put those $120 BOSE headphones on so you're not distracted by the T.V.

I won a seat in this Sunday's FTOPS #9 event ($322 NLHE) by finishing 2nd in a satellite. Nothing much to report. I became the chip leader with 5 left (Top 3 win a seat) and just used my big stack to decimate the table.

In the Full Tult $16.5K, I played very well and had an above-average stack for a majority of the tournament. It's amazing how different it is when you actually have chips to play with. I bided my time and went on a rush just prior to the final table and entered it 2nd in chips....the problem was that the chip leader, "ZBTHorton", had a huge lead and was seated directly to my left. He had been opening a ton of pots so my plan was to play it pretty close to the vest at the beginning. The problem was that everyone seemed to be playing tight. We must have played 9-handed for 20 minutes before "Garage13" busted. My first big pot was raising Ad-Kd UTG and having a shorter stack re-shove. It was for 30% of my stack so I called and he showed J-J. Brick city!!! I chipped up again before getting it all-in against the same player for 50% of my stack with A-Q vs. his A-10. The flop brought nothing, turn nothing, river a $%*&^ TEN!!!!!!! This pot would have put me over $300,000 and firmly 2nd in chips. Instead, I was forced to resort to shove-and-fold poker. I picked up two pots by shoving before shoving a third time with K-Q and getting called by J-J. Brick city again!!! I went from starting the FT 2nd in chips to out in 8th place for $800 (including my 6 KO's).

I was generally pleased with the way I played. Very controlled...Very focused. No blow-ups. I can't ask for much more than getting to the final table with chips and having a 3-1 shot at a big stack (A-Q/A-10). You have to win your races late in these tournaments and I lost two of them as well as a 75/25.

I was really hoping to upstage RUBBA after his 3rd place in the same tournament a couple of nights ago but it'll have to wait (weeeeeeee)!

Thanks for reading,

W2D

Twitter Updates