Sack-Almost Tournament Superstar

So last week was a good week. Nothing special, just out and out solid play with slow and steady profit. I actually made my quota early on in the week and had a nice head start for this week. I had a positive- if not cocky- feeling as I began my play for this week. I knew it wouldn’t take much to hit my quota for this week in no time.

I took to the tables like a true pro. Heck, I knew how good I was. I knew that when folks saw me on the sign up list that they instantly tried as fast as they could to withdraw from the tournament. I was the guy that ran all over them just days ago, how could they not be trembling?

I played well at first. I wasn’t catching cards at all, but I knew what people had… I read their betting patterns like an old Peanuts comic. I knew exactly what it would take to scare them off. Problem was, even my best bluff didn’t seem to scare them off. Even if there was an over card, 4 to a straight, and 4 to a flush out there, they’d call. I got frustrated, starting playing very poorly, and in a matter of hours lost my head start for the week. Usually I’ll make up tournament losses quickly on a cheap cash table, but not this time. I was a total fish for a day there, and I’m not ashamed of admitting it.

So I come into today, a few dollars short and a day behind my usual schedule. I begin with my normal SNG’s and do the complete opposite of what I had been doing. Rather than being a fish, I was playing way too tight… scared actually. So there was absolutely no production during daylight hours at all, and now I was actually below my normal minimum bankroll.

Night falls, and I decide to give it one more go. This time I’m inspired though, after watching the Raw memorial of Eddie Guerrero of course. Right off the bat I win a nice pot in the first hand, and suddenly I remember how to play winning poker. The whole 20 man SNG was going to be mine, I knew it. With the exception of one hand I just knew the cards and players the whole time (and I even won that one hand). I brought home the big showdowns, was winning the coin flip or two I got in, and my bluffs and steals worked without incident. One we got to the final 3 it was “The Sack Show” and I just owned the table, bringing home a much needed win and some confidence. Now I was almost back on schedule.

This is when it got fun. Late night I tend to work on my MTT playing, usually cheap ones just to get comfortable since I don’t have a lot of time in those. Recently I’ve done well in cashing, but have yet to hit a big payday. I jump in one of my usuals and begin play. It was a fast tourney, with only 5 minutes between levels. Unfortunately I never caught anything remotely good in the first 3 levels, and by the 4th the blinds were nipping greatly at my stack. I was already to an all-in or nothing without even seeing the turn on a hand yet. With the BB approaching me soon and lots of action happening preflop leading to me, I decided to gamble with suited connectors hoping to quadruple up (just waiting and doubling up wouldn’t have even done any good at this point). I hit second pair, and it held up. Now I was almost to an average stack.

From there I just played well. I can’t even remember much of it, I just know I was doing the right things at the right time. I stayed comfortable until the final table, but never could get my stack to a point where I could get real aggressive. Lucky for me play never once slowed down, not even during bubble time earlier, and especially not at the final table. I hit a few good hands, and managed to wrangle my way into the final 3. We had one big stack and me and one other guy about even. Although our chips weren’t that bad off, with the blinds so high we had to make moves. I was finally forced to move in with pocket 2’s and hope to be lucky, I wasn’t. But I was still happy to manage third, which is my best MTT finish to date (although second would have been great since it paid out double what third did). But either way, it got me back on track for the week so I can’t complain.

Lie, Cheat, Steal...
RIP Eddie, we'll miss you,

Sack

sack@pokergreed.com