Aria $1600: Day Two

A stunning rush of cards culminates in a final table chip lead

My objective for Day Two of the Aria $1600 was to make the money. We came back with about 15% of the field left paying 12%. Although it was not a large bubble, paying 127th-142nd $2456 or just over 1.5 buyins, we are incentivized to try to make the money in large field tournaments because it is so unlikely we make the big money at the final table. Walking to the Aria that Sunday morning, I was mostly thinking about my fantasy football teams and what I would do after my early-afternoon bustout.

4-8k

The very first hand, sitting on 19 BBs, I was dealt 98s in the HJ with all healthy covering stacks behind me. I thought this was close and opted to fold. Little did I know this would be the closest I’d come to playing a hand in the day’s first two hours.

5-10k

The next one I considered was another 98s about an hour later. With 149 left paying 142, a bigstacked cutoff opened in a spot I knew his range was extremely wide. With 11 BBs in the SB, I had fold equity and a hand that could win if called. But I’d seen this player gamble wider than seemed appropriate the night before, so I folded.

On the stone bubble, the bigstacked HJ opened. I had A9o in the BB with 10 BBs. I folded. A few hands later, we made the money.

5-10k. Start with 81k.

The very first hand after the bubble burst, it folded to me in the cutoff where I had 8 BBs. I looked down at pocket aces and chuckled inwardly. The players behind me seemed competent, so I thought it would be transparent if I min-raised rather than moved all-in. Still, I think a min-raise or limp is probably better than shoving here. If there is a range for min-raising or limping on 8 BBs, I imagine it includes AA. Everyone folded to my shove, so I now had 10.5 BBs.

5-10k. Start with 106k.

The next hand, a good Israeli player named Gabi Livshitz opened in 2nd pos. I picked up ATo in the HJ, the borderline hand: AJ and ATs would be clear jams, A9 a clear fold. I knew this was close and jammed. Fortunately, everyone folded including Livshitz.

This spot is influenced by ICM. Just into the money, it was a good time to go for it.

5-10k. Start with 132k.

Button opens. I defend 85hh. K83r one heart I ck he bets 17k. I make it 39k prepared to call off. He folds.

The shorter the stack, the looser we can defend the BB. We have less chips to lose and likely just one decision point - the flop. This flop was good enough for me to stack off. I don’t want to call as my hand will likely decrease in power after the flop. I could shove, but I think I should have some bluffs here and my opponent could jam air if I leave room for it.

6-12k. Start with 227k.

Open K7hh on button. BB defends. 764ccd he cks I bet 2/3 he rips I call he has Q4ss which is a really cool hand to be up against.

The key to doubling up here is my large flop bet. This is a flop that gives the BB a range advantage. He could donk the flop. Because this isn’t a flop I will always bet, I can bet bigger when I do. I also bet bigger here because I want to get the money in now. Betting bigger paralyzes his ability to call and guides him towards more folds and jams, which are both good results for my hand. It was neat to pump my stack from 81k to 465k with only one all-in as a huge favorite.

10-15k. Start with 465k.

Open jacks from HJ. Cutoff (25ish BBs) 3-bets to 80k. SB (gigantic stack who looks like a good player) 4-bets to 180k. I jam. Cutoff folds and SB calls. He has tens which is the best-case scenario and I hold.

In Black Hawk, against most opponents, I would fold jacks to a 3- and 4-bet. Here I barely considered it.

Euro pro I showed the 7c to in a bluff spot on Day 1 opens cutoff with 770k. I defend 65dd. 8d7d3c I check he bets 60k I make it 200k he jams I call. This might be punty. He has Kh8s and draws dead on the 2d turn.

I’m not sure how I was supposed to play this hand. It doesn’t seem great to call off 36 BBs with 6-high in the money of a tournament, even if it is an open-ended straight flush draw. It was complicated by the Day 1 show, where I clearly check-raised a weak draw on the flop. He could have higher flush draws here. I could check-call the flop to avoid the call-off. I could also donk the flop, but I don’t think I have a range advantage. His open is rather loose on a covering stack’s BB; perhaps he was unimpressed by my Day 1 play. I believe he played the flop correctly. When the 2d hit the turn, I knew I’d taken the tournament chip lead or close to it - an amazing rush from the burst bubble.

10-20k. Start with 1.9m.

Cutoff opens with 1m. I make it 105k with Ah9s on the button. He calls. 822r he cks I bet 1/4 he calls. Turn 9h second heart he cks I bet 1/2 he folds and claims an 8.

15-25k

Euro with 600k opens LJ. I make it 110k with K8ss from cutoff. BB jams 320k. Euro folds. I fold.

15-30k

HJ shoves 6 BBs. I have QJs in SB. BB has 28 BBs. I elect to fold.

Next hand I open JJ on button. SB calls. BB rips 600k. I call. SB folds. BB has 22. I hold.

The next hand two guys go all-in (8 BBs and 11 BBs) before I can stack my chips. I look down at kings. Is this real life? I call and find myself against 77 and ATcc. I lose to both.

15-30k

Button opens to 75k. I defend Kd9c. KT7hhh ck ck. Turn Q ck ck. River 7 I bet 175k (90% pot) he calls with As7c.

20-40k

HJ opens on 1m. SB calls on 800k. I have QhJc in BB and consider folding but call. Q96dd cked to HJ who bets 160k. SB calls. I call. Turn 8d cked around. River 6 SB bets 300k I fold HJ folds.

Next hand a super-LAG I played a lot with in the Prime opens HJ. I call A6hh in SB. A87cch I ck-call 115k. Turn K I ck-call 185k. River 3 I ck-call 340k. He has 9c6d.

I might have folded at some point if I hadn’t played with this guy in the Prime.

20-40k

Open Ah5s from cutoff. Button calls. 752ssc ck ck. Turn 3c I bet 160k he calls. River Qc I ck he bets 220k I decide to fold.

I didn’t know whether to c-bet this flop.

25-50k. Start with 2m.

Open red 99 in EP. BB (covering stack who looks like an amateur) defends. 753hh he cks I decide to ck back. Turn 4 he bets 120k I call. River 9 he bets 180k I make it 700k he snap folds.

I made an unconventional flop check here in fear of getting raised, and to induce bluffs on later streets. It might be a mistake to check a strong hand that needs protection. I figured it was a flop I would often check back so I should have some good hands in my check-back range. I probably raised too hard on the river - I think I should make it more like 550k.

25-50k. Start with 2.6m.

Folds to me in SB where I have 99. Excellent pro Justin Lapka has 950k in BB. I open to 175k. He jams. I snap call and lose to TT.

30-60k. Start with 1.8m. 22 left with small pay jump at 21.

Open my favorite hand AKo UTG 7-handed. BB (amateur-looking older guy) instarips having me easily covered. I use a time bank before calling and beat tens.

That was a big flip. AKo is still my favorite hand!

30-60k. Start with 3.6m. 20 players left.

Button (guy who 4bet jammed A6s in a ludicrous spot vs Lapka and got there) opens to 160k with 3.2m. I have AdQh in BB and elect to call. J63dd ck ck. Turn 9 ck ck. River 9 I ck he bets 210k I call he has A7o.

I didn’t want to play a huge pot against an unpredictable opponent so I just called preflop. He made a too thin of a value bet on the river.

40-80k. Start with 3.9m. 16 players left.

LJ opens on 3.5m. I have AsQc in cutoff and decide to call. T74r ck ck. Turn Jc second club he bets 200k I call. River 8c he bets 600k I fold.

40-80k. Start with 4m. 16 players left.

HJ (good player) opens on 25 BBs. I have A5o in BB and 3bet to 5.8. He folds.

50-100k. Start with 4m. 15 players left. UTG opens with about 28 BBs. 2nd pos calls on about 30 BBs. I peel rockets on the button and make it 650k. UTG folds. 2nd pos jams! I call and hold vs. 99.

This hand gave me the chip lead and reduced the field to 14. I immediately started playing very aggressively, opening tons of hands. Most were hands I’d open in most situations. I was catching cards and others weren’t.

The one time anyone tried to mess with me came when I opened TT first to act and the SB 3-bet to 6.5 BBs with about 30 total. I jammed uncomfortably and he folded. I was later told the solvers prefer a call to a jam. But tens can be a difficult hand to play in a 3-bet pot. I figured TT was very high in my opening range so I couldn’t fold. Jamming wouldn’t get anything better to fold but it would prevent him from bluffing me postflop and realizing his equity.

50-100k. Start with 9m.

Open 22 from HJ. Cutoff calls. 833r I bet 200k he calls. Turn 9h second heart I ck he bets 225k I call. River 2 I ck he slowly cks back and says I needed the 2.

Perhaps I should bet the river.

I continued to pick up solid starting hands and faced little resistance before reaching the final table as the chip leader.

The first hand of the final table the button (Ed Dixon) opened on 16 BBs. I had KJo in the SB. I felt Dixon wouldn’t be opening a normal button range here and wouldn’t back down if I aggressed him. I folded and he showed AJ.

I was proud of this fold. A call and postflop assessment also would have been reasonable.

75-150k. Start with 11.5m. 9 players left.

Open KcQd in 2nd pos. Benjamin Gros defends with 3.5m. K53ddc he cks I bet 275k he calls. Turn 2c he cks I bet 775k he calls. River 2 he cks I jam he folds.

Yaser Al-Keliddar asked if I had KQ. “It felt like king-queen,” he said. Yaser is an excellent player. Fortunately for me, he did not pick up many cards down the stretch.

After some preflop confrontations that didn’t involve me we got down to 7 players and the end of the night. I finished as the chip leader with 12.975m. It was one of the most satisfying and exciting days of my career, but the job wasn’t finished. I was able to get a half-decent night of sleep before walking to the PokerGo Studio for Day 3 and the televised Final Table.