JP's Mini WSOP etc

So I made the long trek out to Tallaght on the dreaded 75 yesterday to play the side event at JP's mini WSOP. I hate that fucking bus, took about an hour and a half from Dun Laoghaire, which was a good time due to the lack of traffic. It's taken me 2 hours to get to Knocklyon before. Guess i'll stop ranting about the 75 anyway, can't really blame it for the tourney however much i'd like to.

I got out there in plenty of time and got a bit of food before sitting down at me table. It seemed ok but there was definitely softer. Mick Stephens was the only player I knew at the table, there was one other German/Belgian guy who had position on me who seemed decent. Couple of other guys seemed to know what they were doing somewhat and then there was the obligatory droolers. First hand I played of note, I 3b the German/Belgian guys open from the CO in the BB with AT0. Flop was 9d4d4x, i cbet a little more than half pot and he flats, at this stage i'm done with the hand..... unless....Yup bink an Ace on the turn. I check call. He seemed aggro enough and it's a good bluffing spot to get me to fold hands like TT-QQ. He won't be calling a 2nd barrel with worse anyway. The river is a Ten giving me top 2, flushdraw whiffed. I go into check call mode as inducing is the only way to get any value imo, unfortunately for me he checked it back claiming to have 'A pair'. I took down a few pots pre and with C bets after that. Most people were opening to 3x and 4x even a few 7x bb raises, whereas I was bringing it in for 2.5x Anyway, standard old guy makes an unusually small raise from mp, CO I'm fairly sure notices this and 3bets him, I go ahead and 4b the CO with K7cc and get the fold bringing me up to 40k.

It all went downhill from there, raised it up in MP with AKo and get a couple of callers. One of whom is the definition of the value in these kind of games. Random old guy who earlier defended his BB v me and check folded the flop but in the process turned over his hand by mistake. The mighty 85o. Anyway I 2.5x AKo. Flop is K47 with a fd. I bet 2/3 or so, old guy calls. Turn is an offsuit 2, i bet 2/3 again old guy calls again. I'm nearly 100% he has K8-Kq so trying to milk the value. River comes an offsuit 9. I check to induce, figuring i'm not getting 3 streets of value from worse (in hindsight I probably would) anyway he insto fires a bit more than half pot and i call, obv he has the K9. I'm fairly sure he plays KT, KJ and Kq the same way so I don't mind it. So after that instead of being up to circa 60k im down to around 23k. Last hand before the dinner break I 3b the German/Belgian guy from the Sb with 47o he tank 4bets and says he had KK. I claimed to have folded JJ. Down to 20k or so by dinner.

Pretty card dead for a while and had an awkward stack size after dinner, not really deep enough to get involved with marginal hands and open a bit lighter which is always annoying, yet not shallow enough to be shoving. Our table breaks soon enough and I get moved to set to the right of Dave Masters which wasn't exactly ideal. From dealing to him before I was fairly sure he was going to be calling my shoves (correctly) a lot lighter than the randomers. This table really was a grind but I managed to build me stack up to around 32k from below 20k without going to showdown, blinds would have been 800-1600 at this stage. One particularly enjoyabe hand was shoving about 14 bbs with 2 limpers who i knew 100% were folding with the old Q7 sooty. So i have about 30k in the BB at 1.2k-2.4k-300, Dave Masters is UTG and open ships for 38k, folded to me and I wake up with the pointy fellas, get a sweat V his AQo when he picks up a fd on the turn but I hold for a 60k pot.

Bit of a disaster from there on in, tried to get a few steals through but failed miserably, ie i get 3b and shown 2 black Aces. I then open KTo utg playing 7 handed last hand before a break. Guy on the button calls as does the BB. Flops Q24 with a fd, pretty good flop for me. I Cb about 8k and get raised to 20k, I have 40k behind and I'm sure he's bluffing but with little or no fold equity imo I pussied out. He showed A4 fwiw and preceded to tell me how I couldn't have AQ or a pair there and that he was actually "a very good reader of the game". Sour grapes maybe but well done sir. That hand was pretty much the end for me, let my stack dwindle and as I text a friend "I found less spots than a clearisil model". Eventually I shoved my 8bbs or so from the CO into Mick Stephens's JJ. He's still in now I think so hopefully he scoops. Marc was playing sick good too, down to the last 4 at the moment so hopefully he does too.

There was actually a very funny hand early doors, must have been the 4th hand or so. Everyone has 30k, blinds 50-100. Folded to MP who limps, CO raises and a couple of other callers along the way. Flop comes 9d8d5d. MP checks it to the CO who bets about 700 into 1.2k, MP smooth calls. Turn is the 8 of clubs. MP checks again CO bets 2k or so, which MP crai to 6k, CO flats. the River comes the 9 of spades, so the boars reads 9d8d5d8c9s, now Mp open shoves, snapped by the CO. What are their hands? Obv 6d7d for mp and 9c9h for MP. Flopped Straight flush v the rivered quads, standard.

As far as online goes, I didn't get much in over the weekend due to being out in Tallaght, I did play a ridiculously swingy 1k or so hands today, took a hiding early on but got out of it thanks to a few big donations and a bit of luck. I really want to try get 10k hands in next week, only managed 8k this week which was below the target. Time to get grinding. I also just finished 12th in the $25 double stack on i-poker there. I literally can't play enough of these, they're so incredibly soft. Just need to start running good at the business end, payouts are so top heavy. Graph for today below.