Poker Face

Poker Face
Do what you love and love what you do, for life is too short to do anything else.

Thursday, January 16, 2014

COMPETITION FOR PARADISE


We started day 2 of the tournament with 31 players and ended with a final table of 10 and a stack average of 350k. I’m happy to report that I have secured one of those 10 spots and sit in 2nd position with a chip stack of 780k respectively. Our chip leader has 880k and many of the stacks stand at about 250k.

It’s a day off today as we pull into the port of St. Thomas. When we resume tomorrow the blinds will be 5-10k with a 1k ante. This will be a TV Final table so you’ll be able to catch all the action in a few months on the Heartland Poker Tour (HPT) network.

The only big hand I lost was a 200k pot in which I called a 100k all-in shove with pocket Tens. My opponent had KT and the board ran out with a King. I won a key hand, however, in the first round of the day, which propelled me and started the flow of building my chip stack.

A solid player, who has me covered with a stack of about 200k, opens for a raise from (UG) under the gun. I’m sitting two to his left and peek down at two red queens. I hesitate for a minute not sure whether to flat and play my hand defensively, or take a more aggressive approach by 3 betting and fighting for the lead. I choose the latter. Everyone else folds and he flats my 3 bet and we take the flop (HU) heads up. 8d7d 5h is the flop and surprisingly my opponent donk bets 50k into me! I have about 125k left, so my decision point is now. I can give my opponent credit for slow playing a big pair or flopping a set and fold, or I can put him on a hand like TT’s, JJs or AK and play for it all. The latter to me seems more likely so I pull the trigger and move all-in. After tanking for a couple of minutes my opponents hand finds the muck and I’m off and running. Using those chips as leverage, I open up my hand range and continue to press, put my opponents to tough decisions and win most of the battles in building my chip stack the entire way to the final table.

Today was a much-needed day of rest as we pulled into the port of St. Thomas. I spent the day relaxing at the beach at Magens Bay. A 30-minute taxi ride up and over these lush green hills exposed this quiet little bay. The water was a refreshing 68 degrees and a picture perfect aqua-blue color. It was a funny sight to see the pelicans flying over-head swooping down and diving in between swimmers to gather up their mid-day meal. There were schools of silver minnows that you could see in this crystal clear water swimming below the surface. A nice nap on this hidden away beach culminated the day.


Well, we’re back on the ship now and heading out to sea. It’s been a very nice and relaxing day today, especially knowing that the final table and the battle for victory in the main event are in hand.

Enjoy the Journey!

Kenna 



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