APL Vietnam Report and Latest Updates

Sorry for not updating sooner. APL Vietnam was another brutal rollercoaster ride for me. I made 2 final tables best finish was 5th but still could not win key flips to turn a series into a great one. If you ask me the most painful part of being a poker player is making the right decisions but end up losing the pot. Because the event was about 2 weeks ago now, and at my age my memory is not what it used to be, so please forgive me if I am being vague about certain hand history.

On the button I had AJo I opened and the blinds called. Flop was AKx two clubs. I cbet and bb raises a ridiculous amount, almost 1.5x the pot. Bb was a Vietnamese recreational player and their moves can be very predictable. I know he has a combo draw where if I reraise here he is incapable of folding. So I flat. Turn comes and non club blank and he checks. I decided to put him all in and he snap calls with K9cc. River drops 5c to award him a huge pot and I am crippled.

This time I am facing a strong Singaporean player. Utg opens and I call in MP with ATo, villain calls on the button and bb completes. Flop comes KKTcc and preflop raiser checks. I elect to check and now button leads. I made a check raise knowing that he does not have a King and he reraises me. I put him all in and he calls with Q6cc. Again, river club.

In the high roller event hijack opens and I am on the big blind with AA. We are heads up so I decided to trap. Flop comes KT2cc. Oh no, not clubs again. I check he bets, I check raise, he reraise I jam he calls with QTss. Turn spade river spade. Oh by the way I had the ace of spade too.

In one of the side events I was probably 5th in chips when I had TT utg +1. I opened and middle position fish jams for 40bb+. I put him on exactly AK hating to play postflop. If I win this hand I will become chip leader and probably guarantee a cash. So I called and indeed he flips over AK and river comes an Ace. Maybe I need to change my name to be Bad Beat River instead of Happy River.

Enough whining and complaining, we all know the variance in poker so it's nothing new. But it does hurt when it comes in waves relentlessly. Some good things did happen to me too. Being a nice guy on the table and friendly with most people, I think people see me as a nice guy. I am one of the rare players that do not partake in after poker parties, don't drink, don't smoke, walks away from a beat usually with a smile (I am doing this less and less now). My friend Ashley had a suite booked for a few nights but decided to cancel so he offered me to stay there for free. The suite was amazing.

Amazing breakfast

So far this year I've had 11 cashes, including 5 FTs and 1 trophy. Almost more than what I achieved in 2018. But I am tired of the tournament grind, bad beats, shallow runs, and the disappointments. So I decided to go back to cash games for a while, at least the next month or two. I will definitely keep you updated here.