$3,500 NLH UltimateStack Poker Tournament at the Venetian

Day 2

This is interesting. Although my stack is slightly below average for Day 2, I'm the second largest stack at my table, and only trailing number one by a little bit. That's great!

Day 2 started. Pro player James Calderaro is at my table.

A lot of gambling this morning. A lot of people shoving. I'm just trying to stay out of it.

I got 92 in the big blind. Calderaro raised from $2K to $4500. I was going to fold but the small blind called. With that much money in the pot, I decided to call. The flop was 924. Small blind checked. I checked expecting Calderaro to do a C-bet (continuation bet---the player to raise pre-flop bets after the flop because he usually has a good hand), but he checked. The turn was another 4, not good for me because it cancelled my pair of 2s. Now any pair over 9 beats me. Small blind bet $5K. I raised to $12K. Calderaro folded. The small blind called. The river was A. He checked, I checked. He showed pocket 3s. I won a big pot!

Just won 3 big pots and have a very nice stack. No time to post the details.

Just had 95 in the big blind. The button did a min raise. The small blind called, so I called. The flop was 95J, giving me two pair. Small blind checked. I checked. The other player bet $7K. Small blind folded. I raised to $17K. The other player called. The next card was K. There were two clubs on the board and I didn't want the other player chasing a flush, so I shoved. He hesitated for a while, then folded. Whew!

The buy-in period ends in a few minutes. Then we play down to the money. Wish me luck!

101 players left. 45 get paid.

I had A5 in the big blind. The short stack (about 12 big blinds) shoved. Everyone else folded. I called. He had pocket 7s. They held up. I'm still doing well, a little above average.

I had A◇3♡ in the small blind. One player raised. I called. The big blind called. The flop was A♧3♧7♤. I checked, big blind checked. The first player bet. I raised. Big blind called. The first player folded. The turn was 4◇. I raised a lot. Big blind called. The river was 2♡. I put him on a big A or a flush draw. I was nervous that he had a set, though he probably would have raised me earlier. I checked. He checked. I showed. He mucked, but said he had a pair of 7s and a flush draw. I won a very big pot.

Darren Elias is at the table now. I kidded him about busting me out at the Bellagio a couple years ago in my first major Vegas tournament. On TV, they interviewed him and asked how it felt to play amateurs. They then cut to me and him heads up at the Bellagio. How insulting! 😉

87 players left.

I flopped a set of deuces. The short stack shoved and I called. I didn't improve but he got a straight on the river. I lost  a lot of chips.

After a couple big losses, my stack is 24 big blinds. Playable, but not good. Sigh.

Question: do I play it safe to cash or play to win?

I had A♧J♧ and about 20 big blinds. One player raised. Another player reraised to almost half my stack. I could have shoved, but since we're so close to the money, I wanted to see the flop, so I called. The first player called. The flop was 7♧3♧4◇, giving me the nut flush draw. The first player shoved. The second player folded. I called. He had pocket 10s. I didn't get my flush. I busted out at 74, not in the money.

On my last hand, odds were 55:45 in my favor after the flop. The only way I could have played the hand and not bust out was to fold pre-flop or post-flop. If I'd shoved pre-flop, one of the two really big stacks would have called me. The first player might have folded, but the second player almost certainly had a big A or a pair, both of which would have beat me. I would have to be playing VERY tight to fold AJ suited pre-flop. And I would have been stupid to fold it after the flop when I was short stacked and odds were in my favor. Oh well...

At least I outlasted Darren Elias.