Tournament was okay for me.
Had a pretty good (i.e. weak) starting table, clocked reads on pretty much everyone who was there within a couple of hours. In terms of hands I really didn't pick anything up until late on (which is when it counts, I suppose). My table was as follows, clockwise:
Seat 1: Me
Seat 2: Middle-aged lady. Talked about playing at the casino a few times, shuffles good. Chases draws with any odds.
Seat 3: A young lad who played very tight. It was so obvious whenever he had a monster hand and yet he still got paid off almost every time.
Seat 4: "Mush" from last time. Bad laggro type player. It was good to see him again.
Seat 5: An elderly Irish lady. Seemed to play semi-loose and would pounce on any sign of weakness.
Seat 6: A middle-aged bloke. Played his strong hands fast and heavy.
Seat 7: Just your general average player, not very good.
Given the kind structure my aim for the first six levels or so was to get in as many pots as possible with good drawing hands cheaply. The first hand I remember playing was 45cc. I raised UTG and called a 3bet from the big blind in seat 7. Flop was like 8x9c4x. He bets about 600, I call, and seat 7 who had also called pre folded. The turn is the Tc and the big blind fires again for 2k which I called with my bottom pair and flush draw. The river is a meaningless off-suit 2 and the BB quickly checks. I thought about betting but I realised I probably wasn't getting called by anything I could beat and had showdown value against his BB 3betting range. I checked and he flipped over AQo. Nice pot for me.
The next hand I remember was getting QJcc in the small blind. There are a couple of limpers and I follow suit (as apparently I complete the small blind 100%). The flop was 6x9hTh. It gets checked around and we see the Jh on the turn. I bet out for about 800 and the big blind in seat 2 is the sole caller. The river is the Jd giving me trips and I fire a pot sized bet. She tanks for maybe three minutes or so before declaring "I just don't believe you", and makes the call. I show my hand and she mucks, so I guess she had a six?
Also around this time in another limped pot I saw A4dd on the button. I also called and about 6 of us saw a AxJd9d flop. It folds to me and I bet out for 800. I get one caller in seat 7 and I complete my flush on the turn, can't remember what it was though. He checks and I fired around 2k which he calls. The river puts another jack out and he checks once more. I bet 3.2k but he folded after ten seconds. A long time then passed until I got involved with any action, I wasn't really picking up many hands and as a result I decided to play a little more aggressively. Any time it folded to me and blinds were there to be stolen I raised it up, and fired bullets on the flop, and the turn as well if necessary, basically just trying to force them to fold provided the board texture was good.
At the second break everyone seems to be doing well, except for DML who has busted.
I have 53k and I think Gaz and Luw were running pretty sick and Nova was doing awesome too. After the break however, I went back and bluffed off approximately 15k on the first hand.
It folded to me on the button and I made it 2.5x (roughly 2k?) with J7o. The young lad in the big blind called. The flop came A69r, and I bet 3k after he checked to me. He called and after he decided to check the 2x turn, I fired 5.5k. I decided on this for two reasons: one being that I hadn't shown down any bluffs yet and had a great table image which had allowed me to steal lots, secondly and most importantly; he had shown a willingness to call on ace high flops and fold to turn bets when holding medium pocket pairs, and flatting from the blind I didn't put him on an ace after he check called the flop and checked the turn. So I am ranging him on a pair and thinking he will give me credit for an ace. However he raises and I eventually say goodbye to almost a third of my stack.
I continued to run pretty card dead, but I went back to the drawing board and continued my aggressive approach to the table, stealing and making some power plays where possible. Eventually I made my way back to around 45k. The next hand was important. At 600/1200 I raised to 3k with J9cc and got a caller from the Irish lady in seat 5 (button) and the blinds. The flop came J63 and I bet 5.5k. The turn is a 7 and I check. She bets 6.5k and I call. River is a 2 and I check to her and she bets 10k. This takes me aback a bit as it's a serious bet in relation to my stack. If I call and lose I am down to only about 20k. The reason I originally checked to her is because she has been doing this all day, when people check to her on the turn/river she has bet to try and take the pot and it's worked most of the time. I was pretty confident that my hand was good anyway, and I checked to get her to bet in the first place. I called and she mucked. J9 supremacy4life.
Not long after that I picked up 79ss in the small blind. It folds to the cut off who calls, the button calls, I complete the small blind as standard by now and we see a A6T flop with two hearts. It checks around and I make the nuts when an off-suit 8 comes on the turn. I potted it near enough to 5.5k and got callers from the big blind and the button. The river is an off-suit 4, so having evaded being outdrawn, I bet 8.8k. The big blind folds and the button tanks,
really tanks. Eventually he calls and I show him the nuts. This took me to around 88k at the time.
About five hands later UTG I get my first pocket pair of the day - AA. I made it 4k as the blinds have since increased and it folds around to the small blind who goes all in for ~25k. I call and he has AQss. He is dead by the turn and I move up to 110k. After this succession of hands I was pretty card dead for a long time. By now the old Irish lady is gone, as is Mush and the guy I KO'd with AA. They are replaced with three young lads who seemed okay. Eventually, when the blinds reached 5k/10k UTG pushes all in and I re-shove with AQ UTG+1. He has 89o and the flop comes 678 and I didn't catch up. I'm now down to 1BB and in the big blind the hand after the next. I look down at A7cc and obviously stick my remaining chips in. Everyone at the table calls and the board comes AKJ74. I scoop and am back to like 50k.
By the time it's shove or fold for near enough everyone. The next hand I am involved in is when I get AK in the big blind. There is an EP shove and the cut off also shoves for a lesser amount. I call off my stack and it's my AK vs. EP's 77 vs. c/o's QQ. Flop has a queen in it but I turned an ace. I ended up increasing my stack by about 30k I think. The very next hand after this the young lad in seat 3 shoves his few remaining chips ~13k in and it folds to me in the small blind. I have A9o and re-shove. the big blind then calls and flips AK. She wins the hand outright to cut my stack in half and knock the young lad out.
I have no choice but to shove a very ugly looking 25o from the small blind. The big blind really has to call because it's only an extra one and a half blinds for her, and she shows me J2dd. So I'm in really rough shape. The flop comes AQ7. Turn 4. Me "THREE." River is a 3. Everyone is amazed and I am back in the game. After this it is the final table and I need some run good to avoid being in the blinds as I have just 2 BBs. Sadly I am redrawn in the big blind and I have to commit to whatever hand I am dealt. One of the young lads pushes in from middle position and I call with my motley 86o. I flopped top pair with a gutshot, turned an open ender, but didn't get there on the river.
It was a good tournament and it's structure is very play friendly in the early stages but it really need to be altered drastically, antes need to be introduced earlier too. All in all it was a very enjoyable game. This morning, myself, Nova, Sat and DML went to grab some breakfast (which incidentally was pretty amazing and way better than what I was expecting) and played a few games of pool, as well as some arcade quiz type games. The whopper question came up and we all rofl'd. The end.