Blinds Up!

  It's eleven fifty-seven
  And I'm running out of time     (Who sings this?)

At my regular Friday night tournament the blind structure is always the same, but the organisers sometimes change the time between levels and/or the starting stack size and/or the opening blinds. The blind levels usually go 100/200, 200/400, 300/600, 400/800, 500/1000, 1000/2000. This means that your stack loses half its value at the first level, then changes much more slowly for the next 3 levels before halving in value again. But last Friday the organiser, B, decided to change the blind structure, but only for the later levels. So the blinds increased more gradually after the 500/1000 level but the earlier 2nd level jump stayed the same. He also increased the starting stack from 25k to 30k, which I thought was a bit odd because both measures were likely to increase the duration of the tournament.

  However you've got to roll with the punches and adjust to these things so I went ahead and paid in along with the 32 other players. As usual, the play was loose and passive but the increased starting stack suited my tight early-stage playing style. I just bided my time, raising my big hands (but not too much) and limping in with drawing hands and the occasional marginal hand from late position. It didn't take long to identify the loosest out of a very loose bunch: two chronic calling station on either side of me. Over the course of two hours I saw one of these two, M, limp in with AA, KK and AK, and somehow win with these hands by calling to the river in multi-way pots. In fact M hit quad Aces at one stage, which should have won her the 'monster hand' jackpot but not long after that someone on another table hit a 5-high straight flush.
   I got into an interesting hand with the other calling station, U, when I raised pre-flop with AQ and he called me. I missed the flop, but it was paired, so I bet at it and he called. I missed the turn as well so I checked and so did he. After missing the river I bet at it again and he called, turning over AJ. My Ace high beat his. Mostly I just stayed out of trouble and managed to pull in a few pots, which kept me above the average stack. Hands that have got me into trouble in the past seemed to be coming through. With pocket Jacks I bet on what seemed a pretty safe board and dragged in some chips from a player who flopped top pair. Then with KK I re-raised a fairly solid player pre-flop then when I bet the flop she folded.
   With the big starting stacks there were only a few players knocked out in the first couple of hours. I managed to chip up a bit and was actually the big stack at my table going into the middle stages. However, I guess I got 'big stack fever' and got a little too active, missing some draws and losing some chips. By the time we were down to a couple of tables the stacks were getting short and players started getting knocked out pretty regularly. At this stage I had around the average stack, but this amounted to just 12 big blinds! But I wasn't prepared to do what many others tend to do in this situation and play conservatively with a short stack. So I waited for my chance and when I picked up pocket Jacks I called an all-in bet from R. She turned over 55 and when a Jack hit the flop it was all over. Just to rub it in, the river was another Jack. So that made my stack size a bit healthier as we approached the final table.
   My wife and I both made the final table (the top 10). D came onto the table with an enormous stack of chips, at least three times the size of the next highest stack. The shortest stacks started to drop out fairly quickly. With 7 players left I found myself in a hand with my wife (P) and B. With K9 in the hand, the flop gave me middle pair (nines). The flop was all clubs and my King was a club, giving me a draw to the King high flush. When I bet, B pushed all-in. I seriously considered calling with my flush draw, but eventually decided to fold.  P however did call with the Ace of clubs and B showed his flopped flush. With no clubs on the turn or river my wife went out in 7th place and I breathed a sigh of relief over my decision to fold. It was not long before the 6th player was eliminated and I was in the money. The short stack who had limped across the bubble then exited, leaving just four of us.
   By now it was approaching midnight and we all had at least 20 big blinds each. The band had long since stopped playing and the bar was about to close. B shouted the three of us a drink, perhaps in recognition of our stamina, and we carried on. By this stage we had a volunteer to do the dealing for us, which made things easier, and faster. At this point I was enjoying playing my natural end-game and felt reasonably confident that I had a good shot at first place. I was bluffing at a few pots, raising any decent hand, and chipping up bit by bit. I showed a couple of my bluffs, just to keep them guessing. One in particular, was an attempt to steal with 72 that didn't work out. I figured that this would keep them calling when I actually had a hand. Fortunately for us, B is not only the poker tourney organiser but also the club president, so he arranged to have the club stay open to allow the game to go on. Meanwhile my wife, who was sitting behind me, was starting to fall asleep.
   I managed to chip up a bit with the following hand. I raised with AQ pre-flop and was called by D. The flop came K J * . He checked so I bet half the pot. He called. I missed the turn as well but put in a bet and he called again. When the Ace hit the flop I bet again and he called with his King. I took a nice chunk of his stack with this hand, and also managed to tilt him a bit. So I was the big stack for a while, until I picked up pocket Kings. By this stage B had started pushing all-in a lot. When he pushed this time I called him and he turned over JJ. Jacks had been good to me so far and this time they were good to B. He hit a Jack on the turn and I lost the hand. I thought that was it for me but when we matched our stacks up I still had about 5 big blinds left.
   So I struggled on as the short stack, but with some careful play and some good all-in pushes, gradually built my stack back up, knocking out P in the process. By 1am D was the small stack and B and I had around 15 big blinds each. As it was getting so late, B suggested that we split the prize money but I was determined to at least try and eliminate D. So I suggested that we play till 1.30 and then split if there was no result. By 1.15 D was out and B and I split the remaining prize money; probably the best result I could have hoped for in the circumstances. Then we played our hands all-in to determine who would get the extra point for the challenge points table. In terms of points at least, I came first.
   After that marathon session I hope that B adjusts his blind structure and/or starting stacks for next Friday. After all, if you're running a cash tournament, you should ensure that it's structured in such a way that it is able to be played out to the end. While I'm happy to finally break my losing streak in this most recent series of games, it's disappointing to not have the opportunity to win the first prize outright. I've come in the top two on three occasions so far but in two of these I've split the prize pool because it was getting late, and I came second in the only game where I actually got to play to the end. Nevertheless, with only one more round to go before the end of the year, this result means that I'm no longer in danger of barely breaking even in live tourneys and should come out with a nice little profit. Heading into the Christmas season, it's not a bad position to be in.