Final Table

I had a great weekend on the whole, although I wish I had been decisive and headed up north for a party over which I vacillated for days.

I saw a play on Friday night with my brother, then saw my football team win (an unusual event) on Saturday and went to a dreadful ‘party’ in the evening. I didn’t feel too clever getting out of bed to play football for the first time in about two years on Sunday morning, but I actually played pretty well. My body has been grumbling at me ever since.

Anyway, the crowning glory of the weekend came late on Sunday night, when I finally sat down to play some poker. (I had played a bundle more heads-up freezeouts over Friday and Saturday, with mediocre results – although it seems that I generally only lose if I suffer a beat on a key hand).

In short, I entered a $5+1 multi and finally made the final table out of 258 runners. It was an up and down ride, including losing AJ versus A6 fairly early in a pot which would have put me in the top three stacks. I got lucky three or four times myself, but generally felt I played very, very well for the entire three and three quarter hours. I’ve altered some little things (or maybe not so little) in my tournament game recently, largely based on insights from other blogs, and don’t feel it is entirely a coincidence that I finally made a final at this point in time.

I was especially pleased that I went up several gears once we got into the money (30 spots). There was effectively no difference between the money for 30th and for 10th, which seems ridiculous to me but led me to adjust my play when others weren’t. Why hang around at that point, when going out 28th is no worse than going out 10th? I chose to push for a shot at having a decent stack at the final table.

I got there about 8th in chips, but with a reasonably even spread of stacks. At this point a placing in the 5th or 6th region would have made me happy (financially at least) so I went back to a more balanced game; prepared to move up the ladder as people exited, but certainly not prepared to get overly pressured by the blinds and go out meekly.

As it happens, I ran quite hot at the beginning of the final table and was soon in the last 6 or 7 before going card-dead for a spell (I picked no better than 5-high for a run of about seven hands at one point). Ah, the details are already getting hazy because I have never been the type who remembers hands for very long.

I recall losing with AJ versus A9 for a pot that would have made me chip leader, then shortly after winning a three-way with QQ versus JJ and some rubbish. Suddenly we were down to five and I was right in the hunt and beginning to fancy myself. I believe I am competent short-handed, but I won’t deny I picked up some hands. I believe I got AA twice and AK twice around this period.

With four left, I was leader or close to it and managed to retain that status most of the time with good aggressive play. There was a strong player to my right, while the other two seemed a little more hamstrung by the now large differences in prize money for each spot. In the end things went perfectly for me, as I managed to catch the strong guy ‘at it’ once or twice and eventually knocked him out. He would probably have beaten me heads-up, but now I was heads up with approximately a 3-1 chip lead. The other guy wasn’t prepared to stand up to my pressure and I finished him off after only a few hands, to record my first ever multi-table win.

I am absolutely delighted! I get a spot in a weekly freeroll for tourney winners, which I guess I should take up, but the money from this win is so very welcome. I didn’t get around to depositing any money on Friday and hence had to continue piddling about with the micro heads-up matches over the weekend, but now I don’t need to deposit. Fantastic timing…

The pleasure from the win is also enormous, besides the cash. It is easy to believe it will never happen for you, after you have exited your fourth or fifth (or tenth) tourney in a row after losing a big pot with a dominating hand. Just making the final table would have given me a great boost plus renewed belief that I know how to play tournaments. Playing strongly at the final table and winning the whole damn thing naturally feels ten times better. Oh, and of course I know that winning a five buck event doesn’t make me Dan Harrington.

I guess I may be more inclined to play multi table tournaments now, but they will only ever be a sideshow to cash games.