MY DICC RUN

Last March 10-21 The Metro Card Club had this multi-day tournament called the Dirty Ice Cream Cup. It's a yearly tournament to celebrate Neil Arce's birthday. I made a deep run in this tournament. :D

My run can be described in one sentence -- Making things out of thin air.

On days one, two and three of the tournament I had like 4-5 premium hands. Yes, I was "card dead." Good thing I wasn't brain dead so I kept stealing. The formula was steal, steal, re-steal, repeat.

Here are some of the highlights of my tournament.

Day1:
My table was pretty tight and I only hand two players to watch out for. One is Ronnel Sto. Tomas, youngest FPT champ, who was sitting across me. The other was Awie Bulatao, regular metro champ, who I was in position with.

Big Hands/Pots:
Double up with 78o vs Francis Nethercott, Empire champ
Crippled a player with J8s, FH on turn vs flush???

Critical Hand 1:
Last hand of the day I was on CO position with KJo.
Blinds: 500/1000 Ante: 100
Action was folded to me with about 47k in chips. The guys next to me with a big stack was already counting his chips. The BB, I was pretty much sure he was going to fold. The SB was the only player who was keeping me from adding the dead money to my chips. I decided to steal and raise 3500. It was about 1/3 of the SB's stack. I was really hoping he'd fold and just make it to day2.

As expected, the big stack on my left instantly mucks and goes back to counting his chips. SB, tanked. Aaaaargh! I was thinking "Please fold. Please fold. Just fold and shove when you come back for day2." LOL.After about 2mins, he shoves his short stack. BB folds. I asked how much more to call. It was around 14-16k more for me to call. I had around 43k left. My plan was to steal the dead money in the middle. It didn't happen so I folded. SB shows 89s.


Day2:
A table full of familiar faces. Diego_Metro to my right and a couple of metro regulars.


Critical Hand 2:

I wasn't getting any good cards. It turned into a game of who's the better thief.

CO raised about 20% of his stack. I had a read that he was only trying to steal the blinds. I look down and see pocket 3. I had about 60k in chips. I tanked, looked at the BB, and asked how much the CO had behind. He had about 22k. The BB was a super tight player who folded to a less than 2.5x raise from me a couple of hands earlier. I contemplated on my options. I can flat-call and see the flop. I can fold and just give up OR I can raise! I decided to take the more aggressive approach and raise. I asked myself how much? I only had pocket 3... Then suddenly 11Finger came to mind. I decided to go all-in. If the CO was indeed stealing he will fold to a shove and have 20k+ left behind with blinds of 600/1200 it was pretty much still playable.

With me all-in, action was back to the CO. He tanks for the longest time. After about 3-5 minutes in the tank, he decided to call. I announce "Pocket 3 lang ako sir." He shows his cards and I was shocked as hell to see Ace-Three suited. I thought he had A9s or KQ/KJ. I had him dominated with my crabs!

Flop and turn bricked but Barry Greenstein decided to show up on the river.


Critical Hand 3:
I was down to around 30k when a new player sat on the table. There was a player who didn't show up for day 2 and was being blinded out on our table. As soon as this new player sees that, he asked the dealer "Wala yung big blind?" That rang bells in my head. After asking that to dealer and as soon as the cards were dealt, the new player raises! "As expected!" I say to myself. 2 orbits later. This new player was on the button. I was on the SB. The BB was the same tight player. Action was folded to The New Player who raises. He's been raising alot! I look down and see KQo. I instantly announces "All-in!" BB folds and it was back to The New Player. He had me covered by around 10%. He tanks looks at the monitor and then after 3-4mins, he decided to call. He shows 88. I spike a Queen on the flop and doubled-up to around 60k. From there I built my stack to around 200k.

Day3:
After two days of stealing, I was in the hunt to make it to the final table. I was hoping I'd get 100 Aces and 100 Kings. LOL.

Highlights:
After 2days, I finally get a report-worhty hand. I raised to around 2.5BB with 88. I get one caller from the SB. Flop was J-8-4 with two diamonds. SB lead out, I shoved. He calls. He had Top Pair with a flush draw. No badbeat there and I double up to around 650k.

AttyBubba on my table!!! My idol, the man who first introduced me to Bankroll Management is on my table. I am actually going to play against one of the best players in the Philippines.

As soon as his chips were in place he raises to 2.5bb. This was no surprise to me. I call in position with KQo. Everybody else folded. Flop was 9-high all clubs. Check-check. Turn was a 7 of hearts. AttyBubba checks. I bet. He folded. "Bin-luff ko daw agad sya." :D

I was getting too many King-Queens that I decided the next time I see another King-Queen I'm going to play it like Ace-King. LOL. UTG with KQo. I raised to about 50k, 2.5bb. AttyBubba on the button almost smooth calls. Flop: 4-2-5 (i think). I Cbet, to 70k, AttyBubba again smooth calls. Turn: 3. I almost instantly bet 100k. AttyBubba, a little disgusted, folds and tells me he had pocket jacks. :)


Revenge of AttyBubba!
Early position with 33. I raise to about 2.5bb. AttyBubba on the SB calls without hesitation. Flop: A-4-2. I Cbet, he calls again without any hesitation. Turn bricked. Check-check. River a 3!!!!! Hahaha! I hit a set but boom! AttyBubba suddenly wakes up and bets 100k. I call. He shows 55 for the straihgt. :( I lost around 220k on that hand.

The make or break hand.
I finally get a big hand in the form of pocket queens. Before this hand, Richard Mari also had pocket queens who raised to 3bb and got no callers. With that in mind, I decided to raise just around 2.7bb. Anthony Tacda shoves. I say to myself "Finally! A big hand facing an all-in. This is it!" I instantly call as soon as the action was back to me. He shows Ace-Five of spades. I proudly show my pocket queens. Ace on the goddamn flop and another on the goddamn turn. No queen on the goddamn river.


Overall I think I did my best. Stuck to my game plan and slugged it out with the best. I am proud I'm making so much progress on my game. A year ago I would've cursed myself to sleep. Now, I'm only looking to get better.

NEXT TOURNAMENT PLEASE!