Madsen blogs about deep HPT run
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I found this interesting blog from Steve Madsen, who finished 6th in the Heartland Poker Tour event at Shooting Star Casino this past weekend. Madsen hosted the FAN Poker Radio Show with Jack Seaman in Fargo last summer, and he writes about his deep HPT run.
From NorthlandPoker.com
So this weekend I go to Shooting Star casino to play in the HPT event. Now, I want to mention that Shooting Star is having some dealer issues. I don’t really any details, but a lot of their great dealers have quit or been fired recently. So, I was reluctant to go. Anyway, because of my cousin Joshua’s nagging about how great my torunament playing has been, I decide to drive up and play. My weekend started off bad when I miss the first qualifier because of a flooded road. But, that was the only bad part of my weekend. I got to the casino around three on Friday and by the time the 7 o’clock qualifier starts I’m ahead in blackjack enough to pay for my qualifier with a few hundred to spare.
The qualifier was actually uneventful. I was short stacked for awhile. Hit a couple of hands. Easily made it into the main event.
The main event was another story. I felt like I was on a roller coaster.
2 hours into play I had 4 times the chip-average only to fall back down within 5 hands. I had a streak of cards that were ok hands. AJ, 77, 55, A10. All of which i would raise and have someone go all in over the top of me. I didn’t want to make a big mistake so I laid all of these hands down to the all-in bets. I showed most of them to get respect for having OK hands and having the ability to lay them down. Finally, the 5th hand I get is AK and do my usual raise. At this point I’m visibly on tilt. So, of course the small blind wants to capitalize and moves all in. The big blind thinks for awhile and likewise, moves all in for a small raise. I have both covered and decide its time to gamble. I call and I’m surprised to see I’m a huge favorite as they hold A10 and AJ. I win the hand and take 2 players out. After that players stop stealing from me, although I played much fewer hands.
I did play one hand poorly on day one. I have JJ, someone in early position raises. The gentleman (and eventual HPT winner) sitting next to me calls. It was one of the first “calls” I had seen in a long time. It had become an all-in fest due to the blinds and antes. I also call with my JJ on the button and the blinds fold. There is around 60,000 in the pot. The flop comes J 5 2 rainbow. The first guy checks and the winner bets 48,000. We are 2 of the 3 big chip stacks at the table. I’m putting him on a monster like AA , KK, QQ. He starts talking, telling me how he knows I like to see flops with J10 and that I’m going to get myself in trouble with it. At this point, I don’t know if he has the over pair or under to that Jack and is maybe trying to get me off of my J if I hit it. I decide to push all in and hope he can’t lay down an over pair or that the original raiser was slow playing his over pair. They both fold. Yes, I overplayed my hand and could have probably gotten more chips had I called. But, I didn’t want to slow play my way into getting beat. If they had called with AA and hit I could have lived with that. But, if an Ace comes on the turn… I would have been sick if I just let him catch instead of just taking down a 100,000 pot.
The biggest hand for me all weekend is a hand I wasn’t in. Nobody was. It was the first hand delt to the TV six. We were all nervous, trying to figure out the cameras for our whole cards. I was the short stack at 190.000 and in the big blind. Play is folded to seat 6 who shows his cards to the camera and starts to reach into his pocket for a card protector. The dealer, Tim, mucks his cards. He cries out in protest that he was about to move all in. He asks for his cards back as they would have been on camera. The tournament director calmly say we don’t pull cards out of the muck. The button then moves all in and steals my blinds. This is where it hurt me. The button only had 210.000 in chips and seat 6 had 300,000. So, if seat six moves all in with his 10 10 (which he shared once play was over) and the button calls with AK. If the tens hold I move up to 5thplace and make and extra 1700 bucks. If he hits an ace or king, seat six is left with 90.000 and unable to take me out 2 hands later. I know Tim and he is my favorite dealer at Shooting Star, he had worked very long hours and was still smiling and happy, but I will say that one hurt, stung the rest of the night! It wasn’t his fault I got 6th.
I played great poker just made one huge mistake. I set my goal to be on tv, not to win the tournament. With 8 people left, I said I was making it to TV no matter what and I didn’t play a hand for almost 2 hrs. I had had a huge chip stack and instead of stealing blinds and keeping it. I was content with only stealing 2 blinds in 2 hours and letting myself get blinded down to nothing.
I should be happy, I accomplished a goal in my life, to play poker on TV. I set a goal for the tournament and I reached it. But now, I just regret what might have been. I hope I can contimue to play at a high level and someday get a chance like that again. Lesson learned, the next time I will be more willing to die in seventh with a chance at the big prize.
- Steve Madsen
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