Bankroll Booster

I put in a very strong performance at the LC during my last outing, both in the tournament and the cash game.

The tournament saw a total of 8 players with a £100 entry, and we added running antes at level 4 to spice things up a bit. Fluke made all of the early running, but two hands effectively decided the tournament in rapid succession.

Hand1
There are four players remaining, and we are at 300-600 with a running ante of 50. Luke raises to 1600 UTG and I shove for my 6k stack with KT from the SB. Jalfont folds, and Fluke almost nitrolls me by taking his time to call with AJ ;) Anyhow, I get lucky and have a straight by the river to beat Fluke’s two pair.

Hand2
Next orbit, Fluke again raises to 1800 UTG and I shove from the SB this time with KJ. Fluke thinks for a while before calling with K3. I think this is a really marginal call, as I need to have a lot of suited connectors in my range to make this profitable. Perhaps there are enough QJ/JT type hands to make it profitable, but it must be close. I hold up to eliminate Fluke and take a commanding chip lead. Ioannis, the short stack is soon knocked out, and myself and Jalfont do an equity deal to get the cash game going, so I take £390.

The cash game starts badly, as I river a straight against Fluke. It is only third nuts, but I deem it suitable to shove over Luke’s £20 river bet. He calls in flash however with the 2nd nut straight and I am stacked for £200 early on.

From then on, it’s a roller coaster. I am up and down like a yo-yo throughout the evening, and in fact £600 in the hole at one point. The game is £1/£2 but is playing much bigger by the end, and after getting a succession of big bluffs through and finally hitting some cards I end up £1,500 in profit.

The two key hands at the end of the night were as follows:

Hand A
Player1 has been bullying me off a lot of pots with marginal holdings, and I end up taking a stand against him with A7 on an ace high board. I normally hate going all the way with Arag when you pair the Ace (and normally don’t play these hands), but this time it felt right. Mind you, I had to call bets of £75, £150 and £260 on the various streets once I had hit the Ace. No draws hit as the cards developed, which emboldened me with my calls, and my pair of Aces was thankfully good.

Hand B
Player2 has been playing very snugly, so when he 3bet my £15 open to £50 I considered giving up my J♥10♥. Mind you, we are only 5 handed, I have position and it’s a hand that can flop very big.

Flop arrive K, Q, 9 :)

Ding, ding. The added bonus of course, is that snug player may well have KK, QQ, AK in this spot.

I bet £75 and get a call.

Turn is another King. Hmmm. KK and QQ now ahead.

I bet £125 and get a call.

River is a blank, and when opponent checks the river, I suspect he has AA or AK now. A value bet is in order so I bet £250. Opponent calls with AK and I scoop a big pot.

I’m almost level for the year now, after a disastrous first 9 months. I really feel I’m playing well again now, so the trip to Vegas couldn’t come at a better time. I fly out on Sunday for a week, so the next update will be from there.