5.50: A Second Third
KJ diamonds in the big blind. Three limps. I raise to 180. 2 calls. Flop is 3d Td 9h... I bet 350 and win the pot.
44 in the small blind. I bet 180 (kind of a huge bet since the blinds are 30) when it's checked to me. Alice calls and I flop a set. I check and then bet on the turn and Alice folds.
I'm off to a good start here. I'm in the lead with 2070, slightly ahead of Gretchen...
Frankie likes to see a lot of flops here. It's keeping him in last place for now.
Nobody's really showing a lot of aggression yet. I'll try to exploit that later if people don't open up.
Alice busts out with KQ when Dave's sixes turn into a full house. So now he's ahead by about 220 chips.
Frankie busts out and now i have QQ. I bet 200 and pick up the big blind. (Frankie would have been the small). Now I'm only behind Dave by 160. :)
AJo in the big blind. I might call a small raise just to see the flop. But Hank just limps in and so I check and then bet the pot and win.
AQo in the small blind. I raise to 180 and flop a queen when Hank calls. He calls my bet on the flop but folds on the turn.
I'm up to 2615 now and back in first.
58 hearts on the button. I'll raise since it was folded to me, and I pick up the blinds.
Hank's picked up some chips and is now ahead of me by about 300.
I'll tighten up again now. I really want to finish in first place.
Got my fours again in the big blind. Flop 2s 7h 8h and I bet 200. Gretchen calls. Turn is 2h and I bet 400. Gretchen thinks and calls. River is a Q. I bet 400 again. He calls. Guess I should have checked there, or bet bigger.
I'm down to 1585.
I limp in from the small blind and pair my ace. Evan gives me some action and I climb back up to 2345 when I shove on the turn and he folds. That puts me in third after Gretchen and Hank, who both have about 3000.
That hand was kind of risky, but I guess my aggression paid off.
Gretchen's making some moves there. She likes to make big bet and push people off the pot.
I bluff a bit at Charlie and win a little pot with airball in the big blind.
Meanwhile, Hank's been shedding chips and is almost back down to my level. Gretchen's still in the lead.
I get QKo in the big blind. I think Gretchen might raise here just to steal. But no, she times out. I get a flush draw on the turn, but miss, and pay off Charlie when he lands a set of 6s on the river and value bets.
Still above 2000 though. I'm at 2075, which is actually 40 more than Hank, so I'm in second place.
I'll need a bigger stack to take down Gretchen though if I want to win this.
And look. AK hearts in the cutoff. I raise gretchen's 120 limp to a wacky 478 and pick up the pot. 2375.
Hank's playing any ace it seems.
Charlie's Aces eat Gretchen for breakfast and he takes the lead.
I raise with kings and win pre-flop.
I complete with 9c Jc.. Flop is 7d Ah Qd and I check. Pair my 9 on the turn and min bet. Hank had a nine too though, and also a pair of Queens.
1975. Blinds 80/160. I'm in 3rd place, slightly behind Hank and way behind charlie. If I'd just folded my J9 I'd be in 2nd. Tightening up now.
Meanwhile, Dave keeps shoving. He shoves with 88 and pretty much destroys Gretchen with trips after she calls preflop with AK.
So now dave and charlie both have big stacks.
I have KK in the big blind. It's folded to Hank, who limps. I check and check the flop. He's got nothing though so I don't get any action when I bet 200 on the turn.
I fold 54 suited when it's folded to me on the button. I don't really want to tangle with Charlie's blinds just yet.
I raise to 500 from UTG with OK hearts. Evan calls. 8d 7d Js. I check and get a 10. Bet 400 with my open ended straight draw. It's enough to make Evan fold.
2375 after the blinds go by. Charlie's got 3390 and Dave 4480. Barry and Evan are about to get blinded out if they don't do something soon. Evan seems to realize this and shoves to pick up the blinds off the two chip leaders.
Now Barry shoves with JQo but this time Charlie calls with kings. Amazingly it comes a straight and they split the pot. But Barry shoves again on my blinds, and I lay down my massive 8d 4h.
Barry shoves again with QA and busts out to Dave's pair.
Now I've got both chip leaders in my blinds.
Only they try to kill each other and Charlie balloons up to 7980. I'm in 2nd again.
And I fold my ducks to keep it that way.
Good thing because it's an all-in fest.
We're in the money.
I'm in third place. I still want to win this thing. I'm going to be playing a lot of small hands now, and try to chip away at Charlie's stack. Doesn't look like he's too aggressive. Dave's the one that's shoved all-in pre-flop a million times.
I'm off to a good start when I make a small straight and value bet. I need 1000 chips to pass Dave and 5000 to pass Charlie.
TT in the big blind and Dave raises. I shove. He calls with Q4 suited and pairs his queen, so I'm out.
Well, what can you do? I read his move correctly but he lucked out.
I'm mostly happy with the way I played this one. The early hand where I had fours and paid Gretchen off was kind of dumb, and I started to tilt a bit, which is why I completed the small blind with A9 and then bet my ace. It could have been the start of a downward spiral, but it worked out Okay in the end.