anomaly16

Went back to the Circus tonight for my 5th attempt at the £10 rebuy.

The rebuy period was bad, not winning any hands even when starting ahead and it took me 3 rebuys and an addon to have 3.7k chips at the break - my lowest yet and most rebuys too. I don't think the Abba tribute band they'd put on helped. I suspect they were picked to make people looser and more tilty, much like the garish carpet! Their compulsory encore was preluded with "Thanks for listening - we've had a great time. And I'm sure you have too but you're too nice and quiet"! Strange conicedence that their set lasted the length of the rebuy period.

The post-break period wasn't great either - I got up to about 6k but was back down around 3-4k with 2 tables left. In the final few hands my luck turned and I doubled up twice to reach the final table with 13.9k chips (around 7th position). A saver was agreed again and £30 (still a loss after my rebuys) would go to 7th-10th with a top prize of £590. I picked up some pots and survived to 5th - a pot I wasn't involved in with a double elimination helped (AK beat KK and JJ).

At this point I was shortstack - all the others had much the same as each other and double my stack so when a deal was offered (me to get £220 and them to get £310ish each) it seemed a good choice with £110 for 5th and I agreed, especially as I was tired and it was around 4am. However, the one woman at the table disagreed - more I think because she didn't want to have to make the decision than feeling she could win more (her play had been a bit ropey in places). A good player to my left didn't seem to take this too well and play continued. Another went out in 5th and when we reached 4 my stack was much more respectable (around 30k). I soon took out the shortstacked 4th player (KT vs 84 on his BB) and we were down to 3. The good but frustrated player had already failed to take the woman out with his one loose call of the night (QJ) to her large pre-flop raise when he was chip leader. I think he just wanted her to regret her decision not to take the deal - and when he all-in raised her for 40k with 99 pre-flop she though for a long time and called with A2. With an A on the flop it was over and he left pretty unhappy and it was down to me and her.

I had around 65k chips to her 155k chips at this point and she offered a deal. Fortunately, I hadn't been involved in any of the earlier bad feeling and it was very generous given the state of play (£500 for her and £420 for me when the prizes left were £590 and £330). I was very tempted but as I'd never played heads up in a casino let alone come 1st it wasn't that straightforward. I knew I had an edge on her and could win the whole thing. While thinking, we were told that the card room shuts at 5am and as it was 5:25 and they would force a deal of some kind based on chipcount in 5 minutes time anyway. This made it an easier decision to accept the deal and she stuck to her word despite the chance of winning much more by playing tight and slow for 5 minutes.

So, 5 final tables in 5 attempts and a very decent profit overall :) It can't last, but I turn up now expecting to get to the final table which gives me the confidence to play a good game. I'm not looking foward to the first time I don't make it, but I'm prepared, so again I take some bigger risks at the right times which is helping the balance of my overall play. Another edge is that I'm starting to get to know quite a few of players and their styles and its easy to spot those that are part of the Friday night out for a laugh and drinks crowd. I had AA twice and QQ a few times also playing AK-AT and medium pairs well but no hands worth reviewing in detail or big mistakes made.

For a while I sat next to someone who remembered that we had worked at the same company some years ago (obviously not that closely as I couldn't remember his name and he only looked familiar from previous casino visits!). Another unexpected thing on arrival (I had pre-registered by phone) was that the tournament organiser remembered my name and produced my buy-in receipt without me having to say my name - I guess I'm becoming a Friday night regular with the usual home games low in demand over the summer months. Its definitely hard not to return when I'm winning $ and having fun too :)

Net win : +£359 (£420 - initial buyin - 3*rebuy - addon - obligatory 1st/2nd tip for the drinks serving staff)

£10 rebuy placed:
1st=(with 3 others)/5? (£330) DEAL
8th/53 (£0)
8th/60 (£0)
6th=(with 1 other)/54 (£75)
2nd/53 (£420) DEAL

£10 rebuy profit/loss :
+£289
-£41
-£31
+£44
+£359
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+£620