Bayou Poker Classic Day 2 Recap

I got to the Casino at about 1030 am and of course, nothing is going on in the Poker Room, Nothing is going on in the Tournament room, and I don't feel like playing table games, so I go in my truck and take a nap until about 1130. I'm no bum but drove from Destrehan so I wasn't about to go back for just a little while. When I walked back into the Casino I noticed there were about 5 people waiting to start a Satellite so I go run to see what's going on in the Poker room with cash games....pretty much nothing still so I go buy into the Satellite and pick the 9 seat (10 to a table) the buy in was $125 and top 2 got $500 in tourney chips and 50 in cash. It still took a while before the satellite got started, so I went goof off on a Roullette machine and won half the buy in back when I put $25 in and cashed out $85 (Small victory already!)

Noticed some Free advertisement on the way into the Casino.

Initially the Table seemed to be very easy to pick spots and take down pots as it was mostly older gentlemen that are casual players with some pretty solid players mixed in as well. A guy that looked Like Jesus Ferguson's skinny twin brother was pretty much shoving in everyone's blind, and pretty much sucking out when they called.I managed to Knock Out a couple people and double through Jesus twin and then watched him knock two out at the end to get me the chips and cash and tipped the dealer $15 to pretty much free roll tournaments for the day!

I registered for the 1PM $350 buyin tournament and hated my seat draw. First I get my ticket and was placed in the 1 seat and a Super Aggressive player had position on me. As the late registration continued and the players came in late, I had Will "Poker Monkey" Souther (who basically hated the table draw as well and practically busted on purpose -so it seemed that way- to get on another table) Bill Phillips and Danny Dorcey were all to my Right.

I got down to 7000 after losing a few pots then made a really good call against the Super Aggressive player who is friends with Wunstel and Barousse but not sure of his name. He was a Super LAG player but reminded me alot of Bertrand Grospellier. I got in a raising war against him early when I had 22 preflop and didn't want to get it in with such a low pair, so I surrendered when I missed the flop. Then later he minraised preflop (as he did every single hand practically) and since he had position on me and it was folded to me, I flatted. Flop fell 383 and since he has such a wide range I really didnt feel that he hit any of the board so I checked with Q10s and he cbet as I expected. I decided to float to see if I either connect on the turn or if I could out play him on the turn. Turn is the Q and I have a feeling I take the lead and know he is going to continue to be aggressive. I put out a small bet and he raises me again. I'm not sure exactly how strong my queen is here and don't want to shove into a monster so I decide to just flat again. River is a blank and I am liking where I am at, but still unsure of my kicker. With the amount of hands he was raising, it was just highly improbable that he also paired the King with a higher kicker so I was willing to call whatever he bet. I believe he knew what I was thinking and truely put me to the test when he committed himself...and myself with a tournament life decision. I call and have a worse hand and be crippled. shove and lose, or flat, win the pot and get a good portion of chips. Well I make the call and he has A high and My queen is good.

I continue to pick some pots up but not much when I get involved in a huge hand and come out on the wrong end. I raised 2.5 with 8h 6h and got 2 callers (Extremely tight old guy and old guy that has a big cash in a circuit event.) Flop came out As 8d 6d and both players checked to me. I bet 675 into 1250 pot and get shoved on by super tight old guy and I know he has pair aces big kicker. Then the other old man goes into the tank, then with about 9.7k he goes allin over the top and I am thinking I have the best hand for sure as he is probably shoving a strong flush draw here or maybe a pair with nut flush draw. I am now wondering if I should just fold out of fear of being drawn out since its so early in the tournament, or make the call and hope I hold up to basically triple up again in this $340 buyin tourney. Well I make the call after some thought and I see AhJh from the first shover and 7d 5d from the other...and I hate how many outs he has and of course right there on the turn is the 4c giving the old man the straight. I dont fill up and my stack goes from 14.3k to 4.5k. A part of me wishes I would have just folded and waited for a better spot in the tournament but I know to win tournaments you have to win those kind of situations. It is still meddling in my head though.

After the 1st break I didnt last much longer as I get into another raising war with the Super Aggro and open with QcJc and super aggro min 3bets AGAIN and guy who turned straight on me just flats. I shove all in for 4.4k and then Super Aggro SHOVES for 6.7k. I am kind of annoyed but kind of happy because he gets the other guy to fold and what does he show.....Kd10d. I knew he didn't have much, but surprised he didn't give me much respect for a hand as well. It was a virtual Coin flip and I got completely out flopped as board ran out 10 10 9 Q J improving his trips to a straight and sending me to the exit. I didn't feel like investing another 350 into the tournament that ended up with 88 players so I decided to go sit down at the 1 2 NL game instead.

I buy into the game for $200 and get some decent small pots but my first big pot I hit a set with QQ and a guy decided to chase the flush and paid me about Half his stack for $150. I had to have seen AcKs or vice versa about 3 times and all 3 times I won the hand. I couldnt believe it. The session turned out really well and I cashed out $822 for a nice $622 profit. So having a nice profitable session in cash and still having $200 in tourney chips, I let a buddy borrow $125 to play a satellite and then bought into the 5pm $230 Omaha Tournament...which was basically a mistake. I literally played 3 hands in 2 orbits before I was out. First pot I check Called Flop and Turn with 2 flush draws and an inside straight draw and made the 2nd nut flush on the river, Checked it and of course the guy had Nut flush. Next hand I lost a small pot and on the Final hand I had Ad 9s 8s 7d and with blinds at 100 200 I raise to 500 and get 2 callers. I only have 4500 left and we started with 8000. flop falls 7 4 3 and I bet 1k into a 1500 pot.this leaves me with 3500. 1 guy calls and the turn is the 6 giving me open ender for the nuts and still top pair. I shove all in and he calls and shows two pair 8 7 6 2......on a Straight Board....I laugh in disbelief and need an A 10 9 8 or 5 to win the pot, but for some reason I have ran like shit so far when playing Omaha tournaments and completely whiffed as the river paired the 4.

So feeling a little tired, I decide to go back to cash game instead of just calling it a night and finishing with a good profit for the 2nd night in a row. I sit at 1 2 one more time. The first hand I played I get trip nines Ace kicker on the river and get check trapped when a guy played his runner runner boat sneaky and lost over half my first buy in right off the bat.
The last hand I played, I flopped top two with AQ on a Ah Qh 3h board and run into Two Flushes and some dude that reminded me of The Soloist with Jamie Foxx cause he kind of looked and dressed like him in that movie and was saying all kind of crazy shit at the table that gave me some good laughs the whole time. Well I dont Fill up agian. figured out that I actually managed a miniscule profit (Like $50 or 60 bucks) for the Day when I decide to get up from that horrid table. It all went down hill after the Omaha Game though. Well after I get some rest, I have one more full day to grind the tables before one of the Greatest Ragin Cajun's Football games I have ever witnessed to cap off such an awesome week.

To be Continued...

Matt Stroud