Final Table Thoughts

I finished 5th in Event # 12 which was a Limit (one bet at a time) event for $43k. Pokernews is not doing a stellar job of reporting and they now have a monopoly on live updates as the WSOP is only letting the other poker reporting outlets (PTP, Bluff, etc.) post one hand an hour, so if you were trying to follow me and couldn't - well that's why.

Anyhoo I made one big bluff and binked a fullhouse prior to the final table to get me to the final table with a decent stack. I then basically chipped up a bit/maintained my stack until my final 2 hands.

Hand 1 - I have QQ in mid/late position (I don't remember if I was the hijack or CO). Terrence Chan who was the chipleader opens, and Matt Matros who had been on a rush and chipped back up 3-bet. Matt had recently been 3-betting a lot against both Terrence and Georgios who were on his right since they were the two most active players and he was trying to isolate them and get his hands heads-up with position postflop. So I had been waiting for a spot to cold 4-bet since I had position on him. I look down and see the QQ and realize this was a value 4-bet spot so I do just that. Both Terrence and Matt call.

Flop comes 79T with two spades which is a pretty horrendous flop for me. They both check, I obv fire, Terrence raises, and Matt 3-bets. And I now curse my luck and internally say wtf is going on? Terrence easily has a flushdraw, 88, JJ, AJ, or even JQ or QK here, so his c/r did not bother me that much. But when Matt 3-bet the only hand I could put him on that I was beating was JJ. So when the only hands I MIGHT be beating are 2 big draws and it is very likely that Matt has hit a set I fold my QQs. The turn was a J which Terrence c/raised. The river was a K (which would have given me a straight if I had played like a tard and stayed in the hand) and they flipped over JJ and 99.

So I played the hand perfect but I still lost chips, and late in a tourney like this you basically really need to win every pot you enter so it was frustrating to lose with the huge favorite hand preflop.

Hand 2 - my next big hand came pretty quickly after the dinner break. Georgios was a Greek player who I had tangled with in a couple of big pots with previously. He liked to raise my turn bets, but I always had the goods and 3-bet him so he was in my mind looking for a spot to get even with me. He opened very wide from the button. I look down to AA in the BB after he raised the button yet again. I decide to just smooth call, with the plan of trying to get value on the turn by check/raising since that is when the big bets happen in Limit. Flop comes Td9h2h. I check, he bets, I call and the trap is still on. The turn is another 9. I check, he bets, I raise, and he tank calls. At this point I am thinking that I am way ahead. The river is a J and it does not complete any flushes. It is sort of a gross card, because it does complete a straight (either 78 or QK were possible holdings) but he so likely has an underpair or a hand like TJ-AT that I have to fire the river for value. He raises my river bet and now I tank and have to decide whether to just call and leave myself with a measly 70k (blinds were at 10/20k) or if I am ahead and want to try and get more value by 3-betting. In the end I decide that his river raise is just too strong and call and he shows 99 for a turned quads.

I went out in 5th shortly thereafter but did make one last good fold which blinded me all the way down to 40k but allowed me to make $10k more in actual money because the other short stack at the table who actually had more chips then I did went out before me.

I was and still am very disappointed/frustrated at my finish in a strictly results oriented/bad beat way of thinking. I am, however, very happy in my play at the final table.

I am taking today, and probably tomorrow off and will get back to playing in another Limit event on Wednesday.