Stack and a story....

Now I'm pretty sure that BadBlood's intention behind this whole "Stack and a story" thing, was to get folks to tell tales about their massive stacks at a cash game. At least to me, that's the way it comes across.

There's only two small issues with that for me and they are,

1) The selection and timing of a good cash game around these parts is pretty bad.

and

2) I hate being left out of such an interesting idea, despite being more of a Tourney player of late.

So instead and in my own unique way, I give you this stack.


Yellow = $5000
White = $1000
Green = $500
Black = $100

For a stack of $91,300.

Many of you know that Peb's and I have been playing in the weekly Canadian Amateur Poker Tour games on Monday nights. The Pub is about as close as we can get to a "local" establishment and the league itself, well let's just say it's coming along very nicely indeed. A ton of good folks are supporting The Canadian Amateur Poker Tour and every single week, the number of players just keeps on growing. I totally believe that this is due to the lack of douche-baggery involved, as the owner of Can-Am just won't friggin' tolerate any of it. That keeps the night feeling like a huge home game and allows everyone to just have fun and be themselves. Mega bonus points to the owner Kelly for that!

Anywho....

Since we started playing back in November, my baby scored a win and then just shortly after so did I.

This week saw my buddy DonKaaa sit across the table from me and socially, that always makes for a fantastic time! Poker wise however, it's kind of like having Patrick Antonius sitting over there. Donnie's range is not huge by any stretch and typically, he's the poster child for perfect timing with a raise. Watching him dissect the play as it has gone down, can be really amusing too. Think Scooby Doo facial expressions. Ruh-Roh!

Donnie and I never tangled but once Peb's was moved to our table after the first adjustment, it appeared that status quo was right on track for them. You see, they seem to have a thing for catching hands at the same time. They're both also good solid players and that at times, can make for some pretty entertaining discussions between them. I love sitting back, watching and listening to them break down a hand they've been in together. I don't think they realize it but, they're actually teaching me more and more about them and the game every time they do it. Let's keep that to ourselves though shall we? So Shhhhhh..... ;)

This tourney started out brilliantly for me. I started out winning the button which is truly rare for me for some reason, as I typically pull the first BB every single week. Then I dealt myself pocket Queens. There were 3 limpers ahead with the blinds at $25/$50 so when it came around to me, I made it $300 to play. I saw two callers before the flop. One of them is a young lady with a range from any Ace at all, to any two face cards. She's one of those frustrating players that pretty much sees every single flop, if she's holding any paint. She'll always raise a pair pre and if re-raised in those spots, she always simply smooth calls to the flop. My notes on the other caller are far simpler than that. ATC... every flop... will fall in love with TP no matter the kicker and always, ALWAYS thinks his PP is better than the 3 overs that came on the flop. He's also the guy that says at the start of every single game, "I know better than to tangle with you!"

I dealt out a flop of Q-6-6 and then, I did my best to check without a trembling hand. Not surprisingly the young lady lead out, but for $100 into the $975 pot? Then the ATC guy to my right makes it $600 to stay in the hand. BINGO! He's on A-6 in my head and I know for a fact, that I can get his entire stack in the middle. After a few stares at the board and I think a hem and a haw, I announced all-in. The guy to my right immediately jumps up on the edge of his seat and asks the young lady what she's doing.

My gut wrenched and I immediately felt like I'd just run into Quad's. "I play so bad." I said out loud, as the young lady folded her Acey-Deucey face up and guy to my right stood up and bellowed "call" with a good laugh.

Jack - Six off-suit.

Don't ask me how, but I didn't deal myself the one-outer bad beat and my boat managed to hold on. Hello chippies!

"I should know better than to mess with you son." he said, followed by a quiet "Damn."

From there I only had one real hand as such, betting that my top two pair was good enough against an agro-shorty that was playing any Ace like it was gold. I was in another pot that went four handed pre-flop, with my raise being called in two spots and then re-raised in the third spot. One of the two callers was Donnie. Holding J-J in that spot, I decided to think things out before tossing the pair into the muck. "I know you." I said in Donnie's direction "and you as well." I gestured towards another friendly fellow that we see every week at the game. "But I don't know you at all." I said to the re-raiser. Of course it turns out a Jack came on the flop and eventually, I saw that I had folded the best hand in the end. Typical!

Despite going quite card dead, I made final table holding just over $10,000 in chips. With the blinds and antes starting at $100/$1000/$2000. Five BB's UGH!

I also drew the #5 spot on the re-draw for seats so, something was going to have to happen soon and it did! First hand in I look down at pocket ladies once again. I get'em in and find myself up against pocket jacks. The Ladies hold and as the blinds approach, I manage a quick double up. Two hands later and in my BB, two players limp to see a flop. I hold the 4c and 6c and obviously, decide just to see the flop as well. A flop of 5c-3d-7h comes out, giving me a straight on a rainbow board. This time after a check by the SB, I put out half of my stack as the bet. First limper folds and the SB decides to shove over the top. I made the call and saw that I was up against A - 7 off.

Doubling up in two of the first three hands, gave me a lot more playing room at the table. Then I went on a small run of cards pre-flop. Getting no callers on my raises, I showed pocket Astin's twice and pocket Kings and Queens one time each as well. With the blinds at these levels, my stack was slowly increasing. The other side benefit was, so was the respect I was gaining from a few of the other players. I got the feeling I could now make a move every once in a while, if I was given the opportunity to do so. It ended up becoming irrelevant though, as one by one the players busted out. I was down to head's up.

Head's up I did my best to stay aggressive. My moves were either fold or jam, based on what the feel for my opponent was telling me. He had me at a 5 - 1 chip deficit and the only way I felt I could gain control of the match, was to be the one in charge of the betting. I slowly whittled away at that monster stack of his and at one point had gone all-in four hands in a row, only to watch him fold and fold and fold again. I kept up the pressure and at the $500/$3000/$6000 level, I'd taken over the chip lead.

It was obvious to me that I'd gotten under his skin with all the all-ins. Now all I needed was for him to lose his patience, while switching to a slightly more patient version of the game myself.

That went out the window after about three more hands. I was dealt Aces, nines and then Queens one more time and head's up, I was going to play them pretty aggressively. Frustration was clearly setting in over in that other seat. His body language was terrible and the sighs became louder with each time he looked down at his hole cards.

While holding the Jh-Qh and believing he was about to play any two random cards to get off of the table, I jammed it all-in once again. He was holding 10-J off and once again, I held on to take down the title.


So there you have it!

I know winning a 45 player MTT is no big cash game win or anything, but hey!
It's my stack and more importantly, my story!

:)

My sincerest thanks for dropping by....