Hi guys, back again with commentary on the second game of
the iNinja Spade League. For those that
aren’t familiar with the iNinja Spade League, it is a series of tournaments
through which players accumulate points.
These points translate into WSOP tournament seats for the top players
for each quarter. In addition, some
money from each monthly prize pool is allocated toward WSOP Main Event seats at
the end of the year.
The first iNinja Spade league game worked out quite well for
me, as I finished second out of thirty players to my friend Brian Soja. Unfortunately there was some disappointment
with that finish, as I played a hand for 90% of the chips where I had to dodge
9 outs twice to win the tournament (I did not win the hand). Throughout the tournament I played a bit
tighter than I usually do and was able to knock players out in some key spots
with two tables to go, including 66 > 55 vs Andre and AQ vs QJ vs JC Nellermoe
on a Q1010 board for a lot of chips at that point. In addition, I was able to pick up chips with
some 3-bet squeezes out the blinds with big aces. I didn’t do much at the final table until we
got down to three handed, where I started shoving what was now a short stack
relatively frequently. I slowly built my
stack up and found a double with KJ vs 10’s against Heidi, the first time I had
been all in and called the entire tournament.
I proceeded to knock her out 77 > A5 a few orbits later and then
faced Brian HU.
The second iNinja Spade league game proved to be more
interesting. I really liked my table
draw for the first game, but this wasn’t the case for the second game. Both players to my right were pretty strong
tournament players as were both players to my left. I was pretty quiet throughout the first
level, as surprisingly several ppl busted very quickly.
Hand #1 (of
significance) that I played I was dealt 2s2c in the hijack and raised to 275 at
the 50-100 blind level. The button
called, with only approx. 3k behind in chips, and the BB called as well. Both
the BB and I had about starting stack.
The flop came 842ddh, a great texture for me. BB led out 400 into me, and I called. Sometimes I will raise a set in this spot but
with a short stack on the button I think flatting is best. Pretty basic spot: If I flat there he can’t put me on a big
pair, and should be shoving any 8, flush draw, or higher pair if he has
one. In addition, if the button ships
there it puts the BB in a tough spot, as he won’t want to call and play a big
pot OOP with a draw or an 8 if I also call the button’s all in.
As played, the button folded and a 9c comes on the turn.
Great card for me. BB leads out for 700 with about 8.5K behind into a pot of
1625, I raise to 2100. At this point the
texture is getting pretty messy. With no
history vs the BB I need to protect my hand and also try to get value. In
addition, with this sizing I should have a pot sized bet left for the river,
which lines up well for an all in on a blank river.
Surprisingly, the BB 3-bet me to 3500, he ‘clicked it back’
as we online folk like to say. At this
point I was pretty confused. If he had a
big draw wouldn’t he shove to try and push me off a one pair hand? If he had
two pair wouldn’t he shove as well on a somewhat messy board? As someone who takes pride in their hand
reading skills, unfortunately, I had no idea what his bet meant. However, what I did know, is that I had a set
and almost certainly had the best hand.
Thus, I shipped it all in for 5K more, eliciting a fold after a minute
or so from the BB. I honestly have no
idea what the BB had, but was happy to chip up in this spot without sweating a
river.
Hand #2
Hand #2: Fast forward several more levels into the tournament. The blinds are now 300/600/ 75 ante. The table dynamic has changed since the last
hand we played, as Sam De Silva sat down and accumulated a massive stack when
he won a 3 way all in with AA vs QQ, and K10 of a short stack.
In this specific hand, Sam opened UTG + 1 to 1300, Andrew
Null flatted the button, and I flatted from the BB with A6cc. At this point I had 22k in chips, so A6s was
at the bottom of my range for hands that I would flat a raise from the BB with.
Usually I would fold A6 to any raise from early position, but considering Sam
was opening almost every hand, I felt like I could defend here.
The flop come 873 rainbow, not the greatest flop for my
hand. I checked, Sam checked, and Andrew checked back the button. At this point I had no clue what Sam had, but
figured Andrew didn’t have an 8,7, or over pair, as he would bet the flop to
protect his hand. I planned on leading
most safe turns (8 or lower, as this flop hits a BB flat range relatively
well).
The turn came a 5, a great card for my hand. If an A came I wouldn’t be confident that I
had the best hand, as both Sam and/or Andrew could easily have a bigger
ace. I led out for 2700 into a pot of
4500, and surprisingly both Sam and Andrew called. I put Sam on a hand similar to mine, maybe
two overs and a gutshot, or an A4 or A2 hand that had a gutshot with one
overcard. I started to second guess
myself on Andrew’s hand, as it was tough for me to put him on a pair on the
flop. Maybe he had A6 as well or a hand
like 65? Maybe J10? A9? I wasn’t thrilled to get two callers in a spot where I
was semibluffing, and would have to reevaluate the river.
The river came an A, an interesting card for my hand. Although this might have been the best card
for my hand, I decided to check the river for several reasons. (1) The A
could’ve given Sam or Andrew two pair (2) It could’ve given one of them aces
with a better kicker (3) It’s a great card to bluff, as it’s tougher for me to
have a big ace in the blinds (considering Sam’s opening range I’m 3-betting
AJ-AK here). After I checked, Sam
thought for a bit and bet 3k into the pot, which was now 12.6K. Andrew tanked for a bit less than a minute
and gave up his hand.
At this point, I instantly thought “I have to call.” In a
vacuum I’m getting 5-1 on a call here.
However, Sam’s bet looked like such a value bet, and I couldn’t beat
much that is betting for value in a three way pot. I did however, take into consideration that
Sam could be betting with a worse ace than me. He could’ve been value betting
with an A2 or A4 type of hand. Next, my
check disguises my hand. The way
I’ve played the hand makes it look like I have a middle pair and the ace is a
bad card for my hand, when in fact, it’s a great one for me. Therefore in terms of second level thinking,
Sam could be thinking that I can’t
call the river unless I have an A, because if I had an A in my hand I would’ve (most likely) made two pair and bet out.
Do I know if he was thinking about the hand this way? Of course not, but I know that Sam is a tough player who can show up with a lot of
hands. I decided to call after a minute
or so and won the pot. I’m guessing I
win in this spot less than half the time, but getting 5-1 on my money was too
good a price to muck my hand.
There is a few other hands from this game that I found
particularly interesting but couldn’t fit into this blog. I’ll try and write about those soon. I’ve really enjoyed the Ninja Spade games so
far, as it’s enjoyable to play poker not only against tough opponents, but also
against my friends. You can check out the full website here, as my friend Issac has done a great job putting it together:
