The last two weekends have been really interesting at the poker table. The weekend before last I had set out to play in the Pokerstars FPP tournaments for a seat into the $1050 NL Tournament Event #20. Things didn’t quite work out that way as my brother came up to surprise me. So I did not get to play any of the four satellites that were still scheduled. A little disappointing but I still had a great time hanging out with my brother.

This past weekend was entirely different. I was finally able to sit down for an extended period of time and play the Pokerstars $10 NL Deep Stacks tournament. Things did not start off well and I ended up with $3200 in chips when I finally picked up a big hand after the first break. Before that I had played several small pairs for cheap but was unable to hit anything on the flop. Anyhow, after I picked up [K][K] to double up I went on a bit of a run. Seven hours later I was sitting on $70k in chips and about $20k+ above the average. I continued to steal and take down some small pots but nothing big.

About an hour later I had [J][T] in the small blind. Prior to this play I had noticed that I needed to make a move. I was already well in the money, the tournament paid 240 places, and I was sitting in 109th place overall with 132 players left. I was also down to a little more than $60k in chips. 

My thinking in the hand when Jehnova bet out after the flop was that he was on a flush draw. I was correct in that assumption. I also felt like I could push him off of the hand which turned out to be incorrect. If he had had more chips this would have been a much better play as he would have been more likely to wait for a better spot. Also, it was not an optimum play for me simply because there was a flush draw on the board. Even if I hit my straight he still had a re-draw.

The fact of the matter is that, once again, I misplayed the hand. I also felt like the big blind, samKeppler75 would simply fold after my push, wrong again although I could not put him on top pair. I was simply hoping to get heads-up with Jehnova to hit my straight and hold at worst. In retrospect this was another poorly played hand. No excuses here. I felt great and had plenty of rest. I should have waited for a better spot and got a bit impatient. On the other hand after I got the money in I didn’t feel too bad after seeing all the hands. I figured if I hold I am sitting on $160k and I am in the hunt for the promised land. I did cash and learned that I needed to be just a little more patient in that spot.

Here is how the hand played out:

PokerStars Game #20590422060: Tournament #107929927, $10+$1 Hold’em No Limit – Level XIII (600/1200) – 2008/09/21 19:05:36 ET
Table ‘107929927 122′ 9-max Seat #8 is the button
Seat 1: samklepper75 (28427 in chips)
Seat 2: mportage (50630 in chips)
Seat 3: tranquilo76 (172685 in chips)
Seat 4: Jehnova77 (66718 in chips)
Seat 5: Ditchdoc720 (49092 in chips)
Seat 6: ostereo (147629 in chips)
Seat 7: xxViolatorxx (71916 in chips)
Seat 8: Blobtastic (83678 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 9: Curtom (61832 in chips)
samklepper75: posts the ante 125
mportage: posts the ante 125
tranquilo76: posts the ante 125
Jehnova77: posts the ante 125
Ditchdoc720: posts the ante 125
ostereo: posts the ante 125
xxViolatorxx: posts the ante 125
Blobtastic: posts the ante 125
Curtom: posts the ante 125
Curtom: posts small blind 600
samklepper75: posts big blind 1200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Curtom [Td Js]
mportage: folds
tranquilo76: folds
Jehnova77: calls 1200
Ditchdoc720: folds
ostereo: folds
xxViolatorxx: folds
Blobtastic: folds
Curtom: calls 600
samklepper75: checks
*** FLOP *** [Qd 2s Ks]
Curtom: checks
samklepper75: checks
Jehnova77: bets 1200
Curtom: raises 59307 to 60507 and is all-in
samklepper75: calls 27102 and is all-in
Jehnova77: calls 59307
*** TURN *** [Qd 2s Ks] [5c]
*** RIVER *** [Qd 2s Ks 5c] [8s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Curtom: shows [Td Js] (high card King)
Jehnova77: shows [9s 6s] (a flush, King high)
Jehnova77 collected 66810 from side pot
samklepper75: shows [2d Kh] (two pair, Kings and Deuces)
Jehnova77 collected 86031 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 152841 Main pot 86031. Side pot 66810. | Rake 0
Board [Qd 2s Ks 5c 8s]
Seat 1: samklepper75 (big blind) showed [2d Kh] and lost with two pair, Kings and Deuces
Seat 2: mportage folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 3: tranquilo76 folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 4: Jehnova77 showed [9s 6s] and won (152841) with a flush, King high
Seat 5: Ditchdoc720 folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 6: ostereo folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 7: xxViolatorxx folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 8: Blobtastic (button) folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 9: Curtom (small blind) showed [Td Js] and lost with high card King

Otherwise, I did extremely well in the single table tournaments and took down a second and third place in the two tourneys I played in. Overall, my bankroll increased another fifty bucks over the weekend.
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