PCA

The PCA was an $8k event which had a record field this year of around 1150 players paying 2 mil to first. I satellited into it in a $2000 9 man sng, which got you a $12 package($1150 food credit/7 nights($2k value)/$1k expenses on top of the $8k buyin. I also chopped another package so in all had $18k winnings and probably played in $12k worth of events since those sngs added up quite fast. So I was probably in for near $6k, not horrible I guess.





I liked what I saw as a first sat down as I recognized no one at my table and there were a few older players which is usually going to be a good thing and one middle aged woman who one would think would be easy to play against. We started with $20k in chips with blinds at 50/100. I can't really remember too many of the hands from teh first couple hours, but I chipped up to around $30k. Only hand I really recall was limping ATs in ep, probably went 5-6 ways to the flop of T43. I check called a loose awful player who loved to spew his chips. Turn was a blank and it went check check. River was a Q and I snap called a pot sized bet and he mucked. I had a sick tight image a few hours in. I had coldcalled raises with AKs and JJ and they got shown down each time. I also made a big fold in a limped pot. Two limpers to me in the big blind at the 200/400 level and I just check with AJs. Flop J82 I lead 1k and I get minraised to 2k by the woman, I instafold faceup, and she shows me 88. I actually think this was a very easy fold as she only has AJ,88, or 22 here ever and possibly AA. It completed my table image as a huge nit though, so it was time to start changing gears.



I loosened up a bit and was doing a lot of open raising in position. Really just two hands I recall before I moved tables. I raise 88 in mp and the bb calls who had been active and I assumed was a pretty good player. Flop JTT, he checks and I check behind. Turn is a blank and it once again goes check check, river is another blank and it checks to me and I decide to throw out a half pot value bet, he has QJ though, but I still think the river bet is fine. A few hands later I was down to 26k at the 400/800 level I believe and the hijack(same guy from prev hand who was very active raised to 2k, he was repopped by the cutoff to 6k, it folded to me in the big blind and i had A3 of clubs. Sure easy fold, basically junk, but I felt with my image I could get the repopper to fold JJ and lower for sure, and maybe even QQ and I think he is mucking AK too. So while he is still doing his reraise and getting his chips out there I'm thinking I'm going to put 18k of my 26k stack out there and make it look very strong. So it gets to me and I snap fold, ha. I'm such a nit, I really think 4 betting that is a very very good play there with the table dynamics, oh well. Our table broke up soon after.



The new table seemed like a pretty good table as the tourney chipleader was there with a ton of chips basically raising every pot and calling all ins if he was priced in at all. I mostly maintained during this level til there was 3 minutes left in the night. I had raised the two previous hands and once again raised wtih ATs in mp. I started the hand with 35k btw. I had raised to I think 2400 at the 500/100 level and the small blind who was older but was talking about playing in the 50/100 no limit game so I was thinking maybe he wasn't a standard terrible older player. He reraised to like 7500 or so and I decided to 4 bet all in, well I got snap called with the obv AA. Flop 234, turn T, but no help and I'm down to $2k with 2 minutes left in the night. Avg stack at this point over $40k. I'm utg next hand and fold then pick up 98s in the bb and get it all in vs AQ who isolated giving me over 3-1 on my money and I flop the flush and hold against his nut draw to give me 8k going into day 2. I was like 510/520 going into day 2, pretty sick.



Blinds are 500/1k starting day 2, very first hand I look at my first hand and see an Ace so without looking at my other card I ship in my 8k, the small blind calls me and I turn my cards over and am happy to see AJ, ,he has AT and I double and then some to about 18k. I then just keep chipping up with raises and cbets and maybe a couple 3 bets and have about 25k when this hand comes up. I had a pretty loose image at this table at the time and the villian had repopped me and coldcalled my raises previously. I open limp the small blind with A6o at the 600/1200 level, the big blind throws in 3k more and I decide to ship in my $25k or so and he basically snap calls me with A9. bla, but the flop has a six and I hold to give me a decent stack of about 54k or so. Next big hand utg good cash player who was drinking and ready to go to the beach ships his 11 bigs or so($20k), I ship my 50k stack with TT, someone else ships 17k, and the card are turned over and the utg player has JJ, so I'm in bad shape. No luck and I'm down to 30k, I somehow get down to about 20k when this hand comes up. Blinds 1200/2400 and ep player moves all in for 20k, I have about 21k and I reship with AJ, thinking I could be way ahead, way behind, flipping, really who knew, the guy could have a super wide range. He turns over AT, so I'm pretty happy, I'm even happier when 2 guys say they folded tens. Sweet, too bad he just decides to flop the nut flush and I'm out in around 250th place. bleh, oh well, it was time to play with lindsay in the water.



The water rides were pretty fun down there and we had a good time with those. The water rides all had really warm water in them. The pools were fricking freezing though. All in all the place is pretty neat with all the wildlife they have down there, so dumb expensive to eat though, we had $1150 in my package to use towards food/drinks and we spent like $900 of it in those 8 days without going to the most expensive places. A PB&J was $8 on the room service menu, your standard turkey sandwhich, $17. A miller lite was $6 in the mini bar. That's about it from the PCA, plan to go back next year I'd say, though maybe I'd want to go to Australia....