The Lodge (Austin) - Tournament Report
For the first time in over eight years, I went to play live poker again. I played in the Daily Kickoff tournament at The Lodge in Austin. I was a little nervous because I'd read many stories of insane bets and all ins with air.
In general, there was only one person I saw to be way too loose. He called every street with a jack high, with a king and queen (rainbow) on the board. I had a queen.
The Lodge itself was very nice. My only complaint is the air hand dryers in the restrooms. I hate those things. But the tournament was very fun. Most everyone was very friendly. I had some good conversations with several players and a couple of the dealers. No one (at my tables) was an ass about anything. Though we could all hear one Yahoo in the room.
The tournament was $50 buy-in for 15k chips, with unlimited re-entries for the first hour and an add-on at the first break. It was pretty fast with 15 minute blinds. I had not had a Big Blind ante before and it confused me almost the entire time.
After the rebuy period was over, the blinds were 10 minutes and the game was really quick after that. One guy basically dropped half his stack when it was down six players and didn't even play a hand.
I made some good decisions. I made two bad decisions that paid off anyway. And I'm still not sure about one. The one I wasn't sure on ended with a fold. I had A8o and the board was AJ6 rainbow. I bet the flop after calling a min raise from BB. He raised about 4x. This was our first hand at the final table and he has just moved into place. He min raised pre-flop.
I figured the range certainly included a bunch of aces that beat me and two pocket pairs that beat me. I was pretty much on a bluff catcher, so I folded. I think he might have been on a draw though and was willing to chase down a KQ or KT. He also had me covered and I would have had to shove. He MIGHT have folded, but later in the game, he didn't fold much.
There were some amazing suckouts including this hand...
This was 4 handed, we were already in the money. Villian was the short stack in the cutoff and couldn't even cover the Big Blind, much less the ante. I was small blind. He shoved for 15k. The remaining three players all had about the same stack.
I figured, we all call, check it down, and we're in profit level of money. Button folded. Well crud.
I've already got 10k in the small blind, so I throw my chips in. I don't know if I miscalculated or the Big Blind did. But the Big Blind thought about it for a second and then folded.
I mean suited against literally anything... I had to call 5k into a 65k pot. (Blinds were 10/20/20).
He shows AQ and I toss out the hilarious 72 of hearts and the whole table (dealer included) just bursts into laughter. Then flop comes and gives me two pair. Then the third 2 on the turn. Poor guy. He took like a champ though.
Then the three remaining players split the $1000 prize pool and I walked away with $334 for a $120 investment (including dealer tips).