Ah, not so good today. I went through 6 MTT’s of various types (some 18s, 27s and nothing more than 45 players). Lost them all.

Switched to single table SNGs, and while I held a reasonable lead initially, I crashed out before getting in the money.

So figured that’ll do for now. $10 loss overall – annoying but I guess I should expect the variance.

• 9 player single table SNG – very first hand;
  No Limit Holdem Tournament
  $1.00+$0.20
  9 players

  Stacks:
  Hero (UTG) (1500)
  UTG+1 (1500)
  MP1 (1500)
  MP2 (1500)
  MP3 (1500)
  CO (1500)
  BTN (1500)
  SB (1500)
  BB (1500)

  Blinds: 10/20

  Pre-flop: (30, 9 players) Hero is UTG A A
  Hero raises to 60, 3 folds, MP3 calls 60, 1 fold, BTN calls 60, 2 folds

  Flop: Q 4 Q (210, 3 players)
  Hero checks, MP3 bets 60, BTN calls 60, Hero raises to 220, MP3 folds, BTN calls 160

  Turn: K (710, 2 players)
  Hero checks, BTN bets 20, Hero calls 20

  River: 2 (750, 2 players)
  Hero bets 520, BTN calls 520

  Final Pot: 1,790
  BTN shows: Q 4
  Hero shows: A A

  BTN wins 1,790 ( won +970 )
  Hero lost -820
  MP3 lost -120

• and then a villain’s FD comes through to knock me out;
  No Limit Holdem Tournament
  $1.00+$0.20
  8 players

  Stacks:
  UTG (2675)
  UTG+1 (1090)
  MP1 (2130)
  MP2 (1310)
  CO (1455)
  BTN (1435)
  Hero (SB) (575)
  BB (2830)

  Blinds: 15/30

  Pre-flop: (45, 8 players) Hero is SB 6 A
  1 fold, UTG+1 calls 30, 1 fold, MP2 calls 30, BTN says “pitty”, 1 fold, BTN calls 30, Hero raises to 90, BB calls 60, UTG+1 calls 60, MP2 calls 60, BTN calls 60

  Flop: T A 9 (450, 5 players)
  Hero goes all-in 485, 3 folds, BTN calls 485

  Turn: 2 (1,420, 2 players)

  River: 5 (1,420, 2 players)

  Final Pot: 1,420
  BTN shows: 8 T
  Hero shows: 6 A

  BTN wins 1,420 ( won +845 )
  Hero lost -575
  BB lost -90
  UTG+1 lost -90
  MP2 lost -90

• Another 9 man STT. I’d built up a good stack, then was a bit overexuberant;
  No Limit Holdem Tournament
  $1.00+$0.20
  5 players

  Stacks:
  UTG (3005)
  Hero (CO) (3950)
  BTN (1070)
  SB (3655)
  BB (1820)

  Blinds: 75/150

  Pre-flop: (225, 5 players) Hero is CO J T
  UTG raises to 400, Hero calls 400, 3 folds

  Flop: 2 3 T (1,025, 2 players)
  UTG bets 1,000, Hero goes all-in 3,550, UTG goes all-in 1,605

  Turn: 8 (7,180, 2 players)

  River: 8 (7,180, 2 players)

  Final Pot: 6,235
  UTG shows: Q Q
  Hero shows: J T

  UTG wins 6,235 ( won +3,230 )
  Hero wins 945 ( lost -3,005 )

• I build it up back, then push on AK;
  No Limit Holdem Tournament
  $1.00+$0.20
  5 players

  Stacks:
  UTG (2860)
  CO (920)
  BTN (5935)
  Hero (SB) (2415)
  BB (1370)

  Blinds: 75/150

  Pre-flop: (225, 5 players) Hero is SB K A
  UTG raises to 450, 1 fold, BTN raises to 1,500, Hero goes all-in 2,415, 1 fold, UTG folds, BTN calls 915

  Flop: 6 2 J (5,430, 2 players)

  Turn: Q (5,430, 2 players)

  River: 6 (5,430, 2 players)

  Final Pot: 5,430
  BTN shows: Q Q
  Hero shows: K A

  BTN wins 5,430 ( won +3,015 )
  UTG lost -450
  Hero lost -2,415

Just for a laugh, here’s a spot where I missed my draw and felt compelled to bluff on the river. I suppose in hindsight if I’d check/folded the river then remaining in the game with 900 chips wouldn’t have been that bad. However I think my line represents a strong hand, but it shows how players at this level with stubbornly stick with things to the bitter end.

• Moral – don’t bluff (yeah, right!)
  No Limit Holdem Tournament
  $1.00+$0.20
  6 players

  Stacks:
  UTG (1595)
  UTG+1 (780)
  CO (1345)
  BTN (755)
  SB (7635)
  Hero (BB) (1390)

  Blinds: 25/50

  Pre-flop: (75, 6 players) Hero is BB 4 3
  UTG calls 50, 1 fold, CO calls 50, BTN calls 50, SB calls 25, Hero checks

  Flop: 6 5 5 (250, 5 players)
  SB checks, Hero checks, UTG checks, CO bets 100, 1 fold, SB folds, Hero calls 100, UTG folds

  Turn: 9 (450, 2 players)
  Hero bets 350, CO calls 350

  River: K (1,150, 2 players)
  Hero goes all-in 890, CO goes all-in 845

  Final Pot: 2,840
  CO shows: K 8
  Hero shows: 4 3

  CO wins 2,840 ( won +1,495 )
  Hero wins 45 ( lost -1,345 )
  BTN lost -50
  SB lost -50
  UTG lost -50