Tuesday, April 05, 2011

NorthernQuest Adventure

Up at 0600 and getting ready to make the trip north for the Poker Tournament today. I was on the road at 0645. A little bit earlier than what I had planned but that was fine.

I arrived at around 0900 and got into the Casino and looked for the place where they would hold the Spring Fling here at NorthernQuest. I was thinking it must be in some big room as there usual poker room has only nine tables and surely they would not hold it there.

I was told to go down to the poker room and when I walked in I was told that it was held there and that it was already sold out. They were putting a list together for the alternates and they put me on the list at number six. I asked where I should pay at and was told to wait and they would let me know when I would pay at the window.

The tournament started at 1030 and I entered the room and was told to wait there to see if I would get in. I later learned that being an alternate does not guarantee you a spot in the tournament. The first three rounds were 20 minutes in length and if you did not get into the tournament within that hour then you would not be playing at all.

It was in the third round that they finally put four alternates in and they asked me to go ahead and pay for the tournament. I paid the money and now waited. With two minutes to go in the third round it looked like I was not going to make it into the game. With one minute to go someone finally busted and I was put into the game.

The structure started at 100/100, moved to 100/200 and then moved to 200/400 and this is when I got in. I paid the T$600 to play my first hand and then it was break time. Starting chips were T$15,000.

Playing tournament poker for me is fun and I have learned to be patient and watch what goes on with the table. I ended up being moved to three tables during my play. Each time I was moved I at least was moved to the position behind the button. That was good for me.

During the Next three hours I basically maintained my chip count around the beginning stack. I would go down and then play a hand and get myself back up to the starting stack.

My one hand that I played that I have to wonder about. I was in mid position and had JJ. We were at 500/1000 and I raised the pot to $3000. I was called by the button to $7500. At that point I had a decision to make with the amount of chips I had. Was this my all in moment and my tournament life. Could I hang on and keep working my stack and give up this hand. What did he re-raise with? I was putting him on AK, AQ at least over cards. Did I want to race with this guy? Was he just bluffing me and trying to get me off of my hand? He definitely had more chips than I had. I ended up throwing my hand away.

I did get AA once during the day and I raised and no one called me. That ended up being a waste. Maybe I should have just limped in and waited for someone to call me. So, there were a couple of times that I didn't get the chips to increase. It could be how I played them and my betting. I will have to think about it some more and figure out how I would bet the next time I have those hands.

I ended up going out of the tournament in 36th place. There were 105 runners starting in this tournament. Getting that far for me was a positive and I was happy with my play today. They paid ten players and being twentysix from the money was acceptable.

My next tournament will be on April 19th at Wildhorse Casino. Time to get myself some more study time before the event.

Have a fun day......

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