Bubbled Again

Like on most Thursdays, I played the WWdN: Not The at Stars tonight. Very tough final table, particularly when it got down to the last five. Hoyazo dominated much of the time, taking full advantage of his big stack. I had abused him badly earlier in the tournament -- thought for sure he was done for a couple times -- so I'm sure he really enjoyed swiping my blinds.

Slb159 went out in fifth and cried foul when I called his pre-flop 3BB all-in raise from the big blind with 43s. Given the situation -- slb159 with an M of 1.5 with the blinds coming up next hand and me already in the big blind and having a big enough stack that a loss doesn't hurt much -- I'm calling with any two cards every single time.

Let's run it down. With such a low M and the blinds rapidly approaching, I can't give slb159 credit for much more than a random hand. If he's lucky, he's caught a high card. Against such a hand even the hammer is just slightly worse than a 3:2 dog. (Yes, I know some of you think the hammer would have a decided advantage.) It cost me 446 to call a 1071 pot. The pot's giving me 2.4:1. Do the little bit of math that's left. Unless the other guy is one of those who will let himself get completely blinded out waiting for solid starters, and there aren't any of those in this tournament, I have no choice but to make the call. He may have gotten very lucky and caught a pocket pair just in the nick of time, in which case my odds go in the dumper, but it's still not going to hurt me all that much.

I paired on the flop, slb159 didn't improve, and I completed the job Anithri started a couple hands before. Slb159 finished in fifth.

Did I get lucky to hit one of my cards? Absolutely. Was the outcome totally unexpected or a real longshot? Absolutely not.

As for the comment about bluffing, this is poker, babee. If you ain't bluffin', you ain't playin' it right.

Forty hands and one recovery from the brink of extinction later, hoyazo out high-carded me (A v. K) to knock me out on the bubble. Hoyazo went on to win, with Anithri taking second and NewinNov finishing third. Well played, all. Special congrats to hoyazo for winning both the WWdN and the WWdN: Not The this week.

I'm not sure I'm going to be able to play next week as I'm flying back to California on Friday and I have to move out of my home of two months here at the luxurious Extended Stay America, which means packing up on Thursday night. I'm just hoping all the crap I've accumulated will still fit in my car. But I've already scheduled the WWdN: Not The Anithri Invitational, so please join in regardless of whether darval or I can make it. It's tournament 30611882 at PokerStars, Aug 31 22:30 EDT. Password is monkey.