[gwilkx]

last night, $100 buy-in live tourney. 60 players, pays six spots. 2 people were eliminated simultaneously, so we start the final table 9-handed.

1st place is $2,400
2nd is $1,500
3rd is $900
and we don't really care about anything else (6th was $180).

i'm the chip leader with $80,000 chips. 2nd place has about $55,000, and 3rd is down in the $35,000 range. there are $300,000 chips in play.

i lose a few chips by posting the blinds once, and then calling a small raise w/ AJo and folding on the flop. 2nd place guy knocks a player out in 9th, building his stack a bit. let's call him "#2".

blinds are $2,000k/$4,000k (no ante) when this series of hands comes up:

i make it $12k to go from UTG with 99. i can make this play comfortably given the chipstacks and my image. everyone folds around to #2 in the SB. he moves all in for ~$48k. i talk to him a bit and get a pretty strong read, so i lay down my nines. he shows me KK.

next hand, i'm the BB for $4k. it folds around to #2 on the button. he raises to $12k, SB folds. i look down at AA. he has $54k before putting in the raise, i have $64k before posting the BB.

hmmmm, i think. what should i do here?

1) i can pull the stop-and-go, and perhaps get him interested in the flop if he's just trying to steal. bust him and be holding more than a third of the chips in play with 7 players left.

2) i can raise to about $30k and put him to the test. he's got $42k left in his stack after putting in the raise, and would have to call $18k more, leaving him with some chips if he wants to get away on the flop, but more likely enticing him to move in over the top or fold.

3) i can just move in for my remaining $60k and pick up the $18k that's in the pot right there. the only way he calls is if he has TT-AA.

there are several short stacks at the table, and there's no real need for me to play big pots against the only guy who can hurt my stack, so i opt for option #3 = don't get tricky, take the pot down and move on to eliminating the small stacks. i know i will be able to outplay this guy when it comes time. if he calls, great. i'm not giving him a cheap chance to flop a set or 2 pair on me.

uh . . . he calls instantly (and i mean without a single moment of hesitation) with AKo. i'm 92% to win.

flop comes: T92 rainbow (great, now i'm 98%)
turn: J (don't even. still 91%)
river: Q

i push $54k over to the guy who CALLED off his tournament life w/ AK against the only player at the table who could bust him. we played many hands together, and he knew i was playing solid poker. i was absolutely shocked that he called me with AKo. when i was moved to his table (about 1/2 way through the tournament), he was the big stack at the table, and he doubled me up twice. when he hit his runner-runner gutshot, he proceeded to scream and yell at the top of his lungs.

so i have $10k left, and am now the shortest stack at the table. i double up once when weak player moves all in for $20k and i call with AQo (he had KQo). i go broke in 7th a short while later in the BB. folds around to the SB (young, loose, fancy player) who moves all in for 20k. ihave 4k posted in the blind and 15k left. this is the last hand of the level. next hand blinds will be $4k/$8k, and i will have to post $4k in the SB. as i said, we're not interested in 6th place, so i call with KQs, thinking he probably makes that move with any 2 cards. he has A7o. i flop a Q and he turns an A.

see ya. from chip leader to bubble, just like that.

i love poker.

gw-