EPT Monte Carlo Trip Report (Part 1)

A_Junglen · #1 03-31-2007, 11:21 AM

(This is broken down into segments. At the time of this writing I'm unsure of how many segments it will contain)

By now I’m sure most of you have heard, but I busted out on Day 1 of EPT Monte Carlo.

Ray and I arrived at the resort around 11am. We barely arrived in time, as we were scheduled to play at 2pm. Despite the exhausting trip and unique circumstances, I was feeling very good and wasn’t tired at all.

The structure for this tournament was very good. The starting stack was 15,000 with blinds starting at 25/50. The levels were 90 minutes long. 1st place was over $2,000,000. This was a huge tournament and I was ready to play.

I was pleased to see that my starting table didn’t have any recognizable players. Within an hour I felt as though I had a very good read on my opponents and was pleased with how things were going. I was chipping up well, and had a great table image. I wasn’t opening too many pots (there’s no point with the blinds being so low), and won almost every hand I played. Not only that, but I never went to showdown.

My first showdown was a very big hand that only helped my table image. Blinds were 50/100. UTG limped, and I raised to 475 with QQ. The player behind me was loose/passive and cold called the raise. Action folded to the original limper and he called as well.

The flop came down AQJr.

UTG checked, I bet 1,200, the player behind me raised to 5k with 6k behind. UTG folded, and action was back to me. I had a fairly easy decision, and re-raised allin. My opponent thought for about a minute, and ended up calling with AQ. My hand held up, and I was up to around 29k very early.

The 75/150 level came around and I started opening a few more pots. The table was beginning to notice my aggression and started playing back at me. This is when another significant hand came up.

I opened for 450 from UTG+1 with AKo. There were 3 callers, when a young Swedish player raised to 2k from the CO. Action folded back to me, and I had a decision to make. Given my read on the situation I felt as though the CO was capable of making a squeeze play here with a fairly wide range. I know that he knows I’m capable of raising a wide range here. He started the hand with 8k, so after his raise he only had 6k behind. I ended up reraising him all-in. Unfortunately, he immediately called and I lost to his AA. I’m still confident in my decision, and wasn’t the least bit phased. My stack was knocked down to about 21k.

Several other interesting hands happened at the 75/150 level. I’m going to post the hands, but am not going to post my hand unless the hand was shown down.

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UTG limped, UTG+1 raised to 450. I cold called, and the limper called. We saw the flop 3 handed of:

Q73r

Original limper bet 1k, and the raiser called. Action was to me, and I raised to 3,700. My opponents both folded. Effective stack sizes were 20k.

*I later found out the limper held Q9, and the raiser had AK

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The CO, a loose/passive player opened for 400. I called on the button, and the blinds folded. The flop was

K86r

CO bet 800, and I called.

Turn was an 8.

CO bet 800 again, I raised to 3,200. CO folded.

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With a somewhat aggressive/dangerous image, I raised to 450 on the button. The SB, a somewhat thinking player called in the SB, and the BB folded. The flop was

AK3r

SB checked, I bet 650. SB re-raised to 1,500. I re-raised to 5k and the SB folded.

At this point my stack was now approaching 30,000 and the table was visibly hesitant to play pots with me. I was feeling incredibly confident. I forget how, but the player to my right was eliminated. The seat remained empty for about an orbit when it happened….

“Is this table 15?”

“Yes sir”

I looked up and I saw him.

Patrik Antonius

For those who are unaware, Patrik is likely the best NLH player in the world. He is an absolute monster. Patrik carries an indescribable aura with him at all times. I was fortunate to have position on him, but was obviously not happy with the recent development.

There is one person on the face of this Earth that I fear. He just took a seat to my right, and had a stack around 25k.

Part 2 to come.