42 in the TPT

It was another great tournament last night as the Twitter Poker Tour brought 42 players to the tables at Full Tilt to compete in TPT Event #9. It was the 5th event of season 2, and the even continues to grow more and more popular.

I began the night in neutral, and really remained there for most of the evening. I never dipped below 1000 chips (starting is always 1500), and I never chipped up to much above 3000. It was just kind of an average night for me. I saw Aces twice, and Kings twice, and in those 4 hands, I received a grand total of zero caller, and saw no flops, racking up the blinds early on.

Also (and this is giant news) I received pocket Q’s, and I played them. The board popped out Ah-Qh-brick, and action was checked to me. I bet the minimum, and my opponent folded. Does this mean that the curse of the Q’s is over? I don’t know. I’m still a little bit tentative when I see them. I did get bounced out in 10th place in a knockout tourney with Q’s, and 9 places got paid. Oh well.

In the end, I got the rest of my 2400 chips into the middle with Ad-9d, and the big blind made the call with a suited connector (7d-6d). He had two live cards, and a 6 hit the flop. The turn and river bricked out for me and I was eliminated in 10th place, mostly content with how I played, and that I’d stayed alive at near the bottom of the tourney for so long. The deep run also pushed me into 2nd place on the Season 2 Leader Board (http://twitterpokertour.com/leaderboard). Looks like I may end up getting a T-shirt from Bad Beat Clothing (http://badbeatclothing.com) after all! Still got some more events to play in, but I’m definitely happy with where I’m at.

And now, for the winners. A special congrats to the players who actually cashed last night. In fifth, @pokerplasm, who also (about the 3rd hand in) declared himself the bounty. He came out firing the first few hands, and then tightened up and played strong all the way through. In the final few hands, he got unlucky getting it all in with AJ, and his opponent had A7, and the eventual 7 on the river did the trick. He wasn’t eliminated, but short stacked, and would go out shortly there after.

In 4th was @rhoegg, who with this cash and awesome run, remained in First place in the Twitter Leader Bboard Standings. Congrats!

In 3rd was @bloomey, whom I believe mad his initial appearance in this week’s TPT. A strong showing for the first timer.

The heads up battle between @Mitchell1969 and @ffcowboy76 was amazing. @ffcowboy76 came in with the chip advantage and also with an extra $5 by eliminating @pokerplasm in 5th place. But the chips swung back and forth for quite some time until one pivotal hand changed it all. Both players got it in with two Kings on the flop, and @Mitchell1969 had a K. That hand was best as the pocket 4’s were no good, and left @ffcowboy76 with only about 3k in chips. But he battled back ferociously, taking a few pots, and chopping a few others to avoid elimination. In the end, an amazing hand finished it off.
With the blinds at 1k/2k, and @ffcowboy76 at around 15k left, both players took a flop of A-9-6. After a check, @Mitchell1969 led out with a min bet, and @ffcowboy76 promptly check raised to around 10k, leaving only about 2k behind. @Mitchell1969 went into the tank for a while, called for time, and then made the right call by re-raising enough to put @ffcowboy76 all in, and he made the call. The two turned over their hands, and @Mitchell1969 was ahead with his pair of 9’s (9-3) to @ffcowboy76’s 6’s (K-6). The turn made it interesting as another 6 hit the board, giving @ffcowboy76 a set of 6’s. But the lead was very short lived as the river produced another 9, giving @Mitchell1969 the winning full house and the TPT #9 victory.

Thanks again to everyone who participated. Next weeks event on Pokerstars just seems too far away! See ya then. Cheers, P