Report From Feltlines--Stratosphere

Stratosphere
Buy-In 60
30ish players
4-way chop 319

So I have wanted to explore some of the other tournaments around Vegas, but, of course, some basic criteria must be satisfied from me to even consider. I had been looking at the Stratosphere tourneys for a while and made the decision last Sunday.

I did some initial research and knew that the starting chip stack was 5,000 for $60—acceptable. They did have an ante, but that forced bet happened well into the tournament, so I was not terribly irritated by it.

Generally, I played real well and picked off a few pots with marginal hands. In my assessment, taking down pots, at least a few, with marginal hands is key to getting to the money. You can’t do it often, sooner or later some plays back at you, but it works intermittently. I usually look when the blind increases are coming and take a stab in late position if the pot has not been significantly raised. And it worked a few times.

Key Hands
I assessed the play of seat 10—let’s call him Superfly. I was in a hand, big one, later and the information I collected helped me out. He was cream colored with cool shades and a loose afro--Superfly. He was in a hand with the only other player at the table that I considered a threat. Superfly raised and the player in the big blind called. The flop: 10,8,9.

A fairly dangerous flop; big blind checks and so does Superfly. The next card is a 6—making any seven for the straight. Of course, the straight could have been realized from the flop. At any rate, the big blind bets, Superfly raises, and the big blind goes all-in. Superfly calls and both turn over their hands. The big blind hand A,7 and Superfly had 8,8. So Superfly allowed the big blind to catch for free. Superfly flopped trips and checked. I think this is a terrible play. Now Superfly is way behind as a result. The river comes a 9—Superfly rivers a 9. Amazingly lucky. The big blind was 70% to win after the turn. But Superfly's spectacularly poor play was not penalized--it was rewarded. He rivered a full house.

Even if Superfly was concerned about the straight on the flop, he still needs to bet. He needs to bet the size of the pot, at least. The bet probably would have told him where he was in the hand. If he got re-raised, then he needs to worry; if just a call, he can assume the big blind is drawing, generally. Trickier players would perhaps smooth call to extract more chips if they flopped the nuts outright. But even if one flops the straight, there is still much to worry about—namely a better straight coming. Still, though, Superfly must bet there.

After Superfly lucked out, I glanced at the German woman sitting next to me, and she gave me a furrowed brow look. “I did not get that either,” I said to her. She was a dealer in Germany and played a straightforward game. I outplayed her several times in the tournament. But this information was helpful.

Fast forward to a few hands later and boom, I get A, Q suited in late position. I raise and Superfly from the blind calls. Hmmm, with what is he calling, I wonder.

Flop is K,10, 5; so I miss, but still have a draw. He bets, 800 and I call hoping for a jack. I think he has Big Slick, but not sure. Turn is an Ace; he bets like 900 or something, I immediately come over the top, all-in, putting the pressure to Superfly, and he eventually folds. He thought about it; he must have caught a little piece or was on a draw. It didn’t matter; he was not a solid player and was lucky to still be playing. When the Ace came, I had top pair and still had a straight working, so I thought it was a great opportunity to put on the pressure. If he calls, and I am behind, I still have a chance—a slim one, perhaps.

Although the play worked, in retrospect, the quick all-in by me was an indication of the strength, or lack thereof, of my hand. Quick bets usually indicate weakness, and so it did here. A little weakness, not pussy weakness, but still I need to be aware of this. Superfly did not reveal his hand, so I have no idea what he had. Didn’t matter though, I outplayed him.

Later in the tournament, I still continued to pick off several blinds from the small and big blinds as well as from the button. If I was on the button, in one of the blinds and no raises were in front of me, I raised or bet the flop every time. This chipped me up, a lot. It helped me when I got unlucky in a hand, since I still had chips.

Guy Lafleur
I was next to this player, let’s call him Guy Lafleur, because he was a hockey player from Quebec. He was in the minor leagues. At any rate, he had pushed all-in a few times and was on tilt. So he goes all-in, and I look down at A,Q. Given his loose play, I quickly called. Guy had K,9. I am of course a favorite here, but he gets lucky, per usual—what a bunch of shit—that hurt and left me a little short, but not too bad because of my earlier blind stealing. He hits a 9, a fucking 9.

Sweet Payback; or Fuck Canada and Spain
Eventually, the blinds and antes shrink me into a small stack approach. I went dead for a spell. So, I get A,J and shove all-in. Everyone folds. Next I get A,Kd and shove all-in. Two times in a row and everyone folds. Now I have some chips. Skip one hand, and I get A,A. Normally, I bet simply raise with this hand, but because I had to moving all-in, I assume someone is going to look me up, so I push all-in. Guy immediately calls with his French/Spanish accent. “I call.”

He turns over Big Slick. I have dominating hand, over 90% to win. This is the same fucker who should have been long gone by me. A,Q against K,9 and he wins—bullshit. So the flop comes J,10, 8. Guy has a goddamn straight draw. For once, the odds held up and I double up. So owed me, and I told him that. This double up allowed me to fuck the Tight German.

The Tight German: I was in two hands with the German and completely dominated her. I would have liked to do that sexually with her, but no luck. She was tall, skinny with juicy tits. Well, I don’t mean lactating, just ample, fresh, bouncy, fun, ripe. You get the idea.

She was an straight A,B,C player. So late in the tournament, she raises. I am in the big blind and look at 8,8s. Most of the time, this is a raise, but the raise from the Tight German slows me down; I simply call. I hope to spike a set and take all her chips. I really think she has a big pair. The flop is nothing: 4,5,9 or something like that. I am out of position and can’t bet into her raise, so I check. She checks behind me—ah ha. She’s weak—big slick—and missed. The next card is a 10, and I bet. She folds and turns over her big slick. Had she bet after the flop when I just checked, she likely would have take down the pot right there. Probably.

Same type of thing happened again with us. I had a middle pair—6,6 this time-and called her raise. The flop brings a 6 for me. I hit a set, but because the board had straight and flush implications, I couldn’t afford to slow play, so I bet. She folds.

The Tight German gets knocked out along with another player. She had 10,10s in the blind and was against A,J and A, nothing, 6 or something. Of course, one of the two aces left comes, and two are gone. Now four are left and the payouts are to three. Chop, should I suggest a chop?

I am in good chip standing, 2nd on the table, and Guy is seriously low. I almost decided against asking. But only three places, and although I was sitting okay, I knew that all-ins by the short stacks was coming and at that point, it is almost luck. No real poker playing going on. Third place was 126, 2nd 250, 1st was 774. A four-way chop was 319. So I agreed, but think that I should have waited until Guy went out, then asked for the chop. I just like to collect money when I can. With my stellar luck, I would bust out in 4th place, which has happened to me several times—I mean 5-6 times that I can remember. So 319 sounded good, and the tournament was over.