Day 2

Chewey takes down the Harrah's 100K Invitational! No, just kidding- I wish it were the case but I did finish in the money. A field of 1400 with roughly 400 re buys has been narrowed down to 330. The money begins at 250. I manage to pick up a few small pots in the first few levels on Day 2. My wrist is tired from constantly pitching cards into the fold pile. two hours into Day 2, we are down to 260 and hand to hand play has begun. This takes 15 minutes and finally the bubble has burst. It is now down to 250 and we are in the money.

The action has heated up as many small stacks at various tables began moving all-in in hopes of doubling up. At my table, we are 10-seated and everyone has about the same amount of chips. I sit at 7500 and the average chip stack is 7000. In the next level, I manage to win a hand and am able to pick up the blinds and antes to maintain my stack at 7000. Three players from our table bust out in the process and three new players are brought to the table. Unfortunately, these three players have huge stacks and are among the leaders in the tournament. Each of these three newcomers have over 10,000. It appears that the final table could be coming through my table. With blinds at 400/800/100, I am dealt K,9 in the small blind and the button has raised to 1500. I call and this sets up the GlassDealerButtons.com hero call of the day. The flop comes A,5, J with two clubs. I bet out 500, the button calls. The turn is a 8 of clubs. I check, the button checks. The river is a 4 of clubs. I have absolutely nothing, not even a club draw. But I have picked up on this player's body language and it does not look like he wants to show his hand. I bet out 1000 with King high and he re-raises all-in for 4,000. I check my stack and I have 5,000 left. Does he have a club? No, don't think so. Is he playing an Ace, no- he would have already bet. This player was definitely a tight-solid player from his previous hands. Something about his all-in bet on the river smelled fishy. We are inside 175 players. If I win this pot, then I will have about 10,000 in chips. This is not a lot of chip because there are now 5 stacks at our table with nearly 20,000 in chips. After about 30 seconds of deliberation, I make the call and I say "I don't have much, but I think I win the pot. He flips over K,6 and I say 9 plays. He immediately goes into a tyrade of "How can you call with that crap?". My response "Your body language didn't mesh with your bet!'. One of the players at the table quipped "Chewey strikes again with a better nothing!'. Thus far, I have won more with my crap hands than good hands. In Day 2, I never saw a pocket pair, only saw an Ace once and pretty much was getting K,rag or low cards.

The next level was pretty much the same as before, no cards and getting low on chips. Every time I thought about making a move; it would be raised and re-raised. With blinds at 1,200/2,400/400, my stack was down to 9,000 and there were now 6 stacks at the table approaching 30,000. There is only 1 stack at the table shorter than me at 6,000. The big blind is to me and I pick up J,8. I check and we have 6 way action to the flop. The flop brings A,A, 4. It completely misses me and the small blind raises. I fold, and my stack is down to 7,200. with the next hand, my stack will be down to 4400. A full house ends up winning the hand Aces over 4s. We are now inside 150 players and the blinds are getting more and more aggressive. I' m dealt, Q,5 suited and the button raises to 10,000. I look at my modest hand of Q,5 suited and decide to make the call. Great, the under the gun player has moved all-in and a middle position player is also all-in. This can't be good, I will need that miracle board to win this pot. We all turn the cards over as multiple players are all-in. The under the gun player has pocket Aces; middle position player has pocket Kings; the button has pocket Aces as well. Okay the Aces are slim to none to improve their hands. One time, let this board hit and I know that I can make a deep, deep run in this tournament. The board is Q, 3, 8 with two diamonds. I now a pair with a flush draw with over 16 outs or a 64% chance of hitting my hand. This would be huge, if I hit. The turn is a 5. Now, I have a 32% chance of hitting my hand. The river is....... It missed and the Aces split the pot. I am out in 144th place. To rate my play in this tournament, Day 1 A+; Day 2: B-. No cards and running into the chip leaders at the same table led to my demise. I won more on calling bluffs than I did with premium or decent hands. I f I can catch a run of cards at one tournament, then I know I can be dangerous. Come back for my next blog for updates to my tournament travel schedule and other happenings in the poker world.

Show me the money, with King, 9!
Chewey