Live Blogging

I thought it might be kind of fun to live blog a multi-table tournament in-depth with my thoughts on hands, table conditions, switching gears, and whatever else pops up so here we go:
Small stakes tournament on Full Tilt:
Buyin = $5.50
Entrants = 308
Places Paid = 36
I always look at the size of the field vs. the percent that make the money and what size buy-in it is to get in the right frame of mind for that particular tournament. This is a small buy-in so the play will more than likely be very loose with a few moments of solid play. With this in mind, I plan to start out fairly tight and look for a chance to double up early and/or most importantly not get in a big coin flip that I don't have a good chance of winning.
I know some people like to get in on a coin flip early on even if they are a slight dog with a chance to double or triple up, but i prefer to try and wait until I am fairly sure I am a huge favorite.
In keeping with our game plan, I have folded Ax suited and suited connectors 3 of the first 4 hands of the tournament. I don't have position, it's early, and people are being fairly aggressive with big raises before it gets to me so I'm just sitting back and observing trying to pick up on some weaknesses and making notes of their tendencies so I can use it to their disadvantage hopefully today.
The next 5 hands are junk....fold, fold, fold, fold, fold.
I pick up AK utg and the blinds are still 15/30. I raise it to 125 and get one caller in the big blind. He checks the flop of A Q 10 with two clubs to me. I bet 145 and he smooth calls....hmm. The turn is a 7 of spades. He checks again and I bet 350. He smooth calls again. I don't think I'm ahead but I definitely have a chance for the nuts to hit on the river. 2 of spades on the river and we both check it down. He has Q 10 in his hand for 2 pair and I drop a good sized pot.
I'm down to 820 in chips. I have K9 offsuit in the big blind. One caller and we check it all the way. I spike a king on the river and drag a small pot.
The very next hand I am dealt 77 in the small blind. There is one caller from early position and I limp in from the small blind. The big blind goes all in with his last 285 and the other guy just calls. I decide to go ahead and shove and try to isolate the big blinds small stack. The other guy calls my shove. The big blind has A 10 offsuit and the other guy has 10 2 of diamonds. The board is 3 4 A 2 Q with 3 spades. I lose the main pot but win the side pot and I now have 1,190.
A couple of junk hands then I get A 7 suited in good position. I decide to put in a small raise and see if I can pick up the blinds. I'm very willing to get away from this if I feel any pressure. I raise to 125 and get 4 callers!! Now I'm ready to fold, fold, fold. The flop is 10 7 2 rainbow. We all check. The turn is a 6 of hearts giving me four hearts and 2nd pair. It checks around to the the player before me and he shoves with 1,160. He has me covered and I should obviously fold. I don't. I shove. This is a terrible play on my part. I honestly don't have any idea what makes me call this. It's definitely a horrible call. Everyone else folds and we flip our cards up. He has A 3 and he's drawing completely dead!!! I drag the pot and I'm up to 2,755.
I'm embarrased to even post that hand, but I'm laying the whole tourney out here good or bad so it is what it is. I'm regrouping in my mind and telling myself to play smart.
An orbit of bad cards and I fold ( which is just what I need to do for a few minutes is tighten up and get over the bad play ).
I've played solid and tight for about 30 more hands and I'm sitting at 3,050. We've been playing for 45 minutes and the average stack is 2,640.
We've lost almost half the field already and we have 160 still in. I'm sitting about middle of the pack with 2,800.
If I had more chips I would probably switch gears here and try to bully the table around for a few minutes looking for a chance to double on a lucky flop but I don't so I'm just sitting tight. Five minutes until the first break.
There is some very loose play going on at the table. If I could just pick up a hand soon, I stand an excellent chance of getting in to an all in situation way ahead. Come on cards. There's a 3-way all in and they all have crap cards and weak draws. Please give me a hand. I fold a suited A 9 with two all ins ahead of me and I would have won. I still like the fold. I'm not looking for an even or underdog coin flip. I'm looking for AA or KK or AK or something very strong to fight with. Chips are flying like crazy and it's an excellent time to double or triple up. A 7 takes down a pre-flop all-in against AK and things like that are happening. It's like the table took a "Go Crazy" pill or something. There's literally a shove and at least one call on almost every hand. It's almost break time.
No cards come my way and I head in to the break with 2,215.

At the break:
My stack = 2,215.
My position = 88th of 138.

The table condition is very loose and I'm settling in to ultra-tight mode. I'm going to sit back for the next couple of orbits and take notes and wait for a premium starting hand. I've not seen any great starting hands to speak of yet so I'm content to be over 2,000.
I get moved to a new table and I'm a short stack at this table. There's one player with 13,000 and several with 5,000. I pick up a suited ace in the small blind. It's folded around to me and I limp. He raises three times the blind and I call. I flop an ace and we both check. Turn is a ten for a board of J 7 A 10 rainbow. I bet 500 and he calls. The river is a 2 and I bet another 500. He calls with 10 5 suited and I take it down. I now have 3,455.
We've lost another 25 players or so and there's 111 players left. The average stack is 4,162.
I have 77 in late position and bet 365. The big blind calls. The flop is Q53 rainbow. He checks and I bet 500. He folds and I have 3,880.
I pick up 9 7 suited in middle position. There's a raise and a call of 480 in early postion so I let it go. I would have picked up a flush draw and missed. I saved about 750 chips by folding.
I have A8 of hearts in the big blind. One big stack raises and everyone else folds. He's been playing super loose and pushing the table around and I decide to see the flop. the flop is and ace high and I decide to gamble. I check and he bets 800. I check-raise it to 1,600 and he shoves. I call and he shows Q 9 for nothing. I sweat the turn and the river as he has two over cards. He misses and I now have 7,760. The average is at 4,714 so I get healthy. I'm not crazy about the play but I can't wait forever for AA or something and if you get too low you just become too weak to run people out of a hand so I'm OK with my play here.
I'm sitting at 17th of 92 left in. The big stack of the tourney is at 17,000.
I min-raise with 77 utg and get 3 callers. The flop is 10 7 2 with two hearts on the board. The small blind leads out with 200 and the big blind folds. I raise it to 1,000 and only the small blind calls. The turn is the queen of clubs and he bets 600. I shove and he calls with his last 2 grand. He spikes a flush on the river and I'm down to 3,500. I pick up K 10 in the small blind and it folds to me. I raise it up three times the blind and the big blind calls. The flop is king high and I check it to him. He bets 200 and I call. The turn pairs the board and we both check. The river is a king and I make a boat. I overbet the pot with a 2,000 bet and he folds. I think a value bet of about 400 would have been the better play but at least I drag the pot and I'm back up to 4,285. I have 77 for about the 4th time and min-raise from early position. It folds to the big blind and he calls. The flop is 10 6 4 rainbow and he bets out 800. I give him no credit and shove. He calls with 10 7 off suit and I'm out in about 77th place.
Nothing spectacular in this one and I played somewhat poorly. The river beat on the set really got me out of my game a little and I overplayed the sevens at the end.

Good luck at the tables this week everyone!!!!!