EPT Baden Day Three

I had spent about seventeen days alone in Austria, walking through mountains, city streets, cathedrals, parks, and cemeteries during the day, watching Lost, reading, and playing online poker at night. Keeping my mind occupied was somewhat challenging - and then suddenly I found myself deep in this tournament trying to win a million bucks. It was with this backdrop that I entered day three.

I was nervous. This was the first time I had ever had a big stack late in a big buy-in event. I had gotten plenty of encouragement from friends and blog commentors, but physically I was alone in Austria. I spent a couple hours that morning walking around Baden looking for a hotel. Everything was booked. I must have gone to ten different places, most of the accommodations in town, and there was absolutely nothing. Finally a nice fellow at one of the hotels called to a hotel in the nearby town of Bad Voslau and got me a room there.

It was a weird feeling sitting down with that big stack because people had been saying congratulations and stuff like that but we weren’t even in the money! Most big tournaments don’t have a day where you start off outside the money and end at the final table.

I had a strategy to play really tight for a couple rounds, then open it up and suddenly start playing really aggressively once a few players had busted and we were near the bubble.

128,800
1000-2000-200

Get button to start.
Fold T7s cutoff.
Fold QTo next hand.

127,600
1200-2400-300

Button raises I find a way to fold KJ in the BB.
Raise QJo MP take blinds.
Fold KTo next hand.
Excellent news as they move the big stack Sebastian to another table – he seemed like a good and aggressive player.
Guy raises to 6100 Fuentes calls I call in BB with 6c5c. Flop Td8hc6h checked around turn Qc checked around river 5 I bet 12k they fold quickly.
Next hand folds to me I put the BB in for 15k with QJ he calls with AQs board comes xxxxJ.
Raise KJo UTG BB calls flop Ad8h3d he shoves I fold.
Now a devastating pot: UTG shoves for 11x BB, Fuentes calls on the button, and I fold 99 in the BB. UTG has Q7s, Fuentes has AQ, flop A98. If UTG doesn’t make a bonehead shove here I win a MONSTER pot against Fuentes no matter how the action goes.
Fold K5s on the button.
They move Sebastian back to the table now, and he’s on my left.
Fold T8 UTG.
Gunnar Rabe raises UTG and I call with 77. Flop AAK he bets I fold immediately he claps his hands in disgust and shows KK.

134,400
27 people left, 24 get paid
1500-3000-300
6-handed
Raise JTo take blinds.
Raise UTG to 8k with 77 old guy reraises me to 24k pretty sure he is rocking a big pair here I can call and take command of the tourney if I flop a set but 16k is a lot especially on the bubble. He has 120k behind. I fold.

Gunnar Rabe raises to 8k I felt he was weak and was planning to reraise any two from the BB. AT was a monster – I make it 25k – he tosses his hands up in frustration but then defiantly calls. Flop K65 I shove for his last 35k and he instacalls with AA. I don’t suck out. I really got owned here. In hindsight, my correct play was just to move all in preflop considering it was the bubble, how much Gunnar was raising, and that I would have to call if I reraised to 25k and he pushed.

Very next hand a short stack raises to 12k on the button. I shove in the SB with AJ and he quickly calls about 30k more all-in with pocket fours! The flop comes KQT and I try to shake his hand. Very stupid mistake on my part there. He vehemently refuses to shake as the hand is certainly not over and sure enough the turn card is a four. I cannot explain how confident I was at this moment that the board was going to pair on the river. With everything that has happened to me in the big tournaments and my premature gesture, I was certain the board was going to pair and cripple me. Somehow though, the river completely blanked, I busted the guy, and almost doubled up.

Raise Q9o UTG win blinds.
Fuentes the ultra-LAG gives me a walk.
Bubble bursts and my mind-boggling streak of 18 straight events over 5k buyin without a cash is broken.

New table draw:
1 Swiss kid Anton with tons of chips, maybe the leader at this point
2 Fuentes
3 Pascal Perrault sorta short
4 Old man somewhat nutty but not loose
5 Ted Lawson very short
6 Huge stack
7 Alex Kravchenko
8 Me

First hand raise AQ EP Anton calls I check-fold on T43.
Pascal raises to 9k UTG I call with 66. Flop 884 check-check. Turn T check-check. River 5 he checks I bet 14k he calls I win.

133,600
2000-4000-400

Raise 88 take blinds.
Next hand fold 76s.
Next hand raise KJo EP BB reraises me I fold instantly.
Kravchenko limps on the button, I limp A4s in SB, BB checks. Flop Jc5d4d I check-fold to a bet and a raise.
Hijack raises I decide to fold KTs on the button with two LAGs in the blinds.
Old man raises to 9k UTG I call with 77 Pascal calls in the BB. Flop K85 rainbow they check to me I check. Turn K (second spade) they check to me I bet the minimum 4k Pascal calls old guy folds. River Qs check-check I win.
Next hand Kravchenko limps I limp KJs it gets raised and reraised behind.
Raise 33 EP Fuentes calls. Flop Jc8c2c I check-fold.
Fold A7o cutoff.

116,000
2500-5000-500
7-handed

Fold QTo 2^nd pos.
Give walk with T5s.
Fold T7s on button.
Guy raises to 14k I call with 88 flop 642 check-check. Turn K check-check. River 2 he checks I bet 20k he tank-folds.
UTG limps, Kravchenko limps SB I check A9 in BB. Flop KJ3 Kravchenko checks I check UTG bets Kravchenko calls I fold.
Limp Tc7c in SB Anton checks in BB. Flop K42 check-check turn 7 I bet 6k he calls river 5 I bet 14k he makes it 46k I decide to fold. I asked him after the tournament and he said he rivered a straight with A3.
Ted limps Kravchenko limps SB I check K6. Flop 9s8s2 checked around. Turn A I check Ted bets Kravchenko calls. I could make a huge move here with my image and probably get one or both to fold the ace but I fold.
Give a walk with J4o.
Fold T6s second position.
Ted limps I check T8s flop KQx I check-fold to a big bet and he shows a king.
Ted kept limping with his short stack and played a good number of pots considering his chips – it was different than how I play the short stack but it was really effective. Ted is one of the best short-stack players in the game so it was great to watch him operate all night and learn some new things.

73,000
3000-6000-500

Cutoff raises I shove AQs in SB he folds.
Raise AQ take blinds.
106k. Down to two 8-handed tables.
Folds to me in SB I have KQs…really interesting. I think it’s close between limp/reraise and shove…I decided to just shove…Anton tanked three minutes and folded, later he said he had pocket eights?! Pretty crazy laydown if that’s true.
Fold 87s EP.
Button raises I fold 76s in SB.
Fold QJs to EP raise.
Raise JJ EP to 16k…read all about it in this interview…I did actually make it 16k not the 20k I said in the interview.
Shove for 77k in SB with A9 Anton folds BB.
Fold A3 button with 84k.

84,000
4000-8000-1000
7-handed
19k a round.

Shove AJ for 84k they fold.
Raise UTG to 20k with KsJs Gunnar calls in BB. Flop Qs9s9 he checks so fast I felt like he hit it but F it I’m all-in he instacalls with AQ turn is a spade and I double up.
BB Gunnar is all-in for 6k I limp UTG with A6s button Denes limps SB limps. Flop AA9 with two diamonds I bet 10k Denes calls. Turn Kd check-check river x check-check I win sidepot but Gunnar has 3d2d and is back in the game.
Ted limps I limp K9o in SB Julian checks in BB. J756 I check till turn and then fold to Julian’s bet.
5-handed, 11 left. 180k, avg 256k.
Fold J8o UTG.
Raise 74s both blinds call. Flop AA7 they check to me I bet 30k both fold. Crucial.
Fold QTo in BB to a raise.
Walk Julian with K2o.
Combine to final 9-handed table. Three hands later Gunnar takes a bad beat and the day is over.
190,000 to finish day three/start final table.