How I Chopped The Caesars Mega Stack – Part I
My road to chopping the Caesars Mega Stack Event #81, started innocently enough with a last minute decision. My wife planned on playing, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to play poker for 12 hours. On Saturdays, I like to chill because it was the last day of my weekend, but my wife was adamant about wanting me to play. I’ve been reading a couple of new poker tournament books, and I figured “What the heck?” I’ll give it a try.
I get to the Caesars Palace poker room and as usually it’s extremely cold. I’m not a big fan of the room because I feel so isolated. I feel like I’m playing in a warehouse. I race to my seat and immediately toss my first hand into the muck. While I get myself situated, I start formulating my game plan. The general feeling of these Caesars tournaments are the fields are extremely soft because of the low buy-ins. I notice the majority of the players are average to below average plays so there is an abundance of dead money. A million thoughts race through my head, Generally, my early tournament strategy is to play a lot of hands, play in position, and be extremely aggressive both pre- and postflop. There are 3 type of opponents I like to attack in tournaments: 1) Play against players who fold their button, 2) Play against players who fold after limping, and 3) Play against players who fold too much on the flop. If you just follow those 3 rules, you’ll be a step ahead of the competition.
We start with 15,000 Chips and immediately, I put the petal to the metal and raise and bet a ton of hands. Luckily, there is little to no resistance from my opponents, so I’m able to build my stack without showing down my hands. If you’re are building your stack without showing hands, you’re playing impeccable tournament poker. By the 2nd hour, I’m sitting with 21,000 chips. I’m feeling good about how I’m playing, then this hand comes up.
IMPORTANT HAND #1 — “Just Go with the read, dammit. Who cares if you get knocked out?”
The blinds are 100-200…I’m sitting with 21,000K…Player in middle position open-raises for 600 out of a 19,000 stack. I noticed, other than myself, this players’ been very aggressive preflop, and I wanted a chance to play a poke with him in position to see how he would react to a 3-bet (Re-raise) I re-raise from the button to 1,600 with KJ offsuit. Everyone folds to the original raiser who calls..5000 in the pot and two players. The flops 9 7 2 with two spades…He checks to me. I put him on a range of two big cards and possibly a small pair of 4’s or 5’s. I bet 1,750..he calls. Pot is now 7,000. Turn card brings another 9…Suddenly my opponent bets 1,900. The bet screams flush draw! It’s an informational bet known as a “blocking” bet. Basically, it’s to see where he stands in the hand. My guess is he’s putting me on big cards like AK or AQ, and hoping I didn’t connect with the flop. My options are to fold or raise…My opponent has around 16K, so I decide to go with my read and put him on a flush draw and raise to 5,000K…My opponent instant calls. He called so fast that I’m now 100% sure I was up against a flush draw…The river brings a Jack. I was sure he couldn’t call a substantial bet if the flush didn’t come. the jack put my mind at ease. my opponent checks. I went all in…he folds.
The KJ hand gave me a ton confidence and the belief this aggressive strategy was my ticket to a deep run in the tournament. My newfound confidence would set the stage for an early turning point of the tournament, which I believed, made me realize I have a chance for a deep run…..In my Part II, I’ll set the stage for the huge rush I encounter that gets me closer to the final table.