Yes, it's not even 10:30 and I'm home already from the tournament. I actually played quite well and didn't get blinded off as usual. I got my money in with the best hand and was the victim of a donkey.
Here's the final hand. We were in level 5 with the blinds at 300/600 and I had the 2nd highest chip stack at my table with about 8000. I had AdKd on the button and a MP player raised to 1500. He had me slightly out-chipped with about 8800. I just called.
I looked at his stack and decided not to push all-in which is what basically everyone else at the table had been doing during that round. Since we were the 2 chip leaders at the table I thought I'd see a flop and go with it if it hit me.
The flop was KQ2 all hearts. He bet 2500 into me and I could only fold or move all-in. There's no point in calling here because if another heart came on the turn or river I would have to fold if he bet into me. So I moved all-in for my last 6500.
The dude took a while to decide which made me think he must've had a piece of the flop or at least a big heart. I was thinking I didn't really want him to call me. Finally he did call and turned over KcJs. He had top pair with a mediocre kicker and I was in great shape.
That didn't last long as the Jd came on the turn and the meaningless 5h came on the river. I was out after being beaten by a 3 outer. As usual, I just don't understand this play.
Why would he put his tournament life at risk with that hand? He had to assume that I was drawing with a big heart or maybe a straight draw or both. It still doesn't make much sense since he would've still had over 5000 chips and would be in good shape at our table still.
As it turns out, I was a 75% favorite before the flop and an 82% favorite after the flop. This is why so many people play poker. Anyone can win even when they make a bad decision.
I really only had 3 other significant hands. The first I had AcKc under the gun and was raised all-in on a flop of AK4 all spades. I made the call and my opponent turned over AdQs for top pair and the nut flush draw. My 2 pair held up and I doubled up.
The 2nd hand I had AK again (off-suit this time) and was re-raised all-in before the flop. It wasn't much of a raise so I made the call. My opponent turned over AQo and I was again in great shape. The flop came AJ2 so I was still looking good. But then the turn and river both brought Jacks so we split the pot.
The 3rd hand came just after the first break. I was in MP with 99. The UTG player raised all-in to 1500 with blinds at 200/400. I had about 5200 in chips and made the call. I only called because the BB had been playing almost every hand - even to a raise - and I wanted him to play this one.
The BB surprised me by re-raising all-in for about another 1500. Since the pot was almost 5000 I had to call the extra 1500 and hope I was in the lead. The BB actually had a better hand than I expected as he turned over AKo. The initial raiser had AJo so I was basically racing both of them. The final board was 77662 so I scooped the pot and eliminated 2 players. That was the highlight of my tournament.
Overall, I'm pissed that I went out so early and that I was the victim of a bad beat but I'm also happy because it was a great experience. I'm still trying to decide if I'd prefer to be the victim of a bad beat or if I'd rather go out by being blinded out of chips. The bad beat victim knows he got his chips in with the best of it but the other way I get to play a lot longer. I guess either way I don't make any money.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Recovering
I guess it's been a while since I posted on here. I've basically been recovering since the beating I took at both FullTilt and PokerStars. Since that beating I've dropped down to lower blind levels and I've started playing 6 handed tables.
So far the results for me have been great. I've been playing much more aggressively and I attribute that to being more willing to take some risks on draws. The bet amounts don't seem quite so huge and so I'm willing to put my money in to chase a draw more often now and it seems to be paying off.
In addition, I'm much more willing to attempt a bluff at someone who shows weakness. I've had this happen against me and now I'm willing to try it myself.
The scenario usually occurs when I'm in one of the blinds and I call a preflop raise and then call a bet on the flop. I usually do this with medium pocket pairs or AK and I can comfortably call a pot-size flop bet even when I don't hit the flop. Then if the preflop raiser checks on the turn I will usually bet into him on the river unless a scare card appears. I rarely get called when this I do this and it's easy to get away when I get raised.
I've had people do this to me especially at the higher blind levels I was playing at before and I've always suspected I'm being bluffed but the bet amounts were so large that I just couldn't call. Now I feel much more comfortable with the bet amounts that I'm willing to make this play myself.
I think this has really improved my game and my bankroll. I've read lots of articles about bankroll management and how sometimes you need to drop down in levels until you've recovered from a bad stretch. I've had bad stretches before but I've usually been able to struggle through them and remain at the same blind levels. This time I decided to drop down and see what happened. So far I'm happy with the results.
On another note, tonight I did something I haven't done in a long time but something I've wanted to do for a while. I went to Canterbury Park (my local card room) and registered for a tournament that's part of their "Fall Poker Classic". They've been running this series of tournaments each year for a while now and I've always thought of playing but just never made the effort to do it.
So tonight I plunked down my cash and registered for a tourney on next Tuesday the 16th. Hopefully I'll have some good results to post. I really don't play very many tournaments because they take so long to play and usually I only have a couple of hours each night to play.
I played in a tourney at Canterbury a couple of years ago. The top 11 places were given a trip to Vegas and entry in a satellite to play in one of the World Poker Tour events. Out of about 225 players I came in 23rd. For my first live tourney I thought that was pretty good but I was still disappointed that I didn't win a trip to Vegas.
On my last trip to Vegas I played in a small tourney and came in 6th place but of course only the top 4 were paid. It seems kind of common for me to just miss the money and I think that's because I keep playing tight as the tourney progresses. I've read lots of books about making moves as the tourney goes on and how you can't let yourself get blinded off but I just can't seem to pull the trigger when I'm actually playing. I'll try to make sure that doesn't happen next Tuesday.
So far the results for me have been great. I've been playing much more aggressively and I attribute that to being more willing to take some risks on draws. The bet amounts don't seem quite so huge and so I'm willing to put my money in to chase a draw more often now and it seems to be paying off.
In addition, I'm much more willing to attempt a bluff at someone who shows weakness. I've had this happen against me and now I'm willing to try it myself.
The scenario usually occurs when I'm in one of the blinds and I call a preflop raise and then call a bet on the flop. I usually do this with medium pocket pairs or AK and I can comfortably call a pot-size flop bet even when I don't hit the flop. Then if the preflop raiser checks on the turn I will usually bet into him on the river unless a scare card appears. I rarely get called when this I do this and it's easy to get away when I get raised.
I've had people do this to me especially at the higher blind levels I was playing at before and I've always suspected I'm being bluffed but the bet amounts were so large that I just couldn't call. Now I feel much more comfortable with the bet amounts that I'm willing to make this play myself.
I think this has really improved my game and my bankroll. I've read lots of articles about bankroll management and how sometimes you need to drop down in levels until you've recovered from a bad stretch. I've had bad stretches before but I've usually been able to struggle through them and remain at the same blind levels. This time I decided to drop down and see what happened. So far I'm happy with the results.
On another note, tonight I did something I haven't done in a long time but something I've wanted to do for a while. I went to Canterbury Park (my local card room) and registered for a tournament that's part of their "Fall Poker Classic". They've been running this series of tournaments each year for a while now and I've always thought of playing but just never made the effort to do it.
So tonight I plunked down my cash and registered for a tourney on next Tuesday the 16th. Hopefully I'll have some good results to post. I really don't play very many tournaments because they take so long to play and usually I only have a couple of hours each night to play.
I played in a tourney at Canterbury a couple of years ago. The top 11 places were given a trip to Vegas and entry in a satellite to play in one of the World Poker Tour events. Out of about 225 players I came in 23rd. For my first live tourney I thought that was pretty good but I was still disappointed that I didn't win a trip to Vegas.
On my last trip to Vegas I played in a small tourney and came in 6th place but of course only the top 4 were paid. It seems kind of common for me to just miss the money and I think that's because I keep playing tight as the tourney progresses. I've read lots of books about making moves as the tourney goes on and how you can't let yourself get blinded off but I just can't seem to pull the trigger when I'm actually playing. I'll try to make sure that doesn't happen next Tuesday.
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