IP Poker Classic - Biloxi

I've been busy working on books so I haven't been playing much lately. I did have a nice Wednesday night a couple of weeks ago with a 2nd and 4th place finishing netting me about 13K.

This past weekend I decided to go to Biloxi for a live tournament. As I've blogged before, there is nothing better than the excitement of a live tournament. The main event was a $3k event and had 43 entrants. It's not a big turnout, but it's Biloxi, :).

I had a tough starting table as I bought in late with the other "good" players who show up late. I think most of the satellite winners were at other tables. The tournament paid 4 players with $56K going to first. 14k starting stack, 50 minutes levels, we started at 25-50. Six players were knocked out before level 2 was over giving you an indication of the quality of play of some of the players. At the 100-200 level, I saw a guy with a 20K stack get all-in with AJ, after being check-raised on an AxxQ board. Having said that, there were also some very good players there. I would guess about 10 very good player, 10 more good player, 10 amatuerish players, and 10 players who had no business being there.

There were three key hands.
- Very early, limper, I limp 6-5 CO, button limps. 50-100. 4 players see the flop. K87. I bet 250, button raises to 700, I call. Turn is a 4x (putting two clubs on the board). Button bets 800, I CR to 2400, button calls. River is a Tc. I bet 4000, button calls with J-9.
- I fought my way back to a stack of about 13-14K. 200-400-25. UTG, loose player raises (he could have lots of hands here). Old-looking amatuer player who I was sitting with for about 15 minutes calls. I have JJ in Middle position. Taking the pot would increase my stack over 20%. I am way ahead of UTG range and I don't think the older guy is capable of slowplaying a big pair. I decide to raise, and to commite myself as I don't want UTG to 4-bet me and put me on a difficult decision. I raise to about 6 or 7 K. UTG folds and to my surprise, older guys goes all-in. In my mind, I had intentionally committed myself (to the UTG player), so I called. In hindsight, this was a mistake. I should have reevaluated the situation. It was obvious that my read on the older guy was wrong, and it only made sense with AA. I still had enough chips to make a comeback. I called. UTG player said he had a J. I hit a one-outer!
- Final table. 8 players left. As soon as we arrived at final table I started dominating play. I took my 30K stack up to 55-60K without showing a hand. 75K was the average stack. I 3-bet a few times and was raising more than my share preflop - I had a very loose image and the players were commenting about it.

I decided to switch gears and start playing tight. But I got dealt KK UTG so I raise again. I get two callers and take down the pot. A few hands later in hijack I get A-K. I raise to 5,500 and the big blind pushes all-in (he has about 80-90K. The BB was my biggest worry at the table. He was a very good player, loose, aggressive, with a lot of advanced plays in his arsenal. I insta-called and he shows T-7s and I'm out of the tournament when 7 flops.

Really a bummer as I was in control at the final table, would finally of had a healthy chip stack, and would have crippled my main opponent.

Nevertheless, was a fun trip and worthwhile. If I compare Biloxi and Tunica, it isn't even close...Biloxi is waaaay better. FYI - the Beau Rivage is like a mini-Bellagio. Seriously, it is a nice surprise.