Gone in an instant

Played a tournament at Garden City Casino in San Jose today.  I like the format, no rebuys or add-ons, and a deep stack of 10,000 chips to start.  There were 66 entrants, and the top 9 were paid.

I played good, tight-agressive poker, and managed to stay close to the average stack most of the time.   Slowly everyone else disappeared and I was at the final table.

The blinds and antes were getting ridiculous.  With six players left they were 2K ante, blinds at 6K-12K.

I had 120K chips and I was in the big blind.  Everyone folded up to the button and the button went all in, with just slightly less than my stack.  I had 7-7, and what went through my mind was "finishing 6th is already good and in the money, but this could position me for a top 2 finish and over a $1000 prize (on a $125 entry fee).

I call the all in, and the button turns over A-3 clubs.  I'm ahead, but the board comes quickly and turns my hope around, as an Ace comes on the flop and a 3 on the turn (as if he needed it).  No trip-7s come my way on the river.

My hard-earned stack is gone, and I'm left with the proverbial "chip and a chair", which I quickly lose in the next hand.

Not bad, though.  Six hours of poker and I finished 6th and won $350.


Other noteworthy things in this tourney:

1. A guy who was going all in with short stack desperation moves, once holding a 7 and once holding a 4, got a flop with two 7's and two 4's respectively, and doubled up twice with these lucky sets.  Very unusual.

2. The guy who was chip leader at the final table was claiming he got dealt A-A 10 times on the day.  I witnessed three of them, all of which he won big.  Its no wonder he was chip leader.