How I Won a 180 Person NLHE $22 SNG, Part III

By: The Monster Stack (Guest Blogger)

Hello,

Part II of this series ended a few hands after the blinds increased to 150/300 with a 25 ante. I will begin this installment at Hand #104 where the blinds have now increased to 200/400 with a 25 ante. I have almost 8,500 in chips and there are three players at my table with 20,000 or more.

Blind increase: 200/400 ante 25

8h-5c (big blind): Hand #104. It was folded around to the cutoff who limped and the small blind called. I checked. The flop was a sweet one for me, 8c-2h-8d. The small blind led out for 400 and for some reason I lost my mind and raised. This is actually a move I normally make as I like to bet my big hands. I find I make more money leading right out because most people never believe. But here, I was raising a bet advertising that I had at least an 8, or that the very least a pair. I should have smooth-called hoping the cutoff would either make a move or the small blind would take another shot on the turn. Additionally, the cutoff might have called trying to steal on the turn or the small blind might have hit his big card, if he had one, on the turn and I might have gotten paid off. They both folded and I took a small, but nice pot for a 1,400 chip profit.

Qc-7s (small blind): Hand #105. The pot was raised and re-raised and I folded. It was a big pot between two others at the table and one of the two ended up over 30,000.

7s-6s (big blind): Hand #111. There were a couple of big hands since the one above and there are now two players at my table with huge stacks of over 30,000. I was wondering how I was going to get their chips. Anyway, with a limp and a raise in front I folded my big blind. I haven't played a since Hand #104.

8h-6h (small blind): Hand #112. I limped behind an under the gun (UTG) limper and the big blind, who had a huge stack, popped it to 2,400. The UTG limper called and I folded. I have a little more than 8,600 in chips.

For purpose of brevity I will include a recap of some of the hands between hands 113 and 142. I still need to write about the final table and would like to keep this slightly less than a ten part series. My best guess is that there are around 35-40 players left. Only 18 get paid and making it to the money would be a waste of time. However, there is no need for me to go crazy because I have an above average stack and there is still some play compared to the blinds and antes.

Hand #113: I raised it up to 1,200 on the button with the Tc-9d and both blinds called. It was checked over to me on a 10 high rainbow flop and I bet out 1,600 and both players folded.
Hand #114: I raised it up in the cutoff with the Ah-Qs taking the blinds and antes.
Hand #115: I raised it up one before the cutoff with the Ks-Qh taking the blind and antes.
Hand #116: I raised it up in early position with the As-Jd taking the blinds and antes. Someone comments that I can't possibly have this many hands in a row. I ignore this as per my standard rules for table talk. My table image has changed.

Blind increase: 300/600 ante 50

Hand #118: I folded the big blind to a raise with the Kc-7d.
Hand #119: I gave the tournament chip leader a walk in the big blind with the Js-2c.
Hand #125: The chip leader had been raising a lot of hands and stole my big blind UTG when I held the Qd-7d.
Hand #126: It was folded around to me and I raised the big blind and tournament chip leader with Js-3d. He pushed back with an all-in play and I folded. I would have called with almost anything better than the napkins that I had held. I have under 9,000, still at or above average.
Hand #129: I raised it up in early position with the Ah-3h and took the blinds and antes.

Qd-Qs (under the gun): Hand #131: We had been playing seven-handed for awhile so I figured (see below) that there were 23 players or less left. Anyway, I raised it up to 1,800 and took the blinds and antes. I was at or above average in chips, even if there are 21 players left.

By hand #141 there were six players at my table. I have been checking other tournaments with the same buy-in and number of players and feel that since we were almost 2 1/2 hours in to the tournament this had to be bubble time. There were 19 or 20 players left. The tournament will play with the following table structures near the bubble: 7, 7 and 7; 7, 7 and 6; 7, 6 and 6. The moment there are 18 left the bubble would burst and there would be two tables of nine for a total of 18 players. There is no other way, based on what I have seen, for there to be six players at my table. So we were on or one away from the bubble. I will also make a comment later saying that "the bubble took too long" to which someone replied that "the bubble took longer than [he's] ever seen." Either way, nobody wanted to be the next one eliminated.

As-7d (cutoff): Hand #141. I raised it up to 1,800 and took the blinds and antes.

Blind increase: 400/800 ante 75

Ah-7h (UTG): Hand #143. I min-raised UTG hoping that this strange move would get everyone to fold. At shorthanded tables, UTG is one of my favorite steal positions. No one expects it. I find that it has been very profitable for me. I like to have something in this spot so I won't be on a total steal but anything reasonable will do. Well, both the button and the cutoff called the 1,600 and we took the flop after the blinds folded. The flop came down Kh-7d-3h and I led out for 3,200. The others folded and I took down the pot. I had almost 16,000 in chips.

Js-5h (big blind): Hand #144. I folded to a raise from a middle position player. If you've ever watched some of the super-aggressive players online you will notice that they would consider a raise here, probably all-in. I have spent a lot of time watching these aggressive players, such as Annette_15, who will push there chips around on the bubble if they think there is any chance that their opponent will fold. I watched Annette_15 play from the bubble to near the final table once. She pushed all-in (note that she does not often, if ever, call all-in without a super-monster hand at this point. It's all-in or fold) several times and was called twice. In the first hand she held A-3o and it held against a K-Qs. In the second she was caught with the 4s-3s against A-A and was gone. But she has made enough top 5 spots and has enough wins to justify this type of play. This is not my style although I will challenge the aggressive players if I see that they are pulling these plays. In fact, I take the play away from them by doing it first. They hate that (I can't tell you how many time I have seen her make a comment such as "that was my play").

As-Ts (small blind): Hand #145. The pot was raised to 2,400 by the button and I made a very weak play here by calling. I should have pushed all-in. There are not enough chips in play for me to give away that many chips hoping to hit a flop. I probably have the best hand and should be willing to play it for all the money. This is the time to get chips, not give them away. I check-folded to a 2,100 chip bet on a 9h-Qh-3d flop.

Ad-Jh (cutoff): Hand #147. I raise it up to 2,400 and take the very important blinds and antes.

9s-4c (big blind): Hand #150. I folded to an all-in raise.

Js-9s (small blind): Hand #151. I was in the small blind against the tournament chip leader who was in the big blind. It was folded around to me and I completed the big blind. I had a plan for this aggressive chip leader. Well, I didn't need it anyway as I flopped a huge hand. I was going to make this move no matter what but it helped to more than likely have him drawing dead. The flop was 4s-3s-7s giving me a flush. I check-raised him and took down a decently sized pot. I was actually hoping to be able to make that move with nothing. It is a bit of a moral booster. Either way the result was nice. Wait! Should I have check-called and check-raised the turn? I had an above average chip stack.

4c-4s (cutoff): Hand #154. I limped in the cutoff (horrible play) and got raised by the button (the chip leader). I call and check-folded on an A-K high flop. Maybe it was best. I don't think he would have folded an ace as he had been making some very thin calls. I still don't like the play. It's not about the results.

9d-6s (big blind): Hand #156. I folded to a raise from the UTG player. Thief!

7s-6d (small blind): Hand #157. Alright. This was a big one. It was folded around to me and I limped in. Probably not the best move but I wanted to play flops against the player in the big blind. He had shown a propensity to make thin calls pre-flop and I thought I had the advantage post-flop. Well, he raised. I couldn't stop now. If I push in he would have certainly called me. If I called, I can either flop big or outplay him. The flop came down 3h-7c-7d. Gin! I didn't want to vary my play now. The last time I had a big hand I check-raised him so I wanted to try it again. Maybe he will make a mistake. I was unlikely to hold a seven since I called a raise pre-flop. I checked and he bet out 800. Huh? There is almost 7,000 in the pot! I make what looks like a move by pushing all-in for an additional 8,200. He called and shows Ac-Td. What? A 10 falls on the turn making me sweat a bit (that would have been disgusting) but the Qs fell on the river and I took down a pot worth just under 25,000. I was very healthy now.

Blind increase: 500/1000 ante 100

The chip leader began to double up everyone at the table over the next few hands. Most of the time the chips were in pre-flop in coin flip situations which he lost. With the blinds and antes so high in relation to stack sizes, I guess it was tough for him to fold A-Q to an all-in bet. Even so, he still had a huge stack, but not big enough to scare anyone that much. He had had over 55,000 when the average stack was about 14,000. Now he had about 32,000. After the blind increase I had about 23 big blinds and an M of almost 12 for those who follow Harrington. Not a lot of play at all, especially when playing six-handed. The blinds come around much quicker and it is costing me 2,100 per round. The only good news is that everyone else is in the same boat. Well almost everyone. At least I had a relatively decent chip stack.

Ac-Qs (big blind): Hand #162. I hate this hand. I'd rather never see this one. It seems to kill me every time I have it. The UTG player limped in and I checked my option in the big blind after the small blind folded. I check-folded to a bet on a flop of 9h-8s-7h. I didn't want to go crazy on the bubble, especially since there was a player at my table who had less than 3,000 in chips. The UTG player showed Ks-Kh and I thought I was a genius. Actually I am a ***** and should have raised pre-flop. I would have folded to a re-raise but again, it's the play not the results.

8c-8h (small blind): Hand #163. I raised it up to 3,000 and took the blinds and antes.

The bubble finally burst on Hand #165. I don't know how because it was not on my table but we were now playing nine-handed beginning with Hand #166. In Part IV I will play down to the final table (and maybe complete the tournament).

See you on the felt,
The Monster Stack