I entered satellites to win an entry into FTOPS #1 for $191 instead of $220 so I was ahead before it started. Just prior I had placed first in 2 smaller tournaments and was also going pretty deep in most tournaments I entered so my confidence was high.
There were 5124 starters and 492 got paid with 1st place getting $170,000 or so. Anyone in the last 27 got really good money. That was my target. But alas, it was not to be. I came 1184th place and went out in a bad way. My stack was getting lower (about 12 BB) and I was card dead for a while and then picked up AJs. I decided a double up at this point would give me a chance to make a decent run for the money so I pushed and was called by a player with 2-2. The flop came A, 8, Q so it was looking good but the turn and river combined to give the guys with 2-2 a backdoor flush. And I was out......no money, no glory!
As ever I always think about the big tourneys after and doubt my moves. I had enough chips to wait longer for a premium hand (AJ suited is not really premium) but the longer I waited the smaller my stack would get and the less effective a double up would be. This is a little bit of Snyders philosophy I still think is good - its better to double up earlier so you can change 12BB to 24BB instead of later when you change 6BB to 12BB and are still low and need yet another double up. So I went for it. And missed. No problem - I think it was an ok move.
So to the next FTOPS. Generally I only keep a few hundred dollars in my poker account and withdraw the rest so I decided to satellite into FTOPS #9. Well this did not work and I lost about $200 trying and just going out with bad luck (AA, KK - that kind of thing). Finally I had to decide whether to put enough money into my account just to buy in to the FTOPS - after much agonizing this is what I did. So FTOPS #9 - this cost $322 to buyin and had 5370 entries. Again the top prize was massive - $270,000 to the winner. The top 27 spots all paid well so again this was my target.
I played much better in this tournament again expecting to go deep. I was keeping above average right up to the money bubble. Then I played like a scared chicken. Maybe it was because I bought in with new money or maybe because I lost the satellites but I wanted to make the money. I remembered TJ Cloutiers advice which is he first plays to make the money and THEN plays to win the tournament. I also remembered the advice of every good player and good book on poker that says the bubble is the time to gamble, to pick up chips from everyone who is scared of not making the money - this is when REAL players get going. So even remembering all this I wanted to make the money damn it. I folded and folded and played slowly and advertised to everyone else I was a scared chicken to be bullied. Even when I picked up a couple of hands (AQ, 88, AK) I just folded them like a wimp.
Hey hey hey - I made the money. After making the money and patting myself on the back I waited for all the immediate post-bubble stuff to happen. This is where all the scared chickens start pushing all-in with some gamble because now they've made the money the pressure is off and they do not care if they go out. I know all this - I've read about it, I've seen it - heck I've exploited it in most tournaments I play. But not today - today I wanted for a while, then got KQ and decided to push all in just like all the other scared chickens. I got called by AA and that was that. I won $418 - yes I paid $322 to enter, played for 5 hours and 10 mins and WON $418. So my profit of $96 did not even cover the cost of the satellites I entered.
So maybe in reading this you can sense my frustration. If I had pushed pre-bubble with AQ, 88 or AK and lost I might have gone out with no money but at least I would have the pride of knowing I played the right way. Instead I have earned the right to say I cashed in one of the big FTOPS tournaments..............by playing like a scared chicken.
So thats my FTOPS experience so far. I feel lost one tournament (did not cash) by playing well and making (arguably) a good move at the right time, and I cashed in another tournament by playing terrible (like a scared chicken) around the bubble.
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