Choctaw Tournament Weekend

Bounty Tournament

Good friends of ours, Counting Girl and One Outer (Buck Nekkid) have been playing in Choctaw Casinos TGIF Bounty Tournament on Friday nights, and doing quite well. We went up last week, and while we didn't fare too well, Counting Girl was in a 3 way chop and took home $710. We had a great time and decided to give it another try this past Friday.

We got there around 5 o'clock and sat down in a 1/2 No LImit game. You get additional chips for playing cash games before the tournament. 3 hours = 600, 2 hours = 300 and 1 hour = 100. Since we were playing 2 hours before the tournament we got the 300 chip bonus. I was a card rack in the cash game. The table was extremely passive. I doubled up early through a player who I would continue to beat up in every pot we were in together. I flopped 4 to the nut flush in clubs, and bet $10. He called. On the turn I hit the flush, he checked, I bet $20. He made it $40....I called. On the river he bet $20...I pushed all in for $62...he called and his K high flush paid me off. Later on he raised preflop with AK...against my QQ. Flop came blanks...he checked...I bet $10. He called. Blank on the turn...I bet $20 and he folded. Later still in late position I found 2c4c and decided to see if this baby suited connector would hit. Limped in on the button. Flop is 2 4 K. I bet $5. A couple of callers. Flush draw is out there. 2 on the turn. I bet $15...he calls. Blank that completes the flush draw on the river. I bet $20 and he calls with a flush, and pays off my boat. He was second best hand to me for 2 hours. This was nice. I won my buy-in to the tournament and then some.

I sit down with my t2,800 and hope to not get involved in any hands early until I see how the table is. 71 runners, it pays top 7. Shuffle up and deal. Unfortunately I get KQ suited the second hand and on a flop of AK4 end up losing a couple hundred when I call down a player min betting A6. I raise preflop with JJ. C bet the Q high flop and get raised...fold my hand. Not the start I had holped for.

After the first 3 20 minute levels we take a break and I've got t2,100. We come back from break and it's 100/200. I limp into a hand on the button with KJ. Flop comes AK7. BB Short stack goes all in for 600. I figure he's pushing if he hit any part of that board. It folds to me and I call. He shows AJ...and I'm drawing to 2 outs. K on the turn. I suck out and get his bounty. (For every player you knock out you get a card, that you cash in when you bust out. Each one is worth $20).A little later I'm on the button with 3 limpers, and I've got AQ. I push with t2,200. It folds to the big stack who calls me with 33. Door card is an ace, and I double up. Now I'm a bit below average stack at the table. A while later I double up the player who doubled me up when I call his all in. I've got TT to his 77. He rivers a str8. I steal a few blinds...lose a few blinds.

We get back from the second break. Down to 3 tables. Blinds are t500 - 1,000. I'm BB. One limper to the player I doubled up. He's on the button and raises to 4,000. I look down at KK, and push all in over the top for a total of 9,000. Everyone folds. Now I've got t14,500 and in good shape at my table.About this time I win 3 BB in a row. I had terrible hands, but no one raised and I hit the flop hard. Flopped a wheel with 23o. Flopped 2 pair with 74. And flopped top pair with Q6. These hands kept me at average stack or a bit above.Short stacks are busting out.

2 tables now. In position I'm stealing blinds. Folding otherwise. I'm not getting involved in any hands.

Somehow I manage to steal and fold my way to the final table.9 players. I'm about the 5th biggest stack. I continue the same game plan. Fold to me in late position I push...otherwise I'm not involved. It's folded to me in the hijack seat and I think about pushing with Ac6c...but I reconsider and think I'll have a better chance later. Good thing. Guy to my left raises, 2 short stacks go all in for less. Big stack to my left has AK, first caller has AJ...other caller has AT. K on the flop. 2 knocked out. In the money.That worked out quite well.

Several hands later the 2 stacks shorter than me mix it up. AQ vs. QQ. Ace on the flop. QQ is gone. Now I'm the short stack with about t16,000. Second shortest stack busts out next hand. And we're down to 5. I'm BB for 4,000. it folds to SB who raises to 10,000. I look at AJo and push all in. He has to call and tables AT. He says "damn...you have me by a notch." I double up and now there isn't really a short stack.

In talking to the player to my left he tells me he has 12 bounty cards. Player across form me has 11. I have 1. How the heck did I get here with 1. So I say..."I'd like to thank you guys for knocking everyone out...apparently I haven't been holding up my end of the bargain." Since the chip leader had about 50,000...I had 32,000 and everyone else had between 25,000 and 40,000, it seemed like now was a good time to chop. Any hand could change things dramatically.

We asked the TD how much it would be to chop...he said $895. The big stack said lets chop. The player with the second biggest stack (who was a card rack for the final two tables getting AA 3 times) had no idea what we were talking about...so we explained it to him. The winner and second place also got entries into the monthly freeroll, so that was still at stake. When 2 of the players said they already had their entries, I suggested the 3 remaining players just high card for it. We agreed. First player pulled a J, next player pulled a 4, and I pulled a 10. $895...plus bounties...mine plus the player I took out for $40 and entry to the October Freeroll. Tipped the dealers $40. Not a bad night at all. So we call it a night and head for home.

On the ride home we talk about our plans for Saturday. We were supposed to go to a wine festival in Grapevine, but rationalized that with the weather from Ike hitting us, it would be a quagmire. That and the fact that Choctaw's monthly deep stack tournament was Saturdcay at 11 am, kind of led us to the decision to try and parlay the bounty tournament chop into a much bigger win. After all we would be basically in the $300 + $30 on a freeroll.

So we get a good nights sleep and then off too Choctaw in the morning.

Deep Stack Tournament

What a great tournament the Deep Stack Tournament is at Choctaw. $300 + $30. Starting Stack of t8,000. 30 minute blinds. 41 players. And the following blind structure:
25/25
25/50
50/100
75/150
100/200
150/300
200/400
300/600
400/800
500/1000etc.

This was by far the best live tournament structure I had ever played in. Add in that each table had an automatic shuffler, and you were going to get a lot of play for your buy-in.

I'm totally card dead. Early on I get JJ. Raise PF. 2 callers. Flop of 9 5 4. BB donk bets 200...I should have raised, but just call...letting the player with position on me call. K on the turn. BB checks. I check. LP player bets 1,000. BB dumps her hand. I have to dump mine. As things would play out, I'm not sure if that was a good fold or not. LP player was running the table over early, not showing down any hands. Reraising, after a bet and a raise, and getting folded to. He gets caught a couple times on bluffs. Gets somewhat short stacked and ends up going all in with Q6 on a board of AKQT2 with 4 clubs. Third pair. No kicker, on a str8 and flush board with 2 overcards. Oh well.

I manage to hang in till about 2:30 which was 3 and a half hours into the tournament. At that point I had AK on the button. Player who had been very erratic, and overraising with less than premium hands (he was short stack...then big stack...back and forth all day)raised to 2,000. I went all in for 4,700. UTG limper (who was one of the big stacks at the table) Called. Raiser then went all in for 700 more and UTG called him. Raiser had TT. UTG had Kc9C (which had everyone a the table scratching their heads). I caught a K on the river, but it was no match for the T on the flop and another on the turn for Quad T's. To the rail in 24th place.

Merlotgirl had doubled up 2 hands in a row. She got away from her AA hand when she checked behind on a str8 board on the river. Her read was right that he had a 6 for the str8. Well played. Lost the minimum.

Her table was wild. Early on in the 25/25 blind level a dealer from Winstar doubled up when his flopped set beat another players flopped set. Set over set is so sick. Another player at her table doubled up early as well. First 2 players out of the thournament were off her table. Now the clash of the big stacks. Not sure about the early details of the hand other than it was raised preflop. Winstar dealer flops top set...older player bets...gets raised...and pushes all in. Winstar dealer asks him " are you worried if I tell you I flopped top set?" I could hear this at the neighboring table. Older player had flopped AsKs and their were 2 spades on the flop. No spade was to follow. We have a chip leader. At the first break (after 2 hours) he had t35,000 and an enormous mountain of chips.

Merlotgirl played great. Got to the final 2 tables. She got coolered when she pushed all in with JJ in late position, to see the short stack UTG limper call and turn over AA. Nice hand sir. That didn't knock her out but crippled her. With 7s8s in her small blind she completed the bet. Flop came 7Qx, she pushed and got called by the BB who had a Q. Busted in 15th.

We later found out that they chopped when it got to 7 players. They gave the 2 chip leaders $2,000 and the other 5 players got $1,895. One of the players we play with all the time was in on the chop.

It was a great weekend. We learned that Choctaw throws great tournaments. I think it's pretty rare you see a casino tournament where you only pay 10% in juice. That's online type juice. We learned that we're good enough players to play in that level of tournament. And we plan on playing in them in the future.