Don't Ever Give Up

At the end of my last blog, I mentioned that I was really looking forward to the $1,500 NL six-handed event. It turned out to be a very soft field, as expected, of 1,459 players.

Many of the inexperienced players either played way too aggressively, or too tight and passive in the short-handed format. I was able to capitalize on this and chip up pretty slowly throughout the day without too many big confrontations.

We made it into the money (144 places) well before the end of the day, but I was stuck in reverse from the bubble until the end of the day.

I ended up with 26k going to 600/1200 (100), and busted on one of the very first hands of day two with an open-ended straight draw all in against trips on the flop. Fortunately, the day wasn't a complete waste ... or so I thought.

Being the action junkie I am I ask the floor to call over to the cage and ask if there are any seats left in the $2k, since we re-started the $1500 at 2pm and they usually close late registration for the 12pm events around then.

There were 5 seats left, so I didn't even pick up my money before rushing over to buy into the $2k NL.

I'll spare you the most of the boring details of how I got it in as a huge favorite twice and flipping twice before busting out a few hands after dinner break...but one hand was so much *fun* that it bears repeating.

At 100/200 (25), I got it in with A K against 7 8 before the flop for a ~12k pot. The board ran out A Q 9 7 7. Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I rounded out the week by bricking the $2,500 NL and $5k NL events. I grinded at around staring stack for most of the day in the $2,500, with the highlight being when the table calling station (by all OTHER indications) folded Q Q face-up...after I moved in with J J!!!.

At the WSOP.

I felt like I was freerolling after that, which was good because I ended up losing a flip shortly after dinner break and busted. Then I ran A A into 4 4 on a J 5 4 flop shortly before dinner break to go broke in the $5k event.

After a lot of long days of live poker, I was ready for a day of hanging out at home grinding Sunday donkaments.

Eight hours in after I'd bricked my first twenty or so tournaments for the day without a single cash, I was left with just three tables. I wasn't in the money in any of them, and didn't have any big stacks.

Although there was definitely a part of me that wanted to just get it over with and bust my last few tournaments so I could have a Long Island fruit punch, burn one, and play some Mario Kart, the grinder in me just couldn't let that happen.

I work too hard at what I do to blow it off, and at the end of the year every score helps.

Since I stayed focused and didn't give up, I ended up cashing in all three tournaments and making the final table of the Tilt $100 cubed (one rebuy, one add-on) short-handed. I overcame a huge chip defecit three-handed and eventually got heads up with a total sicko, Stephen "stevie444" Chidwick.

After a match that probably lasted more than 100 hands, Stevie got the best of me in two key pots. After he called a three-bet in position and completely floated me on the flop, he backdoored a flush against my measly unimproved flopped trip aces.

I grinded back from a 5:1 chip lead with few showdowns other than winning one flip until we were traiding the chip lead back and forth. On the final hand of the tournament Stevie had me covered by ~280k of the ~1.5 million in play, and 4-bet jammed with Jd-4d against my 7h-7c.

Since it was the final hand I don't need to tell you who won...but I can tell you that the board was completely clean for me through fourth street...

Anyway, the next WSOP event that I've really been looking forward to is coming up tomorrow (by tomorrow I mean in 8.5 hr since it's currently 3:30am)...the $2,500 NL six-handed. Wish me luck!

--Matt Stout
All In At 420