Don't Try This At Home
With the main EPT event over for me, the 500 side event in Prague was my last comp of the year; I really enjoyed myself, playing an open game, meaning there were swings aplenty, just like the old days. It got three hundred or so runners and first prize was € 80k. We started with 3000 chips, with one re-buy or top-up. I got involved in one or two very iffy situations - see what you think:
Marginal Play, Right Opponent
It was level 5, 150/300, average was about 10 or 11k and I had a 16 or 17k stack. I’d been fairly quiet for a revolution or two so when I found Qh-10h in LP and a raise to 900 and a call in front of me, I was more then happy to jump in and see a flop.
The flop was 8,Jc,Ac and the raiser who only had 4300 checked. A good, solid player, Benjamin Kang, bet 2500 and I called sensing all sorts of possibilities. The raiser sighed and then pushed all-in for a further 1900, which we both called.
The turn was the Qc and Kang checked. At this stage, with just one to come I wasn’t feeling too confident about the main pot but felt that I could perhaps get a little back in the way of a side pot so with about 11k left I bet 2k. Kang called. The river was a 5, Kang checked and I bet 3500. He dwelt for about fifteen seconds, showed A-Q and passed.
The raiser had K-K, stayed alive and I got the modest side pot, a 2000 return on my 5300 investment.
Everyone, perhaps barring Kang, thought I was nuts. I think, whilst there was a lot of risky stack exposure in the hand, it was an ok play, but it’s very opponent dependant and I would only have got that through against a good player.
Very Marginal Play, Wrong Opponent, Wrong Stack Sizes
Thirty minutes later then and I’ve been fairly inactive again, it’s passed to me on the button and I make it 1200 to go with what turns out to be 10d-2d. The erratic old boy in the SB re-raises a further 2k and I decide to take a shot and call (we have similar stack sizes). The flop is all spades, 2,4,Q.
He leads for 4k with just 6k back. I just decided then that that flop must be pretty terrifying for most hands and min-raised him, another 4k. Unfortunately he reluctantly called and led for his last 1900 when an offsuit ace hit. I of course couldn’t pass but got a momentary glimmer of hope as he started to stand, shaking his head.
Alas, his two red eights were massive and I was left red-faced and very short with just 1200 chips in front of me.
No, I didn’t go onto win it, but a minor miracle was performed when an admirable comeback was made; I somehow quadrupled-up on the very next hand with Ac-8h vs. A-K, Q-Q and K-2, I kid you not, somehow rivering the nut flush.