$1500 Mixed Hold-Em (Dinner Break and Busto)

This is cool. I'm up to exactly 5K on the break, from a 3K starting stack. I'd be surprised if I've made a profit in the No-Limit rounds, although that's partly because Annie Duke bokked me out of 1K with Queens when she came up behind me to smooch her boyfriend, who's on my immediate left. He's a really nice guy mind you. Anyway, half the table are just rocks and everyone is playing too tight/passive in the limit, which is a total pwnfest. So I hope I don't bust out in some stupid NL coinflip or cold deck. Tight is right in the NL anyway, as there are no antes. Also on the table was Rafe Furst from the Tiltboys, another nice guy and a good player, but he's out now and basically no one else has been a threat so far. There are still 4 levels to go tonight so stay tuned.

Update : Busto around 220th, predictably enough in the NL round. I made it 550 (playing 100-200) in the hijack with QJcc, the cutoff called. Flop Q84, bet call. Turn T giving me a gutshot, I check to give myself the option to check-raise if he makes a small bet but he basically commits me and I put the rest in. He has AQ. I think he played this well, his pre-flop call is good with the stack sizes and the flop call also good on such a safe flop. So props to him, and as for me betting the flop is clear and I'm not laying down on the turn when I pick up some extra outs. Call me a fish if you like but I don't think you win tournaments by making big laydowns for 1/3 of the average stack.

Here's a limit hand where I ruled supreme though. 300-600 limit, some egg limps in the hijack (doh, just never do that in a limit tournament), I raise in the cutoff with 77 and a total rock wakes up and 3-bets in the small blind (he tries to put 1200 in obv). Of course I call. The flop comes A53. He bets, I raise, he huffs and puffs and throws it away. Maybe this is standard at a certain level but I was pleased with it. I'm sure it was worth 600 on the flop to make him put down a pair, and in fact Mr Duke (who was sitting in between me and the villain here) told me later he said he had Queens. While the NL was a bit of a grind without antes, the limit part of this tournament was great, so I'm definitely going to change the schedule and play the $2000 Limit on Tuesday. If I wish I can follow that up with Stud Hi-Lo on Thursday, SHOE on Sunday and Limit Shootout on Tuesday week which would be an ideal break from NL before the main event. It wouldn't do any harm to ease off the single tables either. It's not as though I'm learning anything in them, and I didn't come out here to grind.