canterbury survival

I went to canterbury on wednesday night with the intention of leaving by 2 for sure because I needed to wake up the next day to play the tournament...This was looking very possible as the 30/60 game was down to me and another guy and he is a regular worker who probably wasn't hanging around too much longer.. when a business man/poker player approached our table looking to play anyone in the building heads up survival. Survival poker is canterbury's way of getting around the max bet of $60 in minnesota. Basically you play for 2 hours and then at you cash in your 'tournament chips' for their equivalent value in dollars. You can also 'rebuy' when you have half a stack or less.

I had played in a couple $200 and $500 survivals and had quite a blast. Just the change of pace of NL and playing with more recreational/social players led to a very fun poker game. The biggest Canterbury had ever had up to this point was $1000 survivals so when we told them we wanted a $2500 survival it created a little buzz in the room. We had actually agreed on 3k but so far their only approved for 2500. One of the other rules for the gaming commission is you need to have escalating blinds, so we agreed on 5/10 for the first hour and 10/20 for the second hour. Long story short I coolered him twice and won a few other pots so had stacked him twice in 35 minutes. I was pumped, I hadn't played heads up nl person to person in a long while and playing it for meaningful stakes got my adrenaline going. Almost all of my NL heads up online is $1/2 with some 2/4-5/10 but I've decided not to play 10/20nl+ because of a couple bad sessions that threw off all my hard work I just don't feel like dealing with.

The first had I had JJ vs 98 on the 994J4 board. I would have gone broke with his hand too. The 2nd one was my 8h6h vs his Kc9c on the 9h6s4h3hKd I probably would have lost the same amount in his spot so again, nothing but luck on my side. He finally went bust when he 3 bet and called my 4bet with J8s vs my TT. I had lost a bit at 30/60 so I didn't end up as much but it ended the night well and early and I got to go home and get some sleep.

The next day I played the tourney I didn't really ever get anything going. I did flop the first set I can remember in a tournament and win a nice pot only to lose an equal one the next hand buffing off some chips. I busted by making 3 7's vs a flush. Nothing I could have done so out I was. I played some 30/60 for awhile during rush hour before going home.

I'm gonna wake up early tomorrow to play the main event...wish me luck!