GSOP 2008 - Some interesting hands

I played in the Gutshot £500 buy-in tournament played over the bank holiday weekend. More information here http://www.blogger.com/www.gutshot.com/bforum/showthread.php?t=28629&page=6
I got in via the £30 rebuy satellite - so it had cost me £90 to play.
We started with 20,000 chips and blinds 50/100 - 90 minute levels.
Not much happened until level 2.

Hand 1 - blinds 100/200.
I have JJ in the small blind. The button makes a standard raise of 600, so I reraise to 2000 and he calls. Flop is KQ9 so I decide to bet 3000 into the 4000 pot. He reraises to put me all-in and I have to fold. I think I should have checked the flop and folded perhaps...

A typical JJ hand!

Hand 2 - blinds 400/800 100 ante.

I am running low on chips - I have 15,000 - when I pick AA in the BB - beautiful. Even better there is a standard raise to 2.5k and a reraise to 7.5k. I am tempted to call, but think it better to get heads up if possible so shove in my final 15k. Surprisingly they both fold. Should I just call here? I am not convinced.

A nice boost to my chips - and gets me to the end of day 1 with 24,000.

Hand 3 - blinds 500/1000 ante 100

My stack has dwindled to 16,000 when I get AK under the gun. I raise to 3000 and I am called by the small blind. The flop comes A89 and he checks to me. I bet 5000 and he raises me all-in. I think he can easily have AQ / AJ but unlikely to have A9 or A8. Or perhaps he has a set of 8's or 9's. I have to call and he shows A8. The turn is T and I now have quite a few outs. The dealer pops a 9 to counterfeit his pair of 8's so I double up.

The moral of this tale is don't call with a weak A!

Hand 4 - blinds 600/1200 ante 200

We are now down to 24 players. Only 9 get paid and the average stack is about 70k. I have about 30,000 so I am pretty much in all-in territory. I pick up 88 on the button and when it is folded around to me I make a standard raise of 3.5k. The big blind calls. Flop is Q53 with 2 clubs - he checks so I bet 6000 to see if he has a Q - he calls. The turn is a red 4 and he checks to me. I decide to see the river and it comes Kd. He checks again and I bet 8k. He has a massive stack and reraises me all-in. I think he is bullying me and call but he shows q7 to knock me out. I don't think I played it very well at all - I should have just shown down at the river.

My excuse is that it had been a bit of a marathon and I was looking to double or quit. I am sure Gareth would not have cracked here.

Hopefully another lesson learned...