Championship No Limit Hold Em Tournament Eligibility
To qualify for the Championship No Limit Hold Em Tournament, you need to have advanced from one of two satellite tournaments.

Satellite Eligibility
To qualify to play in the satellite tournaments, you have to have either won at least one tournament during the season, or, have earned enough points to place you in the top 15% of your region.

The two satellites are run on separate days: The August 28th tournament is for those who qualify by points and the August 29th tournament is for winners of the no limit hold em tournaments played throughout the season.

PokaPaloma’s 2010 performance on the Eastern Poker Tour

I qualify to play in both satellites!  So I have TWO chances to make the final 27.

Prior to playing last Friday, I was eligible for both, but, with regard to the points (top 15%) satellite, there were only three players between me and the cut off amount. Placing second on Friday, put 12 players between me and the cut off amount; meaning that I probably don’t have to sweat the next 8 weeks.

Learn more about the Eastern Poker Tour’s Championship No Limit Hold Em Tournament

Total no limit hold’em tournaments played: 6
Total Top Ten Finishes: 0
Top Five Finishes: 0

First Place finishes: 0
Eleventh place finishes: 1
Donut finishes: 5

Anyways, in celebration of the Fourth of July Holiday, the payouts were doubled and we recieved 5K more chips (15K) than usual. So it was kind of deepstack, but, the blind levels were the same as usual (15 minutes).  

It was a new venue for me. Same ‘ol Eastern Poker Tour poker players with the exception of a handfull of unknowns. $20 Buy in. Buffet.

Heads Up

Blinds were $20K/$40k. I was outchipped 2.5-to-1 (485k to 190k). I was not discouraged by being down that much. I knew that I could recover, and, indeed, had on several occasions recovered to emerge the victor. Given the hour of the day (11:45 pm), I did feel that my opponent would be shoving All In as frequently as possible.

First hand…

I am the Small Blind. Hole cards are 5s 3c.

 

Second hand…

I am the Big Blind. The Small Blind limps in.

 
I check my option with a whispy, “At least they’re suited.”

This is the second hand of the night. Eight-handed table. I am in the Big Blind. Blinds are $100/$200. My hole cards are KK.

Pre-Flop:

1. Under the Gun (UTG) folds
2. UTG + 1 limps in
3. UTG + 2 limps in
4. UTG + 3 folds
5. Hi Jack limps in
6. Cut Off folds
7. Small Blind limps in
8. I raise to $800

UTG + 2 and the Small Blind call. UTG + 2 called so easily that I had him on a decent pair, J’s or higher. Small Blind has a habit of speculating so I thought he just wanted to see the Flop.  

Flop: K 9 10 rainbow
Woo Hoo – I’ve got trip Kings. Now what are the chances that either has QJ to make the straight? UTG + 2 I figured definitely not, Small Blind maybe.

1. I bet out a small $800 to see the response
2. UTG + 2 raises to $1600 – So now I put him on a pair of Aces or trip 9s or 10s; and, actually, I considered it a bet correction. I had not bet enough.
3. Small Blind folds.
4. I push All In
5. UTG +2 thinks a minute and calls

I turn over my Kings and he turns over QJ unsuited. So I need the board to pair to make a boat. Got about 10 outs – because Quad Kings win it as well.

Turn and River are blank cards and I’m out. That’s when I heard Mike Sexton saying,

“I don’t like the bet, Vince…You can get the same information – betting less and not putting your tournament life on the line.“

Yep. I thought of that one during the drive home. Thanks, Mike. I agree with you. Maybe next time, I’ll remember before I bet.
 
Of course, I talked to myself the whole way home. Shoulda…Woulda…Coulda. And…Who plays Q J offsuit out of position? Who calls a 4 times Big Blind bet pre-flop with Q J out of position?  It’s not like he was running hot. It was only the second hand of the night. Shaking head…I cannot control what others do. Okay – focus on my play. Next time bet an amount that will keep me in the tournament.

Interesting that I got a pair of Kings in my first Big Blind. My goal for the tournament was to practice defending my blinds. In the past, I have let them go too easily. Last week, I was lucky to be at a table with Andre. He’s a master at defending his blinds and I paid attention. So, the plan was to raise every Big Blind. I thought 4 times the Big Blind would be enough. I learned that it is not.

How about you? Are you good at defending your blinds? What is your strategy? Do you do it for all hands, including the 9 2 offsuits?

Final Hand
Blinds $600/$1200. I was in the Big Blind. For the last 1/2 hour I had been waiting for a hand to go All In. Now, I’m sitting in the Big Blind, $1200 in the pot with $2300 behind, the short stack at the table – and – I’ve got Jc 3s. Not really the hand I want to go All In with.

Seven handed at the table. Under the Gun plus One (UTG+1) calls $1200. Small Blind calls $1200. I check my option.

Flop:

UTG+1 checks. Small Blind bets $1200. I rasie All In for $2300.
UTG+1 folds. Small Blind calls for another $1100.

Turn:

River:

My two pair (J 3) get counterfeited by the Ks. I have a small glimmer of hope ’cause I’ve got a J – BUT – the Small Blind has Jh 10h. The 10 plays, and I’m out!

Lousy photo of the lousy board on my Final No Limit Hold'em Hand June 14, 2010

I think I’ll go chew on sand.

Over the weekend, I received a prize from the Poker Players Alliance for having correctly answered one of their trivia questions about the 2010 WSOP last week. 

A great XL (how’d they know?) Black PPA t-shirt. Front has the PPA logo.

Back…

I look forward to wearing it tonight at the Eastern Poker Tour No Limit Hold’em tournament in Milford, MA.

Not yet a member of the PPA? Click  “Join Here” on the banner in the sidebar on the right (no reimbursement to me) to go to the PPA’s website and sign up!

Total no limit hold’em tournaments played: 7
Total Top Ten Finishes: 4
Top Five Finishes: 3

First Place finishes: 1
Second place finishes: 1
Third place finishes: 1
Eighth place finishes: 1
Thirteenth place finishes: 1
Fifteenth place finishes: 1
Donut finishes: 1

The Hand That Did Me In AKA How I Did Myself In
Once again, I’m remembering the ONE hand that I couldn’t let go of…that I played like a donkey and lost a ton of chips. That night, the cursed hand for me was Ah Qh. I lost 2/3 of my stack on that one – something like 108K. We were down to 3 – 4 players at the final table. From the Small Blind, I opened with a 35k bet. The blinds were 6000/12000. The Big Blind called. The Flop was 9 2 6 rainbow. I bet 35K and the Big Blind insta-called.

Hummm. I felt uncomfortable with how quickly he called. Time to slow down? Did he have trips? I didn’t think that he would act that quickly with a simple pair and such low cards on the board. The Turn was a black K. I thought I had two moves…All In or Concede by checking. I wasn’t very confident that he had trips, but, the bottom line is that I couldn’t fire a third bullet. I chickened out. I had tanked longer than I usually do and thought that that had given away the weakness of my hand, so, I checked.

Had I thought it through correctly, I would have realized that I had priced myself in. Hee Haw…
So, the better move WAS to go All In at that point. [Later the Big Blind said he would have folded his 9s had I gone All In when the K came on the turn.] The Big Blind went all in for his last 32K. I had to call with such a big pot. At least I had 6 outs.

River: ? Don’t remember. Nothing that improved my hand.

Final Hand
I was heads up in the Big Blind with 3c 4c. I pushed All In (out of order…ooops). Got insta-called by the Small Blind who turned over  Ah Kd.

Flop: Kc 7 d 10h
I’m crushed. Need runner runner 4s to survive. 

 Turn: 4d
Oh – a little blip of a heartbeat. There’s one of my runners…a little light in the tunnel.

River: 9h Dun..dun…dunnnn. And I’m out in second place.

The Final Table started with 10 players. I came to the final table with a comfortable number of chips, say, in the high end of the middle range. Eliminations went along at a normal pace…as the blinds rose…the All Ins increased…and there were fewer players.

We started heads up with my opponent having me outchipped by about 50K – 60K.

Big Blind’s hole cards on left. My hole cards on right.

Final Hand
Blinds were up to 4000/8000. I was in the Small Blind. How many chips? Errr… We kept passing them back and forth. On this hand, I had my opponent covered.

I had just won a little flurry of hands. I looked down at Qs 5h and decided to move All In, playing the mini-rush so that I could steal the blinds. Big Blind called. G U L P… He had Js 7c. I lucked out with a 5 coming on the Flop, on a board that was a mish-mosh rainbow.

Clink.

So, feeling great after my win on Wednesday (PokaPaloma Wins Another No Limit Holdem Tournament), I decided to play a Sunday night (April 25, 2010) Eastern Poker Tour No Limit Hold’Em tournament. I placed 13th - and – there were only 15 runners in total. I played like a DONKEY, barely lasting 80 minutes and that’s counting the 20-minute dinner break. Oh how quickly we spiral…

My biggest mistake was not taking into account the level of two of the players at the table. One had never played before and barely knew which hand beat which.  I should have remembered that new no limit hold’em players would march into hell with any pair and would have no awareness of what other players might be holding and no appreciation for what was showing on the board. So, I stupidly bluffed off 4800 chips in a 200/400 hand when one of the newbees clung to her 9s when there was a potential straight and flush on the board. Shaking my head – my mistake.

Final Hand
Blinds had just raised to 800/1600. Only two of us in the hand; the Small Blind and me, and, I was under the gun. I had a small pair with a total of 3100 chips. The Small Blind had A 8 offsuit with mega chips. The Small Blind won when an 8 came on the flop and I was unable to improve. I nearly begged the guy not to call. Pathetic. Couldn’t wait to get home.

The Small Blind went on to win the tournament. Kudos to him.

What about you? What donkament play have you made lately? Use the comments section to share your tale.