Pot Limit Omaha tourney report

This is a bitter report to write, no question about it. I ran very well in this event put on by Chad in his blogger skill series, but despite collecting a plethora of knockout bounties I bubbled out of the prize money at the final table despite being chipleader with a 36K stack with 9 players remaining.

I knew this tournament was going to go well nearly from the start. On about the fifth hand of the tournament, I was able to build my starting 3K chipstack to just over 4K by catching a loose aggro-donk with a bad one pair hand with a full house like so:

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to PirateLawyer [Qs Tc Qc 3s]
IslandBum1 calls 30
8TY6ER calls 30
PirateLawyer raises to 90
IslandBum1 calls 60
8TY6ER calls 60
*** FLOP *** [3c 4h Ts]
PirateLawyer bets 150
IslandBum1 folds
8TY6ER calls 150
*** TURN *** [3c 4h Ts] [8d]
PirateLawyer bets 250
8TY6ER calls 250
*** RIVER *** [3c 4h Ts 8d] [Td]
PirateLawyer checks
8TY6ER bets 550
PirateLawyer calls 550
*** SHOW DOWN ***
8TY6ER shows [2d 4d Ad 7c] two pair, Tens and Fours
PirateLawyer shows [Qs Tc Qc 3s] a full house, Tens full of Threes
PirateLawyer wins the pot (2,200) with a full house, Tens full of Threes

I missed a value bet on the end here but fortunately for me there's no way he actually would have called, I daresay.

A few hands later I won another big pot:

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to PirateLawyer [2c Ah Ad 2h]
8TY6ER calls 30
MiamiDon calls 30
Drizztdj calls 30
PirateLawyer raises to 120
IslandBum1 calls 120
pvanharibo calls 90
8TY6ER calls 90
MiamiDon calls 90
Drizztdj calls 90
*** FLOP *** [8d 2s Th]
PirateLawyer bets 367
IslandBum1 calls 367
*** TURN *** [8d 2s Th] [4c]
PirateLawyer bets 1,100
IslandBum1 calls 1,100
*** RIVER *** [8d 2s Th 4c] [6h]
PirateLawyer bets 1,400
IslandBum1 folds
Uncalled bet of 1,400 returned to PirateLawyer
PirateLawyer mucks
PirateLawyer wins the pot (3,669)

This put me at a full 6K -- fully doubled up in level one.

I hover right around 6K for a while and then bust out a bluffing maniac:

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to PirateLawyer [4d 3d 8d 8s]
8TY6ER raises to 175
MiamiDon calls 175
PirateLawyer calls 125 -- pretty easy call with a PP and low connectors
*** FLOP *** [8c 7s 7c]
PirateLawyer checks -- boom! flopped nut FH, time to trap
8TY6ER bets 550
PirateLawyer calls 550 -- don't want to scare the fish
*** TURN *** [8c 7s 7c] [8h]
PirateLawyer checks -- DQB! time to let the guy make another mistake
8TY6ER bets 825
PirateLawyer has 15 seconds left to act
PirateLawyer raises to 1,800 -- will he possibly call here?!
8TY6ER calls 815, and is all in
PirateLawyer shows [4d 3d 8d 8s]
8TY6ER shows [Qs Ts 2s 6c] -- words fail me
Uncalled bet of 160 returned to PirateLawyer
*** RIVER *** [8c 7s 7c 8h] [3c]
PirateLawyer shows four of a kind, Eights
8TY6ER shows a pair of Eights
PirateLawyer wins the pot (4,930) with four of a kind, Eights
PirateLawyer: DQB
8TY6ER is sitting out

Which gets me to nearly 8.5 K and earns me my first knockout bounty. (yay, $2!)

About four hands later, it's time for bounty #2 as I flop a huge monster + redraw with all the money going in on the flop:

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to PirateLawyer [Th 9h Ac Tc]
corron10 calls 50
PirateLawyer raises to 150
Sandtiger calls 100
corron10 calls 100
*** FLOP *** [Jh Td 8h] --jackpot! middle set, OESD, and straight flush draw (!!!)
Sandtiger checks
corron10 checks
PirateLawyer bets 237
Sandtiger raises to 700
corron10 calls 700
PirateLawyer raises to 1,987
Sandtiger folds
corron10 raises to 2,948, and is all in
PirateLawyer calls 961
corron10 shows [Jc Js 4h 6h] -- top set, baby flush draw
PirateLawyer shows [Th 9h Ac Tc]
*** TURN *** [Jh Td 8h] [3d]
*** RIVER *** [Jh Td 8h 3d] [Qd] -- river love!
corron10 shows three of a kind, Jacks
PirateLawyer shows a straight, Queen high
PirateLawyer wins the pot (7,071) with a straight, Queen high

I am now way up there with 12K.

I get a table change and soon chip up some more when I turn a full house vs. an overpair:

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to PirateLawyer [Qh Qc As 3d]
PirateLawyer raises to 120
xkm1245 calls 120
Astin calls 120
*** FLOP *** [Td 9s 9d]
PirateLawyer checks
xkm1245 checks
Astin checks
*** TURN *** [Td 9s 9d] [Qd]
PirateLawyer checks
xkm1245 bets 225
Astin calls 225
PirateLawyer calls 225
*** RIVER *** [Td 9s 9d Qd] [7c]
PirateLawyer bets 800
xkm1245 calls 800
Astin folds
*** SHOW DOWN ***
PirateLawyer shows [Qh Qc As 3d] a full house, Queens full of Nines
xkm1245 shows [6h Jc Kh Kd] a straight, King high
PirateLawyer wins the pot (2,725) with a full house, Queens full of Nines

Bounty #3 comes when I bust the overplayed AA:

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to PirateLawyer [7h 4c 6h 5h]
PirateLawyer calls 80
lightning36 raises to 360
Drizztdj calls 320
PirateLawyer calls 280 -- easy call getting 3:1 on my money with this speculative hand
*** FLOP *** [5d 4h Jd]
Drizztdj checks
PirateLawyer checks -- jackpot! two pair + OESD
lightning36 bets 1,160
PirateLawyer raises to 2,320 -- here's the check raise to trap the overpair
lightning36 calls 858, and is all in
PirateLawyer shows [7h 4c 6h 5h]
lightning36 shows [Ad Jh 9h As]
Uncalled bet of 302 returned to PirateLawyer
*** TURN *** [5d 4h Jd] [8c] -- that locks up the hand
*** RIVER *** [5d 4h Jd 8c] [3h]
PirateLawyer shows a straight, Eight high
lightning36 shows a pair of Aces
PirateLawyer wins the pot (5,196) with a straight, Eight high
lightning36 stands up

And I'm up to 16K just like that, and my chiplead increases.

A few hands later I pull a reverse Hoy on Astin, who is scuffling along as a short stack:

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to PirateLawyer [Qh 5h Qd Kd]
Astin raises to 180
Drizztdj calls 180
PirateLawyer calls 180
Easycure calls 100
*** FLOP *** [2h 9h Tc]
Easycure checks
Astin bets 380
Drizztdj folds
PirateLawyer calls 380
Easycure folds
*** TURN *** [2h 9h Tc] [5d]
Astin bets 480
PirateLawyer raises to 960
Astin calls 480
*** RIVER *** [2h 9h Tc 5d] [8d]
Astin checks
PirateLawyer has 15 seconds left to act
PirateLawyer bets 1,052
Astin folds
Uncalled bet of 1,052 returned to PirateLawyer
PirateLawyer mucks
PirateLawyer wins the pot (3,440)

And I chip up to 17.5K, rolling along smoothly.


I then lose my first significant pot in an ugly, ugly way to Easycure. All the money went in on the flop:


Which drops me down to 13K, tied for the overall chiplead.

I hover at 13K for quite a while, until I collect my next bounty vs. an overplayed QQ:

Which gets me back up to 17K again.

I tread water for a few hands and then collect yet another bounty, achieving my first suckout of the tournament:

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to PirateLawyer [Ah Tc Ks Th]
twoblackaces raises to 700
PirateLawyer calls 500 -- I have to call with this holding vs. a shorty
*** FLOP *** [9d Kd 6h]
PirateLawyer checks
twoblackaces bets 1,500
PirateLawyer raises to 3,000 -- time to put him to the test
twoblackaces calls 682, and is all in
PirateLawyer shows [Ah Tc Ks Th]
twoblackaces shows [As 3s 8h Ac] -- well he does indeed have AA
Uncalled bet of 818 returned to PirateLawyer
*** TURN *** [9d Kd 6h] [Td] -- miracle trips for the suckout! even I had flat called the flop instead of check-raising I get the rest of his stack here
*** RIVER *** [9d Kd 6h Td] [8c]
PirateLawyer shows three of a kind, Tens
twoblackaces shows a pair of Aces
PirateLawyer wins the pot (5,864) with three of a kind, Tens
twoblackaces stands up

And I escape, up to 18K in chips.

I dodge a couple of nasty situations by folding to re-raises behind me to protect my stack.

Then I collect yet another bounty by getting there against an overplayed overpair with a worse flush draw than mine:

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to PirateLawyer [Qd Td Tc 3s]
PirateLawyer calls 200
WarCrimes raises to 900
PirateLawyer calls 700 - I have plenty of reason to call here and see a flop with TT and a good suit + two Broadway cards
*** FLOP *** [Ad 3c 6d]
PirateLawyer checks
WarCrimes bets 2,100
PirateLawyer calls 2,100 -- exactly the sort of flop I had to see to continue
*** TURN *** [Ad 3c 6d] [8d]
PirateLawyer checks -- it's time to let him put the rest of his money in drawing dead
WarCrimes bets 2,371, and is all in -- on cue
PirateLawyer calls 2,371 -- no-brainer call
WarCrimes shows [Jd Ks As 4d] -- J-high flush no good!
PirateLawyer shows [Qd Td Tc 3s]
*** RIVER *** [Ad 3c 6d 8d] [6c]
WarCrimes shows a flush, Ace high
PirateLawyer shows a flush, Ace high
PirateLawyer wins the pot (11,042) with a flush, Ace high
WarCrimes stands up

I reach the 23K mark in chips. Yay!

I win a decent pot with a two pair hand vs. columbo when his straight draw didn't get there.

Stacks are starting to get short compared to the blinds so I am forced to fold some decent hands preflop to pressure.

Easycure in particular started to 3-bet me from the blinds so I made a note of that for later use.

And then I exploited it in this situation for a couple of more scalps for my bounty collection:

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to PirateLawyer [Qs Th Jd 9h] -- I am determined to see a flop with this holding
columbo calls 400
Zeem calls 400
PirateLawyer raises to 1,000
bayne_s calls 400, and is all in
Easycure raises to 4,400
PirateLawyer: shove monkey
PirateLawyer calls 3,400 -- I'm prepared to speculate on the button against this opponent
*** FLOP *** [7d 9d Ts]
Easycure bets 1,186, and is all in
PirateLawyer calls 1,186 -- instacall!
Easycure shows [Ac 2c Ad 8s] -- perfect!
PirateLawyer shows [Qs Th Jd 9h]
bayne_s shows [6d Tc 7s Js]
*** TURN *** [7d 9d Ts] [2h]
*** RIVER *** [7d 9d Ts 2h] [9s]
Easycure shows two pair, Aces and Nines
PirateLawyer shows a full house, Nines full of Tens
PirateLawyer wins the side pot (9,972) with a full house, Nines full of Tens
bayne_s shows two pair, Tens and Nines
PirateLawyer wins the main pot (2,600) with a full house, Nines full of Tens
bayne_s stands up
Easycure stands up

And there I go, up to 32K. Whee!

And now it's final table time.

Which sadly and brutally doesn't last nearly as long as I would have hoped.

First, I lose a pot to a flopped set of tens against my AA, the first time I'd overplayed an AAxx hand all tournament, but this is crunch time and I got unlucky:

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to PirateLawyer [Ac Jh As 3c]
pvanharibo calls 500
PirateLawyer raises to 1,500 -- have to raise from the BB here
pvanharibo calls 1,000
*** FLOP *** [7s Th Ks]
PirateLawyer checks -- time to trap
pvanharibo bets 3,250
PirateLawyer raises to 13,000
pvanharibo calls 4,078, and is all in
PirateLawyer shows [Ac Jh As 3c]
pvanharibo shows [Ts Td Ad 2c] -- damn!
Uncalled bet of 5,672 returned to PirateLawyer
*** TURN *** [7s Th Ks] [3d]
*** RIVER *** [7s Th Ks 3d] [2s]
PirateLawyer shows a pair of Aces
pvanharibo shows three of a kind, Tens
pvanharibo wins the pot (17,906) with three of a kind, Tens

So I take a big hit but am still comfortably stacked with 22K and am in second place overall.

On the very next hand, though I get completely setup with a cooler:

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to PirateLawyer [Jh Js 4d Ks]
Evy35 calls 500
PirateLawyer raises to 1,250 -- time to jack it up
swimmom95 calls 750
Evy35 calls 750
*** FLOP *** [Jd Ad As]
PirateLawyer checks -- I flopped a monster and have decided to slowplay
swimmom95 checks
Evy35 checks
*** TURN *** [Jd Ad As] [7c]
PirateLawyer bets 2,000
swimmom95 raises to 4,000 -- nice! but perplexing
PirateLawyer calls 2,000 -- call with intention of getting it all-in on the river
*** RIVER *** [Jd Ad As 7c] [Ts]
PirateLawyer checks
swimmom95 bets 5,875
PirateLawyer raises to 16,318, and is all in -- trap sprung
swimmom95 calls 7,526, and is all in
Uncalled bet of 2,917 returned to PirateLawyer

*** SHOW DOWN ***
PirateLawyer shows [Jh Js 4d Ks] a full house, Jacks full of Aces
swimmom95 shows [Jc Kh Ac 4s] a full house, Aces full of Jacks
swimmom95 wins the pot (38,552) with a full house, Aces full of Jacks

NOOOOOO!!!

I don't see how I can avoid losing my stack there. Such a sick beat.

And I soon go home in 9th place, short of the prize money, although the bounties (8 of them) more than paid for my entry.