Played in the regular game Tuesday night. I have to say this was one of the quickest exits I have had from any tourney. I was out in about 10 hands. Here is the gist of it. There was a new guy at my table. I had never played with him. Out of the 10 hands I saw at the table he raised pre-flop on about 6 or 7 of them. I just knew he couldn't have a hand everytime.
So the 10th hand comes around. I am in decent position. I look down at an AcJc. I raise it about 4 times the BB. It gets around to the new guy in the BB. He raises me triple my bet. It gets back to me I think for a minute...he could have a variety of hands, and there really weren't too many hands that I would be a total dog to. I decided to push it all in and just try to take the pot right there. I push all in. The new guy says well if you got aces I guess I'm headed home early tonight. Right then I knew he had kings. Sure enough, he flips over KcKd. He is about 70% to win the hand. I whiff big time and I'm bounced from the tourney...1st one out!! Woohoo!!
I wasn't upset about it at all. He was raising too many hands pre-flop for me to give him any respect. I decided to test his hand. I figured there were only about 5 or 6 hands that I would be a huge underdog to. It just turned out I picked the wrong hand to test.
One of my good buddies took a pretty bad beat and was knocked out shortly after me. So we decided to play some heads up. We played best two out of three rounds. He took the first round, and I took the next two.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Cooler??
I hosted a little 2 table tourney at my place Friday night. Pretty good turn out- 20 players. As usual I was looking forward to playing my table. Good mix of players. Some I could play straight up, and others I could just push around.
I started off well. I built up a nice chip stack. I took 2 players out and crippled a couple more. We got down to the final table, and I think I was second in chips. There was a guy from the other table who had me by about 2 or 3 big blinds. It just so happened that he was sitting to my immediate right. It sure was nice to have position on the other big stack at the table. Well, it WAS nice until one hand. I'm in the BB (other big stack in the SB). It folds all the way around the table the SB calls. I check my cards- Jc10d. I might think about a raise against a lower stack or a soft player, but this guy had chips and he is a bit of a calling station. I elect to just check. I tell myself I am not going to get involved unless I hit something. Why risk it. I am still a big stack at the table. I can pick a better opponent to steal from. The flop:
10c10h9h
Ding ding ding...I would say that I hit that flop pretty good. He checks to me. Now, I know this guy loves to draw to hands. In the past I have seen him put huge amounts of chips into the pot on mid range flush draws or straight draws. I decide to bet. I throw out about 3/4 the pot. He calls. The Turn:
5d
That card helps nothing. He checks. I bet out again- about a pot sized bet. He raises me. He throws in triple my raise. I wasn't expecting that at all. I think for a second. What hands could have me beat? The odds of him having another 10 are slim. I go through the hands. I rule out pocket 9's and 5's. He would have raised pre-flop with those hands. I felt that he would have also raised (in a blind Vs blind situation) with A 10, K 10 or maybe even Q 10. The only other hand I could put him on would be a 9 10 or 5 10, but I kept thinking of those odds...of him having the other 10.
I decide to re-raise. At this point the pot is big enough, and I would be happy to take it just as it is. I push all in. He insta-calls. I honestly thought I was still good. He flips his hand over. Ks10s. Oops! Man, did I screw that one up. I have 3 jacks in the deck, and of course, I miss on the river. I am busted out in 8th position.
So my question is, was that a cooler or did I just play it poorly? Could you have folded that hand?
I do know one mistake I made- not looking for a read. I am not saying that I am some awesome reader, but if I would have watched him when the flop hit maybe, just maybe, I could have seen something. Even if I did pick up on something I probably still going to get my money in there. The point is, I didn't even try to pick up on anything. That was a mistake on my part.
The night wasn't a total loss. After I cooled off I sat down at the cash game that had started up, and played pretty well. At the end of the night I cashed for a little more than double my buy in.
I started off well. I built up a nice chip stack. I took 2 players out and crippled a couple more. We got down to the final table, and I think I was second in chips. There was a guy from the other table who had me by about 2 or 3 big blinds. It just so happened that he was sitting to my immediate right. It sure was nice to have position on the other big stack at the table. Well, it WAS nice until one hand. I'm in the BB (other big stack in the SB). It folds all the way around the table the SB calls. I check my cards- Jc10d. I might think about a raise against a lower stack or a soft player, but this guy had chips and he is a bit of a calling station. I elect to just check. I tell myself I am not going to get involved unless I hit something. Why risk it. I am still a big stack at the table. I can pick a better opponent to steal from. The flop:
10c10h9h
Ding ding ding...I would say that I hit that flop pretty good. He checks to me. Now, I know this guy loves to draw to hands. In the past I have seen him put huge amounts of chips into the pot on mid range flush draws or straight draws. I decide to bet. I throw out about 3/4 the pot. He calls. The Turn:
5d
That card helps nothing. He checks. I bet out again- about a pot sized bet. He raises me. He throws in triple my raise. I wasn't expecting that at all. I think for a second. What hands could have me beat? The odds of him having another 10 are slim. I go through the hands. I rule out pocket 9's and 5's. He would have raised pre-flop with those hands. I felt that he would have also raised (in a blind Vs blind situation) with A 10, K 10 or maybe even Q 10. The only other hand I could put him on would be a 9 10 or 5 10, but I kept thinking of those odds...of him having the other 10.
I decide to re-raise. At this point the pot is big enough, and I would be happy to take it just as it is. I push all in. He insta-calls. I honestly thought I was still good. He flips his hand over. Ks10s. Oops! Man, did I screw that one up. I have 3 jacks in the deck, and of course, I miss on the river. I am busted out in 8th position.
So my question is, was that a cooler or did I just play it poorly? Could you have folded that hand?
I do know one mistake I made- not looking for a read. I am not saying that I am some awesome reader, but if I would have watched him when the flop hit maybe, just maybe, I could have seen something. Even if I did pick up on something I probably still going to get my money in there. The point is, I didn't even try to pick up on anything. That was a mistake on my part.
The night wasn't a total loss. After I cooled off I sat down at the cash game that had started up, and played pretty well. At the end of the night I cashed for a little more than double my buy in.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Tuesday Night
I played in two tournaments at the same time Tuesday night…it really didn’t work out too good. I played a live game of NLH, and at the same time sat there with my laptop and played a O8 tourney on Full Tilt. It was a pretty big mistake on both parts. I really don’t think I will do it again. I just couldn’t give the needed attention to each game.
My live table was an ok table. It was a bunch of the original guys from before we even started our league. It was cool to play against them all at the same time again. Actually, I was pretty excited to play against most of them, but the focus just wasn’t there. I was fumbling with my lap-top, trying to keep up with my hold ‘em hand, trying to pick up reads on the live table, watching for betting patterns on my on-line table, and trying to make sure I didn’t time out on-line (I timed out 3 of my first 5 hands). I just don’t think it was a good idea.
On to the live tourney- I really wasn’t catching many cards. I was able to make a couple of moves, but nothing big. My stack never really grew in the first few rounds, and with the structure the way it is…if you don’t build some chips early you are pretty much dead (unless you get some lucky hands). Soon I found myself with about 10 times the BB. Then the blinds went up and I was down to 5 times the BB. As soon as that happened I knew I was dead. Sure enough…I am out with in a few hands. I wasn’t bitter at all about busting out early. I was bitter for another reason.
Why is it that I let the play of a donkey bother me? I was sitting there (before I busted) watching a couple guys on the table come into hands with crap and end up taking the pot down. It was really bothering me. But Why? I shouldn’t care if they come in with crap. If they keep it up they aren’t going to have any long term success. They might get lucky for a tourney or two, but look at their results for a year- they are going to suck. So why is it bothering me? Why do I care that some guy wants to risk 80% of his stack on a pair with no kicker? I should be loving it- because I know I am going to get paid when I hit, but it just bothers me.
I know we aren't playing for millions of dollars, but I still try to play my best. I try to improve my game each time I sit down. I study the table, I look for reads, I watch how many hands people play, I try and remember any card I see a person flip over, I try to put my opponent on a hand, I try to represent hands to my opponent. I might be sitting there being still, but my brain is moving 90 miles an hour. So if I'm doing all that why does it tick me off when some fool gets lucky on me cause they played a garbage hand?
I wish I could give a clear cut answer, but I'm not sure what those magic words would be. I don't want to appear like a Phil Hellmuth poker brat, but sometimes that is what I feel like. I guess I just hate people who think they are better than they are. Who knows...maybe I am one of those players.
My live table was an ok table. It was a bunch of the original guys from before we even started our league. It was cool to play against them all at the same time again. Actually, I was pretty excited to play against most of them, but the focus just wasn’t there. I was fumbling with my lap-top, trying to keep up with my hold ‘em hand, trying to pick up reads on the live table, watching for betting patterns on my on-line table, and trying to make sure I didn’t time out on-line (I timed out 3 of my first 5 hands). I just don’t think it was a good idea.
On to the live tourney- I really wasn’t catching many cards. I was able to make a couple of moves, but nothing big. My stack never really grew in the first few rounds, and with the structure the way it is…if you don’t build some chips early you are pretty much dead (unless you get some lucky hands). Soon I found myself with about 10 times the BB. Then the blinds went up and I was down to 5 times the BB. As soon as that happened I knew I was dead. Sure enough…I am out with in a few hands. I wasn’t bitter at all about busting out early. I was bitter for another reason.
Why is it that I let the play of a donkey bother me? I was sitting there (before I busted) watching a couple guys on the table come into hands with crap and end up taking the pot down. It was really bothering me. But Why? I shouldn’t care if they come in with crap. If they keep it up they aren’t going to have any long term success. They might get lucky for a tourney or two, but look at their results for a year- they are going to suck. So why is it bothering me? Why do I care that some guy wants to risk 80% of his stack on a pair with no kicker? I should be loving it- because I know I am going to get paid when I hit, but it just bothers me.
I know we aren't playing for millions of dollars, but I still try to play my best. I try to improve my game each time I sit down. I study the table, I look for reads, I watch how many hands people play, I try and remember any card I see a person flip over, I try to put my opponent on a hand, I try to represent hands to my opponent. I might be sitting there being still, but my brain is moving 90 miles an hour. So if I'm doing all that why does it tick me off when some fool gets lucky on me cause they played a garbage hand?
I wish I could give a clear cut answer, but I'm not sure what those magic words would be. I don't want to appear like a Phil Hellmuth poker brat, but sometimes that is what I feel like. I guess I just hate people who think they are better than they are. Who knows...maybe I am one of those players.
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
The Great AAPC
Tuesday nights must be the night for poker. We had our league tourney last night, and let me just tell you…for a little home run poker league…we were packed! We had 38 players. It was pretty cool to see such a big turn out. I remember when my buddy and I first started playing with this crew. We were happy if we got 12 to 14 players, actually there were plenty of times we would be happy with 8 or 10!
But- check out our numbers for the last 3 Tuesday night games- 38, 30, and 31. The Friday night games are still doing ok…but no where near the Tuesday night number. The last couple Friday nights we had between 18 to 22.
I am just impressed with our little league. Now, I know that we weren’t the first home poker league, and I know we wont be the last. But I’d put us up against another league in a heart beat. Good job to everyone who helps us out:
1- Thanks to Shaunbusted (aka- Chickpeas) for coming up with this idea and getting the ball rolling. You are the man.
2- Thanks to Merlin for helping us understand the math behind our point system, and for having such a large head to house his super-computer of a brain.
3- Thanks to The Turtle for building us a sweet website. Not only can we sign up for a tournament weeks in advance, but it also tracks all our stats all season long!
4- Thanks to all our hosts for having such a good group of degenerates over to your home week in and week out…and sometimes twice a week!
5- Thanks to our board members for keeping everything running smooth! – The Shadow, Merlin, The Volcano, Shaunbusted, Steak, T&A. It is great to serve with you on the board you.
Long live the AAPC!
But- check out our numbers for the last 3 Tuesday night games- 38, 30, and 31. The Friday night games are still doing ok…but no where near the Tuesday night number. The last couple Friday nights we had between 18 to 22.
I am just impressed with our little league. Now, I know that we weren’t the first home poker league, and I know we wont be the last. But I’d put us up against another league in a heart beat. Good job to everyone who helps us out:
1- Thanks to Shaunbusted (aka- Chickpeas) for coming up with this idea and getting the ball rolling. You are the man.
2- Thanks to Merlin for helping us understand the math behind our point system, and for having such a large head to house his super-computer of a brain.
3- Thanks to The Turtle for building us a sweet website. Not only can we sign up for a tournament weeks in advance, but it also tracks all our stats all season long!
4- Thanks to all our hosts for having such a good group of degenerates over to your home week in and week out…and sometimes twice a week!
5- Thanks to our board members for keeping everything running smooth! – The Shadow, Merlin, The Volcano, Shaunbusted, Steak, T&A. It is great to serve with you on the board you.
Long live the AAPC!
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Some On-Line Play
I have been sick for about a week straight now. Man, it sucks. I really haven’t been pumped up about playing on-line, but I have been so freakin’ board I did anyway. I played a little PL Omaha earlier this week. I pretty much just broke even. Played a NLH sit and go and took third. I lost a race AQ vs JJ. Nothing too eventful.
So today, everyone in the house was taking a nap. I decided to see what was going on Full Tilt. I signed in and saw a buddy playing a Omaha Hi/Low tourney. It was a satellite into some other big event. I just watched a couple of hands, but it gave me the itch to play some O8ob. So I signed in to the next satellite (just as I was signing in my buddy took his down…nice job man!).
Play was absolutely insane early. Remember, this is a split pot game…I limp in with a decent little hand, but by the time the action got back around to me the betting had been capped with 4 people in the hand!! What idiots. I just took my time , waited for some solid hands, and chose my spots wisely.
Soon enough it is down to 5 players…with one maniac left. This guy is a total donkey. He came into a hand, for a pre-flop raise of course, with a 6A66. He goes runner runner for trip aces, and his opponent had missed his straight flush draw (there was no low). He scoops…that’s just sick. I ended up sending him to the rail though. I hit a flush with a 8543A low.
Once it got down 3 handed. I took down some monsters. I had AsKs2dKd and scooped a huge one to take a big lead. Actually I let the two shorter stacks take each other out and I still had my heads up opponent by 1.5 to one. I ended up going on to take the sit and go down. Sweet! Now my buddy and I are going to have to see who lasts longer in the next tourney!
After Full Tilt I went over to Ultimate Bet. I just played in one low limit sit and go. It was a decent showing. I took third, and got a little more than my buy in back. The thing that ticked me off was getting knocked out. It was a battle of the blinds (I was out-chipped by maybe a blind). Here is the hand: a little background first…I was BB. The SB had been pushing his stack around everywhere. So I knew if I picked up a good hand I could pop him good. So back to the hand (3 handed)-
The button folds. SB calls. I have A 10. I check. Knowing that I have the best hand, but trying to trap him. The Flop:
4 10 4
He checks to me. I bet out a little more than half the pot. He immediately pushes all in. I KNOW I have him dominated. He was just trying to push me around. I call. He turns over 55. I am loving it. This guy had been playing crazy all tournament, and I LOVE to bust idiot players. I have him drawing to 2 outs.
The turn: 7
The river: 5
This moron just hit one of his 2 outs, and I finish in 3rd. I hate it…but I would take the same situation again and again…I’m taking it down 95% of the time. Two hands later the tourney is over…when the super donk re-raises and then calls his opponents all in.
The donk: Ac2s
Opponent: Ad9d
Yea…the donk hits a 2 and the other guy misses his 9.
One thing I just realized...the tourney that my buddy and I satellited into is Tuesday night...I guess we will be bringing our laptops to our usuall Tuesday night game. It should be interesting- playing NLH live and O8ob on-line at the same time! We'll see how it goes!
So today, everyone in the house was taking a nap. I decided to see what was going on Full Tilt. I signed in and saw a buddy playing a Omaha Hi/Low tourney. It was a satellite into some other big event. I just watched a couple of hands, but it gave me the itch to play some O8ob. So I signed in to the next satellite (just as I was signing in my buddy took his down…nice job man!).
Play was absolutely insane early. Remember, this is a split pot game…I limp in with a decent little hand, but by the time the action got back around to me the betting had been capped with 4 people in the hand!! What idiots. I just took my time , waited for some solid hands, and chose my spots wisely.
Soon enough it is down to 5 players…with one maniac left. This guy is a total donkey. He came into a hand, for a pre-flop raise of course, with a 6A66. He goes runner runner for trip aces, and his opponent had missed his straight flush draw (there was no low). He scoops…that’s just sick. I ended up sending him to the rail though. I hit a flush with a 8543A low.
Once it got down 3 handed. I took down some monsters. I had AsKs2dKd and scooped a huge one to take a big lead. Actually I let the two shorter stacks take each other out and I still had my heads up opponent by 1.5 to one. I ended up going on to take the sit and go down. Sweet! Now my buddy and I are going to have to see who lasts longer in the next tourney!
After Full Tilt I went over to Ultimate Bet. I just played in one low limit sit and go. It was a decent showing. I took third, and got a little more than my buy in back. The thing that ticked me off was getting knocked out. It was a battle of the blinds (I was out-chipped by maybe a blind). Here is the hand: a little background first…I was BB. The SB had been pushing his stack around everywhere. So I knew if I picked up a good hand I could pop him good. So back to the hand (3 handed)-
The button folds. SB calls. I have A 10. I check. Knowing that I have the best hand, but trying to trap him. The Flop:
4 10 4
He checks to me. I bet out a little more than half the pot. He immediately pushes all in. I KNOW I have him dominated. He was just trying to push me around. I call. He turns over 55. I am loving it. This guy had been playing crazy all tournament, and I LOVE to bust idiot players. I have him drawing to 2 outs.
The turn: 7
The river: 5
This moron just hit one of his 2 outs, and I finish in 3rd. I hate it…but I would take the same situation again and again…I’m taking it down 95% of the time. Two hands later the tourney is over…when the super donk re-raises and then calls his opponents all in.
The donk: Ac2s
Opponent: Ad9d
Yea…the donk hits a 2 and the other guy misses his 9.
One thing I just realized...the tourney that my buddy and I satellited into is Tuesday night...I guess we will be bringing our laptops to our usuall Tuesday night game. It should be interesting- playing NLH live and O8ob on-line at the same time! We'll see how it goes!
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
Adding Insult to Injury...
Man, two Tuesdays in a row…we had a great turn out for the league. We had 30 players last night. It was a great sized tourney. My table was great…until two of my good friends got assigned to my table. I don’t mind playing against my buddies. It’s just that we have played thousands of hands together. I know what they will call with and what they will raise with in all sorts of situations. I know, you are probably thinking that is good. Well, the thing is I am sure they know my style just as well. It wasn’t really a big deal. I really can’t remember an early on hand where we tangled.
I had one hand of interest- Early in the tournament. Blinds are 25/50. A guy in the cut off raised to 200. It folds to me (in the BB). I look down at a 7c 8d. I call the extra 150. I’ve got a good read on the player, I know his style, and if I hit I know I can get paid. The flop:
8c 9d 8s
I lead right out and bet 200. I bet it quick. I want him to think that something seems weird so he’ll call. He tilts his head off to the side and back a little, as if to say…huh? It’s perfect, just what I want him to think. He calls. Now I am hoping a paint card comes on the turn. I know he got something like AQ, AJ, or KQ. I tell myself if a paint card hits I am going to check call and then bet out on the river. The turn:
Qc
Nice. I check. Sure enough he leads out for 350. I call. I am pretty much betting out on any card that hits (except another Q of course). The river:
4s
I lead out again, this time for 500. He pushes his hat back on his head and literally scratches his dome. He has no clue I have an eight. He calls. I flip over the 7 8. He shakes his head and mucks his cards. The guy next to him asked what he had. I heard him say he hit the queen.
I just like the hand because it got me thinking on different levels- not just about what cards I have and what cards my opponents have, but what cards do my opponents think I have.
The rest of the tourney went pretty well. I didn’t follow my read on one hand, but I was able to keep my losses to a minimum. I should have known better. Not a big deal though. The hand that really hurt me is when my queens ran up against a mid to low stack’s kings. I lost a chunk on that one. I was going to just smooth call, but there was another guy in the hand. I wanted to isolate the initial raiser. It worked. I isolated him, but he just ended up having a better hand than I did.
I still made the final table. I ended up busting out in 9th. I was short stacked (5 times the big blind). I pick up 10c10d, and push it all in. It was folding around the table. I was feeling good until my good friend stops and looks down at two jacks!! That stinks. I am dominated. Get this- just to add insult to injury…the flop comes out: J 9 J! I’m beat down by quads and out in 9th place!
I had one hand of interest- Early in the tournament. Blinds are 25/50. A guy in the cut off raised to 200. It folds to me (in the BB). I look down at a 7c 8d. I call the extra 150. I’ve got a good read on the player, I know his style, and if I hit I know I can get paid. The flop:
8c 9d 8s
I lead right out and bet 200. I bet it quick. I want him to think that something seems weird so he’ll call. He tilts his head off to the side and back a little, as if to say…huh? It’s perfect, just what I want him to think. He calls. Now I am hoping a paint card comes on the turn. I know he got something like AQ, AJ, or KQ. I tell myself if a paint card hits I am going to check call and then bet out on the river. The turn:
Qc
Nice. I check. Sure enough he leads out for 350. I call. I am pretty much betting out on any card that hits (except another Q of course). The river:
4s
I lead out again, this time for 500. He pushes his hat back on his head and literally scratches his dome. He has no clue I have an eight. He calls. I flip over the 7 8. He shakes his head and mucks his cards. The guy next to him asked what he had. I heard him say he hit the queen.
I just like the hand because it got me thinking on different levels- not just about what cards I have and what cards my opponents have, but what cards do my opponents think I have.
The rest of the tourney went pretty well. I didn’t follow my read on one hand, but I was able to keep my losses to a minimum. I should have known better. Not a big deal though. The hand that really hurt me is when my queens ran up against a mid to low stack’s kings. I lost a chunk on that one. I was going to just smooth call, but there was another guy in the hand. I wanted to isolate the initial raiser. It worked. I isolated him, but he just ended up having a better hand than I did.
I still made the final table. I ended up busting out in 9th. I was short stacked (5 times the big blind). I pick up 10c10d, and push it all in. It was folding around the table. I was feeling good until my good friend stops and looks down at two jacks!! That stinks. I am dominated. Get this- just to add insult to injury…the flop comes out: J 9 J! I’m beat down by quads and out in 9th place!
Sunday, February 4, 2007
Runner Runner....That freakin hurt!!
I hosted the second of our season II league tourneys Friday night. We had 14 on the roster to play, but then had 19 show up. I was impressed that we actually got most all of our players there on time. We were able to start just 5 minutes past the posted start time.
Not a ton of action for the first round. I did loose a few chips when I flopped 2 pair and my opponent flopped the straight. It was a pretty dumb mistake, but I was able to minimize my losses. I wasn’t going to go crazy betting with straight possibilities out there. I knew I could get those chips back later…which I did.
I am pretty happy with my play for the night, even though I didn’t get much play in the tournament. My finish in the tourney was awful. I went out 14th out of 19 players. I can honestly say that I got WAY unlucky to bust out though. Check this out:
My final hand of the tourney:
A tight player (who had played maybe 5 hands all night) came in from early position for a three times the big blind raise. It folds all the way around to me, in the big blind. I look down at 9d9c. I thought about re-raising for a minute, but a good re-raise would have pretty much pot committed me. I didn’t want to race for all my chips at that time. I needed to move up the point scale. So, the flop:
7d 9h 10c
I know that I am way ahead. He doesn’t have 6, 8 or J, 8. The only hand he could have to dominate me was pocket 10’s. I check with the intent to check raise him for all my chips. He sits and counts his chips down, pulls out a bet, puts it back, counts again, and finally says that he is all in. He has me covered by 100 chips. I am 99% sure that I am WAY ahead. I call.
He turns over A 10. I love it. I have him dominated. I should be somewhere in the 95% range to win the hand. The turn:
Ac
I’m still WAY ahead. The river:
10h
Man, that hurt. This guy just went runner runner for a boat. So I bust out in 14th place. I take a few minutes and walk it off. I just kept seeing that freakin river hitting the table over and over again.
The night wasn’t a total loss though. A little while after I cooled down I joined the cash game that had started up. It was a great game. I felt that I matched up well against the mix of players at the table. I sit down. I fold the first hand. It was something horrible. Second hand I am in the BB there was a raise and a call. I look down at rockets. I re-raise, and get the initial raiser to call me. I end up hitting quads, and the other guy paid me off on the flop and turn. He let it go on the river. After that…the sting of my bad beat in the tourney didn’t hurt quite as bad.
I feel that I did a great job of mixing up my play in the cash game. I got to see lots of flops, and was reading my opponents pretty well. At the end of the night I cashed out for 4 times my buy in. That definitely helped that beating I took in the tourney not hurt quite as bad.
Not a ton of action for the first round. I did loose a few chips when I flopped 2 pair and my opponent flopped the straight. It was a pretty dumb mistake, but I was able to minimize my losses. I wasn’t going to go crazy betting with straight possibilities out there. I knew I could get those chips back later…which I did.
I am pretty happy with my play for the night, even though I didn’t get much play in the tournament. My finish in the tourney was awful. I went out 14th out of 19 players. I can honestly say that I got WAY unlucky to bust out though. Check this out:
My final hand of the tourney:
A tight player (who had played maybe 5 hands all night) came in from early position for a three times the big blind raise. It folds all the way around to me, in the big blind. I look down at 9d9c. I thought about re-raising for a minute, but a good re-raise would have pretty much pot committed me. I didn’t want to race for all my chips at that time. I needed to move up the point scale. So, the flop:
7d 9h 10c
I know that I am way ahead. He doesn’t have 6, 8 or J, 8. The only hand he could have to dominate me was pocket 10’s. I check with the intent to check raise him for all my chips. He sits and counts his chips down, pulls out a bet, puts it back, counts again, and finally says that he is all in. He has me covered by 100 chips. I am 99% sure that I am WAY ahead. I call.
He turns over A 10. I love it. I have him dominated. I should be somewhere in the 95% range to win the hand. The turn:
Ac
I’m still WAY ahead. The river:
10h
Man, that hurt. This guy just went runner runner for a boat. So I bust out in 14th place. I take a few minutes and walk it off. I just kept seeing that freakin river hitting the table over and over again.
The night wasn’t a total loss though. A little while after I cooled down I joined the cash game that had started up. It was a great game. I felt that I matched up well against the mix of players at the table. I sit down. I fold the first hand. It was something horrible. Second hand I am in the BB there was a raise and a call. I look down at rockets. I re-raise, and get the initial raiser to call me. I end up hitting quads, and the other guy paid me off on the flop and turn. He let it go on the river. After that…the sting of my bad beat in the tourney didn’t hurt quite as bad.
I feel that I did a great job of mixing up my play in the cash game. I got to see lots of flops, and was reading my opponents pretty well. At the end of the night I cashed out for 4 times my buy in. That definitely helped that beating I took in the tourney not hurt quite as bad.
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