The tournament was SCOOP (Spring Championship Of Online Poker) Event #38-H, $2,100 No-Limit Omaha Hi/Lo Split Eight-or-Better.
From the PokerStars blog:
Twelve and a half hours is typically enough time to plow through a field of thousands, but in this case, it took over half a day to get from 118 to 1. When the final table did finally materialize, it was loaded with familiar faces. AceQuad made his sixth SCOOP final table of the week, Event #26-H runner-up vandir4rek got a second chance to close out a win and Calvin "cal42688" Anderson was eight eliminations away from a record-tying fifth SCOOP bracelet. However, gumasta hit a rush with five players remaining and rode it all the way to the finish, capturing his first SCOOP title and $59,000.
Qualifying for the tournament took several attempts to win a seat in satellites. Because the buy-in of 2,100 dollars was too much for me to risk, I tried to get in cheaper by playing multiple rounds of $153 satellites into a $700 satellite. I got into the $700 tournament on my last try, then lost my chance there when my aces failed to win with blinds very high.
Poker Stars, $665 Buy-in (150/300 blinds, 25 ante) No Limit Omaha H/L Tournament, 6 PlayersPoker Tools Powered By Holdem Manager - The Ultimate Poker Software Suite.MP: 2,367 (7.9 bb)CO: 5,592 (18.6 bb)BTN: 3,400 (11.3 bb)SB: 2,350 (7.8 bb)Hero (BB): 1,515 (5.1 bb)UTG: 5,924 (19.7 bb)Preflop: Hero is BB with Qs Ad As 8sUTG folds, MP raises to 2,342 and is all-in, 3 folds, Hero calls 1,190 and is all-inFlop: (3,280) Ac 2d 3d (2 players, 2 are all-in)Turn: (3,280) Tc (2 players, 2 are all-in)River: (3,280) 6c (2 players, 2 are all-in)Results: 3,280 potFinal Board: Ac 2d 3d Tc 6cMP showed 4h 5h 2h 3h and won 3,280 (1,765 net)Hero showed Qs Ad As 8s and lost (-1,515 net)
Not willing to give up on the big event, I late registered for two rebuy satellites, $11+ and $22+, and spent arond $200 in those tournaments with rebuys and add-ons, eventually finishing with nothing in the $22+ and getting heads up for a single seat in the $11+. There was a cash prize for second in the satellite, which wasn't enough to cover the entry fees I had already paid in all of the satellites.
PokerStars Hand #99061268408: Tournament #737172455, $10+$1 USD Omaha Hi/Lo No Limit - Level XXII (15000/30000) - 2013/05/24 18:34:33 ETTable '737172455 3' 9-max Seat #8 is the buttonSeat 5: gumasta (730800 in chips)Seat 8: alfatenn (538200 in chips)gumasta: posts the ante 3000alfatenn: posts the ante 3000alfatenn: posts small blind 15000gumasta: posts big blind 30000*** HOLE CARDS ***Dealt to gumasta [Ad 3s Td 6h]alfatenn: calls 15000gumasta: raises 660000 to 690000alfatenn: calls 505200 and is all-inUncalled bet (154800) returned to gumasta*** FLOP *** [3d 7c 9s]*** TURN *** [3d 7c 9s] [9d]*** RIVER *** [3d 7c 9s 9d] [2c]*** SHOW DOWN ***gumasta: shows [Ad 3s Td 6h] (HI: two pair, Nines and Threes; LO: 7,6,3,2,A)alfatenn: shows [2d 4d Qc 8c] (HI: two pair, Nines and Deuces; LO: 8,7,4,3,2)gumasta collected 538200 from potgumasta collected 538200 from potalfatenn finished the tournament in 2nd place and received $510.00.gumasta wins the tournament - congratulations!gumasta wins an entry to tournament #2013050383*** SUMMARY ***Total pot 1076400 | Rake 0Board [3d 7c 9s 9d 2c]Seat 5: gumasta (big blind) showed [Ad 3s Td 6h] and won (1076400) with HI: two pair, Nines and Threes; LO: 7,6,3,2,ASeat 8: alfatenn (button) (small blind) showed [2d 4d Qc 8c] and lost with HI: two pair, Nines and Deuces; LO: 8,7,4,3,2
I won and had my seat.
The tournament was a long and arduous exercise in patience for me, with some small early losses resulting in a below-average amount of chips for several hours into the event. After several long levels I won a coin flip to double up to over twice the starting (5,000) chips for the first time in the tournament.
PokerStars Hand #99067729802: Tournament #2013050383, $2000+$100 USD Omaha Hi/Lo No Limit - Level IX (75/150) - 2013/05/24 21:54:10 ETTable '2013050383 4' 9-max Seat #6 is the buttonSeat 1: gumasta (6613 in chips)Seat 2: ttouch77 (9048 in chips)Seat 3: paulgees81 (6907 in chips)Seat 4: caecilius (10162 in chips)Seat 5: cal42688 (31693 in chips)Seat 6: Borys313 (10183 in chips)Seat 8: shinbunshi (4344 in chips)Seat 9: vandir4rek (6634 in chips)gumasta: posts the ante 20ttouch77: posts the ante 20paulgees81: posts the ante 20caecilius: posts the ante 20cal42688: posts the ante 20Borys313: posts the ante 20shinbunshi: posts the ante 20vandir4rek: posts the ante 20shinbunshi: posts small blind 75vandir4rek: posts big blind 150*** HOLE CARDS ***Dealt to gumasta [As 4d 8h Ah]gumasta: raises 150 to 300ttouch77: foldspaulgees81: foldscaecilius: foldscal42688: calls 300Borys313: foldsgumasta said, ":)"shinbunshi: foldsvandir4rek: calls 150*** FLOP *** [9s 3h 2d]vandir4rek: checksgumasta: bets 750cal42688: raises 18600 to 19350vandir4rek: foldsgumasta: calls 5543 and is all-inUncalled bet (13057) returned to cal42688*** TURN *** [9s 3h 2d] [Jh]*** RIVER *** [9s 3h 2d Jh] [Jc]*** SHOW DOWN ***gumasta: shows [As 4d 8h Ah] (HI: two pair, Aces and Jacks)cal42688: shows [5d Ac 9h 3c] (HI: two pair, Jacks and Nines)gumasta collected 13721 from potNo low hand qualifiedgumasta said, "yesss"*** SUMMARY ***Total pot 13721 | Rake 0Board [9s 3h 2d Jh Jc]Seat 1: gumasta showed [As 4d 8h Ah] and won (13721) with HI: two pair, Aces and JacksSeat 2: ttouch77 folded before Flop (didn't bet)Seat 3: paulgees81 folded before Flop (didn't bet)Seat 4: caecilius folded before Flop (didn't bet)Seat 5: cal42688 showed [5d Ac 9h 3c] and lost with HI: two pair, Jacks and NinesSeat 6: Borys313 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)Seat 8: shinbunshi (small blind) folded before FlopSeat 9: vandir4rek (big blind) folded on the Flop
From there I built up to a tournament average stack, and maintained a position in the middle of the field until the bubble came near, with several short stacks struggling to edge into the money.
This hand gave me a healthier chip position:
PokerStars Hand #99070597911: Tournament #2013050383, $2000+$100 USD Omaha Hi/Lo No Limit - Level XIV (250/500) - 2013/05/25 0:22:37 ETTable '2013050383 9' 9-max Seat #1 is the buttonSeat 1: gumasta (23702 in chips)Seat 2: jpa_25 (10177 in chips)Seat 3: cal42688 (39787 in chips)Seat 4: Mafews (10391 in chips)Seat 5: jpro89 (34151 in chips)Seat 6: calvin7v (93968 in chips)Seat 7: PlayWMyNuts (29849 in chips)Seat 8: kirbynator (12510 in chips)Seat 9: karolinaD (35138 in chips)gumasta: posts the ante 60jpa_25: posts the ante 60cal42688: posts the ante 60Mafews: posts the ante 60jpro89: posts the ante 60calvin7v: posts the ante 60PlayWMyNuts: posts the ante 60kirbynator: posts the ante 60karolinaD: posts the ante 60jpa_25: posts small blind 250cal42688: posts big blind 500*** HOLE CARDS ***Dealt to gumasta [Ad 7d Kd 2s]Mafews: foldsjpro89: foldscalvin7v: foldsPlayWMyNuts: foldskirbynator: foldskarolinaD: foldsgumasta: raises 622 to 1122jpa_25: raises 8995 to 10117 and is all-incal42688: foldsgumasta: calls 8995*** FLOP *** [Kc Tc 5s]*** TURN *** [Kc Tc 5s] [9d]*** RIVER *** [Kc Tc 5s 9d] [7h]*** SHOW DOWN ***jpa_25: shows [Ah Qc 2c 6c] (HI: high card Ace)gumasta: shows [Ad 7d Kd 2s] (HI: two pair, Kings and Sevens)gumasta collected 21274 from potNo low hand qualifiedjpa_25 finished the tournament in 18th place*** SUMMARY ***Total pot 21274 | Rake 0Board [Kc Tc 5s 9d 7h]Seat 1: gumasta (button) showed [Ad 7d Kd 2s] and won (21274) with HI: two pair, Kings and SevensSeat 2: jpa_25 (small blind) showed [Ah Qc 2c 6c] and lost with HI: high card AceSeat 3: cal42688 (big blind) folded before FlopSeat 4: Mafews folded before Flop (didn't bet)Seat 5: jpro89 folded before Flop (didn't bet)Seat 6: calvin7v folded before Flop (didn't bet)Seat 7: PlayWMyNuts folded before Flop (didn't bet)Seat 8: kirbynator folded before Flop (didn't bet)Seat 9: karolinaD folded before Flop (didn't bet)
After the bubble, I used reads on my table mates to win some confrontations and, with some luck, kept my hopes alive for the title.
Next part: Final table.
