There were almost 500 players (495 officially I think) and our region sent about 20 or so. For the first time the tournament was taking part in one seating rather than having 2 different sessions ... which I think people had been asking for. It was a good venue and having all the players seated at once made for great atmosphere and a sea of tables.
States suits my game quite well because its a deep/er starting stack (5000) and longer blinds (25 mins in the early stages rather than 15). Also, most of the players tighten up a bit because they're actually playing for something so there's not as many dumb plays ... or at least I didn't see as many (thankfully). "Mr Sparkles" was the first out for our region as he unluckily walked in to trips when he hit two pair on the flop. At the first break none of our team were really chipped up and the stacks ranged from around 1000 up to 7500. I sat at 3500 and knew with the blinds going up I had to start building my stack and quickly. Thankfully that happened second hand after the break as I took down a good pot with pocket kings on my big blind and I was soon up to almost 10,000. Unfortunately around this time our defending State champ, Paul McGougan bust out when his ace-king pre-flop push got too many callers and it didn't hold up.
By the next break, our original table had been broken and we were down to around 200 players. Our team was still doing well as we had about 10 or 12 players in but we all knew the next portion of the game was make or break. I was on a much tougher table with the tournament chip leader on my right and constantly pushing the table around. I took a stand, pushing all-in with pocket 10's and got two callers from the big stacks. Thankfully the board comes out all low and they both check it down and my ten's hold up.
After chipping up to about 20,000 in chips, the final hand before the next break I had ace-jack off-suit under the gun with the blinds at 2000/4000 and thought for a while what to do. I ended up raising 3 times the blind hoping I could just take down the blinds without a fight. Unfortunately that wasn't the case as "The Mouth" from Townsville on the other side of the table pushed all-in over the top of me. The one-time chip leader on my right who was big blind had been crushed in this stage of the tournament so he called but was well short of the re-raise and my original bet. I got up from the table cursing my luck that this was the last hand before the break and why did The Mouth have to go all-in. Knowing the blinds would go up when I got back from the break and with over 50K in the pot I knew I had to call and hope for the best. I thought I was going in ahead but was in trouble when The Mouth turned over pocket jacks and the big blind turned over queens. The announcer came over to call the hand and by this time I was begging for an ace. The board comes all low, 2, 4, 8 ... by this time I'm yellling for an ace to bail me out and it comes on the turn ... the cheer goes up from my friends who are watching. Knowing I need to just dodge the river, I go nuts as the final card is another ace giving me trips and the pot!!
During the break, I'm just buzzing knowing that I'm right back in the tournament with a healthy 56K in chips. Our team has lost a few more and with 86 players left, we're down to just 3 or 4 survivors. We come back and my luck continues to flow getting pocket kings under the gun, raising strongly and getting a caller. The board comes out all low with a possible flush draw, so I bet about 1/2 the pot and after some thought the other guy lays down his ace-jack. With a few more small wins I'm up over $100K and luck is on my side. I limp in with king-jack off-suit, the short stack next to me pushes all-in over the top, he's called by a shorter stack next to him and by the time everyone else folds the odds are way too good for me to lay it down. Against pocket 7's and king-queen suited, a jack comes as the highest card on the board and I take down a big pot and knock 2 people out. As I'm stacking the chips the next hand is dealt and the short-stack under the gun pushes all-in for about 25K. I look down and see ace-queen off-suit and after thinking for a few seconds call. As I continue stacking another player goes all-in over the top for 85K. I'm in shock at this point as I wasn't expecting anyone else to call, let alone re-raise. I look at my support crew behind the table (by this time I'm the only left from our region) and they know what I have ... but having just chipped up I don't want to put my tournament on the line so I lay it down. Short stack shows pocket kings, re-raiser turns over pocket queens ... good fold by me and even better when no ace comes but a king does.
I take down a few smaller pots and win a race against someone when I have king-queen and he pushed over the top with ace-ten. I figured he was ahead but I had raised and I would still have chips left should I fold but the odds for me to call were more than good enough to take a chance. The king comes, his ace doesn't. We're now inside the top 20 and my run of cards turns ice-cold, the blinds are up to 15K/30K, pushes are coming from all sides and my stack is dwindling. With 25K left and me in the small blind, we're on the bubble (down to 17 players, top 16 get cash) and there's a short stack on the other side of the table from me, if I can just make it through this hand. I get dealt pocket 4's but if I call I don't have enough chips to cover the big-blind let alone put him to a decision. He has two random cards which are likely over my pair but will get to see all 5 cards. I agonise for a few minutes (hoping other players will get knocked out) and then eventually throw them away knowing I'm likely just playing for the cash now. Big blind had 2 - 9 but I still consider it a good fold considering the position of the tournament.
Thankfully the short-stack on our table gets knocked out by a straight on the river and cheers go up as we're all in the money. We now get moved to the final two tables and thankfully I pick the ace card which means I get the dealer position so I get a whole round of the table before I have to play a hand. One player gets knocked off the other table, so I move up another spot. My cards stay ice-cold and I get queen-five off on my big blind and I'm up against an all-in with pocket 4's and a call by pocket 6's. With an ace, king, ten on the board I have outs with any queen or jack but hit neither, game over. The 4's also get knocked out but since I had less chips I finish 15th, he finishes 14th. I get my $500 cheque and congratulations from the guys from my region who had hung around to support me. After kicking off at 11am, I finish around 8:30pm ... thankfully the breaks made it easier but it was a long day and hard work. All thoroughly enjoyed tho of course and capped off with some celebratory late night Chinese with some of the team (the duck was gooood).
(Me, in green, early on in the tournament)
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