APL

Well tonight I went to Chatswood RSL and played in a freeroll run by the APL. Went with a few work buddies and the experience was quite good. Not sure how many runners there were but probably about 70 or so i'd say. I came 10th, which means that I rack up some points which I'm sure I will use - just like my old Fly Buys card.

Before the first break I was struggling but managed to double up just before the break, giving me about 3.5k in chips. We then had a 20 minute break. After the break I immediately doubled up twice pushing my stack close to 15k.

The first hand I had JJ and the flop was T72. It was heads up, the guy who called my pre-flop raise of 3xBB checked. I bet for about 1.2k and he pushed over the top for another 2k. I snap called (as you would :)) and he turned over 79. Oh they were suited alright. Blank blank and I scoop the pot. I knew the guy wanted to bust me as I had pushed him off the pot earlier on.

The second hand was quite easy too. I was BB and everybody folded except the SB. I look down and 45 (sneaky sneaky) and check to see a flop. The flop comes down A45. Bingo. However with the straight already out there and a flush draw evident I was quite weary. SB leads for 600 (min bet) and I reraise the minimum to 1200. You see, I normally would bet hard in this situation but for some reason the min bet seemed like the correct play. He deliberates for a bit and calls. The turn is a 7 and I am putting him on a range of hands. These include A-rag, 67 or a flush draw. The flush hasn't hit and if he had an open-ender, that card helped, but I am still in front. He leads for 1200 but he's actions scream to me that he is flush drawing. I am ready to push but notice that if I do, he will snap call me. I call to see a river. Q. This is actually a good card as it does not give the flush draw. He goes all in and I snap call him. Ship it baby :)

The rest of the tournament is dull. I laid down JJ with an A on the flop. My 99 ran into TT. My AJ got annihilated by AT (flop of JQK) blah blah blah. So the final hand I have 9k in chips. There are 5 people on my table and I look down at Ks9s UTG. My options were limited and I didn't want to fold because of several reasons:
1. This really was the best hand I had seen in a long while
2. The blinds were huge and I was short stacked on a 5-handed table
3. The SB and BB still have fold equity so if they don't have a monster they will fold
4. My image was ultra tight
5. It was the bubble to the final table so the people at my table were also in tight mode

Anyway, I pushed and ran head first into AJ. The play was questionable and I do reflect on it. Anyhow I had fun and I thank my work mates for the invite. Oh, first prize would have been $150 and second $50.

That's been my poker fix for the night :) Back on FTP tomorrow night hopefully!