Final Table, 45 Players

Been a few days since my last entry. I have been spending time reading some new books which I hope to talk about in the future. As well I have been playing some live games and doing well. Speaking of which, I'd like to share with you my most recent money finish; a 45 player $5 +.50 SNG on Full Tilt.

This SNG had some very interesting hands and in some cases I made some calls that seemed crazy, but when you work out all the logistics and see my thought process you will understand why I made the calls I did. In this blog you will once again be able to get into my head and see why I made the calls I did.

Hand 1 - Reading your Opponent

Seat 1: (2,120)
Seat 2: (1,660)
Seat 3: (1,005)
Seat 4: (1,610)
Seat 5: (4,210)
Seat 7: villain (1,960)
Seat 8: Hero (1,355) Small Blind
Seat 9: (1,250) Big Blind

Blinds 25/50

What we know: Early in the tournament. Seat 1 & 5 have been very aggressive early on and has paid off for them. Seat 7 has started to play very aggressive by pushing all their chips in and taking down the pot uncontested. Seat 7 hasn't had to show their cards in the last 5 take downs. Our image is tight. We have only paid the blinds and been involved with one hand.

Dealt: Jc 3c

Seat 1 - 3 Fold
Seat 4 - 7 Limp
Hero: Calls
BB: Checks

Flop: Ac Ad Kc

Hero: Checks
BB: Checks
Seat 4 - 6 Check
villain: Bets 250

Impression: Everyone checked to the last person to act. Seat 7 bets 250 into a 300 pot. This means two things; the villain is attempting to steal the pot since they are in position -or- they have a King or Ace since that's what a bet of 250 into a pot of 300 is suppose to mean. Before we make a decision let's look back on what makes sense and what the villain is trying to tell us.

The villain was the last to act pre-flop and only limped in. A player on the button pre-flop with multiple people limped in and no one showing strength would definitely raise with face cards or pocket pair. There are too many people in the pot to limp with hands like AA, KK, AK, AQ, KQ, AJ, or any pokey pair. One would even raise with a hand as bad as KJ in this situation to attempt to narrow their competition and not have so many people drawing to beat their hand. When the flop came down AAK the no one showed strength again and the villain, last to act, decides to make a near pot-sized bet. With this bet it even further supports the evidence that the villain does not have an Ace or a King. Almost any player, even fish, will check when they have an extremely strong hand and a lot of people in the action. No one wants to scare a person away, they rather maximize their value on the hand and let someone bet at it so they can either slow-play or check-raise the person. Another common play might be to make a small bet, 1/4th the pot to give people the right odds to call and build up the pot. Our villain has definitely shown in prior hands that they are capable of slow playing or check-raising a big hand.

A bet here can only mean one thing, an attempt to buy.

Hero: Calls

BB: Folds
Seat 4 & 5 fold as well
Heads up action going into the Turn

Turn: Kh [Ac Ad Kc]

Hero: Checks
villain: Bets 400

Impression: Previously we eliminated the possibilities of our villain holding a Ace or a King due to their pre-flop action and their reaction on the Turn. A King on the Turn is an interesting card. If our villain doesn't have a King or an Ace it certainties didn't help them. If our villain was holding pocket pair, which again we don't believe is the case, their pair is now no longer good unless it was Aces or Kings. Our Hero's hand is only"Aces and Kings", Jack Kicker but might be the best hand at the moment due to the read on our villain being not strong. Our hero has to invest 400 chips for a pot of 1250. This is little better then 3:1 to call, our hero's stack is 1055 chips with 300 chips already committed to the pot. With our read on the villain and with the knowledge that our villain has been super aggressive and has yet to show a hand recently we make the call. Jack Kicker is most likely the best hand at the moment.

Hero: Calls

River: 5s [Ac Ad Kc][Kh]

Hero: Checks
villain: Goes All In for 1,260

Impression: We already covered that we don't feel our opponent has Aces or Kings. Therefore our Jacks can only be beat by two hands: Queen Kicker or Pocket Fives. No raise pre-flop with many limpers discredits the villain holding pocket 5s. The way the villain has played this hand is complete strange then how someone would have played it if they had a monster hand. Our villain has bet quickly and in mass amounts multiple times regardless on our previous calls. An ALL IN bet on the River is not a play made by someone who has a monster hand. A small bet or a reasonable sized bet on the River would be a correct bet. This would give your opponent the right odds to call so you could maximize your profits. A more then pot-sized bet on the River is way too dramatic to be a bet from a monster hand.

If all this is true then the only hand we would worry about in this situation is someone limping with Queen-junk. They would have a higher kicker to the pairs on the board and would take down the pot. We need to make a decision and time is running out.

Lets look at the money. If we make this call we would double up to 2,800 chips and some change. If we fold we are down to 655 chips with 50 blinds and a blind increase not fair behind. It's going to cost us 655 chips to win 2800... This is not bad odds considering we feel pretty confident we have the best hand.

Put all the facts together:

1. We do not put our villain on Aces or Kings
2. We do not put our opponent on pocket pair
3. Our opponent has not been afraid to push all in on the River and has won around 5 times in a row with no show down
4. We believe our opponent has made attempts to "steal" the pot - a move not done by someone with a monster hand
5. We can either fold and end up with 655 chips or call and win 2860 chips
6. We have a strong feeling we have the best hand. The only hand we can put our villain on that may beat us and would have made the moves they did would be with Queen-junk.

We play our read and call our villain.

villain shows [3h Ts] (two pair, Aces and Kings)
Hero shows [Jc 3c] (two pair, Aces and Kings)
Hero wins the pot (2,860) with two pair, Aces and Kings

Conclusion: Our read was correct. The villain was making attempts to steal the pot and we got paid off.

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Hand 2 - Opponent's Costy Mistake

Seat 1: (1,335) Big Blind
Seat 2: villain (2,910)
Seat 3: (3,600)
Seat 5: (4,455)
Seat 7: (8,275)
Seat 8: Hero(2,615)
Seat 9: (1,905) Small Blind

Blinds: 100 / 200

What we know: Seat 2 & 7 have been over aggressive. Lots of re-raises and going All In. Seat 3 & 5 have tighten up. Seems most players are afraid to raise pre-flop because of the blinds. Most players will limp. Position is becoming an extremely important factor of the game at this point.

Dealt: 3d 3c

villain: Raises to 400
Seat 3 folds
Seat 4 calls
Seat 5 folds
Hero: Calls
Small Blind: Calls
Big Blind: Folds

Impression: We are on the button with pocket 3s. The player Under the Gun puts in a min raise not showing too much strength. Everyone else on the table either folds or calls - no challenge meaning no real strength at the table. Low wired pairs are good to see cheaply and being we are in position it's worth a call.

Flop: 3s 8s 8d

Seat 9 Checks
villain bets 800
Seat 5 Folds

Impression: This was a fantastic flop for us. We now hold Threes-Full-of-Eights. The original raiser bets 800 which is about a little more than 1/2 the pot. The size of this bet seems to be a continuation bet. This is when a player acts strong pre-flop then is the first one to act strong after the flop. We don't put our villain on an extremely strong hand. If he held two eights he certainly would slow-play it here with many people in the hand. We certainly can't put our villain on a hand like 83 because of his raise pre-flop. We have the best hand and will attempt to maximize our profitability from this hand.

Hero raises to 1,600
SB folds
villain calls

Impression: Some might think our raise might have been a mistake. Some people would say we should have slow-played the hand however I think that's a wrong play here - our hand is not "that" strong.

We put our aggressive opponent on a weak hand pre-flop. Maybe a low pocket pair or overcards. Right now we have the best hand and with an bet up front and a person still left to act. The person left has to bet 800 into a pot of 3,200 (if I call) which is giving him 4:1 on his money. This is a good call for him if he has pocket pair and anyone holding pocket pair higher then 3's can take this full house away from us. We need to give them the incorrect odds to call and we are happy to take the pot without further action.

Turn: 9s [3s 8s 8d]

villain goes all in for 910

Impression: Our villain is now saying the 9 of spades helped his hand. It is very much possible that our opponent could have been holding a pair of nines, min raised with the weak pair pre-flop than figured his nines and eights were good on the flop. Now he hits nines-full and pushes all in. This is a very reasonable assumption and makes it a difficult call. Lets take a look at where we stand.

We have 615 chips left and are looking at a pot of 5,610 (295 will be returned to the villain if we call). If we fold we have 3 big bets left and are crippled for the rest of the tournament. If we call we end up with over 6,000 in chips - a healthy step up in the tournament. We might have the worse hand if he tripped his nines but if we fold we are basically out of the tournament anyway unless we hit a miracle run of cards. Mathematically we have to call, we are "pot committed".

Hero calls and is all in for 615 chips
villain shows Jh Jc
Hero shows 3d 3c

Impression: Our villain made a huge mistake pre-flop. Afraid to make the correct raise pre-flop with pocket Jacks has cost him all his chips unless he gets his miracle card on the river, Jack or Eight. We are in a fantastic spot considering our bad read on our opponent. With his weak action pre-flop we did not put him on a hand like pocket Jacks, but in this case we are okay with being wrong. We have about 90% favorite to win this hand and only one card to come.

River: 7h [3s 8s 8d 9s]

Hero shows full house, Threes full of Eights and wins the pot (6,230)

Conclusion: Our villain made a big mistake not raising more then 1x the BB with pocket Jacks. With so many people left in the action his goal should have been to chase out people with drawing hands and low pairs like mine. If he would have bet stronger pre-flop he could have taken this hand down. Instead he fell in love with his hand and paid dearly for his mistake.

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Hand 3 - When to go All In

Seat 1: Small Blind (3,385)
Seat 3: Big Blind (14,775)
Seat 4: (13,826)
Seat 5: (6,587)
Seat 6: (3,219)
Seat 7: (9,890)
Seat 8: Hero (11,008)
Seat 9: Button (4,810)

Blinds: 250 / 500

What we know: Final table with 9 players remaining. Only the top 6 take home money. The big stacks have tighten up and the little stacks have been pushing all in frequently to survive. We have been controlling the table well, to the level that even the big stacks fold to us in the blinds.

Dealt: Jh Qh

Seat 4 - 7 fold
Hero Raises to 1,500
Button & Small Blind folds
Big Blind calls 1,000

Flop: 5d 7c 6h

BB, our villain, checks
Hero Checks

Turn: 5h [5d 7c 6h]

villain bets 3,500
Hero Calls 3,500

What we know: During the pre-flop I was the original raiser and the BB, who already had 500 chips committed to the pot called my raise for another 1,000. With him checking on the flop indicated weakness to me. I should have put in a continuation bet but I showed weakness as well and checked. This was a mistake on my part because now I am facing a 3,500 bet with no information on my opponents hands. My only thought is he is attempting to buy the pot since I showed weakness. I have four to the flush and I am not getting the right odds to make this call. But I don't put him on a strong hand either and I feel confident that if I miss my heart draw I can still take this pot down on the river if he checks. I go against the odds and go with "playing the player" and make the call. Dangerous move, but if I loose I know I can get chipped back up with 6,000 chips left. I have full confidence at this table so the risk is not as bad as it might seem.

River: 2h [5d 7c 6h 5h]

villain moves all in for 6,500
Hero calls and moves all in for 6,008

villain shows trip fives, Kc 5c
Hero shows Jh Qh and wins 22,266 with a flush, Queen-high

Conclusion: Our villain made two critical mistakes in his hand. The first was pre-flop when he called a 1,000 raise with K5 suited. To some players this may look like a great hand but any skilled player knows this hand is no good. His second mistake was when he pushed all in after a possible flush draw. If his thought was to move all in after his 5's hit the Turn he should have pushed there instead on the River. When the board comes down three to the flush and your sitting with trips a more correct play from him would have been to bet out about 2,000. This would leave him with enough chips to continue the tournament and would be a large enough bet to chase any one away that might not have a great hand (someone drawing for the straight and missed it). With his play, pushing all in, he made such a big bet that only a person with a flush can call it. So while he found out that his opponent, me, did have the flush he now has no chips to continue his tournament.

Our play on this hand was not perfect either. We should have placed a continuation bet on the flop and we should have folded the bet on the Turn. We took risk because of our confidence at the table and it paid off. Risky move, not one I do often, only when I know I have control on the table and can get chipped up if I loose some chips. The end lesson here is some times you end up taking risk and some times they pay off. The results in this hand could have been disastrous. He could have been on a A-K flush draw and my Queen-high would have been no good. I dodged a lot of bullets on that hand.

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Hand 4 - KK vs TT

Seat 4: Small Blind, villain(23,352)
Seat 7: Big Blind (22,367)
Seat 8: Hero (21,781)

Blinds: 500 / 1000

What we know: The final three positions and Seats 4 & 7 have tighten up. We been able to make a lot of steals pre-flop. Our opponents are slightly afraid of us. We sent almost everyone at the final table to the rail. Unfortunately we doubled our remaining players and are about even in chips with them now.

Dealt: Kd Ks

Hero raises to 2,000
villain moves all in for 23,352
Big Blind Folds
Hero moves all in for 19,781

Impression: We made a small raise pre-flop to try and get some action and we ended up getting the action we wanted. A player moved all in and we have a strong enough hand to call and if we win, become the dominating chip leader in this tournament. The only hand that has us beat is AA, but we are willing to take that risk. In this time of the tournament players will push all in with overcards and any pocket pair. We should have a good lead on our opponent.

villain shows Th Tc
Hero shows Kd Ks

Impression: Stronger hand then what we expected, but we are still ahead by about 80% to win.

Flop: Jh Ad 3h

Impression: Mathematically this is a good flop for us. It puts us at almost 90% to win. In reality it leaves a lot of outs for my opponent. Two running cards could give him a straight or a flush, and any two cards could give him trips. We would have liked to seen another King on the flop, but we are still ahead.

Turn: Qd [Jh Ad 3h]

Impression: We are 95% to win since the Queen of Diamonds eliminated his possibility of getting a flush. But the danger now becomes a King (for a straight), a Ten does not help our villain since it would give me a straight. Being that there are only 2 cards in the deck that could help him this hand can only be won by our villain with a river miracle.

River: Kc [Jh Ad 3h Qd]

villain wins with a Straight, Ten to Ace
Hero Looses with Trip Kings, Ace-High

Conclusion: Our villain spiked one of the two remaining cards that could save him. Unfortunately that's the way it goes some times in Poker. We take third place with no regrets in making the call with KK in this hand. We have all the odds in our favor and would make the same call again with an opponent holding TT while I hold KK.

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Overall this 45 player SNG was very interesting. We hand complete control over most of the table we sat at. We made tons of great calls and plays that enable us to knock out a majority of our opponents and in the end we turned our $5 entry fee into $36. Even with our Kings being cracked by Tens this was a well played tournament with no regrets.