AIPS II Event No. 2 -- Stud

90 players signed up -- about twice the number I thought might show. Hung out in the chat room prior to start of the tourney and conferred a bit with a dozen or so others who had shown up. Mike Fasso, a.k.a. the Bard of Ante Up! -- arrived and soon observed the rapidly increasing pool of players to be “tumescent.” Finally 9:00 p.m. rolled around and the cards were in the air.

I did not play well at all for the first 45 minutes or so. Made multiple mistakes that cost me extra bets. Usually with utter awareness of what was happening. I’ll give one quick example.

After losing some chips early, I’d won a couple of small pots to get nearly back to the 1,500 starting stack. We were in Level 3 (stakes 50/100, ante 10) where I was dealt and had to bring-in for 15. There were four callers, so I got to see 4th street with no further expense. I was dealt the . No one else paired their board, and all five of us checked. Then on 5th I picked up the . Again, no one else had paired, so I bet out and got one caller who had . Has to be on the straight draw, I’m thinking (if not, my jacks are probably good). I consciously tell myself to let it go should his 6th street card look scary. Sure enough, he gets the . But I get the and so have two pair on board. I have the lead, but just check to the possible straight who bets. I know he’s got it -- any 7 or Q in the hole and I’m drawing dead to three outs (since he has one of the jacks). But I call, then after not picking up the boat on 7th make the crying call as well. Sure enough, he’s made that straight, and I’ve dumped nearly a third of my stack, most of which could’ve easily been saved had I not chased down three outs.

I dropped down dangerously low -- under 600 chips at one point -- before climbing back to a relatively decent-sized stack of 2,286 chips at the break (putting me 28th of 59 remaining players). My confidence had started to return as well, as right before the break I had won a decent pot. I’d made a value bet on the end when I thought my two pair were good and my opponent would probably call. And he did. So I was feeling fine as the second hour began.

Finally started to get some decent starting hands after the break, and quickly built my stack up over 4,000 chips. The stakes were starting to get high enough that players weren’t so willing to chase their draws. We reached Level 8 (stakes 150/300, ante 25) and were down to 32 players or so. I had about 3,500 in chips, still right around the middle of the pack, though 2nd best at my table.

Then came a flood of crummy rivers for your humble servant. Three heartbreakers, all told, and I was gone.

For the first, I was dealt . Quack quack quack! Another player had a deuce showing as well, so when I three-bet the hand on third, it was unlikely anyone suspected I had rolled up trips. As it turned out, I ended up getting two medium-sized stacks all-in by fifth street. One had aces in the hole, the other kings. The perfect storm for me, right? It was until the river, when AA ended up making this board: . Runner runner boat, and I was down to 2,147.

Three hands later I was dealt and ended up heads-up against none other than Fasso, who besides being a poet is the show’s seven card stud laureate as well. I had Fasso covered by about 800 chips at the start of the hand. Fourth street brought me a jack and him a board of . Fasso bet out and since I figured his jack hadn’t given him two pair or trips -- and thus he was on a draw -- I raised. He just called, and so it was fairly apparent he was drawing. (He confirmed afterwards he had started here with four diamonds.) Fifth and sixth streets looked like bricks for him -- a deuce and a four, neither diamonds -- and so I kept betting and he kept calling. I put him all-in on seventh, but he had picked up two pair (with that four on 6th & a five on 7th) and took it down. Again, runner runner -- although to be fair, Fasso had something like 20 outs there on the end to beat me (if I didn’t improve upon my kings). Not only was my chip stack no longer tumescent, it was positively exiguous. I was down to 821.

I hung around until Level 10, where I received and committed the 1,100 chips I had remaining by 4th street. I had two opponents who battled back and forth while I picked up a third ace on 6th street. Thought I might be okay, but alas, one of the others ended up making a boat on 7th, knocking me out in 29th place.

Was glad not to go out early, but would’ve liked to have seen what might’ve happened had I won either of those two Level 8 hands. Next up, Pot Limit Omaha. (Click here for details.)