Sunday, December 16, 2007

MTT Madness with guest "CavalaoMontoya"

Just busted out of another MTT a couple spots from the money, although this one was only a 90-man deepstack tourney. We started with 3k in chips and within the first two levels my stack went up to over 9.5k. On the third hand of the tournament (15/30bb) I limped in with Ad3d along with a couple others. The flop came Kxx with two diamonds, pretty much what I was hoping for. One guy bet out 90, i called, and one another person min raised. This being a deepstack tournament, and with the potential to get a ton of chips if I hit my draw, I called, along with the original bettor. The turn was a diamond, and I had hit my flush. I bet out 270 (~1/3 pot)trying to look weak and I got a call. On the river (As) I bet around half the pot to try and induce a call, which happened, and I was up to 4.8k.

A couple hands later my 5x raise with AdQd brought along a couple callers, and the Ac7c10h paired my ace. Despite betting the pot (660), I got two callers, and the turn was a 5h. I then bet 2200, putting at least one of the players on a club flush draw. One player folded and the other called with....a club flush draw. Fortunately for me no club came on the river and I was up to 9.5k.

And that is the end for the good part of the MTT. I basically got no hands at all, and none of my steal attempts worked. The one time that I did pair my ace for a decent-sized pot, I had to lay it down because I was pretty sure my kicker was no good. So yeah, I placed 24/90 which was so-so. It was pretty tough having such a cold run of cards, but sometimes that's how they are dealt. I also placed 3rd in an SNG and got felted once in a cash game, and I immediately called it quits for the day. I'm getting better at knowing when to stop, because if you don't, you can kiss your ability to make good decisions and your bankroll both goodbye.

Now onto my online interview with one of my teammates from college. Here's a pic of us (UMBC, America East [D1] Conference Tennis Champs 2007), with yours truly holding the trophy and our interviewee, CavalaoMontoya, kneeling with both arms raised (hell yea, we are #1). College was indeed a blast, culminating with us winning our conference my senior year. I hope some of you guys in the pic get to see this blog, and that you have a great season and defend our championship. BTW, where the hell are our rings?




"CavalaoMontoya" actually encouraged me to play on Bodog, and he frequently tears it up on the 12 and 20 dollar SNGs at BD. We were discussing poker via IM and he told me an interesting hand with him at the final table of a 20$ MTT. This hand made me feel a little better about my AK getting sucked out on vs. A8. Nevertheless, it was rather sickening to hear. Here is the story in his words (thank you cut and paste Gods):

CavalaoMontoya: "After playing solid for aproximately 4 hours in a MTT $20 on Bodog, I am at the final table with aproximately a 40,000 stack in front of me (chip leader has 45,000). Average = 25000. There are 5 people out of 155 and the winner gets 50% (of the prize pool) which was $500 bucks. So with 5 people left i got dealt KK on the button. The guy on my right raised to 4000 (blinds 1200-600). Thinking that he has AJ, AQ or even KJ for bodog players (LOL, so true) I reraise to 20000 expecting maybe a fold or if he called praying not to see an A. He calls and the flop could not be better for me. K 10 2. Looking at my set I check. He goes all in ...(idiot). I laugh, wait til the last second and call. I am looking at 100,000 chips, and everyone else at 20000, but.......

He hits his straight on the river. I go out of the tournament and win 40 bucks. I almost cried. LOL."

My buddy CavalaoMontoya is quite the poker player. Him and I used to battle it out in college during trips and in house games. He is a tricky player with an aggressive style, and judging from his recent winnings (2k in ~4 months), all from SNGs alone, He should be due to win an MTT one of these days. Hell, I hope we both are. I remember losing a race, my QQ vs AK, with 15 people to go, and if I had won that race, I would have been top 3 in chips. First paid 1.2k (3$ rebuy). I guess it wasn't meant to be that day, and neither was it time for CavalaoMontoya's big win. In time we will win the coin flips and the races, on on those days we will claim our prize and savor the victory. In time my friends. Thanks for the interview CavalaoMontoya.

Go Retrievers.

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