My 15 Most Memorable Poker Hands (Part 2)

Hand #12 - "I just flopped quads!" - 5/25/2009 - $2 MTT - PokerStars

After a long day at work, my buddy A.J. talked me into getting into the $2 MTT that he was already registered for. Seven hours later, out of a field of 2,187, I arrived at the final table. I was 8th in chips, but quickly found a triple-up when my K-K held up against J-J and 9-9, in a 3-way preflop all-in. A few hands later, I called two small all-ins w/ 10-9 from the BB and scored a double KO against 9-9 and A-J, when I found a 10 on the flop.

I was second in chips with 5 remaining when this hand came about. My opponent, DougdaHorse had been the chipleader, forever it seemed. I had been on his table since there were over 100 players left, and he had been a total maniac, calling shoves with hands like K-4 and running like a god. I was IMing with A.J. who had busted a while earlier and we were marveling at Doug's heater. With two tables remaining, Doug even typed "Man, I am so drunk right now", which explained a lot.

Anyway, the blinds were at 15,000/30,000/3,000 and I raised to 90,000 of out my roughly 800,000 stack with 8♠ 8♦ UTG. DougdaHorse 3-bet to 200,000 from the BU and I decided to call. The flop came a delicious J♥ 8♥ 8♣, and I excitedly typed "I just flopped quads!" to A.J, while triple checking that I was typing into the IM, and not into table chat. I checked, Doug bet 100,000, and I called. The turn was the 5♦, and I checked again. Doug bet 150,000, and I called again. The river was the A♣, and I shoved my remaining 350,000 all-in, hoping Doug caught the ace. He called and showed A♠ T♦, which crippled him down under 200,000 chips and gave me a giant chiplead. Doug would be the next one out, while I went on to chop with another player heads-up for $617.83!

Hand #11 - The one that started it all - 2/11/2007 - $10 Deep Stack MTT - PokerStars

I became aware of the Deep Stack tournaments on PokerStars around the holidays in 2006, and I was itching to play in one. Problem was that my bankroll was sitting at around $40, and I would be putting a quarter of it on the line in one tournament. I finally decided screw it, and that I could replenish such a small bankroll if I needed to. So it was that on a Sunday in mid-February, I finally took my shot. I loved the tournament from the word go. The slow pace allowed for a lot more psychology and reading of tendencies than a typical tournament. My stack had actually stayed pretty static throughout the early stages, though I had mainly fluctuated between 8,000 and 18,000 chips. I once exceeded 21,000 after doubling up with Q-Q against A-K all-in preflop, but I had dropped back down to 12,118 chips when this critical hand occurred.

We were almost halfway through the fifth hour of the tournament, which had 1,144 runners and paid 99. There were probably about 150 players remaining and the blinds were 300/600/50. I raised to 1,800 from the CO holding A♥ 7♠ and Ruthlesxxx (75,664 chips) called from the BB. The flop came 7♦ 6♥ 5♦ and my opponent checked. I bet 3,000 with top pair, hoping to take it down right there, but Ruthlesxxx check-raised to 7,200. It was a trap that I fell right into, as I 3-bet all-in on the hopes that my opponent only had a draw. He called the 3,068 more and showed 7♣ 6♦ for top two pair. I was drawing very thin, but I got bailed out by the deck when the turn and river came A♠ 3♦ to give me a superior two pair. I doubled up to 24,886 chips, and ended up making a deep run in the tournament. Eventually I would shove J♠ J♥ in a 3-way all-in on a flop of 6♥ 6♣ 3♣. My opponents had A♣ Q♣ and A♦ 3♦. Unfortunately the board ran out K♣ A♥ to give gerdeper's A♣ Q♣ a flush and I was eliminated in 32nd place for $40.04. But without that experience in late stage play, I doubt that I would have been capable of the deep runs that followed it.

Hand #10 - Almost tilt - 5/26/2007 - $10 Deep Stack MTT - PokerStars

Returning to my third Deep Stack tournament (my 2nd place finish), to a point late in the eighth hour of play. There were around 20 players remaining. The blinds were at 3000/6000/300, and I was sitting on a stack of 186,192 chips (31BBs). The player in the cutoff, okynot, shoved all-in for 84,674 chips, and I woke up with K♠ K♣ on the button. I re-shoved all-in, everyone else folded, and okynot showed A♣ K♦. I was thinking "No ace, no ace, no ace" as the board rolled off J♥ 9♠ 6♥ 4♦ A♥. I felt physically ill when the river hit, and my head actually hit my desk as I sagged in dejection.

Before I had any time to recover, the next hand was already being dealt. My stack was down to 101,218 chips, which felt like a micro-stack compared to where I had been and where I thought I should be now. I was dealt A♦ Q♥ and raised to 18,000 from the cutoff. Rik Wets (243,362 chips) on the button and Azzes (205,432) in the BB both called. The flop came Q♣ T♥ 5♠ and Azzes checked. Having flopped top pair, and with my still swimming from the previous hand, I bet 24,000. Rik called. Then Azzes jammed all-in, easily covering my last 58,918. I would have called anyway, but it was a sign of the tilt that I was on that I clicked call without even considering the decision. Rik folded, and Azzes showed K♥ Q♠, for top pair with a worse kicker. The board ran out T♦ J♥ and I more than doubled up to 248,936 chips, second biggest on my table! As mentioned before, I rode this momentum to a 2nd place finish. Azzes would go out in 18th, I would bust Rik Wets in 14th (A-J > K-T, all-in preflop), and okynot was eliminated in 10th place.