Hello Again - with a $100 Tournament Report

Every year I follow the World Series of Poker closely and tune into Daniel Negreanu's daily WSOP vlogs. Doing so always reminds me of when I played the WSOP Main Event back in 2005. I'm also reminded how much I love the game and how I don't play nearly enough anymore.

One of my old friends from the Cleveland Poker Meetup Group (CPMG), "Krazy" Mike Krasienko was actually featured in Daniel's vlog, playing the same table as him in the $25K PLO event. Mike would go on to make a deep run in that event, cashing in 19th place. It was really cool to see Mike continue his massive success on poker's biggest stage after finished 17th in the WSOP Main Event back in 2017 for a whopping $340K.

"Krazy" Mike playing with D-Negs

In early April, I was able to check out the new poker room in downtown Cleveland at JACK casino. Chris Lose recently took over as their poker room manager and has really invested in it. Veronica Brill made a special guest appearance for the grand opening during that weekend, while Hayley Hochstetler and RunGoodGear founder Tana Karn were in town as well. I played $4/8 limit poker for about an hour and profited $117 before meeting up with Dana (my fiancee) and our friends that we were with.

Since then, I've been fortunate to have some free weekends recently to play a few home game tournaments. On June 25th, I was invited to play at Dax Mellon's $100 bounty tournament. His home game setup is incredible - he even has a bar with an entire wall of bourbon. I didn't cash in the tournament - congrats DeJen! - but did have a blast playing in my first live poker tournament in a few years. It was like riding a bike and I felt 'in the zone' the entire time. I didn't log a tournament report from that game, but here are a few photos:

Now for the real meat and potatoes of this blog post - my personal tournament report from a $100 bounty tournament that I played at 'Krazy' Joe Ashe's this past weekend, on July 9th. Yes, I know a lot of "Krazys" in my poker circle...

Anyway, tournament entry was $100 - $70 of which went to the prize pool, $20 for your bounty and $10 for Joe's Queen of Hearts board that had 25 cards remaining and a prize pool of over $3,000. Any hand you hit during the tournament that is quads or better earns you a chance to hit the Queen of Hearts.

There are 22 runners for this tournament who start with a 25000 starting stack. Levels are 20 minutes long with a break after six levels of play. The tournament pays the top 4 finishers.

My opening table was a fairly tough draw. Seated to my left is Kerry Zock, Papa Zock, Seth Anderson, Matt Murray, Jack T Way and Rob Bell. Fortunately, Jack and Rob are to my right, while Kerry and I are always pretty careful when we play pots against each other.

Opening table - Krazy Joe's Bounty Tournament 7/9 (Photo credit: Kerry Zock)

Level 1 (25/50) - I saw quite a few hands during Level 1. First, I picked up QQ and raised to 225. I got four callers to a A65 flop and ended up folding to a bet. A few hands later, I get As Qs in the cutoff (CO) and raise to 200. I get 5 callers to a Q88 flop. I lead for 500 and Rob is the only caller. Turn [Q 8 8] K. We both check. River [Q 8 8 K] 4. Rob leads for 400 and I make a pretty easy call. He says he has Jack high and mucks when I show him my Queen. I end the level with 26,150.

Level 2 (50/100) - Obviously, this is a very active table, with 4-5 players to most flops. No real developments. I end the level with 25,025.

Level 3 (75/150) - I look down and see pocket Kings in the big blind (BB). Jack T-Way limps from the button and Rob follows along from the small blind (SB). I raise to 625 and both call. Flop Kx Th 9h. I bet 1200. Jack gets out of the way and Rob thinks for a bit before folding. I end the level with 26,075.

Level 4 (100/200) - This was a quiet level for me despite picking up some decent hands like KQ, KT, KJ suited and 87 suited. Nothing hit. I end the level with 23,700.

Level 5 (150/300) - Jack limps from early position (EP). I raise behind him with Kh Qh. Flop A 3 4. Jack check-folds to my 1100 bluff. A short time later, I'm in the BB with 7c 3c with 4 limpers. I check my option and the flop is 3 J Q. We all check. Turn, [3 J Q] is another Q. I bet 500 and everyone folds. I end the level with 25,375.

Level 6 (200/400) - During the first hand of the level, I pick up two black Jacks and raise to 1100. There are 3 callers. Flop is K T 3. Check around to Seth on button who bets 3k. I think for a minute, because he’s looking away. I fold and he shows me a bluff with Ah Jh. Seth was showing pretty much every hand he was involved in at the river, which was really great information. Now I've picked up a possible tell on him.

Later in the level, I have Ts 6d in the BB. After winning the last pot, Jack limps in on the BTN without looking at his cards, as he was busy stacking his chips. Flop 8 7 4, all diamonds. He bets 400 and I call with the gut-shot straight flush draw (and hopeful Queen of Hearts pull if I hit it). Turn, [8d 7d 4d] is an off-suit K. I check-call 1000. River, [8d 7d 4d Kx] As. I still don't think Jack has looked at his cards, so I lead into him for 2500. He looks down and sees Q-J off-suit and folds. I show him my bluff. I end the level and go into break with 23,700.

Level 7 (300/600) - I limp in the SB with two black sevens. There are 4 other players to the 7x Qd Jd flop. With the flush and straight draws out there, I lead for 1500 and no one calls.

During this level, Seth moves to another table and Matt Murray gets eliminated by KZ. With 18 players left, we combine to 2 tables of nine. To my left at my new table is Big Country, Mike Cassidy, Steve, unknown lady playing her first-ever poker tournament, Krazy Joe, Tom Gross, Lynda Johnson and Jack T-Way. Big Country, Krazy Joe, Tom Gross and Jack T-Way are the toughest players that I'm familiar with at this new table.

I pick up JJ on the BTN. Krazy Joe limps in from EP, while Gross makes it 2100. I think about 3-betting, but just call and so do 3 others. Flop A A 2. The SB leads out for 2500 and we all fold. Later in the cut-off I make it 1500 with Qh 9h. The brand-new lady is the only caller in the BB. Flop is J T 3, giving me an open-ended straight draw. I bet 1000 and she calls. Turn [J T 3] 3. I continue for 2300 and she folds. I would’ve made straight with a King on the River. I end the level with 29,000.

Level 8 (400/800) - This is a fairly quiet level as I'm still feeling out my new table. I also had to make the adjustment of going from a short-handed table of 6 or 7 to a full table of 9. I end the level with 27,800.

Level 9 (500/1000) - I have KJ off-suit in a 6-way limped pot. Flop Q 3 8. Everyone checks. Turn [Q 3 8] K. I bet 1500 and Jack is the only caller. River [Q 3 8 K] 3. We both check and I win with two-pair, Kings and treys. I end the level with 37,100.

Level 10 (600/1200) - It's the last hand of the level and I raise to 2800 with KJ. Both blinds call. We all checked to the river, which was a King and good enough to win me the pot. I end the level with 39,300.

Level 11 (700/1400) - In the CO, I limp in with pocket 8's. There are 4 players to a flop of 8h 5d 3d. Jack leads for 5000. It's an interesting board with straight and flush draws, but I decide to slow play and see what develops on the turn. I can always get away from the hand if a diamond or straight card comes and there is heavy betting. Gross also calls and the Turn is [8h 5d 3d] is Tx. It checks to me and I decide to just go all-in (AI) and protect against the draws. Both players fold.

Midway through this level, we're down to 10 players left in the tournament and make two tables of 5. To my left is BC, Cassidy, Gross and Jack T Way. I end the level with 48,400.

Chipping up as we approach the Final Table!

Level 12 (800/1600) - With 5 players at the table, it's time to be a bit more active and try to steal some blinds. Unfortunately, I was unsuccessful at this. I end the level with 38,400.

Level 13 (1000/2000) - I raise UTG to 4200 with Ah Jd. It folds around to Jack T-Way in the BB, who goes AI for 8200 more. I call and we have a shot to collect our first bounty of the tournament, but are an underdog against Jack's AQ. Unfortunately for Jack, his namesake flops and he doesn't improve. 

Jack's bad beat means we're now at the Final Table of 9. We redraw for seats and to my left is BC, Prowest, unknown guy, Aaron (also unknown - works with Krazy Joe), Steve, Gross, Kerry Z and Mike Cassidy. Aaron is eliminated when he overplays AK after losing a big pot and runs into pocket Aces.

We're now down to 8 players remaining as we approach the top 4. A few hands later, I look down at AK in EP and raise to 4500. Dave "Prowest" Westfall, who is a loose-aggressive player, re-raises to 12000. I have ~46000 and decided to go all in. Dave snap-calls with AA and just like that, I'm out of the tournament when he barely has me covered when we count our stacks. I should have learned my lesson from Aaron's elimination just a few minutes prior. To put it bluntly, I WAY overplayed Ace-King when I should have just called Dave's preflop raise and check-folded the flop. That would have left me with ~34000, roughly 17 big blinds with plenty of room to work with. Instead, I finished the tournament in 8th place and a mere $20 bounty.

Prowest would go on to win the tournament.

As for me, I was really proud of how I played until the last level. I was completely in the zone for 4+ hours, but one big mistake without thinking the hand through did me in. It makes me appreciate the grind that is the WSOP Main Event that much more when players spend 12+ hours per day for 7-10 days straight trying not to make mistakes.

While the two tournaments I played didn't go my way, I'll definitely be making some noise in others very soon. I'm also considering hosting some two-table tournaments again, but have to clean up my basement first. In the meantime, I recently started playing online again with friends on Poker Now. It's a $0.25/0.50 NLHE and PLO rotation that sometimes includes PLO8 as the third game in the rotation. Players usually buy in for $100 and it's good low-stakes fun that I can enjoy on my phone while watching TV or laying in bed.

I'll also be dealing on occasion for a fun private game in Strongsville. It's a great group of regulars whose company I really enjoy.