Impatience, Aggression Pay Off for MattG

Being known as a tight player who plays only premium hands has its advantages and disadvantages. Typically when MattG makes a big bet, someone at the table says, "well, Matt has a hand" and everyone folds. This is helpful in that it allows him to throw out some bluffs occasionally, knowing nobody will likely go with him. However, it becomes very boring over time and can cause much bleeding of chips when you sit there for 1-2 hours waiting for some great cards to come.

So, whether it was related to his impatience or a change in gameplan, MattG changed things up on Thursday and it paid off with his second career win.

It was a great atmosphere as the event was held at the Wooly Toad at Newcastle. Seven players showed up meaning that getting to the final four guaranteed you at least a point for the standings. It started out fairly conservatively as the only real drama was wondering whether Tyler's food poisoning would cause him to push early or if he could stick it out.

Ben got out to a big start (what's new?) and took control of the table, but his lead would take a number of hits along the way as it wasn't meant to be his night (more on that later). Dave was the first victim of the night when he caught pocket Ks, only to be beaten by MattG's pocket 3s which became a set on the flop.

Facing a dwindling stack, Brett pushed with big stack Ben, winning out with A6 over Ben's A5 thanks to an A-A-6 flop that gave Brett the boat right off the bat. He was back in it and would start to throw his weight around as the game progressed.

Jamie was the next to go out as he pushed all in along with Chris, being called by Ben. It was three players with a small sidepot for Jamie and Ben...in the end, Ben's flopped AJ gave him aces up, but he was beaten on the river when Chris completed his flush. The sidepot with Jamie was small consolation for Ben as his stack was now one of the lowest at the table.

It wasn't long till Ben pushed with KJ and was called by Tyler's A9. The flop showed an ace and it held up as the season leader in points went out with his first zero in a long time. The win for Tyler put him in contention, as well.

Chris' stack was starting to get a bit low so he lit up when he saw AK in his hand and pushed after the flop, to be called by Brett who had QQ (which made a set on the flop) and we were down to the money with three players left. Chris did earn a point for fourth and promptly left without paying his entry fee. :)

With just Tyler, Brett and MattG remaining, it was no surprise to see Brett start to throw out some big bets, especially when seeing signs of weakness. He took the blinds 3 or 4 times before MattG became impatient and decided to call his all-in. Brett was dominated as his A2 was beaten by MattG's A4 (the 4 pairing for Matt). It was a big blow to Brett's stack and put MattG in the lead. The next hand MattG looked down to find pocket 10s and went all-in with Brett again. Despite facing an over card, the 10s held up and in two hands Brett went from chip leader to out of the tournament.

His backside raw from multiple trips to the Newcastle bathroom and eyeing a small stack, Tyler pushed two hands later and MattG's A-10 held up to win it. I had to take the opportunity to tease Tyler for his issues on Thursday but in fairness, to fight off that illness and still finish second is one of the better showings in Camel Tour history.

Event #3 Standings:
1) MattG
2) Tyler
3) Brett
4) Chris
5) Ben
6) Jamie
7) Dave