Alrighty, back with more action on TitanPoker and my quest for a birth in the 100 Million Dollar freeroll. After the prior cancelled tournaments yesterday’s 21ET tournament went really smooth the whole time, so nothing to complain about, yet, but I don’t want to get ahead of myself.

This tournament was by far the most exciting tournament I’ve played in a while. The setup: 136 players competed for 5 spots in the main tournament (April 30th 2006). I entered and felt good, although it was already 3am (German timezone = ET + 6), and right from the start all seemed to be going really well. The fourth hand brought the first major hand and I couldn’t resist to go All-In with it. My Q-Q was called by two other players who both showed A-Ko…lucky me, no King or Ace showed up and I tripled up to 4460 – up to 3rd place in chips at that time. Nothing unsual happened for the next 60 hands and I stayed away from all draw hands to head into the break with 4360 chips (65 hands dealt, Average: 3517, my position 17/58).

Right after the break, hand 66, I decided to donkey off almost all my chips with an Ace high…ouch down to 770. Now that’s no way to start after the break, now is it? So, hand 67 rolls around and I hold A-Q, All-In…one caller showing 5-7…flop: 7-7-J (ouch!), turn: 10 (hmm), river: K (yes :-)) up to 1690 in chips and back in the race. Hand 68 gives me 2-2 sitting in the SB…I push…BB pushes…I put him All-In, he calls…he shows Q-3, board is: 8-J-K-5-K…nice…up to 3860 in chips. Hand 69: 7-7…I push…all other fold, up to 4310 chips. Nice!

People are dropping out left and right and I sit back and relax, waiting for the next “big hand”. Hand 96 brings me A-5 and I push as a shortstack moved in, to my dismay he shows A-K…lucky me as the board is: 5-9-3-3-2 🙂 Up to 6820 in chips. Hand 97 my Ace high holds up, up to 7420 in chips. Hand 100: Only 21 players left, I’m in position 12. Hand 102 A-J, I push, two callers K-Q and 10-10…King flops…down to 3660…Hand 108 blinds are getting massive now: 400/800. Hand 111 K-Qh…I push…one caller 7-9h…Jh-3h-5h gives me the higher flush…booya! Back to 5180 chips. Hand 114: only 14 players remaining…I’m stuck at position 14. Hand 118: blinds raised again to 500/1000 – time to get something going.

Hand 127: I’m sitting in the BB and look down at 10-10, two pushers, I reraise them…one guy is All-In, whatever!, so my 10-10 vs. K-Q and ?? (mucked), board: 6-K-A-10-Q, woot! Up to 12440 chips. Hand 134: I’m in the BB again and once again 10-10, All-In, one caller…who shows…10-10…lol…Hand 135: blinds are now 750/1500. In the following hands I go on a Ace in hand All-In spree (AJ, A7, AA) – up to 14940 in chips, 11 players remaining. Hand 152: A-k vs A-J, board 10-6-4-7-8 and I’m looking good now: 21630 in chips and I busted the 11th player, so it’s down to the final 10.

Final table
Woot, so I’m sitting at the final table of this lovely tournament. I’m currently fourth in chips and looking forward to see 5 others go. I slow play a little and wait for the second break. Hand 159 lures me into the pot with the chip-leader, I hold..10d-10h, Flop: Jh-Qh-Ah, check, he bets 3k, I call, turn: 9d, he bets 6k, hmm…I ponder and ponder and fold (in retrospect I still wonder what would have happened if I had called to see the river – there are different possibilities: 1. Kh comes up I hold the Royal flush, 2. any other heart and I hold a decent flush, 3. any K or 8 comes up and I hold a nice straight, 4. river is blank and I’m out of another 6k for the turn bet). So I’m down to 14630 in chips and I tighten up, maybe even a bit too much. Hand 173: blinds are raised again to 1500/3000. Hand 175 I hold 9-9, but I’m not willing to call an UTG All-In, sure enough he shows A-K, but flop is: 9-A-5…so I would have flopped the set and would have won the hand, d’oh! Hand 177 there are 7 players remaining. Hand 178: there are 6 players remaining, the chipleader is turning into the push monster. Hand 188: still sitting around with 14630 in chips, I wait for the short-stack to be knocked out, it never happens as he doubles up of the chipleader and yes, I’m the short-stack now. The others are waiting for me to be blinded out or make a move. I don’t catch anything…and when it’s my turn with the BB (which is 4000 now), they pressure me…so I’m left with 2 choices: 1. Fold and be down to 4000 in chips with the 2000SB in the next hand…2. Risk it all….I decide to go with the latter as the player 5th in chips has put me All-In…10-2c for me, K-Qo for him….board is: 7-6-K-2-4 🙁 🙁

Argh! So close and yet so far! After 2h35 minutes, 201 hands played I’m eliminated in 6th position, leaving me without a ticket to the main event and feeling sad, angry and hurt at the same time. How unlucky can you be? – On another note: I had a unusual streak of “good cards” and have never been all-in so many times in any tournament in my life, so I can’t complain about my fortune, but it makes you wonder what you could have done differently, especially in two hands mentioned above (royal flush draw folded on the river, pair of 9s not played). Nontheless it was a good tournament and I genuinely congratulated the other 5 players at the table before heading of to bed (after all it was already way past 5am)…and let me tell you something: I couldn’t get to sleep right away, the cards and decision kept coming back infront of my closed eyes…just thinking about the possibilities this ticket would have brought (after all there’s not only 500.000$ up for grabs, but millions in jackpots)…maybe I’ll try to play enough raked hands to enter another few of those qualifiers…