The 50k

Well i cashed for a crap £300 for 32nd/414 entrants.
Positives:
1) over 4 hours of play 10 handed , ups and downs , emotions all over the shop, good practise for vegas
2) consider myself to have played very well escaping a couple of bustable situations and making what was probably the biggest call of the month for me

Negatives:
1) Lost an AQ vs A5 for a 9k pot when about 100 players left , was left on 7k.
2) Bit annoyed about the way i lost a 40k pot (luck ran out) , details below.

Right where to start , i cant be assed to go through loads of hand historys so ill do a summary with approx. figures of some hands.

a) Hand 4 of the tournament:
Dealt AA on the button , immediately think raise big i dont wanna bust a 2500 stack at 10,20 without making someone pay. Anyway no need worry utg raises to 500 and next guy moves allin. I call and so does initial mad raiser !
AA vs AK vs AQ and i hold up to take a triple up early chiplead.

I float between 7500 and 8200 before the next hand

b) Blinds 25,50 1 caller i make it 150 with AhKh and guy calls behind me and initial caller calls.
Flop is K75 rainbow check i bet 300 guy behind folds and other guy flat calls. Consider this suspicious as no raise if KQ and what can he be holding to flat call, 86std mayb or something bigger.
Turn = 10h giving me the flush draw as well as top pair. Chk Chk (As im suspicious of flop call and wanna take free shot at nut flush)
River = 5h giving me the flush but pairing the board , hmm. At this point my brother standing behind me looks excited but im explaining how i didnt like the flop call and wanna see if he bets the 600 i expect him to into the 1075 pot with a full house (or hopefully a bluff or KQ) . He bets 550 and i cant fold this online so im glad ive slowed the betting up because i tell my brother ive gotta call and i expect him to hold 77.
77 is shown and i lose to a full house with nut flush (ask my brother if u dont believe me !!)
He had a good stack of over 3k at this point and i wonder how much i would have got if the heart hadnt paired the board but escaped well so happy enough.

Anyway i get back to 8k again soon after this and stay at this stack for a long time as the blinds go up. I then get a few hands and get up to 12k before the hand ive mentioned above.

c) Button AQ raise 300 blind to 900, small blind goes 4200 allin , i call hoping its a resteal , he shows A5off and catches a 4th heart on the river to give him a flush with the 5 in his hand , OUCH. Down to 7k at 150,300 and very annoyed. Pot was to get back into the top 10 with hmm maybe 80-90 players left.

Still fuming from the above and only about 6-7hands later

d) KK early position, i flat call 300 determined to trap someone and risk my chips after the above. Guy 2 to my left raises to 1200, now its been a long time since i havent gone back over the top allin (8-9 times/10 i probably would) but i dont wanna give this guy a chance to fold when im playing 7k and still well away from the money (pays to 50).
Flop is a awful A97 (2 diamonds) and i reluctantly check hoping to pick up on his bet size.
He bets 2700 of his 6k stack into the 3k pot, i take until nearly the last second to decide on instinct he would have bet less if he had a big ace so i shut my eyes (not really) and move 6k all in. Appears the time i took helped because he called me instantly with 1010 and i was up to 15k and into the top 10 or so. Probably without doubt the call (or raise) of the month for me.

Anyway i springboarded forwards with this stack picking up JJ on a ten high flop for a nice pot and then busting a 8k stack playing JJ slow and hitting trips, fortunately he obliged by betting his last 5k at the river with king high !

Went a bit card dead around the bubble and below but did steal enough to sustain my 30k stack and was basically drifting from top few to 10th or 11th. I did lose a 55 vs 88 for 15k that didnt help when i was pot committed to a short stacks allin.

Anyway into the last 40 and i tightened up 10 handed. Playing a 25k stack i then decided to play aa slow when utg raised the 1200 big blind to 3600. Flop was a J85 (2 spades) and he bet 8400 into the approx 10k pot, ideal i must be ahead and i decide to flat call hoping he puts me on a draw and moves in on the turn with or without a hand. Turn is a nasty looking J but im still convinced im ahead and decide to check after he checks hoping to induce a river call or bet. River is a 10 and he now bets 7k and i decide i have to call , still believing im ahead if im honest but not believing enough to stick my last 6k in as well. The guy shows JJ for quad Jacks ......!!! OUCH.

I immediately recognise that if i had overraised preflop or played the hand at my normal speed of betting i would have bust completely but im left with a 6k stack and chance to recover.

I push with J10off and am uncalled to get to 7-8k then i push allin on my small blind with A7off only to run into the chipleaders 1010 in the big blind !!! No help and im out 32nd for a 15k pot, no 2nd chance with the 6k i somehow kept from the quad jacks hand , damn.

For the record i lost a 40k pot on the JJJJ and im convinced ive played it well anyway and have just been very unluck not to get a double up and move into the top 5 at the time.

Summary

No big money but a cash and some nice poker play by myself before running into the quads. Had some nice pocket and flop cards but not everything held up or got lucky so overall the luck factor could have been better or worse and i believe was somewhere in the middle.

Other tournaments included busting AA vs AQstd for a pot to go 70/138 stack of 5500 on blinds of 100,200 in the £27 10k. 414 entrants so bit annoying but at the time left me just in the 50k and i hoped the luck would balance out in that.