LIVE TOURNEY, BITCHES!! The field was about 50+ people and took a total of 5.5 hours to complete but I took home first place with a Jamie Gold chip stack with four other players at the final table. They decided I should take first and they would chop the rest (which was like $660 each) and I took first for $1870. I loved the tournament structure because you start off with 3,500 chips with blinds starting at 25/25 with 20-minute blind raises. A cool thing was top 10 people got paid which was totally different from other casinos where it's literally only top 10% people get paid which sucks if it's a 50-person tourney as well.
What I loved was that after 150/300, it became 150/300 with 25 ante, good shit! Anyways, I was severely discouraged at one point where I was only 10 big blinds strong and looking at huge chip stacks at my table, but I made some disciplined folds and doubled up a few times to come in average at the final table.
I made a pretty gosu call IMO where UTG raises 4x and I call with TT in MP pre-flop, everyone else folds. UTG checks and I bet half pot on a J82 two spade flop and UTG goes all in covering me well enough. I tanked for like five minutes before calling and he had pocket 77s and everyone ooh'd and ahh'd which made me feel like a champ and I was told by the person to my right that I was sweating profusely thinking about it (I had a sweater on and it was hot ). Anyways, this made me chip leader and I just started raising every hand and taking down like 5k dead money in the pot every time. I had so many chips the poker manager dude had to bring me three racks to stack my chips because it was everywhere, which he later gave me bigger denominations for them.
After my experience at these tourneys, I giggle to myself when people start whining and bitching when I raise every hand or I'm "too aggressive." There's only one goal when anyone plays these tournaments and that's to win.
PStars is rolling out qualifiers up the ass now for the Main Event. My question is, if you win a satellite to the ME, is it like T$ where you can sell it like a satellite to the Sunday Mil?
They seem pretty easy to crush, especially the $4 180-mans. I think I registered in 12-13 and final tabled two and cashed three total. I don't know if that's good or not but it did boost my BR a bit. I am going to play more $4 180-mans then move up to the next level whatever that is.
So, this is my first live poker experience. I turned 21 three months ago and me and my cousin decided to hit up this tournament at a local casino. $50 buy-in, and $3 gets you another 500 chips added to your 1500 stack. There was 20 or so people and the prize pool was $1080 and top two get paid.
I played standard TAG and there was a lot of newbs on the scene who didn't know what blinds were / what the minimum raise was and etc. A few hands go by and I pick up 55 in MP. There is two limpers and I raise to 250. First limper calls, and second folds. Flop is KJ3, it goes check check. J turn, with now two spades on the board. He checks again, I fire 3/4 pot. Q river and he checks, I put him all in and he calls... and mucks, WTF? Anyways, I get a good pot out of that.
Few hands later, UTG limps, UTG + 1 raises 3x + limper, I raise 3x with KK. Everyone else folds and I put on my Phil Ivey impersonation and the guy does a Hollywood before announcing "All-in" I neck-snap call and he grunts like a bitch. He has QQ and he misses the board.
So now I'm chip leader at the table and still playing TAG and my cousin goes out with K4s and I'm like wtf mate? Newb.
Final table and I'm 2nd in chips starting and there are like 3 extremely short guys, like 6-7 BBs and they literally wait till they have 1-2 BB before going all-in. Fucking newbs.
This donk at my table who would go all-in / call shove with any Ace was battling it out with this old dude (who was my biggest threat, he knew how to play). Old dude raises 3x in the SB, donk calls. Old dude insta-shoves flop on 238 and donk says some retarded shit like, "Well, I'm hungry so I call." Old dude flips over J9o and donk calls with A5o, turn is a J and river is a 4. Old dude shakes his head saying somethin' like "and this is why people can't win tournaments."
I lol to myself softly as now it's down to final three. Me, donk, and semi-donk (plays any suited ace). I'm 2nd in chips still with blinds at 600/1200 with 300 antes (strong ante) and donk limps in on the button and semi-donk folds. I look at my shit, BOOM AQo and I have a stack of like 13k or so and I shove. Donk says "O rlly?" I put on Ivey impersonation and he asks for how much I have. I count it out but donk ends up folding his garbage.
Blinds are up to 1k/2k with mofuckin' 400 ante or somethin' and I am 2nd in chips at this point and I fold on the button. Donk is SB and shoves all-in and semi-donk calls with A4o, donk has 69o. Semi-donk's hand holds up and boom, we are final two. First gets like 780 and second gets 280 or somethin'.
I steal some blinds and we are about even in cheaps and like 10 hands into the heads-up he asks if I want to chop, I was like wtf? I wasn't even aware of chopping until now and I didn't mind getting $540 for my first night of poker so we chopped. I tipped the dealer $20 and he was like O_O thx!
Anyways, shit was fun as hell and easy at the same time. I'm going out again tomorrow to play in another $40 tourney so that should be fun.
). Anyways, this made me chip leader and I just started raising every hand and taking down like 5k dead money in the pot every time. I had so many chips the poker manager dude had to bring me three racks to stack my chips because it was everywhere, which he later gave me bigger denominations for them.
.
