Aussie Millions Main Event - Day 2

I didn’t last very long today, getting knocked out a few minutes into the second level.

The first significant hand I played a middle-aged player shoved 9050 from the hijack with the blinds at 400/800/100. It folded to me in the big blind and I looked down at QJs. It would cost me 8250 to call and if I called and lost I would have 30K and change. After thinking for about three minutes I figured that he should have enough pairs in his range that I had the requisite equity (43%) and made the call. He tabled AJo and I flopped broadway and got berated by everyone at the table. “That is such a terrible, terrible call”, “I guess it was suited mate eh?” and “you must’ve had a premonition (about the flop)” were some of the highlights.

Anyway that put me at 49K and I was feeling good. About two orbits later another old guy opened under the gun and I looked down at two red queens in middle position. He only had about 30 big blinds so it was a pretty standard 3-bet/call situation I thought so I went ahead and 3-bet and called when he shoved. He flipped over AK and I lost the race, falling back to 25K.
Fast forward to after the break and I’m sitting with 27K when I pick up AKo UTG with the blinds at 500/1000/100. I’d just raised and won the last two pots uncontested so I was really looking to get paid off here. I raised to 2400 and it folded to the player who cracked my QQ with AK and he 3-bet all-in for 29K. I called and flipped over my AK and we were off to the races again as he turned over JJ. The door card was a king but alas the next card on the flop was a jack and I was sent packing.

I’m pretty disappointed to be honest as the field was ridiculously soft compared to PCA and it’s so frustrating to see old men with no clue go deep. The guy who won both races against me is now like top five in chips despite starting the day with only 23K. After winning those two 50K races versus me he proceeded to get KK in preflop against AKs and QQ and hold for a 150K pot. Meanwhile another middle-aged guy that sat to my right had 100K when I was eliminated despite having his torso out the door and a poker mind to rival Jennifer Tilly’s. He 3-bet the cutoff with JJ on the button, was completely lost as to what to do when he got 4-bet, talked so much that his hand was patently jacks or queens, and then nevertheless made the call. The flop came K62 and both players checked. The preflop 4-bettor then led the 2 turn and said retard then sighed and said ‘that was a bad card for me’, referring to the king. Jeez mate I wonder what you have? He then realises he isn’t good enough to fold a pretty looking picture pair regardless and shoves the rest of his stack in with JJ. He’s snapped off by Aces and of course a jack binks on the river to win him a 115k pot. If that’ s not enough, a few orbits later he opens the button to 2000 and gets shoved on by the big blind for 25000 total. He tanks for about five minutes and then folds queens. GTFO.

I planned to do a full event report but now that nothing came of it I don’t think I will. For the most part nothing really interesting happened so there’s not much to recount anyway. The most interesting hand that took place was probably the first hand of day 1 where I ran that ill-fated bluff against Tony Hachem. I raised one before the hijack with J9c and Tony was the only caller from the small blind. The flop came T84hh and I bet 400 into 650 when he checked to me. He check-raised to 1150 and I called. The turn brought a 3 and put two flush draws on the board and he checked. At this point his hand is pretty face-up as either a pair of tens or a flush draw which doesn’t want to double barrel. Two pair or better would certainly bet for protection on this wet a board. I decide to check back and take my free card but unfortunately the river bricks an offsuit 2. Tony then leads out 1000 and I’m pretty sure at this point that he has a pair of tens making one of those ‘my hand is probably good, so I bet’ bets. I don’t think he even considered check/calling for pot control and to induce from busted draws which I think is by far the best line. Anyway, knowing that this is the very first hand and that he probably won’t want to tangle for too big a pot this early on with such a marginal holding, I decide to raise to 2800, making it pretty small to make it look like a value-raise (and to save myself some chips should he fail to find a fold button). Tony thinks for about ten minutes and then finally calls with KT. I muck my hand and he gleefully explains to the table how he thought I had a busted flush, AK or AQ. It’s fascinating how live players confuse the words ‘thought’ and ‘hoped’ on such a frequent basis, not to mention how AK or AQ is always sufficiently in someone’s range to justify a river call, no matter what the action up to that point was. How the heck I can have AK or AQ there, I don’t know, but props to him for making the call I guess.

Anyway, now that I’m out of the main event, I can confirm that I’ll be playing the $1100 mixed hold’em event, the $2200 six-max event, and the $1100 turbo hold’em event. Let’s hope I can rack up at least one decent score in those before I leave Melbourne. Otherwise, I’ll have a 20K hole in my pocket thanks to the Aussie Millions!