by pokermlt
Vanja Torbarov about the Unibet Open Malta 2011
3:56 pm in Interviews, Live Poker, Portomaso Casino, Unibet Open Malta 2011 by pokermlt
Vanja Torbarov Unibet Open Malta 2011
Amongst the crowds of players who took part at the Unibet Open Malta Poker Tournament, we took a minute with local player, Vanja Torbarov’s, after he exited the tournament for an in depth look at his tournament progression. Whilst commenting on the tournament itself, he also gave us a technical look into some of his plays throughout the early stages of the tournament, as well as the most crucial hands in his Unibet Open experience.
PM: What attracted you to take part in this tourney
VT: I missed a few of these International tourneys recently as I was abroad and couldn’t play. I was speaking with some colleagues of mine who mentioned the tournament to me and thought, ‘why not?’. I wanted the experience but I didn’t have time for satellites so I invested the €1,700 buy-in and gave it my best.
PM: What were your impressions of the tournament
VT: Well, I didn’t last too long, but while I was there it all seemed to go fairly well. The tournament was well organized, I cannot complain, smooth registration without queues; Tourney started on time…so really it was all fine.
PM: Your thoughts about the tournament structure and your progress?
VT: Maybe for €1,650 we could have had 20k to start off with, but the blinds were slow so it compensates. When I went out, before the hand started, I managed to come back to 8k. Previously I had dropped to about 5/6 k and I picked some hand then went up to 8k. With the BB at 150 its still a decent stack, but then….
I tried to be more active than usual but it didn’t work out. Possibly I was too active before then and I think my table image was ruined. Not ruined as such, but it was that of a player who is quite loose, so stealing pots became a bit difficult – but then again it could have worked in my favour if the right cards come along.
PM: Did you pick any decent cards whist at the tables?
VT: I picked up some nice cards on the first level. I got dealt a pair of Jacks and I was second to act preflop so I rased 3xBB. I got 3 callers and I hit my jack on the flop. The flop was AJ5 rainbow and I thought it was pretty good…. Two checks and I placed another bet, but all of them folded and that was a missed opportunity to make some chips with my ‘loose’ table image.
Next I had 98 and the BB placed a mininum raise of 2 x the BB. I called and the flop showed a 996. Again I bet out, trying to disguise the trips, but my opponents folded. Those were two hands where I could have made some cash but failed to do so.
I was pretty card dead throughout the whole tourney. It was a bit difficult as I had to play with a wide range of cards. I was trying to still be aggressive and raise in position whilst trying to control the pot but things weren’t really going my way.
PM: Which was the most crucial hand you played in the tourney?
VT: There was one crucial hand where I was on the button and a very active player open raised 3x BB. I was cutoff plus one, and I raised to 700 thinking I could cause him to fold. It was a bit imaginative especially since I only held 65h. There was a 3x bet from the SB to 1500 and that’s where my mistake was, I should have given it up, but I had the button and I reasoned that if I hit well it would be disguised and I could extract something out of it. The flop was a disaster for my play, AKT and no hearts, plus my opponent bet out 50% of the pot. I raised to about 5,000 chips, but he shoved. I had to fold…that was a big loss. From that point onwards I did not ever have more than 60% of the starting stack.
PM: So how did it go form there on?
I was quite short….I only had around 4.5k, then I managed to get my stack up to around 8,000 chips by taking some pots down. That is when I got dealt the magically inspiring AA whilst under the gun.
The blinds were 75/150, I raised to 425 from my position UTG and both the button and the BB just flat called. The flop came Q high rainbow, I bet out 750, and I got called from the button. The BB folded so it was a heads up – just me and this guy. The turn came as a Ten and then I bet the pot, he again just flat called and the river came a jack which was quite a bad hand because he could have hit his two pair. I thought to myself ‘either the turn or river gave him two pairs’…but at that point I had 4k left, I checked, he shoved and I guess that I could have folded but I was already frustrated that I was short stacked, and I didn’t want to continue the tourney with 4,000 chips…the pot would have got me back to average stack ….but I called and he showed his two outer ten ……He hadn’t raised on the flop!
PM: What can you tell us about the players you were up against?
VT: The standard was good but it was nothing too overwhelming. I didn’t feel that there were players that could outplay me. I think it was ok value. It would have been nice to grab something from the tourney because the prize pool was quite big. Overall I would say that it was a valuable tournament to play considering the average standard of the players and the attractive size of the prize-pool.
PM: Vanja, many thanks for your time. We’re sure that we’ll see you at some final table in the near future! Till next time.
VT: Will do! Thanks!
Related posts:
