[_GUN_]

I just qualified for the Sunday Millions through a $36+3 (every six entrants = one ticket to the $215). Has anyone played the Sunday Millions $215 freeze-out? With 6600 entrants last week, and the top 975 making the money, I decided to play a $36+3 satellite this week. After going card dead for the first 40-50mins, I padded my stack a few times by reraising pre-flop with higher pairs and even got it in with a couple overpair match-ups. Then the cards wouldn't cool off, but I had so many chips, I wasn't about to get involved.

Has anyone played or cashed in the SM? I expect the play to be somewhere between donktastic and donktacular with a few sharp players sprinkled here and there.

Here's how play went in my tourney---

examples: guy has 11k in chips and is in the top 4. We have less than 25 entrants left and the top-17 tie for first and advance. This guy's moving all-in on the button with 10-9 suited and A-6 to steal blinds. I mean what a dope. I was about to scold him in the chat box, when I thought better of it. Hey, if he wants to try to end the tournament all by himself, I'll let him.

I was folding QQ, AK, AT without hesitation. If these donkeys with 8k in chips want to steal my blind while I'm 5th, with 22 remaining, they can have it. It just amazes me still that people are putting down $40 of their roll, without the vaguest clue when it's time to pack it up and fold till the end.

This one guy had played a relatively sharp tourney, he's middle of the pack with 20 remaining, he pushes all-in from SB holding KJo and is called by AK. There was absolutely no reason to do that, and there was no reason for BB to call. They were both more than comfortable, and could've both folded till the tourney ended.

These guys were playing for blood, still, with nineteen remaining. It was absurd to me that they didn't understand that the tourney was going to end the second the 18th person busted.

If it matches 6600 again this week, here's what I expect.

10-20 pros.

50-300 people who bought in direct for the $215.

5% freeroll/FPP qualifiers.

dozens and dozens of $3.30 turbo with re-buys qualifiers

with the remainder made up of $10/$11/$39 satellite qualifiers.

Does anyone have any comments on their own experiences or the play? It has 10,000 for starting stack, so I expect to be able to pick my spots and just survive for the first 2hrs. I'm pretty confident it won't take that much to make the money and double my buy-in.

[tastic]

I played last weekend (won my seat from a rebuy tourney the night before where top 18 got seats).

It was donktastic Alot of the aggressive play I saw was better described as reckless than strong. As a result, players doing well on the tables I was on gambled alot and won many races.

I busted out around 2000th when I lost to a higher flopped flush.

Definitely the largest field I've played in.

The chat was obnoxious.

[_GUN_]

how long did it take to get down to 2000?

[tastic]

I busted out 2037 out of 6606 and it was between break 2 and 3...

Originally Posted by _GUN_

how long did it take to get down to 2000?

[hunterking]

i played in one where i qualified through an fpp satellite. i sat to the left of greg raymer until he busted out. tons of donks doubled me up countless times, but then again i got taken out by a donk, too. they have been changing around the starting stacks and blinds intervals for the sunday biggie in the past six months or so. last weeks was sort of like a deepstack tourney with 10k starting chips but the normal 15 minute intervals... should be fun, but expect the donks to stick around a little longer...

hk

[omar]

I have never played, but best of luck to you. I'll look in from time to time to see how you're doing.

[Seitz333]

Checking in on the action now. Getting pretty low and card dead. Good Luck!

Chuck

[Seitz333]

A little sick, guy calls off 1/2 his stack PF. QQ vs 22 hits duece on flop and quads on turn. Gun was out just short of the money. Was making a great run.

Chuck

[_GUN_]

manipulating the system is probably the smartest play I made in that tournament. when blinds got near me, I was about 3-4 spots away going into a break. I started counting to 20 before folding my hands, so I thought I'd miss the BB, which was about 1/3 of my stack. well I missed it, I was bb with A7 and the idiot, who eventually knocked me out, tried to steal my blind with KJo on the last hand before break. I got an A on the flop and it held up. I think he was committed with his raise, but I had him targetted as a fool.

for anyone, who wanted to come, but missed it...I played a great short stack, won 3-4 races.

I get QQ in BB and this guy comes in raising. I think a while, I considered the flat call and surrendering to an A or K on the flop. It would've been about 1/4 of my stack to flat-call.

After much deliberation, I decide if he's got me, he's got me.

I reraise all-in and he hesitates, I'm sure I'm ahead now and I think I saw AK/KQ/QJ, lots of vulnerable hands. Alas, they were hallucinations.

I have to tell myself I'm not dreaming, when I see 22. Yes, he called off about a huge chunk of his stack with 22 to the tightest, smartest player at the table. it was between 60-90% of his stack, I'd have to see the hand history to know for sure.

2 on the flop and I have a backdoor flush possiblity...2 on the turn and I'm out in 1088, with 975 making the money. He folds or my hand holds up, I coast into the money and get $269 (a nice return on my $39 satellite).

Instinctively, you always consider saying, "You're a moron!"

I didn't want to tarnish a great tournament with that, so I quietly exited.

I mean 22...wow...I thought about Phil Ivey on the Full Tilt Championship last night. He said he's never been bothered by luck and those spots, because it's out of his control. It was out of my control on that one, so I can walk away just fine.

I did call him down with KQ in the BB a few hands earlier, and he had AQ. If, I had folded, he would've held 9k less in chips, and perhaps things would've gone differently. I lost to that mighty 9 3 , though and that didn't help either.

This was against a different opponent.

utg1, I bump it about 3x the BB with AK, 932 flop, all spades. I have no spade, and when I checked I thought he had A or K of spades. I folded the turn, thinking I could be drawing almost completely dead if I called.

He shows me 9 3 , ugh. calling my raise from the one-hole with a 93 suited, a 6-gapper. I could live with a 5-6 suited calling me from BB,
5-7 would sting, but whatever. I understand calling with tricky hands, or connectors (suited and unsuited)...Oh no, he called me with a 9-3.

[gwilkx]

i've played the sunday $200 several times. highest finish was 422nd (or thereabouts) for $769 (or thereabouts).

they only recently moved to the T10,000 structure, so the game has changed a bit in the last month or so.

during the first hour, you can and will see just about anything. nothing should surprise you. as you mentioned, there are many, many qualifiers from the $3 Rebuy, $3 turbo rebuy, and (worst of all) the $10 turbo rebuy. the non-turbo $3 game actually takes some skill - you have to be able to play a good MTT for 5 hours. the turbos that that run all morning before the million are absurd, and it's these satellites that yield the vast majority of the idiots that you'll encounter early in the game.

i typically go to pokerdb and check the records for everyone at my starting table. i find that it's helpful (at least in the beginning) to know whether the players are the $100/200 guys or the $1/3 guys.

once it gets down to about 1,500 people, the average skill level is going to be much, much higher, though you still shouldn't be surprised when you see someone CALL OFF all their chips with AT or something stupid like that. play typically becomes very aggressive at this point. also - the big money players will be extremely aggressive about 50 spots before the bubble. really good chance to pick up some easy chips when the guy to your left is a $3 player whose biggest cash is $150 or something and all he cares about is making the money.

FOR THE SAME BUY IN - most of the time i'd rather play the $200 2nd chance at 4:15 eastern. only about 1,000 - 1,100 entrants, first place is in the $40k range.

all that said, with the new structure of the million, a good player should be able to make it into the top 900 and cash by just avoiding getting unlucky. if you hapen to also catch some big hands when the stacks get deep, you've got the potential for a ridiculous cash . . .

the $10k structure is a little deceiving though. i was in the top 5% with 800 players left and my M was like 12.

gw-