As well as I was able to finish day 1 of the main event of the CAPT Graz, day 2 started badly for me. From the beginning, I took the initiative at my table and because of that, my stack shrank almost 30 percent. Thirty percent really hurts this later phase of the tournament. Nonetheless, I was able to build up my stack again through pre-flop games, which is easier in this phase than in the beginning of a tournament because of the high blinds and antes. The field was slowly being depleted and when there were only 11 of us left, so we were playing for the bubble, it came to the following situation: I raised in the middle position with a pair of 7’s. The player in the big blind, Piotr Jopp – who would later be the winner of the tournament – took a short time to consider and pushed all-in. I called. I rejoiced as my opponent turned over his cards because he showed me a pair of fives but as is common in poker, the joy was short-lived since the flop brought a five that grinned mockingly at me and the turn and river were also unable to save me with a seven. This action shrank my stack down to 60k among an average of 100k but after a short time and entirely without a showdown, it was back up to 95k.

Just a short while later, while still battling for the bubble, I was dealt a pair of kings. I sat in position UTG+3 and raised to 22k. The young woman from Berlin, Sanda Naujoks, who I, by the way, consider to be a very talented player since she was participating in a tournament of this size for the first time in her life and got 5th place, raised all-in. I called, more or less without thinking about it, which made sense because I felt fairly comfortable with my cowboys. When she showed me A-Qs, I decided not to get excited this time and what a wise decision that was, because yet again the flop blew my beautiful kings away with an ace. Again, the turn and river don’t bring me any help. But then just two games later I began my revenge. This time I was the one who pushed his entire stack into the middle. My position was UTG+1 and the first card I was dealt was an ace. I announced my all-in without having seen the second card. Sanda Naujoks actually called me, which cost her 40,500 in chips. As I turned over my cards, my second card turned out to be a three, Sanda held A-Q again, this time offsuit. The flop brought 9-T-J, no chance for a backdoor flush draw for me. Now the only thing that could protect me from being eliminated in the wretched bubble position was a three. The turn brought a 7, which I actually would have preferred a few games earlier. In my mind, I had already started to accept ending up in eleventh place as a three actually came at the river. Wow, so not the bubble boy of the main event. Salvation in the last second. I said to Sandra that there is still a bit of fairness in poker and that this game will certainly not be our last meeting at the table. I would be proved correct …

When the bubble boy of the main event was finally found – Tobias Reinkemeier received the less than honorable title – we all took a break. My stack size was unfortunately not so overwhelming that it would have allowed me to have it easy and after taking a look at the prize money, I decided to really put on the pressure as long as it was possible. Then it came to the following game: in the middle position I raised with Q♥-9♥ and was called by a player, actually a female player. That’s right; I was battling with Sandra Naujoks for the chips again. The flop came with J♣-T♣-7♥; at this point there was 67k in the pot. Following my pre-flop raise, I still had exactly 66,500 clips left so I decided to go all-in. Sandra called with A-J. Yet again, the turn and river didn’t bring me any help and so I had to be the first to leave the final table. So I got 10th place – I had to settle for 3190 euros in prize money. I see the last phase of my tournament ambivalently. If I had won with 77 against 55 and with KK against AQ, then I would have been the predominant chip leader, however, if it were not for the three that rushed to my aid at the river in the bubble phase, I would have left empty-handed. All in all, it was once again a very well organized tournament. I really like this CAPT series, since after all the years I’ve played poker abroad, I appreciate playing poker in the German-speaking world all the more.

Bye for now

Markus Golser