Bovada $2K NLHE 6-Max
I joined this 143-entry 6-Max tournament more than four hours ago (rule of thumb in online tournaments: 1 hand ~ 1 minute) and something like 135 players have fallen by the wayside. There were no composition changes at our table in the last group of hands, just jockeying for position as we get to the final table.
| HAND 241 | 1250/2500/250 | |||||||||
| PLAYER | POSITION | CARDS | CHIPS | START | PRE-FLOP | POST-FLOP | PRE-TURN | POST-TURN | PRE-RIVER | RIVER |
| 50 | D | 86 | 84.3K | 15 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 121 | SB | 52 | 62.4K | 18 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 140 | BB | AJ | 81.2K | 45 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 5 | UTG | 87 | 83K | 22 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
We are getting down to the nitty-gritty at this point in the tournament. Only seven or eight players remain, the four players at our table have been here for a while, and the chip stacks have levelled out through either chance or tight play on the part of at least some of us. On this hand, action folds around to the Mutant Jack in the BB and he gets the chips.
| HAND 242 | 1250/2500/250 | 485 | ||||||||
| PLAYER | POSITION | CARDS | CHIPS | START | PRE-FLOP | POST-FLOP | PRE-TURN | POST-TURN | PRE-RIVER | RIVER |
| 50 | UTG | 99 | 84.1K | 32 | 51 | 73 | – | – | – | – |
| 121 | D | JQ | 60.9K | 34 | 49 | 27 | – | – | – | – |
| 140 | SB | A5 | 83.2K | 24 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 5 | BB | 82 | 82.8K | 10 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
D has a pretty good hand and calls my 7.5K pre-flop raise. We’re HU to the flop my statistically insignificant lead. There’s not much for him in the flop, though, and my 10K bet would eat a significant portion out of his stack, so he folds.
| HAND 243 | 1250/2500/250 | 548 | J | 2 | ||||||
| PLAYER | POSITION | CARDS | CHIPS | START | PRE-FLOP | POST-FLOP | PRE-TURN | POST-TURN | PRE-RIVER | RIVER |
| 50 | BB | JA | 96.1K | 58 | 86 | 91 | – | 98 | – | – |
| 121 | UTG | 97 | 53.2K | 19 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 140 | D | 69 | 81.7K | 13 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 5 | SB | 9J | 80K | 10 | 14 | 9 | – | 2 | – | – |
This time it’s me with the Mutant Jack in the BB. SB limps in and I raise to 7.5K. Ever aggressive, he calls. We both check the flop, then I bet another 8K on the turn, which he calls. He’s drawing slim to a single remaining nine for two pair, which doesn’t come. I small ball it and don’t bet the backdoor flush. He checks and I win the showdown.
| HAND 244 | 1250/2500/250 | K44 | 8 | 5 | ||||||
| PLAYER | POSITION | CARDS | CHIPS | START | PRE-FLOP | POST-FLOP | PRE-TURN | POST-TURN | PRE-RIVER | RIVER |
| 50 | SB | JA | 112.3K | 52 | 59 | 28 | – | 18 | 17 | 100 |
| 121 | BB | T4 | 52.9K | 17 | 24 | 72 | – | 82 | 83 | 0 |
| 140 | UTG | 9A | 81.5K | 15 | 17 | 0 | – | 0 | – | – |
| 5 | D | 9T | 64.3K | 16 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
I pick up some more heat with another Mutant Jack. UTG min-raises his ace, D folds a hand for a change, I call, and BB comes along. His game’s about to get rough. He should be betting his flopped trips hard. Instead, he elects to check and the turn comes along without adding anything to the pot. The pot has 16.3K in it before the flop, A bet of 8—10K (if was called) would have left him with a pot-size bet to make on the turn if it wasn’t, say, a king or a spade. An eight on the turn practically seals the deal for him. Mistake #2 is not making a bigger bet here than 6.9K. That probably wasn’t a big-enough bet on the flop, it’s not big enough here to keep out someone drawing for better than trips (though it’s big enough for UTG). The river makes my flush and I bet 15K, which he calls, only to lose.
| HAND 245 | 1250/2500/250 | 42Q | Q | A | ||||||
| PLAYER | POSITION | CARDS | CHIPS | START | PRE-FLOP | POST-FLOP | PRE-TURN | POST-TURN | PRE-RIVER | RIVER |
| 50 | D | 67 | 145K | 28 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 121 | SB | K4 | 25.8K | 17 | 36 | 72 | – | 87 | – | 0 |
| 7 | BB | AT | 129K | 27 | 64 | 28 | – | 13 | – | 100 |
| 140 | UTG | 29 | 76.2K | 19 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 5 | CO | 5T | 64K | 9 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
We’re now at the final table, with the biggest-stacked player sitting out this hand because they come in between the button and blinds. Between him (player 32) and player 7, they have 404K, nearly 30% more than the combined stacks of the four players at our table.
My suited connectors are the best hand pre-flop! I fold them anyway, which is good, because SB takes his loss in the last hand poorly and shoves 10BB with a nothing hand. BB calls with a very good ace. On the flop and turn, it looks like SB’s Hail Mary play might just work, but the low pair catches up with him on the river and he’s out in sixth place.
| HAND 246 | 1250/2500/250 | JA6 | T | 3 | ||||||
| PLAYER | POSITION | CARDS | CHIPS | START | PRE-FLOP | POST-FLOP | PRE-TURN | POST-TURN | PRE-RIVER | RIVER |
| 50 | HJ | 42 | 144.7K | 8 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 32 | CO | 57 | 275K | 23 | 26 | 9 | 9 | 0 | – | 0 |
| 7 | SB | 56 | 155.6K | 17 | 19 | 13 | – | – | – | – |
| 140 | BB | A9 | 76K | 43 | 55 | 78 | 91 | 100 | – | 100 |
| 5 | UTG | 34 | 63.8K | 9 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
The big stack in CO goes to work, raising to 6K (he’s another random number generator: 5,951), and both the blinds call. BB sets the hook by checking after the SB, and calling CO’s 10.2K c-bet. SB folds. Both players check the turn—CO is completely dead at this point—then BB bets 12.5K on the river and takes the pot.
| HAND 247 | 1250/2500/250 | |||||||||
| PLAYER | POSITION | CARDS | CHIPS | START | PRE-FLOP | POST-FLOP | PRE-TURN | POST-TURN | PRE-RIVER | RIVER |
| 50 | UTG | 79 | 144.5K | 20 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 32 | CO | 6Q | 258.6K | 11 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 7 | D | TK | 149.4K | 24 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 140 | SB | QA | 99.1K | 37 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 5 | BB | 7K | 63.5K | 9 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
D limps in and gets raised to 12.5K by SB. BB folds, D folds, and SB wins another pot.
| HAND 248 | 1250/2500/250 | T7T | 9 | T | ||||||
| PLAYER | POSITION | CARDS | CHIPS | START | PRE-FLOP | POST-FLOP | PRE-TURN | POST-TURN | PRE-RIVER | RIVER |
| 50 | BB | AJ | 144.2K | 41 | 66 | 85 | – | 95 | – | 100 |
| 32 | UTG | 45 | 258.4K | 18 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 7 | CO | 26 | 146.6K | 4 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 140 | D | K6 | 105.1K | 26 | 34 | 15 | – | 5 | – | 0 |
| 5 | SB | 26 | 60.8K | 10 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
D raises his suited king to 7.5K and I call with yet another Mutant Jack in the BB. His six is more or less irrelevant, since two have been discarded, but we’re still 2:1 going to the flop. We check it all the way to the river, and my ace is the decider.
| HAND 249 | 1250/2500/250 | |||||||||
| PLAYER | POSITION | CARDS | CHIPS | START | PRE-FLOP | POST-FLOP | PRE-TURN | POST-TURN | PRE-RIVER | RIVER |
| 50 | SB | 73 | 154K | 17 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 32 | BB | A5 | 258.1K | 32 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 7 | UTG | 24 | 146.4K | 11 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 140 | CO | 3T | 97.3K | 22 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 5 | D | 62 | 59.3K | 18 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
Everyone folds to the big stack.
| HAND 250 | 1250/2500/250 | 54A | 3 | |||||||
| PLAYER | POSITION | CARDS | CHIPS | START | PRE-FLOP | POST-FLOP | PRE-TURN | POST-TURN | PRE-RIVER | RIVER |
| 50 | D | JA | 152.5K | 31 | 65 | 79 | – | 84 | – | – |
| 32 | SB | K9 | 260.4K | 27 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 7 | BB | 83 | 146.1K | 15 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 140 | UTG | T5 | 97.1K | 19 | 35 | 21 | – | 16 | – | – |
| 5 | CO | J5 | 59K | 7 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
For some reason, UTG here is deciding to raise a suited ten-five, I call with the ace. On the flop, I check-raise UTG’s c-bet from 5K to 10K and he calls. I bet another 20K on the turn and he finally gives it up.
| HAND 251 | 1250/2500/250 | |||||||||
| PLAYER | POSITION | CARDS | CHIPS | START | PRE-FLOP | POST-FLOP | PRE-TURN | POST-TURN | PRE-RIVER | RIVER |
| 50 | CO | Q2 | 172.2K | 23 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 32 | D | 32 | 258.9K | 12 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 7 | SB | 8K | 143.4K | 28 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 140 | BB | A8 | 81.8K | 12 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 5 | UTG | AJ | 58.8K | 25 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
Player 5 may feel a little frustrated—he’s only played one hand of the last nine!—because he shoves more than 20BB with [ah jc]. With three players behind him each having nearly three times his stack (or more), perhaps not the safest move, but it works this time. Everyone folds.
| HAND 252 | 1250/2500/250 | |||||||||
| PLAYER | POSITION | CARDS | CHIPS | START | PRE-FLOP | POST-FLOP | PRE-TURN | POST-TURN | PRE-RIVER | RIVER |
| 50 | UTG | JT | 172K | 13 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 32 | CO | T7 | 258.6K | 26 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 7 | D | JK | 141.9K | 32 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 140 | SB | 25 | 79.1K | 21 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 5 | BB | 4T | 63.5K | 8 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
I’m quite surprised that D folds [jd ks] to my 7.5K raise here. I’m in far worse shape than I’d expect, with my top card dominated, and my bottom card duplicated. But I take the pot.
| HAND 253 | 1250/2500/250 | 47T | A | |||||||
| PLAYER | POSITION | CARDS | CHIPS | START | PRE-FLOP | POST-FLOP | PRE-TURN | POST-TURN | PRE-RIVER | RIVER |
| 50 | BB | KQ | 176.7K | 28 | 43 | 27 | – | 5 | – | – |
| 32 | UTG | 7J | 258.4K | 10 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 7 | CO | AJ | 141.6K | 24 | 57 | 73 | – | 95 | – | – |
| 140 | D | 9T | 77.6K | 21 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 5 | SB | 24 | 60.8K | 17 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
CO min-raises and I call. I fold to a turn bet of 12.5K, drawing even slimmer than I would think, with only one jack left.
| HAND 254 | 1250/2500/250 | A32 | Q | J | ||||||
| PLAYER | POSITION | CARDS | CHIPS | START | PRE-FLOP | POST-FLOP | PRE-TURN | POST-TURN | PRE-RIVER | RIVER |
| 50 | SB | 7T | 171.5K | 24 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 32 | BB | 96 | 258.1K | 11 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 7 | UTG | K8 | 148.9K | 24 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 140 | CO | 6Q | 77.3K | 25 | 62 | 29 | – | 89 | – | 100 |
| 5 | D | 28 | 59.3K | 16 | 38 | 71 | – | 11 | – | 0* |
Player 5 gets very tricky here. CO raises to 7.5K with his suited queen and D calls him with just [2c 8c]. It’s the two short stacks against each other, down to the bigger pay jumps of the tournament. CO is well ahead pre-flop. D catches bottom pair on the flop and calls 7.5K more from CO. CO checks the turn when he pulls back ahead. Then somehow on the river, when he’s already put 15K in voluntarily even before he made a pair, CO folds to a 17.5K bet from D. It just boggles the mind. But props to player 5 for sheer guts.
| HAND 255 | 1250/2500/250 | 97K | J | A | ||||||
| PLAYER | POSITION | CARDS | CHIPS | START | PRE-FLOP | POST-FLOP | PRE-TURN | POST-TURN | PRE-RIVER | RIVER |
| 50 | D | 98 | 170K | 32 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 32 | SB | 73 | 255.4K | 20 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 7 | BB | 2Q | 148.6K | 15 | 30 | 46 | – | 24 | – | 0 |
| 140 | UTG | QT | 62.1K | 28 | 70 | 54 | – | 76 | – | 100 |
| 5 | CO | T2 | 79K | 5 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
UTG min-raised and went to the flop with BB. Both players check the flop, with BB picking up the flush draw and UTG with a gut-shot draw. UTG makes the nuts on the turn, but BB leads out with a bet to 2.5K, then calls UTG’s raise to 7.5K. BB misses his flush, and without even a pair has to release when UTG bets 15K.
| HAND 256 | 1250/2500/250 | A9J | 4 | 6 | ||||||
| PLAYER | POSITION | CARDS | CHIPS | START | PRE-FLOP | POST-FLOP | PRE-TURN | POST-TURN | PRE-RIVER | RIVER |
| 50 | CO | 32 | 169.7K | 12 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 32 | D | KT | 253.9K | 27 | 63 | 33 | – | 18 | – | 0 |
| 7 | SB | A4 | 135.9K | 23 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 140 | BB | J7 | 76.8K | 21 | 37 | 67 | – | 82 | – | 100 |
| 5 | UTG | 58 | 78.8K | 17 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
D min-raises and gets called by BB. Personally, I like a little heftier raise. I don’t want people calling with any old cards. With the antes making the pot over 8K, having to call 2.5K means BB is getting better than 3:1 on his money, and he’s likely getting good enough odds to call. A 3x raise reduces the ratio closer to 2:1. BB calls D’s anemic c-bet of 5K (into a pot of more than 13K), he doesn’t follow through on the turn, and by the river, BB’s confident enough in second pair that he bets less than a third of the pot (7.5K) and D gives it up. How’d this guy get to be chip leader?
| HAND 257 | 1250/2500/250 | A25 | K | J | ||||||
| PLAYER | POSITION | CARDS | CHIPS | START | PRE-FLOP | POST-FLOP | PRE-TURN | POST-TURN | PRE-RIVER | RIVER |
| 50 | UTG | AT | 169.5K | 27 | 61 | 78 | – | 76 | – | 100 |
| 32 | CO | J8 | 243.6K | 23 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 7 | D | T6 | 134.4K | 9 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 140 | SB | 79 | 89.1K | 20 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 5 | BB | 4K | 78.5K | 22 | 39 | 22 | – | 24 | – | 0 |
I open to 7.5K and BB is sticky enough to call with his king and four kicker. He picks up a gut-shot on the flop, which is enough for him to check-call 10K. I get another 20K out of him on the turn. I wish I hadn’t been as cautious as I was and had tried to knock him out at this point. I just checked the river behind him and won the pot.
| HAND 258 | 1250/2500/250 | |||||||||
| PLAYER | POSITION | CARDS | CHIPS | START | PRE-FLOP | POST-FLOP | PRE-TURN | POST-TURN | PRE-RIVER | RIVER |
| 50 | BB | T3 | 209.2K | 9 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 32 | UTG | 75 | 243.4K | 27 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 7 | CO | T3 | 134.1K | 11 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 140 | D | J2 | 87.6K | 26 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 5 | SB | 2A | 40.8K | 28 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
I guess SB wasn’t happy about the result of the last hand, because he slams the ace for 16BB. I just fold.
| HAND 259 | 1250/2500/250 | |||||||||
| PLAYER | POSITION | CARDS | CHIPS | START | PRE-FLOP | POST-FLOP | PRE-TURN | POST-TURN | PRE-RIVER | RIVER |
| 50 | SB | 32 | 206.5K | 16 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 32 | BB | 4J | 243.1K | 13 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 7 | UTG | 97 | 133.9K | 26 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 140 | CO | 6J | 87.3K | 24 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 5 | D | T5 | 44.3K | 21 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
BB gets a walk.
| HAND 260 | 1250/2500/250 | 3AK | ||||||||
| PLAYER | POSITION | CARDS | CHIPS | START | PRE-FLOP | POST-FLOP | PRE-TURN | POST-TURN | PRE-RIVER | RIVER |
| 50 | D | TJ | 205K | 19 | 23 | 22 | – | – | – | – |
| 32 | SB | K6 | 245.4K | 16 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 7 | BB | 68 | 133.6K | 19 | 30 | 7 | – | – | – | – |
| 140 | UTG | JA | 87.1K | 33 | 47 | 71 | – | – | – | – |
| 5 | CO | 58 | 44K | 13 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
UTG raises to 7.5K and gets called by me (D) and BB. On the flop, BB checks, UTG bets another 7.5K, and I fold my gut-shot. BB folds.
Summary
We never actually played six-handed at the final table, as a player was knocked out on the first hand, while the chip leader was between the blinds and the button. A string of decent hands gave me the chance to more than double my chip stack, putting me in contention with the chip leader. Between the two of us, we have more than 60% of the chips in play.
- One sixth of the hands dealt during the tournament have been won by a single raise.
- There was only one walk in this batch of hands, the average has been 2.5 walks per 20 hands.
- The hand with the most pre-flop equity continues to win more than 50% of all hands dealt.
- Overall VPIP/PFR for the remaining players: 5 (54%/30%), 7 (38%/6%, based on only 16 hands), 32 (13%/13%, based on 7 hands), 50 (32%/23%), 140 (32%/26%). Short-stacked, player 5’s play has changed dramatically, going from a VPIP of 60% to just 54% over 20 of 110 tracked hands.
Lots of fireworks in tomorrow’s chapter!