I placed 222nd in the Monster Stack Tournament. While it was certainly a good run, I felt that I certainly could have gone deeper. Let’s go on the journey together as I revisit my run.
One of the things I do to track my hands is that I text them to myself. However, since I was representing Piranha in this tournament, I texted my hands to the entire group of Full Team members so they could join the ride.
Early in the Tournament, things were not so good as the below text indicates.
Running so bad right now. Aces cracked. Pocket kings chopped on the river. My wheel on the river loses to higher straight. But still have 32k in chips despite the run bad (about half the starting stack)
Fortunately, one of the great things about deep stack poker is that you can afford to be patient as things started to turn my way
Just won a healthy pot. Mp calls, Next player raises to 800. I’m next with pocket 10s and make it 2200. Player behind me calls and so do the other two players. Flop is 10 high with 2 hearts. Checked to me and I cbet 4500. I get a call by the player In early position. Turn is a low card blank. Villain checks and I bet about pot and he folds. Back up to about 43k
Right before the break. Early person limps, I have 2 red 10s, make it 2200. He calls and everyone folds. Flop is 8 4 3 with 2 diamonds. I cbet 3500 and he calls turn is 6d making a possible flush. Check check. River is a 7 making a possible straight and it’s checked down. Villain shows A2 of spades. So he called my cbet with a gutter. And I am back to starting stack.
But things start to get cold again as I dwindle down through level 4.
2nd break I have about 35k. Card dead for the last 2 levels
But things start to pick up in Level 5, 300/600.
Back to 52k. I have pocket Kings in early position. I make it 1300. Aggressive player next to me 3bets to 3500. Loose weak player calls. Short stack jams for 9k. And I jam all in and the others fold. Short stack has pocket queens and I hold up and take it down
Weak player UTG raises to 1200. I’m in BB with AJo. I make it 4k. He calls. Flop is 9 high with 2 hearts. I cbet for 3500 and he calls. Turn is a non heart 2. Villain has about 8k left behind so I jam and he foldAt 62k now (starting stack again!)
Up to 73k. Guy in early position makes is 2k. I flat with pocket 6s. Guy in BB makes it 10100. Original raiser folds. I jam for 60k and he tank folds saying he doesn’t want to coin flip
This is one of the most interesting hands of my whole tournament and I think I maximized value here by my flat/jam. The Big Blind was certainly a Pro who was talking about playing tournaments all over the world. Unfortunately, I never caught his name. My call and then raise All In certainly polarizes my range into hands like pocket Jacks or Tens which was why I did it. He said he had AK when he folded and I let him continue to believe that I had either Jacks or Tens.
But after the next break, I’m down again.
About 45k now. Lost a big pot with my AQ.
I don’t remember details here and I did not text the hand but I am guessing I lost a coin flip to a player who jammed all in with their short stack.
But at the 500/1000 level, things start to turn my way
Just doubled up. Hijack opens for 2500, I have the Piranha nuts A10 and jam for my last 27k. HJ calls with pocket Kings. I hit an Ace on the turn. Back to 57k (around the dinner break)
Then around 6/14/2024 9:18 PM
Just doubled up. Early person raise I jam for my last 54k with As Kc . Villain calls with Ac Ks. Runout is a 4 flush of spades. Now at 112k
When this kind of stuff happens, I feel the good luck mojo running
About an hour later, this happens
6/14/2024 10:22 PM
Just doubled up. Villain raise and I have J 10 on the button and I flat. Flop is A K Q. I check and villain bets cbets for 10k and I flat. Turn is a blank and Villain continues with 18k and I jam for 84k. Villain snaps calls with pocket Aces for top set and I hold up
Nothing like flopping Broadway against a big stack who has Pocket Aces. That brings me to about 180k at the last break of the evening of Day 1. And yes, I did Hollywood a tiny bit when I jammed. It worked too as he snap called me.
My table on Day 1 was pretty fun as there was a lot of banter. Here is a fun tidbit:
The table has started to call me the Chinese Allen Kessler. The pro at the table says Kessler has the same shirt I’m wearing(a blue shirt I got in Athens). I said I now have to burn the shirt.
In my defense, I said I’m much cheerier than that sourpuss Kessler and certainly luckier than the Chainsaw.
At 6/14/2024 11:16 PM
A guy steam jams after losing a big pot for 18.5k. I have pocket 7s and call. He shows pocket jacks. He hits a jack on the flop. I turn a 7 but don’t get my one outer. I still have about 165k. I certainly would have folded had he not been steaming
At 6/14/2024 11:24 PM
I raise in early position with AKo. Villain in BB defends. Flop is 9 2 2 rainbow. Check check. Turn is a 3. Villain leads out for 7k and I call. River is a 4 and Villain leads out for 14k. And I snap call and he shows the 10 5 bluff.
On how I could make this Hero Call
He has been bluffing a lot. That’s why I did not cbet. I knew he would lead on the turn
On one of my final hands of Day 1
At 6/14/2024 11:36 PM
I raise with pocket aces in early position. Player jams for 60k and I snap and he shows AQ. He gets a Q on the turn but no help on the river
I bag 250k at the end of Day 1 which is about 83BBs.
Day 2
6/17/2024 11:33 AM
I just opened on the button for 6500 with Q10s. BB jams for 52500 and I fold. He’s not played any hands till now
Earlier I had A2s in BB. Active player raised UTG+1 and I call. I fold on flop of J 10 9 no diamonds
6/17/2024 11:40 AM
Won my first hand. Pocket 7s in MP. No callers
6/17/2024 11:56 AM
Just doubled up. Same villain with the hand where I had A2d in BB raises again. No other callers and I have Q 9 suited hearts and I call. Flop is 10 high all hearts. Villain cbets 4k. I raise to 11k and he calls. Turn is a blank. And I lead out for 17k. And villain raise to 50k and I jam all in and have him covered. He calls with pocket Aces with the Ace of hearts. He doesn’t improve and I bust the most dangerous player on the table. I have 412k, (the player I busted was very aggressive in previous hands so I knew not to slow play this one once I flopped the nuts)
6/17/2024 1:00 PM
I raise in early position with QJs. I get two callers. Flop is A 8 3 rainbow. Checked around. Turn is a 10 giving me a double gutter so I lead out for 11k. I get one caller. River is a J. And I check call 31k. To take down the pot against villains 87. Can’t bluff the calling station! 465k at the break
6/17/2024 2:55 PM
The calling station strikes again. UTG raises to 13k. Folded to me in BB with 58s (my favorite junk hand). Flop is 87J with two hearts. No spades. Cbet of 11k and I call. Turn is 10 no flush. I check and villain makes it 20k. I call. River is a Jack no flush. Check check and I win the pot. Player at the other end gave me a smirk. I have 497k
6/17/2024 3:07 PM
People are afraid of the calling station. I raise in early position with K10o Get one caller on the button. Flop is 6 high. Check check. Turn is another 6 and again check check. Ace on the river and it’s check check and I win with King high. (Unfortunately, my table breaks soon after and I have 512k at my new table)
At my new table
6/17/2024 3:30 PM
I’m UTG with AKo and raise to 13k. Folded to button who doesn’t see my raise and makes it 12k. Puts in the extra 1k and blinds fold. Flop is A 77 and my cbet takes it down
6/17/2024 3:31 PM
UTG raises it and I have pocket 5s in MP and I call. bb calls. No betting all the way to the river and I win. I have over 550k
This hand was during the bubble
6/17/2024 4:31 PM
HJ raises to 16k. Button calls. I have KQo and I 3bet to 40k. HJ tank calls and button folds. Flop is 9 high with two clubs. My cbet of 32k takes it down. (I took advantage of the bubble here)
I start building my stack by stealing on the Bubble
6/17/2024 4:36 PM
620k
6/17/2024 4:40 PM
642k now. Stole some blinds
6/17/2024 5:11 PM
We are in the money. (I actually had hoped it would go longer, It’s a great time to build your stack)
6/17/2024 5:16 PM
I’m focused on Day 3. Nothing else matters. (We’ve had many min cashes in Piranha so I certainly wanted to go much deeper. Min cashes mean nothing for me in this stage of my poker career)
6/17/2024 5:29 PM
I have AK suited hearts UTG. I make it 22k. Late position calls. Flop is 6 4 2 with one heart. I cbet for 25k and villain calls. Turn is a 8hearts. Check check. River is the King of spades. I check and villain bets 110k. And I snap call and he shows AQ and I take down the pot. Now at 762k. The calling station returns
But my run is stymied unfortunately when play is paused for half an hour (this is important later in the evening). Someone who busted out did not stick around to get paid and so they stopped the clock looking for him.
6/17/2024 6:02 PM
A missed bet on my part. Folded to me in SB with 89hearts and I make it 25k. Bb calls. A 7 x with two spades. I cbet 20k and villain calls. Turn is A non spade. Check check. River is a blank and I give up and villain shows K4 of spades
6/17/2024 6:06 PM
But next hand I have pocket deuces in early position and make it 20k and get Two callers. Flop is Q 6 2, I cbet 30k and get one caller. Turn is a 9. I bet 55k and he folds against my flopped set.
I have 795k at the Dinner break and get moved to a new table.
6/17/2024 8:35 PM
Nothing much to report. Been totally card dead. Under 700k now
6/17/2024 8:35 PM
Just been folding and losing my blinds
6/17/2024 8:38 PM
Just had pocket Kings UTG. No callers. Been playing so tight. First time today I’ve had a big pair
6/17/2024 8:51 PM
I just got it up to 750k. Short stack jams for 70k. I call with KQ spades. Two others call behind. Q on the flop and I bet out 150k and others fold. Original raiser shows A2 and he doesn’t improve
6/17/2024 9:11 PM
Made a good fold. Early raise make it 32k. Button raises to 80k. I have pocket 7s in the BB. The 3bettor’s coffee order arrived. And he still raised which tells me he had a strong hand. So I fold. The original raiser calls. Flop is KQJ. The 3bettor puts in a cbet and wins the pot. The dealer accidentally exposes pocket queens of the 3bettor. (I think it’s very important to look at the kinds of things. When a player is distracted by a server or by a friend, they are likely to throw away marginal hands but certainly will play big hands. I’m glad my read was right here)
6/17/2024 9:45 PM
I have KQ suited hearts UTG and make it 40k. Guy jams in middle position for 290k and I fold. (No calling station here!)
6/17/2024 9:52 PM
Early position active player raises to 40k. I have AQ and make it 105k. He calls. Flop is KQ x. He jams for 200k and I have to fold. (He later on said that he had AQ and I believe him). Down to 535k
6/17/2024 10:12 PM
Folded to me in the SB. I have J9 suited diamonds. I complete and BB raises to 45k and I call. Flop is J 8 6 with 2 hearts. Check check. Turn is a blank and I lead out for 60k. He calls. River is a Q and I check. He jams all in for 210k. I think about it and call and he shows A8 suited clubs and I send him packing. (I think if he hit the Q on the river or has two pair, it would have been a smaller value bet. The jam all in certainly indicated a bluff. I say out loud that I think you have a busted flush draw. He wasn’t even that strong. I get complemented by the other players on a nice call). I have over 1Million now
6/17/2024 10:41 PM
For some reason they have paused the tournament. (The second pause of the day. In total, I think we stopped play for half an hour to 40 minutes total.)
6/17/2024 11:22 PM
I have pocket Aces (first time today!) in early position and make it 60k. I get 2 calllers. Flop is 443 with 2 clubs. I cbet 100k. I get one caller. Turn is a 3. It’s check check. River is a queen no flush. I bet out 200k and villain calls and mucks. I have 1.2M
6/17/2024 11:49 PM
Lost a big hand. Active villain who has been raising a lot makes it 50k. And I make it 105k with A10suited. Flop is QJ x with 2 spades. I cbet 250k. Villain jams for 700k. And I have to fold. He flips over AK suited spades. (This is probably my biggest mistake in the whole tournament as I probably should fold this hand preflop since there were only a few hands more in the day and I was really tired. The previous pauses in play certainly did not help). I bag 600k going into Day 3 which is about 20BBs.
6/18/2024 9:53 AM
Hi team. New Day, new attitude. While I made a big mistake at the end of the last hour of play. I’m focused on today. I’ve been very happy with my short stack play the last several weeks. If you remember when we started this journey, I was short stacked in the early parts of Day 1. So 20BBs hav a lot of play and I just have to look for opportunities to take advantage to either steal blinds or to double up.
And while to pay jumps are nice to look at occasionally, it’s not a motivation for me. My focus is on trying to build my stack to try to get to Day 4
6/18/2024 11:15 AM
Big stack UTG who has been raising a lot makes it 60k. Folded to me on the button. I have pocket 10s and jam and he folds. (The big stack UTG here is Pedro Neves the eventual winner of this tournament). Now up to 660k
6/18/2024 11:41 AM
Pocket 3s folded to me in the HJ. I shove for 580k. Button tank folds and so do blinds
6/18/2024 11:44 AM
Next hand I have AK and jam again. Called by SB and he turns over AK. We chop the BB. Now up to 680k
6/18/2024 12:02 PM
Here is a hand I folded. UTG Big stack who has not been active raises. I’m in middle position and I have KJ suited clubs and fold. (In short stack play, this is likely to be dominated by an early opener)
6/18/2024 12:10 PM
Same situation as earlier with UTG raiser. I jam on the button with pocket 6s. He folds. (Again I take a pot preflop against the eventual winner Pedro Naves) Now at 690k
6/18/2024 12:14 PM
Suited KQ in MP and I open jam and no callers. Now at 785k . That’s still 20BBs
6/18/2024 12:22 PM
Picking on same UTG raiser I jam with AJ suited. Folds to me again. I have to be careful to do this again. (Sooner or later, Pedro is going to call me so I better have a good hand next time. Unfortunately there is no next time). Now at 875k
6/18/2024 12:42 PM
2 interesting hands. Blind vs Blind. SB calls and I jam with KQ suited and he tank folds. (Small blind here is shorter than me and is Brian Roff who finished 6th overall in this tournament)
Next hand I’m in SB. Early position short stack raises and I have J 10 suited. I call his cbet with a 10 on the flop and it’s checked down to showdown and my 10 is good. Player probably had AK cause he was steaming afterwards I have over 1.1M
6/18/2024 12:48 PM
Now at over 1.2M. Raised with pocket 9s early and no callers
6/18/2024 12:59 PM
Back to 960k. CO raises and I defend my BB with AJ suited hearts. Flop is A 5 2 rainbow. Villain cbets 100k and I call. Turn is another 5 and he continues for another 100k and I call. River is a blank and he shoves all in for over 600k and I tank fold. (This player was an old timer who certainly had me outkicked here. He had previously gotten all his chips on previous hands when he had strong hands. I only wished I remembered this later). Now at over 1M at the first break
6/18/2024 1:34 PM
Short stack jams for 250k. Next player in front of me makes it 450k. I have AQo and fold. I would have taken the hand down if I shoved but it’s a good fold
6/18/2024 1:48 PM
Just got coolered. Set over set. My set of 5s against the set of Kings. (The action here is the Old timer from the previous hand earlier raises from the Highjack and I call with my pocket 5s on the Button. The BB calls as well. Flop is K 5 x. Check to me and I bet. BB folds and the Old Timer jams all in. Looking back on this hand now, I think I could have found a fold here if I had taken more time to think about it. I don’t think he does a check raise with AK and more likely he would have cbet with that. I end up calling and go down to my last 60k as a result.
6/18/2024 1:49 PM
Have to jam for my last 60k with AJ and get 4 callers. But I quadruple up with an Ace on the river. Now at 350k. (This is still less than 10BBs)
6/18/2024 2:20 PM
Now a little under 500k. A couple of shoves not called
6/18/2024 2:24 PM
I’m out. Folded to me in the button and I have Q7 suited so I jam. And both blinds call. bb wins K high. (Small blind has slightly more than me and he busts in 221st place and I bust in 222nd for a payout of $7987. My Piranha teammates get about $300 for their share).
Overall, I was very happy with my play. I know what I have to work on for the future which is to take more time to think about big decisions. Everyone who has played against me knows I probably act too fast when making important decisions. As hard as is to fold a set, I think that was the proper play in that situation.
But I did decide to use my share of the winnings to buy into the Main Event. That was a nice run too having made it into Day 2. On Day 1 I busted a couple of players and then got to play with Tony Miles who finished 2nd in the 2018 Main Event. ( you may remember the bluff he made against John Cyn who tanked called with his trip Ks). I also got to play with John Dolan who finished 6th in the 2010 Main Event. I was sandwiched between them with Miles on my left and Dolan on my right. They were very nice though I was the clear amateur but I certainly felt comfortable enough playing against them.
Unfortunately, my Day 2 of the Main Event was very unlucky as I ran into quads when I turned Broadway. I probably could have folded that hand too if I took more time.
I did have some other cashes in tournaments earlier so I was very happy overall with the summer.
Looking forward to Season 19 of Piranha. By the way, during this run, I was reminded by Ed Sandoval, the man who started Piranha 19 years ago about why he did it. He had just watched Steve Dannenmann who finished 2nd in the 2005 Main Event to Joe Hachem. Steve was an amateur and Ed sitting at home watching was thinking, I’m better than that guy and that’s how we started.
Well for Season 19, I’m hoping that some of you will come back to Piranha because you think I’m better than that guy Dom Chan! See you on the felt for Season 19!
