Down to Four!

Had a pretty decent night at the tourney yesterday. I actually managed to double up during the Level 1 blinds so that got me off to a good start plus it put Mike (the guy who owns the company that runs these tourneys) on tilt right at the start. Anyhow, Mike is UTG and makes it 160 to go. Four people call when it gets to me on the button. I look down at 89s and since I’m getting at least 5:1 on my money I make the call. Both the blinds fold and Mike is stunned by all the action. Well the flop comes up 995 and Mike makes it 550 to play. It folds to me so I make it 1,100, which irritates Mike who then pushes and I call. He flips up AKs and then starts telling me what a horrible play I made calling him with that hand. So while normally I would agree that it was a bad call against him with an UTG raise, in this case I was on the button getting 5:1 so I put that down as a pretty easy call and a fairly easy lay down if the flop missed me. What do you think, good call or not (and yes, Mike is a solid player)?

Later on, during Level 3 blinds (50/100), I made a mid position raise of 400 with TT, got two callers and the BB pushed. I called and the other two also ended up pushing so I also ended up calling them as well. After all the side pots were worked out, it turns out that I had the only pair, all the A’s were in peoples hands as were ½ the K’s. That ended up working for me quite well as no one improved other than me when the board paired. It was fun having to call out “Doyle, down to four” as I was stacking all those pretty chips.

The next table was pretty nice, a couple of decent size stacks, a mid stack or two and a couple very short ones. Had one sweet hand there. Was dealt Ad6d in the CO and made it 4x BB to go (200/400) and got three callers. Flop came down 7d5d4c. I bet 2,200 and got one caller and two folds. Turn was a Js, and I was not pleased. I bet another 2,200 and Dan went into the tank. About 3 minutes later he finally mucked his hand, gotta love it when you pull off a nice bluff.

Awhile later the final table was announced, I took my seat and my cards went to shit. Actually it wasn’t just my cards, but also the play in general. I really don’t know what happened, it seems like all of a sudden people thought to themselves “Final table, I need to throw in chips with any paint or soooooted cards!” My AKs v K2o, K on the flop with a 2 on the river. 92s, sure I’ll call your 4x BB raise, they’re sooooted! Flush by the river. Over and over, it was surreal. We got down to four and I was down to my last 15,000 with blinds of 5,000/10,000 and I’m on the button with 44. What the heck, the underpairs have been working for everyone else and I know both the blinds will call. I throw in my chips and for the first time at this table, the guy who pairs his A on the flop wins. Oh well, what can you do, das pokah! Who knows, maybe tonight….