Mama Tried to Raise Me Better, But Her Pleading I Denied

Played in the home tourney again last Friday night. 28 players. I came out firing and playing loose/aggressive from the get go and got some chips on bluffs and reading weak play when I had marginal hands. Unfortunately, I was at a table of half people who were among the less experienced in the tournament and I donked away half my chips on a big post river bluff with 10,8 off on a board with 3 spades, an ace and a queen and I bet big and a guy with pocket jacks (!!!) made the call. So I then ended up pushing in with nothing when I was in the BB to either win or rebuy and a guy with K,7 called and won. Note to self: don't try to bluff beginning players, they get married to hands. So I rebought and was starting to get cards and bully people a little when I was in the 200 BB with about 3000 (1500 to start). One limper, an all-in of 500, then a call before me. I look down at 3,8 off and make the call, as does the initial limper. 2000 in the pot. Flop comes K, 8, 3. SB checks, I go all in, hoping it will be read as an overbet by someone with a king. Initial limper doesn't hesitate and counts out his chips methodically and calls. We show. Initial all in of 500 has nothing, I have 2 pair and limper (who didn't reraise after the 500 raise since he was a novice player who limped or called everything, never raised) shows K,K for a set. Turn gives him quads and I'm busted again.

So I rebought again, my final allowed rebuy of 1500 (starting chip count). Blinds were at 100/200 and only a few minutes before moving to 200/400, so I began to shove in order that the blinds wouldn't catch me and the guy next to me was doing the same with his last 2 rebuys and I won both of those off of him in 3 hands, once with a better kicker on my ace, then another when my pocket sevens held up against his A,8. Right after that happened I also was able to double up when two players went all in short-stacked with nothing and I woke up to a nice A,K.

My table finally splits (down to 2 tables) which was a good thing. I get to my new table and pick up a couple of hands right away and grab some more chips. Then I get the painkillers (aces) against another player's preflop all in of A,x and am really piling it on, probably now close to 14-15k in chips. I got bluffed out of a hand a couple later, but I hadn't made a hand myself postflop (A,Q) and couldn't make a call anyway and was happy to fold, even though it turned out I was ahead. No need to risk. However, against the same guy a few hands later, I get K,J and call his raise. Flop comes K and 2 rags. He goes all in and I call immediately. He has ace high and I'm ahead but an ace comes on the turn and I lose. I thought he had me outchipped but he didn't and I went from about 15,000 in chips to 3,800. I moved all in the next hand with Q,J suited and picked up the 400/800 blinds so got some breathing room there. After that, I played pretty well, made the proper moves to pick up limped pots by shoving and built up to more than 8,000 again. Then, got lucky in a 3 way pot (other 2 all in and I had them both easily covered) when I had Q,Q against 9,9 and A,K. Flop brought a K, Turn brought an A and river brought a Q and won it for me. So I was back again up to about 14,000 and sitting nicely and made it to the final table of 10.

My first move at the table was questionable, I'm sure the other guy hated it and I kind of did too but I am still testing out not being so conservative in my play and trying to take some risks, even some very dubious ones. I'm in the 1400 BB, a guy moves all in for 4000 total before me and everyone else folds. 6100 in the pot and 2600 to call, I have rags, I called. He was wired with Jacks and easily beat me. So I was down to maybe 9000 after that round but then made a button play on a guy who had raised to 3000 two to my right. I look down at A,K suited and shove for my 9000 and the blinds and he all fold. I got credit for a power button move by the table but in reality I had a hand and that was my only play. But I took the credit anyway. This hand is important because of how things went later on.

As an aside, I had the host, the best player at the table, to my right and another real solid guy to my left (he gave me the props for the button play). To his left were 2 players who I didn't think were as strong, then it alternated around with good and average players.

So I was back up to around 14k and folding dreck. One player busted and was done and another 2 busted but had rebuys left and rebought and folded a few hands in a row while not in the blinds. In theory, I should have figured they would have busted soon and brought us to the bubble (top 6 got paid). In reality, the very next time I was on the button, I look at A,J off. Same guy two to my right raises again, this time to $4000 and everyone else folds. I shove for roughly 14,000 and the blinds again fold. He almost insta-calls with Q,7 of hearts, without bothering to figure out pot odds or anything. He also had over 20,000 in chips so could have folded without being crippled in any way. Now, the pot odds (roughly 2 to 1 on his 10,000 call) make it a viable play as long as I don't have aces, kings or queens in which case he's a huge dog. However, to lose this hand does really hurt him and makes him probably 3rd shortest stack. Personally, I would have dumped it as there wasn't a need at that point to risk 70% of your chips on Q,7 of hearts. Maybe he thought I was bullying him specifically or playing from position only. Don't know. Maybe he thought I should have folded to his raise or was merely stealing again but if I double through him, I'm the chip leader. I checked the odds calculator after I got home and I was 60/40 ahead preflop. Either way, the flop came Jack high (pairing me) with two hearts (now down to 54/46 in my favor) and the turn flushed him and I was drawing dead. It hurt because I had played pretty well for 4 hours and even my bust out was not a bad play in my opinion, maybe even a good one and it all added up (or subtracted down) to a $60 loss for the night.

I still can't get over that hump to the winning zone but I feel like it's only a matter of time. I'm pleased that I didn't turn into a rock when we got down to 9 players, I went for the big play with a good (the best) hand and got marginally unlucky, rather than make it a foldfest and hoping others busted to get me into the money.

I'm hoping to make it to Atlantic City, perhaps this weekend, for some more live action at the tables.

Slow times

I have been bogged down the past couple of weeks with trying to find a place to live. Sounds easier than it is in my neck of the woods. However, there will be some poker this weekend and I promise to fire a couple of card-related posts up.

I've also been perusing some of the poker clips on you tube, love the high-stakes poker game where kid poker runs into quads twice in the same session and donks off a half mil or so even in the face of his opponents' both representing monsters. Even the pros are not immune to getting married to hands. I encourage you to track the clips down if you have the time. one is against Lindgren and the other against Hansen.

Running into the Painkillers

Sorry on the delay of the report on my first taste of the home tournament I played in last Friday night. It's a great game, very well run, populated by players who run the gamut of experience. For instance, two to my right was a pro player who regularly plays very high level games at the Borgata in Atlantic City. Then, a few seats over from him was a woman who had virtually no poker experience and zero hold 'em experience. Stepping in as a new player into this tournament, which has been regular and ongoing for a number of years, put me at an immediate disadvantage since I needed to figure out who was who in terms of experience, aggressiveness and skill, as well as make my decisions with regard to the structure and blinds, which was one of the most vital aspects of the game.

Chip and clock management was so vital in this game because while the blinds and levels were manageable with relation to opening stack size (1500), each player was allowed 2 rebuys, making for some very aggressive play. At any point, in any level, you were at risk of playing a hand for all your chips. Anytime your stack dwindled even a little below its opening count, you were better to start shoving with any decent hand (and sometimes with anything, period) and hope to pick up pots or get called and get lucky. Of course, being new to this game and structure, I wanted to be aggressive but found that most times I was beaten into the pot or had nothing to play if I wasn't. I did succeed in following my plan to stay aggressive from position in all instances and picked up some pots when my preflop raises drew other players' warning flags and my c-bets finished the pot off. However, in such a delicate structure, without having amassed a great deal of chips (some raises were re-raised or shoved upon and a couple of bluffs got sniffed out) I found myself just over my starting count when I looked down at 6,6 out of position. I raised, was re-raised all in and rather than play with a small amount of chips against growing stacks, made the call, hoping to be in a race against a big ace. Well, I was against a big ace. Two of them in fact, and I was left behind like Macaulay Culkin. I had him outchipped by a 25 chip so I tossed that in the next hand, waiting to lose it so I could rebuy. Well, of course I look down at Q,Q and inwardly bemoan my luck to make the move one hand too early or not to have been able to rebuy just yet. Well, as it turned out, I would have lost that rebuy immediately as two other hands shoved, one with 9,9 and another with K,K that held up.

So I rebuy and only a few hands in I look down at 5,5 in the BB. I raise the limped pot and only the small blind calls. The flop brings me a set with two diamonds on board as well. SB bets and I shove all in. He mutters to himself what a bad call it would be if he makes it. Then he revises his previous comment and now says it would be a terrible call. Of course, he eventually does make the call and is on a diamond draw. Not a terrible call in this structure, especially since he had the chips to make it but I manage to fade any diamonds or backdoor straight possibilities and double up.

At this point, the blinds moved to 100-200 and I began to try to make things happen and ran into some roadblocks. Raises were shoved back at by smaller stacks looking to double up (or possibly to give them a chance to rebuy) and some of the bigger stacks were now formidible, having gobbled up small stack shoves themselves. So picking spots was very important, but after getting caught stealing a couple times, I was able to snag blinds with shoves UTG with Qc10c and Kh9h in consecutive rounds. However, I needed to make something happen quickly, so upon looking down at 4,4 in an unopened pot, I shoved out of position. I was immediately called by the player to my left, not a good sign since she too was out of position. Everyone else folded and once again I had picked the wrong moment to shove and had come face to face with the Painkillers, aka A,A. I again did not catch up and at this point in the game the 100/200 level was only seconds from ending and with the next level at 200/400 and the BB about to hit me, I chose not to use my last rebuy since I would have had to shove in the first 2 hands and then likely again in the next several if I did not double up immediately. So I was left slightly lamenting that I didn't push earlier in previous rounds where I might have been able to double up or take down a pot or rebuy if I didn't, whereas now I found myself with the last rebuy worthless to me.

I plan to try and play regularly in this game, and as the skill levels are so wide but with the majority of the players seemingly above average, I think it promises to provide a lot of good experience in a wide variety of situations.

Home tourney preview

Playing in a home tournament tonight, that is semi-regular. It's my first time playing in it and it is supposed to have players of wildly different skill levels. What I like about it is that it is a cheap entry and they allow 2 rebuys, so I plan to mix up my play. Usually I play cautiously, with bouts of aggression at selected opportunities. Basically, I try to get myself in good spots and hit them hard, then stay out of the fray when uber-aggressive and uber-tight guys make plays into pots, unless I have a hand worthy of mixing it up or I'm really priced in. I pride myself on my patience ordinarily and making good reads on my opponents and dictating my play based on how the table is playing. However, tonight, with the 2 rebuys in my pocket, I plan to play very aggressively from position even so far as becoming one of those uber-aggressive guys, represent hands early and often and chase down some draws where I would ordinarily muck. In short, get out of my comfort zone and play as if I'm at a single table satellite type event, where early chip-gathering is a must. I think there will be about 25-30 people at this thing so it will be important for me to identify early on the better players so not to attempt bluffs on the more inexperienced players who will call down everything with top or second pair. We'll see how my adaption to a new style fits and whether or not I'm suited to such a style of play.