Tournament Goodness

Feels good to win. Whether it's a 6 person $2.25 sit n go, an 18-person token turbo, or a 40 person RPT online tournament. I'm sure it feels just as good in bigger ones, but honestly that's the biggest online tourny I've taken down.

It was quite a miracle in a way - I was 10th of 10 for a long time; I think when we were at 12 I only had around 2K in chips, but caught the right cards and had people call me at the right times, and the hand before the final table I busted someone & became chip leader. I was playing so tight that at one point I was affraid I'd blind myself all the way out; however some aggressive moves here n there, along with the tight image, helped me along.

Here was the hardest call I had to make:
I've got about 50K, peacecorn has 31K, blinds 800/1600/200

gsw61515 [8c Ac]
gsw61515 raises to 3,600
peacecorn has 15 seconds left to act
peacecorn raises to 10,000
gsw61515 has 15 seconds left to act
gsw61515 has requested TIME
gsw61515 calls 6,400

If we're not 3-handed here, I'm tossing this hand, chalking it up to a failed steal. 3-handed, though, with the button already folded, there's a decent chance I'm ahead here. If I whiff the flop, I have to go away.

*** FLOP *** [As Kd Kh]

This is a good - and a bad - flop for me. GOOD: I have top pair; I also called a re-raise which may make peacecorn put me on a hand like AK or KQ etc... at the same time I honestly don't know what to do. If they really put me on AK/KQ/AQ then they may not call if I bet. However, I'm also concerned that peacecorn may have AK. I'm really stumped; if they have AK they've got the nuts here, and will probably try to entice me to bet, or value bet, or something.

gsw61515 checks <--- yea, I know, kind of weak
peacecorn bets 20,970, and is all in

My first thought is that I'm sick to my stomache. My second thought is, if they have AK why are they trying to shove me out of the pot? If they've got an ace, we're probably splitting; if they have a king then oh well, not my night; plus I'd still have around 20K left, still far from out of the running.

gsw61515 has 15 seconds left to act
gsw61515 calls 20,970
peacecorn shows [Qs Qc]
gsw61515 shows [8c Ac]
AlCantHang (Observer): yahtzee
*** TURN *** [As Kd Kh] [2c]
*** RIVER *** [As Kd Kh 2c] [4c]
AlCantHang (Observer): wow
peacecorn shows two pair, Kings and Queens
gsw61515 shows two pair, Aces and Kings
gsw61515 wins the pot (62,540) with two pair, Aces and Kings

Some will call that a sick call, some will call that a donkey call, some will call that a reckless call... my point though is this: is it more reckless to call an all-in with top pair / weak kicker, or to shove into an AKK board with Queens? They've got to know I play tight, and I called a large preflop raise - if I don't have an ace, a king, or both in my hand, then they haven't been paying attention to how tight I play. And being down to 3 I know that a) I have to open-up my starting hand requirements, and b) I need to win this baby!

Felt good. It's odd, and this may sound totally kooky, but I felt like I was in the "zone." I felt like I knew when to get out of the way, and when to push with air. Even when I was at like 2K with 12 left, I wasn't panicked, and waited for my spot. Most of this tournament - until heads up - I waited for my spots. I wish I had seen my stats prior to the final 3; at one point I checked and I'd only seen like 13% of the flops. Dan Harrington would've been proud. :)

Thanks go out to riggstad for a little coaching session during the last break; it's good to be reminded of things.

HU was me weilding my chip stack like a light saber, swinging at everything in sight, raising 75-85% of the hands preflop, ducking when my raises were picked off (not often) if I had total trash, and being an all-around bully. It was fast action; I believe I frustrated my opponent by raising so often and liberally that they ended up starting to over-commit with marginal hands, and didn't know what to do when they missed the flop or when I re-raised. Last hand I was lucky enough to turn 2 pair, my opponent was unlucky enough to river a lower 2 pair, thanks gg.