Making good decisions...

Friday MTT

10k starting chips, 100/200 blinds. 32 players, pays 6. first two levels 30 minutes.
There is EITHER a single rebuy OR a single add on of 10k at the end of level 2.

Strange, but it seems obvious to me that I want to play Über tight and just take the add on to 20k. To that end, I start in the SB with AJo and just fold it. So begins the reign of Tighty McTight. We are 10 handed.

Or does it. The next hand, I am on the button with QJ and limp. I flop TP. He bets out on the flop and I CALL. (ugh). The turn makes his draw and leaves me with an inside draw. I pay off his JT and am already in the hole. So much for tight, eh?

Few hands later,
Limp with 97 and flopped an open ended straight draw. I bet out 2/3 pot and got a caller. The turn added a flush draw, which allowed me to push hard and apply pressure. I got the fold and was back to 10k.

I make some player notes. Someone is playing any suited connector to the flop, someone else is under raising middle pocket pairs…

A MP makes it 2xBB and I fold KTo thinking GAP, even though I think he is a LAG. Turns out he had AQ.

Fold KTs from UtG. Again, I based this on the add-on strategy. Lucky too, considering a LP made it 3.5xBB.

I watched a player bluff into a flush board. And get away with it.

Folded Q9o when the board came up 6d9dTs when the button bet even though I suspect I had the best hand. Turns out he had A9.

Two players limp into a pot. From LP I raise to 4.5xBB with AK and they all fold. I pick up 700 free chips.

200/400
Board is 333Q and a player goes all-in with the Q. Hmmm.

More observations. Guy on my left is chasing, guy across the table is an “open book better”. Another players makes big laydowns.

Folded K7o even though the board was 456 rainbow. My lead bet (I was in the BB) was called and then raised. A third player called the raise and then its to me. I thought I was going to get beat here and folded. Very tight, eh? Weak? Maybe, but one player had QQ and the other 2 pair. When a Q came on the turn, the set took the two pair for his entire stack.

Won a big hand when I was in the SB and raised 3 limpers to 5xBB. I got a single caller. I had to work from out of position, so I am obligated here to the continuation bet. The flop was 883 and I make the ½ pot bet. Player folds.

I am on the button and everyone folds to me. I look down at 92o and think about a steal here. I decide not to since the player in the BB has a short stack.

BREAK and ADD on. I have 23.5k after the addon. Goal achieved. M is 25, Q is 1.
300/600, 9 handed.

I win two hands using position. One time my cards were 93o.

I am on the button and its folded around to me. I raise it up with 93o and the BB calls. We both check the flop of 3 spades. I push him off with a turn bet when he checks the turn card.

I fold QJ when a MP comes in for a raise. Flop of KQ8 all hearts. There was a second K on the river. No showdown.

In the BB with J9 and the flop is JJx (2 clubs). I check and “open book” bets. I smooth call here. The turn is a 3rd club and I miss my chance to slow play. I bet 2k and he folds. I think/suspect he had KK.

Here is a big laydown. LP player bets $3k! (5xBB). The cutoff player, who has played 4 hands all night, re-raises all-in. I am on the button with AKo!! I FOLD. The original better does also. Weak? Maybe.

400/800
I have ATs from LP and raise it to 2k. BB calls. The flop is 3 rags and after the other player checks, I bet 2k (1/2 pot). I get called?! The turn card is an Ace and I am feeling much better against the BB. Player checks and I bet $6k into the $8k pot. I get RE-RAISED $6k. Oh my god! What to do?! There is no flush draw or straight draw out there.

I process this hand pretty quickly (for me) and decide that the pot is now $20k and its $6k to call. The odds are just too good to pass up. But I have a sinking feeling. The river is a blank and since the other player now checks, I decide to check behind. The other player turns over A6 and I take a big pot.

I have about 47.5K I make a VERY loose call from LP with 85s and see a flop. I missed by a mile and fold.

500/1000
I get JJ UtG and make it 4xBB. Everyone folds. I show the JJ and the dealer rabbits the flop… AA9. phew.

I have A6s in LP and with it folded to me, I notice that the two blinds are not “defenders”. I decide to steal the blinds. I raise it up to $3k and the BB goes all in for $7k. Oops. I did not consider $7k a short stack so I did not expect that. I guess I should have. I stupidly call and meekly stare as AQ clobbers me. Without vigorish, he all-in here is at least AQ if not a pocket pair.

So, I am out $7k. But, I ended up taking that players ENTIRE stack a few hands later. In the meantime, I get QTo and raise it up from LP. (tilt?). The flop gives me an open ended straight draw and I call a pot sized bet. The turn MAKES my straight and he bets the same amount. WARNING: When you bet the same amount on the turn that you did on the flop, you are weak. I come over the top for a total pot size raise and he folds. I MAY have raised too much here, but I am back at 48k.

500/1000/100 ante
The player that took my $7k goes all in. In the SB, I look down at JJ and call. I beat him.

The table breaks and I move to table 1. As if by magic, I am now cold decked. I bleed off 20 hands of antes. A player goes all-in on my blind and even though its only 7.5k, I decline to defend with 69o.

1000/2000/200 ante
Players start busting and other players start accumulating stacks. I am still card dead. I literally bleed to a Q of .9 and get itchy. I limp with 89s and miss everything. Rare to get away with a limp at this table.

I get KTo and decide to play it strong. I make it 3xBB and the flop is all rags. I bet and the player calls. I bet on the flop and the player calls. I have nothing and check the river. He bets and I have to fold.

I have not won a single hand since moving to table 1. And I already told you what happened at the end… Decision wise, I thought I played well. Just some tiny adjustments to make.

mini-step merciful end

Finished 3rd in level 3 and had to recycle. I got kicked back to level 1 when I got beaten by a straight. But man, here is the best. I lost level 1 when my trips Tens lost to a ROYAL FLUSH ON THE RIVER.

Good part, I got $4 for 6th place. I played like 8 games and lost $2. And its freakin' over. Money I would have won just by playing the stupid SnG games instead?

Let's see
$20+$20-$50-$20+$20+$10+$50-$50+$5 = $4 (assumiing I paid for the level 3 entries)
funny, eh? yeah, me neither.

Sit N Go hell

5 Sit N Gos, in the money ONCE. It got so bad, that I got a guy to bet all in with a flush when I had the nut flush and he hits a ONE outer on the river for the straight flush. WTF? I play hard, I don't get any chips. I play slow on one lousy hand and a guy hits a one outer?

What's worse, I am shying away from strong hands. I am the short stack with 5 left and I get dealt TT. I raise it 4xBB and steal the blinds. I am not willing to voluntarily see a flop because I have not hit one since Scott F'in Baio was on TV.

I really need therapy. "Somebody Help the Captain!!" -Actor William Shatner courtesy of a Star Trek blooper reel from the 1960s.

Seriously, I must have a leak now the size of the hole in the SS Minnow. I can't seem to get it right. I can no longer tell where I am. "Oh the pain. The pain" -Doctor Zachary Smith. I need help. Maybe some sort of shock therapy. Everything I make a mistake, I can shock myself. Yeah, that's it... I'll be right back!

Why holdém will be the death of poker

That's right, I said it. This poker bubble has to burst. Why? Because eventually, everyone gets competent enough to play the game and understand what they are doing. And that's going to make them mad. Let's face it, the learning curve is the shortest of all the poker games. You don't have to memorize cards like in stud or razz, and it lacks the complexity of Omaha. Anyway, what's my point? just this. Eventually everyone will get sick of the suckouts. I mean, last night I am playing in a tournament in ROUND 1 with DEEP stacks. Now, there is a player in seat 7 who likes to steal pots when they get big by making a huge raise. He has done it TWICE already and its LEVEL 1. So, I get AQs in late position. He is UtG and limps as do 3 others. With 4 limpers, I push up my typical raise from 3xBB to 4xBB. He pauses and comes over the top for $1800. (I made it $240 to go just so you have an idea). I can almost see this guys cards...

Either he has AJ/AT or he has put me on JJ/TT and he is willing to race with his AQ. Now, since I HAVE AQ, I figure he must have the AJs here (or TT, but I really believe he is bullying with marginal cards). He would not limp with TT or AK. But this guy might with Ax. So, if my read is right, I have him stone cold. (by the way, NEVER limp with AJ. NEVER. Its such a hard hand to play, you need to thin the field or see if you are dominated right away.)

I raise to $3600 and he goes all in for $12k. ITS LEVEL FREAKING ONE. But I am firm that my read is right and I call. He flips over AJ and everyone at the table expells a sign of relief that he'll be taken out.

Until he hits his 5-1 dog.

Eventually, players will have had enough and just stop playing. That's the way it is with recreational booms. People play until they get sick of it, and then its just over. And people are going to get sick of it. Because they remember the big suckouts.

ok, so only the recreational player is going away... What's wrong with that? Well, then the domino effect kicks in. Watch the card rooms shrink again...

Got Tilt?

Man, did I play lousy last night. Dropped $10 at low limit ring holdém and another 2 bucks playing omaha 8OB. I love omaha 8OB, mostly because I know what NOT to do. But for some reason, last night especially, I did it. I even called river bets in limit knowing I was probably 2nd best hand.

Poor play, poor patience, poor concentration. Good bankroll mgt though as I was smart enough to walk away quickly before I cut myself deeply. I have got to get back to the discipline of SnGs. They force you to committ and concentrate.

Concentration seems to be the key and if you can concentrate, walk away. Quickly.

I am STILL a much better SnG player than ring player. I am working on some things:

1. better opponent observations
2. never limping first to act
3. when a player bets the same amount of 4th street than they did on the flop (or less), coming over the top (popping them).
4. Folding AQ and AJ when its raised in front of me at a full table.
5. stop over valuing big pocket pairs after the flop. I went brok twice last week with an overpair.
6. When a player bets 1/2 pot on the flop and again on the turn, and then a scare card comes on the river and he checks... always check behind him without the nuts. Many people will try to induce a bluff when they hit their draw, pretending to be worried that YOU hit the draw. Ha.
7. Practice more Omaha 8ob. Here are the only hands I want to play in 8OB. 2suited with and ace and 2 other cards less than 8, preferrable a 2. Am I playing too tight? or is everyone else too loose? (this assumes a full table)
8. Fold on the flop in Omaha instead of on the turn, unless I have two pair, a set, or a nut draw. (I want to make a boat or a nut flush by the showdown.)

the boy on the plastic bubble

3 table MTT last night. Pays 6 places, I am in 6th with 8 left. The two shorter stacks both double up. Then someone makes a fatal blunder. There are now 7 left and I am the short stack.

I fold AJo with two players in before me. I fold AQs when a player gets re-raised in front of me. I even muck AQo when a player goes all in on my BB. I double up when A8o calls my AK in the BB. He tried a steal and I went all in. He called.

So now it should be easy to get into the money. Then, something inexplicable happens. I develop A.D.D. I start playing with songs on winamp and paying less attention than I should. I get dealt AQs and I stop playing with winamp. A player in LP goes all in (he has me covered). It looks like an easy fold, but suddenly I call?!!?!? What in the world? I am a dog against AK, AA, KK, QQ and a race against any other pair. Am I hoping he did this with AJ? Did I even put that much thought into it? no, I GAMBLED. Why? I played so well until this point.

I think I experienced what "madasow" calls a "blow up". I just left my game and reacted haphazardly. a classic choke. Man, I hope I learn from this one. Do you know how hard I worked to get out of 7th just to end up in 7th?