Bovada Poker Golden Spade Poker Open $250K NLHE
I have to admit, I was feeling a little frisky after cashing Friday night, and when I got home earlier than expected after my father’s birthday lunch earlier than expected, I had a bit of a choice. I could run out to Encore for the $100K and plunk down 10% of my win for the door, entry, and addon as a post-break late-reg, and sit down with 50BB, or I could check in on some of the big games I don’t usually get the chance to play on Sunday afternoon when we’re doing the family dinner thing. As it happened, Bovada is running their Golden Spade Poker Open series, and they’ve bumped the usual $100K guarantee on Sunday up to $250K for a couple of weeks. It was just about to go up from 50/100, and even though that meant I’d quickly be under 50BB with a 5K starting stack, I figured I was saving $550, so I topped up my account and dove in.
Hand 4 [7c 9s] BB T5K 75/150
I called a HJ raise along with CO and folded to a CO bet on the [kd ts 5c] flop. HJ had [ah qs], CO had [ac kh].
Hand 8 [ks kh] CO T4.6K 75/150
UTG1 limps in and I raise to 600. D 3-bets to 1.75K, forcing out the blinds and UTG1.I shove, D calls with [ad qd] and this could be a short tournament. The board runs out dangerously close to a wheel before making my full house: [4c 5h 3d 4s kc].
Hand 10 [js jd] UTG1 T9.5K 75/150
I raise and take the blinds.
Hand 28 [kd 9d] SB T9.1K 100/200
I called a raise to 455 from UTG1, we checked the board down to [2c 5c 8s 8c qh] and I fiolded to a bet of 1.1K on the river. He had [as qs].
Hand 32 [jd ah] UTG2 T8.6K 100/200
I raised to 600 and took the blinds.
Hand 37 [5s 6d] SB T8.7K 100/200
Yes, this was a bad defend. UTG min-raised with [qc ks] and HJ flatted him with [js jh]. I called with a hand I slip in from time to time, and BB came along with [ad 5d] . The [4s 7d 7c] flop put me in pretty good shape, considering, and I called a 600 c-bet from HJ. I should have been scared by the [7s] turn, but it was the 2.8K bet after the [8c] river made my straight that I should have been worried about.
Hand 40 [5d 5h] HJ T4.9 100/200
Why not bleed away some more chips with a low pair? UTG2 raised to 465 and I called, then D shoved 4.9K and UTG2 called. I folded. D had [6s 6c], UTG2 had [ad ks] and the first card off the deck was the [kd]. I was still in, at least.
Hand 42 [kh 5h] UTG1 T4.4K 100/200
What is it with 5s? I min-raised, got called by UTG2 and BB, flopped [ac 9s 4c], and folded to a 400 bet from UTG2 with [ad qh].
Hand 46 [ac kd] D T3.6K 125/250/25
I shoved all-in, BB called with [9d 9s] and 8K behind. caught a [kc] on the flop and doubled up.
Hand 53 [as ac] SB T7.6K 125/250/25
UTG raised [7h 7d] to 537 and I shoved stack of equal size. He folded.
Hand 57 [qc qd] UTG2 T8.5K 125/250/25
I opened for 750 and everyone folded.
Hand 68 [qh ah] BB T8.4K 125/250/25
CO raised [9s 9d] to 600, getting a call from [8c 7d] as D. I shoved, CO called all-in, D folded, and I hit [qd] on the flop to knock a player out and nearly double up.
Hand 82 [qc ac] UTG2 T16K 150/300/30
I raise to 900, HJ calls with [kd ad]. I bet 1.3K on the [9c td ah] flop, he calls, still ahead. [js] turn and I’m open-ended, at least; he folds to a 2.6K bet. How lucky is that?
Hand 83 [jh js] UTG1 T18.9K 150/300/30
Nobody calls my raise of 900.
Hand 89 [qc jc] HJ T18.7K 200/400/40
I raise to 1.2K and take blinds and antes.
Hand 100 [ad kh] UTG T18.7K 200/400/40
I raise and nobody calls.
Hand 105 [7d 7s] HJ T18.8 200/400/40
I raise to 1.2K and get HU with CO, who has [qs qh]. The flop is [kh tc kd], and I check-fold to his exploratory 1.2K bet.
Hand 109 [ts 9s] BB T17.4K 250/500/50
I’ve got the second-largest stack on the table, but even I’m only 35BB deep at the new level. There are three players in the 10BB range, so people are playing a bit cautiously, since setting one of them off can make a big dent. UTG has 11K and just limps in with [ac qs]. The flop is [5s 9h 2c]. I check my top pair and UTG checks behind. We both check the [8c] on the turn. I take the [5d] on the river as a cue and bet 1K, he folds.
Hand 111 [ac td] D T18.3K 250/500/50
I open to 1.5K and SB calls with [jc ah]. I have middle pair after a flop of [qd tc 7d], but SB bets 3.9K on his gutshot and I fold.
Hand 116 [qd ac] UTG T16.5K 250/500/50
Raise and take the blinds.
Hand 127 [ac tc] SB T15.7K 300/600/60
UTG raises to 1.8K with [ks ad], CO calls with [8s 7s], and I ride along. The flop is [3s 2s qc] UTG bets his high ace for 2.4K, CO incredibly folds for less than 10% of his stack to what I would have assumed was exactly the flop he was looking for, and I fold because it’s the wrong color black, for the most part.
Hand 131 [ks 9s] UTG3 T13.7K 300/600/60
Nobody calls my raise.
Hand 132 [jh qh] UTG2 T15K 300/600/60
I raise, they fold.
Hand 153 [5d 5c] CO T12K 400/800/80
Not exactly a good time to go card-dead for twenty-odd hands. We’re getting near the money, with maybe another 50 spots to go before the bottom rung payout at 297 (15% of the field was paid). When action folded to me, I raised to 2.4K, even though 5s aren’t my favorite hand, and took in a few chips.
Hand 154 [6s 6d] HJ T13.8K 400/800/80
I folded this, actually. not wanting to get involved in another hand after I’d just made a raise. D opened [jc 8s] and got folds. Maybe I should have played it.
Hand 160 [ks ad] D T12.1K 400/800/80
UTG2 limped in with [kh qc] and 48K. UTG4 (17.5K) raised [qd qh] all-in. I figured I was racing at best and folded.
Hand 164 [ts as] UTG1 T11.7K 500/1K/100
I’m in seat 1 with the second-smallest stack. We’re 30 places from the money. People are busting out relatively quickly, and I might be able to go a couple more orbits to squeak in, but I could be down to 5 big blinds at that point. Four of the stacks at the table have me covered by 3x. I take a chance and shove, HJ has 47K and [jc jh], and he raises, the board runs out [kx kh 9s 3h jd] and he makes the full house.
Three hours and four minutes. 164 hands. 324th place of 1,760 entries. -100% ROI. VPIP: 15%. Went to showdown with 20% of hands played, won 60% of showdowns.