Took a day off from the grinding to meet up with my friend Dan and play some satellites together at the Bicycle Casino. He ran into some bad traffic on the 5 freeway, but managed to show up just in time to buy the last seat in the first sat. I was still scanning the crowd for him during the first hand, then realized that he was sitting three to my left, in seat 6. Working his ninja skills.
$33.50+6.50 buy-in, 1500 chips, ten-handed, 15 minute blinds, starting at 25/25, one winner. Insert bad beat story here which left me microstacked, and I was eliminated shortly thereafter. Conveniently, Dan also got knocked out on that hand after some questionable (IMO) preflop play by him, so we were able to play the next sat together. $53+7 buy-in, otherwise the same. I picked up 99 in the BB in the first level. UTG+2 open limped, two more players limped behind him, the SB raised to 75, I called, three more players called, and we took a flop five-handed. 433 and the SB checked, so clearly it was unlikely he had TT+. I bet 250 into the 375 pot, and UTG+2, who happened to be an incredibly annoying wannabe who bragged that he plays $10/$20 Razz on PS and occasionally cashes in $100+ buy-in tourneys there, shoved for ~1800 after very brief thought. It was folded around to me. I strongly doubted he would make this play with 44 or A3, so I basically had the nuts, since his preflop play with TT+ was also very unlikely, and I called. He had 54cc. There was a club on the flop, and a ridiculous Ac came on the turn, giving him any deuce, four, or club as outs, but the river was an offsuit six, and mercifully he stfu'd and departed.
It turned out the player on my right was making small preflop raises with almost any hand, but I had no reason to get involved in a big pot in these levels. Fortunately I picked up QQ at 50/100 and reraised him the rest of his chips (875) after he popped it to 250 UTG. He had a hand this time, AK, but the board bricked out. After that I pretty much just coasted, occasionally winning the pot raising preflop, and shoving after raising preflop with JT and flopping top pair; no call. When we got down to three-handed, I made an error I would have been less likely to make online, because there I don't have to keep eyeballing the stacks to figure out what they are. Dan had the button with 5k, I had 7k in the SB, and the BB had 3k. Blinds at 200/400 (no antes - never any antes in these), Dan folded, and I raised to 1200 with 87o. I think this is a clear mistake. With the ranges I had seen from the BB in BvB play (e.g. I had shoved with A2 earlier in this level and he snapped for 2k more with T9hh), I would have to call his shove, in which case it would be better to shove in the first place, but that would be an open shove for 7.5 effective BB with eight high with no antes when I myself still had 17.5, so just calling preflop seems best. At the time, I thought he had more chips, about 4k, but even then, with his reshipping range versus a PFR, just calling is best. I can take a flop if he makes a small raise, or just fold to a shove. Anyway, he shipped with Q9; I realized I had to call, and binked an 8 on the river. Dan offered a chop, 1/3 to him and 2/3 to me, and of course I accepted, as I'd been planning to.
I took a break for lunch and Dan took the last available seat in the next sat. In the middle stages, his overpair of tens failed to defeat a small flush draw, and he was out. He had to drive home at that point to beat the brutal traffic on the 5, but I hung around to play one more, since I had $300 in tournament chips and no one was buying them at 4 PM when the tourney for the night, a mega satellite, was not until 6 PM. Eskimo Clark walked up as Dan and I were saying our good-byes, and I asked Eskimo if he wanted to buy the chips, but he said "not yet". After he walked on, Dan told me who he was; I didn't know. Noob.
The last sat for me was an $80 (2000 starting chips), which I fortunately just barely had $ for - I had $200 budgeted for buy-ins; the tournament chips were not accepted towards satellite entries. Early on, I picked up a small suited gapper, 86ss, and limped behind a pile of other limpers. I picked up an OESD on the A75 (two diamonds) flop, called a small bet, and paired my eight on the turn, but let it go to a 350 bet from the guy on my right. After he won that pot with an uncalled bet on the river, he proceeded to go on a heater and eliminate everyone. I didn't play a hand again until shoving time, and I won more of those than I lost, so I made it HU with him. 3500 chips to his 16.5k. He offered me a $640-80 chop. Fuck him, lulz. I doubled up with A9 v his 44, spiking an ace on the turn. Then after he raised preflop, I shoved with A9cc, and he folded. Mostly limped and folded after that for a little while, winning and losing some small pots. I didn't want to play reraised pots with this guy; my hubris said I could just outplay him instead.
At 300/600, limped on the button with 75o. I had about 6k at this point. He minraised and I called. Flop 753 two spades, I had the 5s. He bet 1200 and I called. The turn was lousy, a 6. Hard to get any value there. Check check. River was the worst card in the deck, a four. Check check and I chopped with his KT.
A few hands later I got A3o on the button. I thought he would shove a wide range if I raised, so I figured I could get the best equity from limp-shoving, since he'd fold a lot of hands I'd be flipping with, whereas I'd have to see a showdown if I raise-called. He minraised and I shoved, but this time he had KK and gg. I don't mind losing the $80 at all. It would have been glorious to win the whole $720 there after being outchipped 5:1 HU and rejecting a deal.
+$170 after tips. Back to the grind.
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