3/3/08posted by Poker Star @ 1:09 PM

Well I'm off to California for the LA Poker Classic. After getting delayed and sitting in the Atlanta airport for 7 hours, I finally made it to LA the day before the tourney starts. It's my first trip to LA and the Commerce casino and this place was huge. Table after table line the rooms there and they spread all different kinds and levels of poker games.

Day 1 - 665 players start. This place is big enough to support everyone playing at the same time; no multiple start days. 20,000 in starting chips, blinds at 25- 50. I don't know anybody at my table until the last empty seat is filled by Alex Jacob an hour into the match. I start out playing tight - aggressive. There are 2 or 3 loose players at my table raising most pots. I notice 1 guy at the table who limped in, then when it was raised, he puts in a massive reraise.(he showed aces once). He does this twice in the first 2 hours. Blinds now 50- 100. 2 people limp, then it's raised to 350. I'm in the small blind with Q's and reraise to 1100. That same guy repops it to 6100. I'm sure I'm beat and it's over 25% of my stack so I fold. 2 rounds later I'm in the big blind and that guy is the only one who limped into the pot. I have K-10. The flop comes K-10-7. I bet and he calls. Turn is a 6. I bet , he raises, and I call. River is a Jack. We both check and he flips over aces. My flopped 2 pair win. A few rounds later I get aces and bet every street. Alex Jacob calls me down to hit a flush on the river and crack my aces. Towards the end of the day 7 of the 9 players all limp in.(Strange). I have Q-10. No one bets until the river. I end up making a straight and bet. I get 1 caller from a 2 pair and I win. My biggest hand of the day came in the 6th level. 200- 400 with a 50 ante. I raise from late position with A-K black. The big blind reraises me. He's been the most aggresive person at the table all day. I call. Flop is Q-Q-J, with 2 diamonds. We both check. Turn is a king of diamonds. We both check again. I'm 90% sure I'm ahead though now. River is a 10, I've made a broadway straight. I bet 2200. He raises me to 7700. I call. He shows 9's, for the baby straight. I win. He comments he doesn't know how I call on that board. I didn't say but when you play 75% of the hands like he did today, you can't believe he has much of a hand most of the time. I end the day with about 30,000, close to the chip average.

Day 2 - Mike Sexton and Noah Schwartz are at my table. There were a lot of big hands at my table today but I'm not involved in any of them. Mike raises and is called by 1 player. the flop comes 3-4-K. Mike bets and is called. The turn is an ace. Mike checks, the other guy bets, and Mike raises. The other guy goes all-in. Mike thinks and thinks. It's for all his chips. He reluctantly calls, and shows A-K for 2 pair. The other guy has pocket 4's for a set. Ace on the river for Mike to suck out. That other guy goes out shortly after that and Gavin Smith is moved to that seat. Gavin plays with us for a couple hours but is soon kinda short stacked. He pushes all-in for about 17,000. Mike Sexton calls. The blind shows Jacks but folds. Gavin has A-A. Sexton has Q-Q. Blind folded J-J. Flop A-K-J. Turn Q. All 3 would have made sets. Sexton can still win with the case Q or a ten. A blank hits though and Gavin doubles up. A little while later Mike raises. He is reraised by seat 1. Mike goes all-in with Kings. Seat 1 thinks for 5 minutes before calling with 7-8.(for 85% of his chips). The board brings 2 7's and Mike Sexton is out. I was super card dead for the day and ended with only 14,400 in chips.

Day 3 - The tournament started with 665 and we are down to 130. I'm in 129th place and need something to happen. The average chip count is over 100,000. Blinds are 1,000- 2,000 with 300 ante. Miami John Cernuto and David Benyamine are at my table. The second hand of the day I get black aces. I go all-in but get no callers. Picked up 5,700 but a double up would have been better. The very next hand is A-Q suited. I'm all-in. No callers. About 6 hands later I pick up 9's. I'm UTG. first to act, and don't really want to have to play them post flop, so I shove in. Miami John calls me with A-K suited. My 9's hold and I double up. FINALLY. A half hour into the day and I'm up to 50,000. I have a little breathing room, but every round of the table I still lose 5,700 in blinds and antes. I make it a couple more hours fluctuating between 25,000 and 45,000 in chips. I Iost 8,000 in a blind vs. blind hand. Then I would shove and pick up the blinds and antes again. Then I lost with A-K. I raised pre-flop(first position). Big blind called. 6-7-9 flop and he goes all-in. I had to fold and he showed pocket 8's. I play for another hour but can't get a hand and I'm back down to 22,000. Blinds are now 1,500- 3,000 with 500 ante. 9,000 per round to play(9-handed). We are down to 75 players. In two hands the blinds will be on me again and cost me 5500 of my 22,000. I've been all-in 8 times today with 1 call and double up. I look down to see an ace and have to try it again. Ace-4. I get called by pocket 8's. I don't hit anything and am out in 75th place. It pays 63 spots. So close, but I have no regrets. I played the best short stacked poker possible on day 3. If I could have just got some callers on my all-ins to build my chip stack I could have played a little different toward the money bubble.

It was fun and I talked to some interesting people. The tourney was good with a nice structure, too. The traffic in LA sucks though and I almost missed my flight home. Stuck in traffic for 2 and a half hours to drive 20 miles to the airport. I have 2 more big tourneys left and think I will step it up and get more aggressive in the next one(Bay 101). Till next time hope you all rake in some big pots.

Scott-(thebombbaby)

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