Bloggerment 42.

Profit: $47

I was playing cash rooms during the evening when I remembered a tournament that goes on every Sunday evening that some of the Raise the River forumities go to. Admittidly I'm more of lurking there than a poster but I thought I'd try my luck since I never play on pokerstars and have a small bankroll on there. My bankroll is slighlty bigger now :)

I think I'm supposed to use an official picture but this is only the second Bloggerment I've played and that was ages ago so I don't know what I'm supposed to use.

What I can say is that despite never playing nine-handed games, rarely playing sit and gos and having not won a MTT of any description for more than a year, I played a perfect tournament.

I can't remember playing a hand incorrectly - one that cost a significant amount of my stack anyway. In the early running I raised in position, took a couple of small pots and was able to apply pressure on reraises. In particular I remember Burnley Mik reraising me when I had Queens. I shoved and he folded saying he had JJ.

Throughout the first hour I kept up with the chip average but nothing more. Whenever I did pick up any momentum a player called Zagga noticed and stuck in a couple of reraises which forced me to fold. A pretty crucial hand early on was when I had KQc and the flop brought rags with two clubs. Against top pair I was about 50/50. Zagga raised my flop bet which would have meant me going all in. I remember typing "it's too early to race" and just threw it away.

The hand before the break, with about 2,500 chips (starting stack was 1,500) I flopped a straight with 45. It wasn't a significant hand in terms of gathering chips (my opponent folded my flop raise) but it did trigger a couple of thoughts in my head which contributed to the final result. I realised that I was getting pretty good hands which were producing on the flop. With the stack I had and the escalating blinds I decided that if I had a 50/50 where I could be the aggressor I would take it. I also realised that I had a pretty good image and people were folding to me more often than not and I had only shown good cards. Again, the blinds meant that it was a preflop game so I was going to start raising as much as possible before the flop.

With 21 entrants the final table soon came . I was still in mid position with about 3,500 chips. With hands like KJ, A8 and low pocket pairs I raised whenever it was folded to me. I remember raising with J5 on the button and taking down the blinds. I'd say that for about half an hour I did this, taking 6/7 pots. They were critical pots that took my stack to about 5,500. Still about average.

Other than taking pots down before the flop there wasn't much action to speak. The only notable thing I I can remember is shoving with Q2 against a micro short stack (1,000 chips at most) and sucking out on him when he had Q8.

We were six-handed at this point and with a very marginal chip lead I decided to raise whenever it was folded to me in position. Doing this really bore out the truth about bullying midstacks when close to the bubble (top three got paid). Nobody wanted to risk their chips with me. Then the hand came which I predicted I would have to gamble on and win to have a chance.

With KQ suited I limped in along with another limper. I was prepared to go with the hand but Zagga, who had picked me off a number of times with reraises was in the small blind. I think he completed which smelled weak as he had be raising a lot and I couldn't see he trapping with the blinds so large. Then the big blind with about 4,000 total raised to 1,600. This was it I decided. I would shove for 6,000 and pray that Zagga had nothing. I guess my cards would be live against the raise so combined with the slim possibility that both folded I would get my 50/50 against the probable call by the big blind with AX or a lower pp than K or Q. Zagga folded and the big blind called the rest of his stack with 22. A K came on the flop and I pushed my stack up to 10,000.

I had twice as many chips as anyone else now so I was prepared to gamble with a wide range of hands if I could be the one raising the pot in the first place. In the end it didn't turn out like that. I got JJ and reraised Hulljimi all in who had about 3,500 chips. He called with 88. The board came A10Q7 with three spades, I had the jack of spades and he didn't have the eight of spades. He had one out. A black eight came, the eight of clubs.

I didn't even realise at the time I'd been one outered. Oddly enough I didn't feel that bad. I was still the marginal chip leader but it was basically a crap shoot. Hulljimi went on a rush going from short stack to chip leader with 14,000. We were down to four players on the bubble. The next hand I played was AJ.

I was in the big blind with 7,500 chips. The small blind shoved with 3,500. Again I felt I had to gamble although I was pretty sure that, at worst I was in a coin flip. He showed A2 and I dodged a gutshot on the river. With that hand the break came and I was in the money.

About 15 hands went by with Hulljimi and myself with about 12k. Zagga, who had basically had position on my all tournament and played well but been unable to win any big pots, was the short stack. He tried to steal Hulljimi's big blind with 10 4 but was called with one of the worst hands to be up against for him - 44. Zagga didn't catch his ten and so Hulljimi and myself went heads up.

Basically one hand decided it. I raised on the button with 75o and he put in a min raise to 4,000. It was costing me 2,000 to call with position and 7.5k left. I could easily call and then fold this on the flop and still be able to shove with fold equity in the next couple of hands. The flop came 753. I'd been c/betting throughout the tourney so I had to bet. I just hoped he had AK or a decent pocket pair. I bet 4,000, he shoved and I called. He showed JJ and he didn't hit on the turn or river.

Lucky? Well in the grand story of the tourney not really. His minimum raise allowed me to see a flop in position with enough chips left to have another chance. He'd also got the luck with the one outer earlier on.

I now outchipped him by three to one and was looking to apply pressure with any A or K. He dodged my all in reraise with AJ before I shoved with K2. He called with Q 10, didn't hit and I secured my second 'bracelet' win - by that I mean a multi-table tournament

Thinking back, other than the 75 hand at the end I don't think I was in for all my chips at all during the tournament; a testament to how well I picked my spots.

Because of my sng experience and because I played perfectly when I won a $2 rebuy tournament without rebuying and being the chip leader for half the tournament I know the basics of tournament play and have the ability to apply them. This win just proves to myself that I have solid tournament skills and well as cash room skills (I've had success in those too but I'll leave that for another blog).

Well done sir. You may pat yourself on the back for an unexpected but very welcome win!