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The Wedding Poker Tournament 
 
When you have spent 25 years watching your older brother win poker championships, it is only natural that you would turn into a good poker player.  So when my sister Molly decided to get married on a Sunday, she included a poker tournament as part of the festivities on Friday night.  Forty five players anteed up, and a bunch of them were beginners.  As time passed, naturally my chips began to grow.  It wasn’t hard to triple up.  I mean, the beginners at my table played too many hands, and they called big bets when they weren’t supposed to.  So I never bluffed and I always bet big when I had it.  One hand I called with A-9, the flop came down 9-9-7, and I bet small to keep players in there.  The turn was a seven (9-9-7-7) and now I bet huge, only to be called by two players.  The river was the last nine (9-9-7-7-9), and I moved all in, only to be called in two spots. 
 
My motivation was that there was no way that I was going to let my brother outlast me!  When we hit the final two tables, the following hand came up.  With the blinds at 150-300, two players limped in, and I looked down at 10-10.  I made it 2,500 to go, and the players in both blinds, and both limpers called.  The flop was Qd-10c-9c.  The player in the small blind bet out 2,000, the player in the big blind called, one of the limpers called, and I decided to just move all in for 22,000.  Both blinds called all in for a small amount, and the limper, who was second place in chips to me, decided to fold his A-J.  The hands were flipped up: A-Q for the player in the small blind, Kc-Jc (a straight) for the player in the big blind, and my set of tens.  The turn was a four, but the river was a nine and I scooped the pot with a full house.  What I wouldn’t have given to have this hand come up in a WSOP or a WPT tournament!  In any case, I went on to win it and here is a picture of the trophy: http://moby.to/8sfpim  
 
Let’s take a closer look at this hand.  I like the limp in with A-J at a super loose table.  Why raise it up when so many players are certain to call, and you will actually need to hit your hand to win the pot?  I like my mega sized 8bb (eight times the big blind) raise with 10-10.  I was trying to clear some players out of the pot, and I was hoping for a nine high flop so that I could just power out a huge bet and get called by someone with top pair, or second pair.  My other option was to just call with my 10-10, but considering that I had the chip lead, and that I didn’t want to let someone with say, 6-4, hit a flop like 6-4-3; I like my mega raise.  The players in the blinds called the mega raise with A-Q (seems OK to me), and with Kc-Jc (seems a little loose to me).  And the fourth player (a limper) called with A-J, which is a little thin normally, but it was a weak lineup and A-J could well have been plenty live, and the hand was getting laid roughly five-to-one.  On the flop, I do not like the 2,000 bet from the A-Q.  It is time to go ahead and move all in for that last 5,400 or so.  I mean, you flopped top pair with top kicker!  The Kc-Jc smooth call was a good move, although this player only had 4,800 in chips left, thus I would prefer to see that player shove it all in.  My shove all in was a good one.  I wanted to get it all in before some crazy straight card, or flush card, popped up on fourth street.  I shoved to both to protect my hand, and to get it all in when I was a favorite.  The A-J lay down was a really good one!  By now it was obvious that the player with A-J needed to hit at least a king or an eight (straight), and maybe had to also avoid the board pairing or a flush card hitting, and maybe this player needed an off suit king (ace high straight) to win this pot!  I say fold, and save that last 16,000 for a better spot! |   
 
 
 
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