Finally

After playing online poker for four and a half years now, it finally happened. I've had bigger cashes than this, I've won countless SNGs, and I've taken down a blogger tourney or two.

But today, I finally stopped finishing second and took down a (non-blogger) MTT:

















And in NLO8 of all games. Crazy. There are far better O8 players than I, but this is proof that there are far worse players as well.

After debating between this and the Double Deuce, I signed up for this on a whim because I figured if I was going to take down an MTT, I'd like to do it in under 5 hours (the DD is still going as I write this). It wasn't even until 20 minutes in that I realized it was NL, not PL.

I doubled up early when I scooped a pot against a very loose caller with a fortuitous deuce on the river:

Full Tilt Poker Game #12142403417: $10 + $1 Tournament (90699743), Table 4 - 15/30 - No Limit Omaha H/L - 17:00:53 ET - 2009/05/10
Seat 1: UF_man3 (4,395)
Seat 2: sarcel (3,640)
Seat 3: IN_DA_WIND (3,330)
Seat 4: holdmyown31 (2,835)
Seat 5: mclarich (2,880)
Seat 6: marie1953 (1,265)
Seat 7: jb 0624 (1,725)
Seat 8: BJ824 (3,900)
Seat 9: nibiru (2,880)
IN_DA_WIND posts the small blind of 15
holdmyown31 posts the big blind of 30
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to mclarich [3c Ah Th Ac]
mclarich raises to 120
marie1953 folds
jb 0624 calls 120
BJ824 folds
nibiru calls 120
UF_man3 folds
sarcel calls 120
IN_DA_WIND folds
holdmyown31 folds
*** FLOP *** [6c Ts 2h]
mclarich bets 390
jb 0624 calls 390
nibiru has 15 seconds left to act
nibiru calls 390
sarcel folds
*** TURN *** [6c Ts 2h] [7c]
mclarich bets 1,230
jb 0624 has 15 seconds left to act
jb 0624 folds
nibiru has 15 seconds left to act
nibiru raises to 2,370, and is all in
mclarich calls 1,140, and is all in
nibiru shows [7d 5d 6h 3s]
mclarich shows [3c Ah Th Ac]
*** RIVER *** [6c Ts 2h 7c] [2d]
nibiru shows two pair, Sevens and Sixes, for high and 7,6,5,3,2, for low
mclarich shows two pair, Aces and Twos, for high and 7,6,3,2,A, for low
mclarich wins the high pot (3,218) with two pair, Aces and Twos
mclarich wins the low pot (3,217) with 7,6,3,2,A

I lost some chips later against an anonymous frequenter of blogger tournaments who called my reraise with A359 all diamonds and flopped nut-nut against my AA48 on a 254 flop. Amazingly, I still had outs to chop & to scoop with the 3h; not surprisingly, I didn't get there.

About an hour in, the pushmonkeys started thinning out, and we were able to actually have some post-flop action. I was the victor of an unlucky setup hand for the other guy here to chip up some more:

Full Tilt Poker Game #12143878359: $10 + $1 Tournament (90699743), Table 15 - 80/160 - No Limit Omaha H/L - 18:12:00 ET - 2009/05/10
Seat 1: tbone5700 (8,743)
Seat 2: HOKIE ACES (6,413)
Seat 3: VictoRev (2,131)
Seat 4: mclarich (11,553)
Seat 5: RASN_Player (4,738)
Seat 6: assblaster4000 (7,489)
Seat 7: 24fan48 (2,435)
Seat 8: Zed Corleone (786)
VictoRev posts the small blind of 80
mclarich posts the big blind of 160
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to mclarich [Jc Js 2c Ks]
mikethemiz1800 sits down
mikethemiz1800 adds 2,830
RASN_Player folds
assblaster4000 calls 160
24fan48 folds
Zed Corleone folds
tbone5700 folds
HOKIE ACES calls 160
VictoRev has 15 seconds left to act
VictoRev calls 80
mclarich checks
*** FLOP *** [9d 7s Jh]
VictoRev checks
mclarich bets 480
assblaster4000 folds
HOKIE ACES calls 480
VictoRev folds
*** TURN *** [9d 7s Jh] [Ac]
mclarich checks
HOKIE ACES checks
*** RIVER *** [9d 7s Jh Ac] [9s]
mclarich bets 1,120
HOKIE ACES has 15 seconds left to act
HOKIE ACES raises to 2,560
mclarich raises to 8,480
HOKIE ACES calls 3,213, and is all in
Uncalled bet of 2,707 returned to mclarich
*** SHOW DOWN ***
mclarich shows [Jc Js 2c Ks] a full house, Jacks full of Nines, for high
HOKIE ACES mucks
mclarich wins the pot (13,146) with a full house, Jacks full of Nines
No low hand qualified
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 13,146 | Rake 0
Board: [9d 7s Jh Ac 9s]
Seat 2: HOKIE ACES (button) mucked [6h 9c Kc Jd] - HI: a full house, Nines full of Jacks
Seat 4: mclarich (big blind) showed [Jc Js 2c Ks] and won (13,146) with HI: a full house, Jacks full of Nines

Even more chips were sent my way when some clown shipped me 2\3rds of her stack with nothing but the nut flush draw:

Full Tilt Poker Game #12144652239: $10 + $1 Tournament (90699743), Table 5 - 200/400 Ante 50 - No Limit Omaha H/L - 18:49:25 ET - 2009/05/10
Seat 1: skotina (9,787)
Seat 2: patti8989 (30,243)
Seat 4: mclarich (20,627)
Seat 5: WTFseeB8 (2,053)
Seat 6: SergioHilel (5,067)
Seat 7: Mr Hi Rollller (6,789)
Seat 8: ntngu (1,708)
Seat 9: martukemun (4,113)
skotina antes 50
patti8989 antes 50
mclarich antes 50
WTFseeB8 antes 50
SergioHilel antes 50
Mr Hi Rollller antes 50
ntngu antes 50
martukemun antes 50
mclarich posts the small blind of 200
WTFseeB8 posts the big blind of 400
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to mclarich [Tc Td 6c Qd]
SergioHilel has 15 seconds left to act
SergioHilel folds
Mr Hi Rollller folds
ntngu folds
martukemun folds
skotina folds
patti8989 calls 400
mclarich calls 200
WTFseeB8 checks
*** FLOP *** [Th Kd 3d]
mclarich bets 800
WTFseeB8 raises to 1,603, and is all in
patti8989 calls 1,603
mclarich raises to 4,800
patti8989 calls 3,197
*** TURN *** [Th Kd 3d] [9h]
mclarich bets 15,377, and is all in
patti8989 calls 15,377
mclarich shows [Tc Td 6c Qd]
WTFseeB8 shows [Ks 5h Kh 5d]
patti8989 shows [7c 4c 4d Ad]
*** RIVER *** [Th Kd 3d 9h] [3c]
mclarich shows a full house, Tens full of Threes, for high
patti8989 shows two pair, Fours and Threes, for high
mclarich wins the side pot (37,148) with a full house, Tens full of Threes
WTFseeB8 shows a full house, Kings full of Threes, for high
WTFseeB8 wins the main pot (6,409) with a full house, Kings full of Threes
No low hand qualified

That moved me into the top 3 with 4 tables left.

I got horribly lucky here when I miscalled this guy's OBFV. I wasn't paying attention and didn't realize he shoved until it was too late; I thought I was only calling a small bet at first. Luckily the river gave me the scoop:

Full Tilt Poker Game #12145878243: $10 + $1 Tournament (90699743), Table 12 - 800/1600 Ante 200 - No Limit Omaha H/L - 19:53:31 ET - 2009/05/10
Seat 1: mclarich (44,013)
Seat 2: sunbirdflying (32,536)
Seat 3: garfield86 (21,934)
Seat 4: krazy kdub (106,144)
Seat 5: miller2009 (96,717)
Seat 7: whadaplayer (23,880)
Seat 9: CallmeDee (20,252)
mclarich antes 200
sunbirdflying antes 200
garfield86 antes 200
krazy kdub antes 200
miller2009 antes 200
whadaplayer antes 200
CallmeDee antes 200
sunbirdflying posts the small blind of 800
garfield86 posts the big blind of 1,600
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to mclarich [Ah 9s 7d 2d]
krazy kdub calls 1,600
miller2009 folds
whadaplayer calls 1,600
CallmeDee folds
mclarich calls 1,600
sunbirdflying calls 800
garfield86 checks
*** FLOP *** [5d Kd 8c]
sunbirdflying has 15 seconds left to act
sunbirdflying bets 30,736, and is all in
garfield86 folds
krazy kdub folds
whadaplayer folds
mclarich calls 30,736
sunbirdflying shows [Kc Kh As 5s]
mclarich shows [Ah 9s 7d 2d]
*** TURN *** [5d Kd 8c] [Th]
*** RIVER *** [5d Kd 8c Th] [Jh]
sunbirdflying shows three of a kind, Kings, for high
mclarich shows a straight, Jack high, for high
mclarich wins the pot (70,872) with a straight, Jack high
No low hand qualified

Still in the top 3 but separating ourselves from the rest of the pack, I get a huge double up through the chipleader here who outflopped me for the high but I get runner-runner for the low then the scoop:

Full Tilt Poker Game #12146210849: $10 + $1 Tournament (90699743), Table 12 - 1000/2000 Ante 250 - No Limit Omaha H/L - 20:12:29 ET - 2009/05/10
Seat 1: mclarich (77,049)
Seat 2: Emrald (24,595)
Seat 3: garfield86 (19,734)
Seat 4: krazy kdub (102,469)
Seat 5: miller2009 (80,917)
Seat 6: dreamer86 (78,231)
Seat 7: whadaplayer (26,480)
Seat 8: marie1953 (27,001), is sitting out
Seat 9: CallmeDee (22,752)
mclarich antes 250
Emrald antes 250
garfield86 antes 250
krazy kdub antes 250
miller2009 antes 250
dreamer86 antes 250
whadaplayer antes 250
marie1953 antes 250
CallmeDee antes 250
Emrald posts the small blind of 1,000
garfield86 posts the big blind of 2,000
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to mclarich [Kh Ah 3c As]
krazy kdub calls 2,000
miller2009 folds
dreamer86 has 15 seconds left to act
dreamer86 folds
whadaplayer folds
marie1953 folds
CallmeDee folds
mclarich raises to 10,000
Emrald folds
garfield86 folds
krazy kdub calls 8,000
*** FLOP *** [Js 6h 2c]
krazy kdub checks
mclarich bets 14,000
krazy kdub raises to 92,219, and is all in
mclarich calls 52,799, and is all in
krazy kdub shows [4h 2d Ad Jh]
mclarich shows [Kh Ah 3c As]
Uncalled bet of 25,420 returned to krazy kdub
*** TURN *** [Js 6h 2c] [7s]
*** RIVER *** [Js 6h 2c 7s] [7h]
krazy kdub shows two pair, Jacks and Sevens, for high and 7,6,4,2,A, for low
mclarich shows two pair, Aces and Sevens, for high and 7,6,3,2,A, for low
mclarich wins the high pot (79,424) with two pair, Aces and Sevens
mclarich wins the low pot (79,424) with 7,6,3,2,A

I build my stack some more, getting to the final table with a sizeable stack vs the rest of the table:

Seat 1: BIGSTICK1952 (61,546)
Seat 2: miller2009 (18,756)
Seat 3: bennynick1011 (101,950)
Seat 4: marie1953 (4,301)
Seat 5: CallmeDee (38,622)
Seat 6: dreamer86 (90,222)
Seat 7: superiorbath (86,206)
Seat 8: Mr Hi Rollller (38,400)
Seat 9: mclarich (270,997)

Within the first couple of hands, I use my stack to start bullying the table, including this hand against the 2nd place stack:


Full Tilt Poker Game #12146689864: $10 + $1 Tournament (90699743), Table 25 - 1500/3000 Ante 400 - No Limit Omaha H/L - 20:36:12 ET - 2009/05/10
Seat 1: BIGSTICK1952 (57,346)
Seat 2: miller2009 (17,556)
Seat 3: bennynick1011 (100,750)
Seat 4: marie1953 (3,101)
Seat 5: CallmeDee (37,822)
Seat 6: dreamer86 (100,522)
Seat 7: superiorbath (83,506)
Seat 8: Mr Hi Rollller (32,700)
Seat 9: mclarich (277,697)
BIGSTICK1952 antes 400
miller2009 antes 400
bennynick1011 antes 400
marie1953 antes 400
CallmeDee antes 400
dreamer86 antes 400
superiorbath antes 400
Mr Hi Rollller antes 400
mclarich antes 400
BIGSTICK1952 posts the small blind of 1,500
miller2009 posts the big blind of 3,000
The button is in seat #9
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to mclarich [Kc As 9h Ah]
bennynick1011 has 15 seconds left to act
bennynick1011 raises to 14,100
marie1953 folds
CallmeDee folds
dreamer86 folds
superiorbath folds
Mr Hi Rollller folds
mclarich raises to 117,000
BIGSTICK1952 folds
miller2009 folds
bennynick1011 calls 86,250, and is all in
mclarich shows [Kc As 9h Ah]
bennynick1011 shows [Jh Ad 8s 3s]
Uncalled bet of 16,650 returned to mclarich
*** FLOP *** [2c 2h Kh]
*** TURN *** [2c 2h Kh] [Tc]
*** RIVER *** [2c 2h Kh Tc] [Kd]
mclarich shows three of a kind, Kings, for high
bennynick1011 shows a pair of Kings, for high
mclarich wins the pot (208,800) with three of a kind, Kings
No low hand qualified
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 208,800 | Rake 0
Board: [2c 2h Kh Tc Kd]

Unbelievable that he gets all this way just to call off his stack with no pair, no A2. At least he was double sooted, but still.

At that point I had just over half the chips in play with 8 people left and almost a 4:1 lead over 2nd place. Even better, the table REALLY tightened up, allowing me to build my stack to almost 500k without seeing a showdown. By the time we got down to three, victory seemed like an inevitability:

Seat 5: CallmeDee (54,704)
Seat 7: superiorbath (43,034)
Seat 9: mclarich (613,262)

And it was. My stack never dropped below 530k from that point forward, and I wrapped up the win just a couple hands later.

......

I was absent from the online game for the past several months, but I have to say I've made quite the return. One month ago to the date, I redeposited on FTP just enough to play around with. $60 to be exact. Suffice to say it's been a pretty good month; between this cash and a good run in the Super Turbos, I'm back up to a four digit bankroll again. Add to that the seat in the TOC that I luckboxed my way into...it's hard to ask for a better return to online poker.