Thanks for all the support over the weekend guys (and gals). The Vic Classic has been a lucky tournament for me over the years and I was hoping history might repeat itself again. I’d won this event in 2000 and 2004 but unfortunately, this year wasn’t quite going to happen.
Last week I just happened to read a couple of paragraphs of a Chris Ferguson interview whilst waiting for something or other. It reminded me of the importance of patience and discipline, and not to get involved in too many hands. I think of late, with all the new machine gunners turning up to play, I have been mixing it up with them too much. My theory was to try and take advantage of all the loose play, but maybe that’s not the best idea.
I didn’t really have any chips for two and a half days so I was pleased with my discipline and I just managed to make enough out of the few opportunities that came my way. For those who were watching the thread on day 2…when I showed the Ace in my only big pot of the day with Jan Heitmann, it was of course one of a pair. This was a very rare oasis in a desert on day 2.
One lucky omen on day 2 was turning up late. I had taken my daughter out on the Saturday morning, and unfortunately I had to drop her off later than the original arrangement. An identical situation occurred in 2004 when I arrived 40 mins. Late, lost 20% of my stack but went on to win the event. This year resulted in me missing my big blind whilst Ash doubled up with Aces in the small blinds…glad I was not there.
I caught a lot more breaks on day 3 and gradually moved up the field. Flopping KQQ whilst holding KQ against Kev O’Connell was particularly useful. Apparently, he was slow playing a pair of Jacks! I had been battling in the blinds with Jan for 2 days though, and he had continually been getting the better of me. So it was only fitting he eventually got me.
Jan had a habit of limping or small raising regularly and out-playing everybody on the flop. I must say he did hit more than his fair share of flops but he played tremendous poker. By the time we were 3 handed I had decided I was going to play very aggressively against him. Raise the full pot, re-raise him and generally take him out of his comfort zone.
This had been working for about 20 mins. and Jan had just dropped to short stack, slightly below me. He limped again from the SB and I looked down at a pair of 4s. 6 out of 7 flops look bad for this hand, so I raised the pot 80,000 just trying to pick it up there and then. Jan nearly passed and I could see his deliberation was for real. The flop came A,Q,8 and Jan checked. I was 90% sure he did not have the ace after the earlier deliberation, and of course I had raised, so I had every right to represent an Ace.
There was 240,000 in the middle and Jan had 330,000 left. I thought if I made a weak bet he may read it as exactly that. So I moved him all-in. He again gave it a lot of deliberation but eventually called with Q 10, second pair. This crippled me and there was no way back. Jan made a good call, so I have no complaints. I think 20 mins. earlier he would have passed but when players are on a slide they often grab at any branch that is out there. I know this, so I’ll probably consider this hand as a small mistake. Jan had also been making excellent calls for two days right in front of me….however, sometimes I just can’t help myself…