Dynasty $500 Free roll..

Last Saturday, 10-20-07, Poker Dynasty hosted a $500 free roll tournament for its members on Poker Stars.

For those that don't know what a free roll is, it's a tournament that doesn't cost any money to play. There were 23 players in the tourney and the top 9 get paid. 1st place gets 30% of the total prize pool and the percentages go down accordingly.

I was lucky enough to make the final table - 9 players left - and knew how 4 of them played as I had been playing the entire tournament with them. I started playing very tight to protect my stack and try to get a read on a few of the players, and let the short stacks fall to the way side. I didn't want to play a lot of hands unless I had something really strong to 3- bet with, so I could set up a tight image and steal blinds later. There were some very good players here, namely LaffyTaffy who had a commanding chip lead and whom I thought would win the whole thing.

Nothing exciting happenes for me until it got down to three handed between me, jnye34, and benb1253. I really cranked up the aggression here to get as many chips as possible to make the final 2 by raising a lot more and 3-betting against them. Benb and I were pretty close in chips but jnye34 had a pretty good lead but after I 3-bet him with TT this hand came up vs. benb to get me closer.


POKERSTARS GAME #12744605089: TOURNAMENT #64282157, FREEROLL HOLD'EM NO LIMIT - LEVEL IX (300/600) - 2007/10/20 - 17:23:20 (ET)
Table '64282157 2' 9-max Seat #8 is the button
Seat 4: jnye34 (16890 in chips)
Seat 6: benb1523 (6674 in chips)
Seat 8: 2whodatdare (10936 in chips)
jnye34: posts the ante 50
benb1523: posts the ante 50
2whodatdare: posts the ante 50
jnye34: posts small blind 300
benb1523: posts big blind 600
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to 2whodatdare [As Ks]
2whodatdare: raises 1200 to 1800
jnye34: folds
benb1523: raises 4824 to 6624 and is all-in
2whodatdare: calls 4824
2whodatdare said, "gl"
*** FLOP *** [Tc Qs 9h]
*** TURN *** [Tc Qs 9h] [Td]
*** RIVER *** [Tc Qs 9h Td] [2h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
benb1523: shows [Ad 7c] (a pair of Tens)
2whodatdare: shows [As Ks] (a pair of Tens - Ace+King kicker)

I don't blame ben one bit fo rshoving here. An Ace high hand 3 way is a pretty good hand to shove with, since you're first in you get some fold equity against my stack.

Now we're heads up. jnye34 has been playing tight the entire tournament and has been showing down very strong hands. He's gonna be hard to beat unless I get very aggressive against so I decide to open up my pre-flop raising range against him. I don't think he'll 3-bet me too much so I shoud be able to catch up to him. we went back and forth a bit and I got some chips on these two hands:

POKERSTARS GAME #12744737062: TOURNAMENT #64282157, FREEROLL HOLD'EM NO LIMIT - LEVEL X (400/800) - 2007/10/20 - 17:30:53 (ET)
Table '64282157 2' 9-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 4: jnye34 (20040 in chips)
Seat 8: 2whodatdare (14460 in chips)
jnye34: posts the ante 50
2whodatdare: posts the ante 50
jnye34: posts small blind 400
2whodatdare: posts big blind 800
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to 2whodatdare [Jh 7s]
jnye34: raises 1600 to 2400
2whodatdare: raises 2600 to 5000
jnye34: calls 2600
*** FLOP *** [2c 6c Ks]
2whodatdare: checks
jnye34: checks
*** TURN *** [2c 6c Ks] [2h]
2whodatdare: bets 9410 and is all-in
jnye34: folds

I think the check on the flop was a big mistake for me. I 3-bet him here and should continuation bet here to keep up the pressure, and not let another card come to possibly improve his hand. But when he checks behind I'm betting the turn most of the time and take a nice pot here.

This next hand happened one minute later:

POKERSTARS GAME #12744752012: TOURNAMENT #64282157, FREEROLL HOLD'EM NO LIMIT - LEVEL X (400/800) - 2007/10/20 - 17:31:41 (ET)
Table '64282157 2' 9-max Seat #8 is the button
Seat 4: jnye34 (14990 in chips)
Seat 8: 2whodatdare (19510 in chips)
jnye34: posts the ante 50
2whodatdare: posts the ante 50
2whodatdare: posts small blind 400
jnye34: posts big blind 800
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to 2whodatdare [Th Ts]
2whodatdare: raises 1500 to 2300
jnye34: raises 2500 to 4800
2whodatdare: raises 14660 to 19460 and is all-in
jnye34 said, "got an ace"
2whodatdare said, "i know"
jnye34 said, "lol"
jnye34: folds
2whodatdare collected 9700 from pot

I think jnye was saying he had an ace, at least in my mind and when I answered him it was to say "I know you have an ace and I'm really strong."
Now I'm feeling comfortable with 70% of the chips and it's oly a matter of time... until I mess this whole thing up? Or win?

5 minutes later:

POKERSTARS GAME #12744843816: TOURNAMENT #64282157, FREEROLL HOLD'EM NO LIMIT - LEVEL X (400/800) - 2007/10/20 - 17:36:51 (ET)
Table '64282157 2' 9-max Seat #8 is the button
Seat 4: jnye34 (12590 in chips)
Seat 8: 2whodatdare (21910 in chips)
jnye34: posts the ante 50
2whodatdare: posts the ante 50
2whodatdare: posts small blind 400
jnye34: posts big blind 800
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to 2whodatdare [Ah Qc]
2whodatdare: raises 1500 to 2300
jnye34: raises 10240 to 12540 and is all-in
2whodatdare: calls 10240
*** FLOP *** [6d 2h 5s]
2whodatdare said, "gl"
*** TURN *** [6d 2h 5s] [Jd]
*** RIVER *** [6d 2h 5s Jd] [Qh]

*** SHOW DOWN ***
jnye34: shows [Jc Jh] (three of a kind, Jacks)
2whodatdare: shows [Ah Qc] (a pair of Queens)
jnye34 collected 25180 from pot

I don't think either of us were folding here. He's a big favorite vs. my range and I love my hand.

Now jnye34 starts putting a lot of pressure on me pre-flop, which he should. He has a huge chip lead and should not slow down. He played extremely well and deserved to win. I think I played better than I have been lately, but know there are situations where I can improve. I just have to find them. Thanks to Ryan and Jared for hosting this tourney and for recording the final table. I'm looking forward to seeing parts 3 and 4 if you have them.

Comments are welcome on what you think of the hands shown here and are appreciated. Until then, good luck on the felt and may the good cards hit your hand.