Orange County Poker Tour

The OCPT is really starting to snowball. We are pulling 15+ for the monthly traveling NL Holdem tournament, and will probably be north of 20 soon. Last night was the Huntington Beach stop at Larry's house. 16 people showed up for a prize pool of $590 (includes rebuys and add-ons). I told everyone that I was going to fold all my hands until I get AA, and then I would limp.

It did not take long. I pick up AA UTG on the second hand. I don't limp. I pop the $2 BB to $5 and get 4 callers. Flop comes low, and I take it down with a follow through. 6 hands later, I got AA again. I pop it to 8 and get 4 callers. Another low flop, and I bet $50 and take it down. I am off to a decent start at about $300 in chips. Blinds are $3/6, I get 66 and limp. The flop drops AK6 rainbow. Someone opens at $12, and I smooth call. My table is full of aggressive players, and with an A and K on the board, they will prolly do the betting for me here. Chris raises to $24, second Chris calls, original better reraises to $50. I smooth call again. Chris 1 folds, Chris 2 calls. Turn drops a beautiful K giving me the boat. Original better checks. Pot has about $200 in it. I bet $75 knowing someone will call, and will be pot committed if they do. Loppy (original better) thinks then calls. River is a blank, Loppy checks, I say "all-in", and Loppy thinks and calls. He shows AJ, and I win $700+ pot. I few hand later I get AKs, and raise it to $30. Gary goes all-in for $104 total, and I have to call. He's got AQ, but catches a Q on the flop, and I lose the hand. We get to the break (no more rebuys), and I have about $550 in chips. I take the add-on for $150 more. I am around third place overall. Play progresses pretty quickly to the final table, and I have about $650 in chips. I pick-up QQ, and Chris pops the $30 BB to $120. He has been raising with hands like ATo, KJo... all night, and making big all-in bluffs on the river. I don't think he has AK, AA, or KK, and I am pretty sure he will call anything preflop with a pocket pair. I reraise all-in, and Chris thinks and calls with his 99. The Hilton Sisters hold-up, and I got $1300 in chips which is close to the lead. At this point, I figure I got 2nd place minimum locked up.

Play gets down to 6 handed with the blinds at $50/100, and I am card dead and getting slowly blinded down. I realize I am going to need to make some moves. I pick up 99 and go all-in preflop after a couple folds. Chris calls with AK, and the 99 holds. Smokkee gets knocked out by Chris, I knock out Ken, and Chris eliminates Ryan. We are down to 3 players. Chip stacks were something like this: Chris 3,200, Me 2,000, Mark, 1400. Blinds are at $200/400 so there is not much time to be screwing around. I pick up QJs in the SB and the button folds. I push all-in figuring I have good folding equity, and decent odds against most holdings. Mark calls with A8o, and I get no help. I'm down to $600. A couple hands later, Mark gets all-in with Chris and wins, crippling his stack, and putting me back in second. The next hand, Mark eliminates Chris. I am a huge chip dog, but the blinds are big so I have a chance. I am ready to push with any pair, A or any paint! I get paint, push and double up. I get Q2o in the SB, and push. Mark calls me with the frickin Brunson (T2o). I have him dominated, and with this win will be close in chips. If he is going to call all-ins with T2o, I can win this thing easy. Mark flops a T and its over. Mark wins $255, and I get $155 for my efforts.

My tournament play feels real solid right now. I can sit back, and get my big hands paid off. The structure of the OCPT plays more to my style. The supper aggressive players just can't keep it up for four hours straight without faltering. Also, playing live with a cast on my wrist is super lucky, especially when people try to make fun of me. Three live tournaments and three cashes since I broke my wrist. One trip to Vegas with good $1/2 nl results. One stop at the Bay $101, another nice win. I should break my wrist more often.