[SaltwaterChaffy]

I sometimes take notes during tourneys just to watch myself, and give myself something to study later. I didn't do this until the final table in this case. One of the biggest hands I had was right before the money. 45 were paid, we were down to 46 players. I was on the button with AQo. A guy in LP raised it about 4x the BB. I called. The flop came Ace High. He bet about half the pot, and I pushed all-in. (I had him covered by about 8k. I guess he thought I was trying to bully him, so he called with pocket Jacks. No improvement, and I put us into the money, and was in 3rd place with 44 to go. Then I started to go a little card dead.

I raised from MP with T9c, got called by late position. The flop comes J87 rainbow, perfect for me. I check-min-raise. He calls. Turn is a ten. I bet about 1/2 the pot. He calls. River is a nine, putting my straight on the board. We both check, and he shows AQ for a higher straight. That was probably the worst beat I took, but it was my mistake for not raising more on the flop.

Anyway, I couldn't get any cards for a long time. I just hung out and gotten eaten by the blinds. With 16 people left, I was in 10th place. With 13 people left, I was 10th in chips. When there were 10 people left, I was 10th in chips. I pushed all-in some to steal blinds, and just kept floating along. Finally, we make the final table.

The rest of this is copied directly from my online journal. These hands are obviously the important ones for me, but hands where others are eliminated are included. Near the end, things got hectic, so I didn't get great details, and I really had to concentrate on the game rather than good notes.


final table time
452 people

Just doubled up with 88 vs. 55. No improvement for either, and I'm at 61k. Good for 5th of 9. Avg stack is 70k though.

Two people out. I raised to 12k with 88. Some guy pushed for 44k. Another calls. I decide that 88 might not be good, so I fold. It would have been good, but someone is eliminated now. Next hand, someone gets their AK sucked out by big stack A7.

I have AJ in the BB. Stealer tries to steal (imagine that) by making it 10k. I push my 43k. Stealer folds. I'm 7 of 7 though, but still have enough chips to do damage.


some guy raised to 12k, one guy called, and I had A7o in the BB. it was 7k more to call, so I did, flopped an Ace, so I pushed and took it down. Poor play, probably should have gone for a check-raise. I only get called there by a hand that beats me, most likely. I'm up to 80k. 4 of 7.

Move up in money. Flop 789. Two guys get all in, one with A8, one with TT. TT holds up, we're down to 6.

Call a raise from BB with A3o. Flop 2 pair. Check-check on flop. Turn is a K. I bet 18k into 36k pot, he folds.

Called a raise from stealer with ATo. SB and BB both call. Flop K88. SB bets 18k, everyone folds.

Take blinds with A7s. Taking blinds is huge, worth about 12k.

Go for a steal from the button with A3o. Get called by SB. Flop QTQ. I bet 18k. he calls. Turn is a 3. he checks, i check. Riv is an Ace. He bets 12k, I just call. He has A9, we split the pot.

Another gone. A min-raise from MP, a call, and a call from the SB. I also call from the BB with A2d. Flop is J78. SB bets 18k, I fold. Button pushes, SB calls. SB has JK, Button JQ. No improvement, and we're down to 5.

I'm definitely the shortstack. I have 64k, 4th place has 111k. Push or fold time for a little while, me thinks. 1st, 2nd, and 3rd are all within 3k chips of each other. If they get involved a big hand, maybe I won't be the shortstack much longer.

Steal first hand BB from the SB with 99. Showed it to advertise that I'm not pushing with nothing.

I min-raise UTG with A4c. I get called by the button. Flop 235. I bet 16k into 49k pot. Button pushes, I auto-call. He shows A9, I double up and am now the chip leader!

Steal with A5s. that's all.

Somebody else just doubled up to take chip lead from me. Another guy is really short now, though.

Min-raise from MP. SB calls. I call from BB with 76s. Flop is all spades. I bet about 1/3 of the pot. MP pushes. I call. She has Ace of spades. No other spade hits, and I'm huge chip leader.

Some shit happened really fast. We're down to 3. I'm 2nd in chips,but barely behind.

Went down to 3rd after my A9 failed to bust Shortstack's TT.

Shit is really crazy, don't have time to update now.

Down to 3rd now.

Heads up. He has a big chip lead. I double up early on, with 77 against his 76. He's still up a little under 2to 1.

Take a pretty big pot. We now have only a 60k difference.

I fall back a bit, getting as low as 130k. (678k in play)

Whew. Double up with A6 against his K2. He flopped a 2, but I turned a 6. I'm back in this thing.

In the BB with AJh. He raises (8k/16k) to 48k. I repop it to 128k. He thinks about it for a while, and then pushes. I hesistate for about 3 secs, and then call. He shows 89o. Flop is 426, two clubs. Ace of clubs on the turn. He has a club, I don't, so I have to dodge it on the river. River is a black 7, the sweetest spade ever! He's now down to less than the SB. We auto post 2 hands, and he wins both. He has enough to almost post a full BB. I have KQ of spades. I obviously call. He has 54o. Flop J3Q rainbow. T of spades on the turn seals it, the river Jack of spades gives me a meaningless flush. OMG, I won!!!!

Biggest win ever for me! Thanks for reading.
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