I played my usual tight-aggressive game and made sure I had enough chips to make the final table, which I did. I had approximately (average chips) of $35,000.
When I reached the final table, the following occurred: Six of the ten players were all from the same "family" and used to playing with each other. A father and son team was there who were soft playing each other, if you get my meaning!
Terry-Ann (The Greatest Railbird of All Time) watched the entire tournament (about six hours) and was "fuming" at the fact that with the son in the small blind, he would make a minimum raise and the father would fold ... ok, not dishonest, but something to be noted as the “son” was the tightest player at the table.
The play was tight, with not one player giving up anything, except for me, as I began to open many pots with a 2.5 raise and found I could “steal” a lot of the pots.
Then came the following hand, limp, limp, limp -- I have A-7 (s) and decide, instead of my usual minimum raise to also limp, hoping to catch the 120-1 nut flush (I really thought about raising, but went with the limp, fearing a check raise).
The board pairs my 7 and reads 5-6-7. The BB raises all in -- I am on the button. I think he is weak or got me crushed, so I tell him I cannot lay down top pair and push all-in. He shows K-7, I have A-7 and the turn and river produced nothing to beat my pair top kicker, and I sweep the pot.
A few hands later, the under-the-gun (UTG) player pushes in for 40,000 chips. I look down at A-Q (off suit) and after “think-tanking” for a few minutes, decide that I did not want to sacrifice ¾ of my chips on what had to be either a coin-flip or a dominated hand, with my opponent having any pair and/or any ace. I fold. Somebody makes a snide remark about me wasting the clock and I flip over my cards showing the A-Q. Table is shocked.
Next hand: I’m UTG (under the gun) and find a pair of Jacks, make a 2.5 BB raise and get immediately raised by the next player. Now the “son” moves all in for about his last 20,000 and I go into the “Tank” again and know that I have to fold the Jacks. I do so. The same person accuses me of stalling the clock, and I flip over the Jacks to shut him up. Table is amazed with both folds (in my opinion), the first raiser shows QQ and the “son” shows KK, which holds up and takes the pot.
A break takes place of about 15 minutes. I discuss the hands with Terry-Ann, she agrees with the folds but said that she did not know what she would have done with the Jacks.
Outside the men’s room the original raiser told me he had A-3 (suited diamonds), but I felt that my A-Q was vulnerable and would have crippled me if I was “sucked” out on.
The “family group” of players decide I am a foolish player – why muck the AQ and JJ (I overhear them) and that they are going to squeeze me out. I do not know how they planned to do this, but I had my strategy (Prometheus Stratagem) to fall back on.
After the break, I min-raise Q-9 (s) get two callers and hit the flop with a J-8-10 – bingo (the nuts)! I check, next caller checks, the button raises and I call. The next player folds and I am head to head with the player who had pushed all in with his alleged A-3. I check, he bets, I call. The river pairs the board but I do not think it is a full house, so I figure this is it and I push all in, the button snap calls with two pair.
I am now the chip leader and start pushing 3-4 times the big blind whenever it gets to me. Everybody is playing for 4th to 5th (I do not know why, after all, the money is only top heavy for the first three).
The “Son and Father team” are now my button and small blind respectively. The son tries an aggressive raise from the button, the “Father” folds and I push all in with T-T, the son calls with 99 and I knock him out.
Next hand I flop a set (three of a kind), slow play it and knock out the “father” who is muttering (he slow played QQ).
We are down to three. The two remaining players, who were aggressive, go at each other and one of them is left short chipped. I push on him with K-T and win the hand.
Head to head – no talk about chopping – well there was talk when we were down to five but I said, “Let’s play poker.” No talk about chopping now.
I move in blind, get a snap call with J-8 (s), and turn over JJ to win it all and claim my first legitimate championship.
Winning is one of the greatest feelings in the world, especially when you do it with your own strategy (The Prometheus Stratagem).
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