Final Tables the FTP 750K

After coming quite close the last few months on Sunday, I finally broke through with a nice payday. That makes 2 10k+ paydays my last 10-12 Sundays. I finished 6th in the FTP 750K good for $26K.

Overall, I felt like I played quite well. Around the money, or early in the money, I do remember overbetting a hand with a QxxQ board. I had a flush draw and simply pushed allin on the turn which was a big overbet. I knew my opponent didn't have a Q and I was thinking about how much I should bet, but I didn't want to wait too long and just pushed. It was an inpatient move, but it worked out as my opponent called with 33 and I hit a pair on the river. I had a ton of outs but I should have played it differently. With 50 players to go, I had several opportunities to become the chip leader but kept falling on the wrong end of the cards. Once I lost AA to A7 in a big pot, all the money going in preflop. I lost another hand with QQ to the big blind when he flopped a flush on a K high board and I had the draw to the Q. I probably overplayed that hand also on the turn and got punished for it. Fortunately, I won several hands in a row quite quickly to get right back in it (one was a suckout with A6 vs AQ). After that, I settled down quite nicely and I think I played very well right up to the very end.

The hand that doomed me is still swirling around in my mind. I still haven't gone back to look at the exact chip counts in the hand history as I want to try and be as fresh and clear as possible when I reevaluate the hand. I think my first mistake was calling a raise from the big blind with 64s. I will often call raises with that hand, but I don't think this situation called for it. Sometimes I will call in the big blind with a relatively short stack, simply with the knowledge that I will gain the blinds, antes, and continuation bet should I hit my pair - and since I'm short-stacked I don't mind accepting defeat it that pair gets beat. I will also call when we both have very deep stacks hoping to hit a big hand. But that middling stack isn't the best hand for 64s and it cost me. The board was Kx4 and I check-raised all-in thinking he couldn't call without a K and I had outs if he did. He had K-Q and I lost the hand. It wasn't a horrendous play, but I think my stack size and advantage over the remaining opponents dictated that I didn't need to take that kind of risk.

But 26K is a nice consolation prize. Hopefully I can continue to run relatively deep in these tournaments and start turning them into bigger paydays.

A couple of non-poker tidbits. A mini-review of Atlantis. Great resort for kids! It's like Disney World on water. Unfortunately, there aren't that many family restaurants so that is a major drawback to me. Highly recommended though and we'll definitely be back.

Here's a silly little movie recommendation. If you're looking for an over-the-top shoot-em up, bad guy good guy movie, try Shoot-em Up with Clive Owen. Completely unrealistic and over-the-top, but a lot of fun.