EPT Monte Carlo - Day 2

Before the start of the day, I had told Skippy that my goal for the end of Day 2 was to finish with between $180,000 and $200,000 in chips. I was starting the day with $52,100 which was about twice the average stack. If I could steadily pick up blinds, and then hit one or two big hands, I knew this would be a realistic goal. Skippy was starting the day with just over $42,000 and both other Team Eurolinx members had also made it to Day 2, but with relatively short stacks.

I looked at the names on my table when we got to the tournament area, and there were no names that I recognized. I asked my Eurolinx teammates if they recognized any of the names, and Bernt told me that he knew the Norwegian player Age Spets (pronounced Oggy Spetz). He said he remembered a hand that Age had played against someone on Day 1. It went as follows: Late position player raises to $1000, Age calls in the big blind. Flop comes 762. Age checks, the player bets $1700, Age calls. Turn is an 8. Age bets $3000, the player calls. River is a 5, making the board 87652. Age bets $5000, and the player folds. Age shows AT off suit. So right then and there, I knew what Age was capable of, and I would aware of it, since he was 2 spots to my left, and he would be in the big blind when I was on the button.

Day 2 had begun. The blinds started off at $150/$300 with a $25 ante. In the second orbit, I was dealt 66 in the cutoff -1, and I raised it to $1800. Age was on the button, and he re-raised it to $5800. I called. The flop was perfect for my hand, 632. I had flopped top set, but now I was hoping Age really had a big pair, otherwise I could not make much money on this hand. I checked, and unfortunately, he checked behind. I was now pretty sure he only had 2 high cards, like AK or AQ, and I was hoping he would catch up and hit one of them. The turn was a 9. I thought about leading out here, but he was still drawing dead and he might not call a bet on the turn with Ace high, but it was a possibility on the river. I checked, and again he checked behind. The river was a 4, which I really did not like. The board was now 96432. I decided to fire out $8000, and he called me with AK. I think I made about the maximum I could on that hand. This brought my chip stack up to just under $70,000.

You can watch the hand in a virtual replay here: Age Spets vs Marc Karam Part 1

The next 3 hours were probably the most boring 3 hours of my life. I literally did not see one flop. It was now Level 3 with the blinds at $600/$1200, and I had picked up some blinds and made a couple of squeeze plays to maintain a stack size of around $76,000. Earlier in the day, at the end of Level 1, a famous Danish player named Theo Jorgenson had been moved to our table. At one point, it folded to me on the button, and I raised it to $3600, and Age exclaimed, "You're raising??", and insta-mucked his cards in the big blind. Probably because I hadn't played a hand in 3 orbits. This struck me, I now had a super tight image (which is extremely rare for me, trust me on this one), and I decided to cash it in, by making a move and hopefully picking up a big pot while I'm at it. Theo Jorgenson made it $3200 to go from mid position, and it folded around to me in the big blind. I called the extra $2000 with Jd8d. The flop came down 579 rainbow. I flopped a double gutshot and I knew right then I was going to play it hard. I checked and Theo bet $5000. I raised it to $12,000. Theo called. The turn was a 2. Now I was wondering what he called me with. I knew I had to make my decision very quickly, because if I took too long he might smell something suspicious. I didn't want to bet out and get called and then have to make a tough river decision, so I decided to try to go for the check-raise. I checked, and he quickly bet out $18,000. While his chips were still in motion, I immediately said "I'm all in", trying to look very excited. He said "Must be a set", and folded quickly. He flashed a Queen, someone said they saw pocket Queens but I'm pretty sure I only saw one. I showed the J8 and the table was very surprised. I wanted them to see what I was capable of, because I was definitely not going to do this again any time soon, and I was trying to set them up in case I did pick up a big hand.

You can watch the hand in a virtual replay here: Theo Jorgenson vs Marc Karam

Unfortunately for me, my table broke soon after that, and I was moved to a new table with Devilfish who was 4 spots to my right. I was now up to $110,000 when the following hand came up. With the blinds $800/$1600 with a $200 ante, it folds around to the button who raises it to $5000. I look down at AsKs in the big blind. I look at my opponent's stack, and he has around $37,000 total. I re-raise it to $15,000, and he quickly declares himself all in. I call, and he shows pocket Jacks, and it's off to the races! I miss the flop, turn a flush draw, but miss the river, and just like that I'm back down to $70,000. I then went card dead for an entire level and was blinded down to around $55,000. I needed to pick up some pots, I moved all in from the big blind twice over-top of a raise from Devilfish, stole some blinds, and slowly grinded my way back up over the $100,000 mark. Then the next big hand occurred:

With the blinds at $1200/$2400, I raise it up to $7000 with Td8d. The button calls, as does the big blind. The flop is beautiful, 679 rainbow. The big blind checks, I bet $14,000, the button calls, and the big blind folds. The turn is an Ace. I bet $25,000 and he calls. The river is an 8, which I really disliked. He had around $60,000 left, but I couldn't bet that much because there was now a 4 card straight on the board. I decided to bet $25,000 again, and he showed A7 for 2 pair and he folded. I was now up to $165,000. Soon after this hand, I was moved to another table. I was again seated at the same table as Age Spets, but this time he was directly to my right, giving me better position on him. I was moved into the big blind, and there was a dead small blind. I folded to Age Spets on the button, and he just limped for $2400. I looked down at A8, and decided I had the best hand, and I raised it $7000 more, hoping he wouldn't call. He called. The flop was no help to my hand, KQ7. I bet $11,000 hoping to take it down, but he called quickly. Interesting. The turn was a Ten. I checked, hoping he would check behind and I would hit an Ace or a Jack. He also checked. The river was an 8. I now had a pair of 8's, but the board was KQT87. I checked, and he asked me how much I would call. I said, "Come on, just check behind like a nice guy". He said, "Would you call $30,000?". I said,"No, but I would call $2400." He said, "No, thats too cheap, I'll bet $18,000." Now, all the possible hands were racing through my head. AK, KQ, KJ, KT, AQ, QJ, QT, and so on, were all raising hands on the button, especially with the $200 antes. A pair of Queens or Tens, he would check behind with on the river. The more I thought about it, the more I couldn't give him a hand with a K or Q in it. This was not the type of player to limp KJ on the button. As I counted out $18,000 from my chipstack, he said, "Do you have the Queen?". Boom, thanks for giving it away. As soon as I heard him say that, I pushed my chips into the middle. He said "Oh noooo." I showed the A8, and he mucked 75.

You can watch the hand in a virtual replay here: Age Spets vs Marc Karam Part 2

I was now up to $203,000 in chips and we were approaching the end of the day. I lost a few blinds and decided to just take it easy and come back fresh tomorrow, and I finished the day with $196,700. It was a very satisfying day of poker. I wasn't dealt many premium starting hands, but that might have saved me. I was never called in an all in situation today, so my tournament life was never actually on the line with me needing to dodge the board to stay alive. I guess I was kind of lucky that I was never all in, hopefully I can do the same thing today. No races, picking up blinds and small pots slowly, and then hit a big hand once or twice.

Unfortunately, Skippy and both other Team Eurolinx members were casualties of Day 2, but they played extremely well and they should be proud of having made it this far in the biggest poker tournament in European history.