Veneno Does Commerce $330 Live Tourney

What a total and complete RUSH! Last night I played the No Limit Hold'em Turbo 6 Players event at the Commerce Casino in California. Before I get to the ending...let's rewind a bit.

All week long I've been wanting to get together with friends. I was gonna have a party saturday night, but it seemed that everyone I called was busy. So the party was postponed for next weekend. It was saturday, and I still had no social plans. A weekend without the kids, no commitments, no plans, I was free.

I knew about the Holiday Bonus Tournament running at the Commerce and had even called Speaker to see if he was planning to attend. My original plan was to play the NL Hold'em event with 15k added on Friday night (buy-in of $330 no rebuys) and also play the Ladies NL Hold'em event on Saturday (buy-in of $225 no rebuys). Speaker, Smokee, and Ryan ended up playing in the Friday night event.

So instead of playing the Friday event at Commerce, I agreed to take pre-paid $50 tickets from x for a charity poker event. Shawn, one of the guys from HighPlains regular games agreed to join me. We both busted out before the money. I finished at 38th of 200 in this event. After which, Shawn and I decided to head to Commerce and checkout how the guys were doing.

We got there about 11:00 pm which gave us just enough time to play one satelite game. Speaker joined me. But we had no luck. I busted out 4th when I pushed with AK against a player with live cards who hit. You start these single table games with $500 in chips. Speaker finished 3rd when all 3 remaining players pushed in.

I stayed around long enough to shake hands with Smokee when he busted 50th...but left with Ryan still in the event. Later, I found out that Ryan was out shortly after I left. It is pretty hard to get deep in these tournaments, so both of these guys played well to get that far.

Okay...now to the good stuff...lol.

Veneno plays $330 NL Hold'em tournament

This is only the 2nd time that I have bought into a tournament at this price range. The first time, a couple of years ago, I got AA on the first hand. Pushed. Busted. That really sucked! So I may have been a little put off to investing that much money again into one of these events.

Lately, I have been thinking it was time to try again. So this was my opportunity.

The event began with 266 entrants. The first person I noticed at my table was the georgeous blonde with chic shades, fitted black jacket, and a sweet smile. His name was Shawn. We started chatting it up right away. He mentioned that he had hit it big this summer at the WSOP when he place in the money for 10k in the $1500 NL event.

I was playing a tight aggressive game. My best call of the night came early in the tournament. One of the players, over bet the pot on the river with an A on the board. I had been smooth calling his bets. Then I had to decide whether to put my life on the line and call with A J off. I had a read on this guy and went with my gut. I called for time. Thought it over. And finally called. Fortunately, this guy was holding A 5 and my hand held up. That was the turning point for me. Now I was one of the bigger stacks at the table.

I took out a few of the short stack players. Built my chips up to about 10k by the first break. Most players were respecting my post-flop raises and I was able to take a few pots down uncontested. A couple of new players who messed with me, soon paid the price.

One new player, who appeared to be playing loose, I decided to call down with only a pair of 3s..cause the price was small, and I put him on Ax hand. I was right and after that hand he had it in for me. Later, I played this guy again. I was calling down his less than pot size bets and hit my nut flush. As predicted, he over bet the river and I immediately called out All-in. When he didn't react after a few seconds, I repeated, "All-in". He nastily remarked, "I heard you the first time". He wasn't happy. The board was paired with xx and a K. The flush came runner runner. He grudgingly folded. A few hands later I took him out.

The player that took his seat, noticed me take down a few uncontested pre-flop hands that I raised and post-flop hands in which I lead out the betting. He said, "I sure wish I could see some of your hands". A few hands later he was able to see one of my hands when I got caught bluffing. It wasn't a significant loss. And I said, "Now you have seen one." This set the stage for later when I took him out with a better hand.

The cute blonde was still at my table just before the 2nd break. He was looking at my chip saying he needed to get some from me. I told him, "You better not mess with me!" He smiled and agreed that it would be best to leave me alone.

By the 2nd break, I had about 14k in chips. I just needed to play smart. We came back from the break and moved tables. It was now down to 4 tables. Only 6 to the money. Getting to the money was no easy task. The blinds were getting costly starting at 400 - 800 and moving up to 1200 with antes before the last 19th player went out. My plan was simple. Push or fold. Don't do anything stupid!

When I changed tables, one of the bigger stacks was on my right. He was a sharply dressed Hawain gentleman in his mid 50's I would guess. I immediately told him, "You are the sharpest looking guy in this place." He smiled and thanked me for the compliment. I was friendly with a few of the guys at the table. I do believe that this was the last little edge that helped me get to the money.

I went all-in 4 times when it was down to less than 4 to the money. Once with ATs, 66s, TT (in the sb), and A 7 sooted (in the sb). Not once was I called. The last time when I had the A 7 sooted, I was followed by a big stack in the bb. He laid down his hand and said he should call me.

Once we made the money I was super short with only about 3x the big blind. I just kept folding while ppl were dropping out. Finally, with less than 2x the bb, I was in the big blind with 98 off and moved all-in when a big stack raised on the button. I had live cards but didn't hit. I finished the tournament in 13th place with a prize of $1084 for a $600 profit.

That was AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!