On Suckouts and Suckers
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
Ka Ching! I'm back in black, with my SNG total jumping from $43 to $60.50 thanks to a win in 2 out of 3 SNGs last night. My first win was in another game with GCox25. Check out Coxy's site for a running leader board.
Straight away, GCox is an impressive player. He seems to win or place more often than busting out, and whenever I play with him, I seem to play better as well. I don't know what it is particularly about his play. I think he just has the patience and fundamentals to play good poker. We all get caught in bad spots (await my Suckout story for more info). But absent a bad spot, GCox is a good bet, any day. I'd suggest that he would be the favorite to win, if my over-inflated ego didn't tell me that he didn't have a chance aganist my awesome might!
Which brings me to my suckout. Picture it: Sicily, 1945...props to the first person who knows the reference. Okay...Picture it: 10-Person $5.50 SNG, and Bunny (a shortened version of a player's name) was a chipleader after some loose aggressive play. I'm looking at AJ in EP and limp in. Bunny, on the button, limps as well. The flop is JQx. I bet the pot, but Bunny comes over the top for a lot. It wasn't enough to put me all-in, but if I called, I would have a pittance left. I thought he was making a move. He wasn't. My AJ v. his AQ. The turn, J, the river, J. I sucked out with Quads.
What does one do when he sucks out a chipleader with quads? I apologized at first. And then I went through the efforts of putting the Bunny on Tilt. It started slow. He was saying that I was lucky. I told him that he sucked. Also, I told him that my suckout was well-planned and well-executed. This continued for about 10 min., during which Bunny lost most of his chiplead (some of the chips went to Coxy, who was ailing at that time). Trip, Stratham aka High Plains, and Steeler were railbirding, and we all got in on the fun. I must admit though. After some poor play, Bunny got back on track and took second overall.
After my suckout, my play definitely improved. I took first. Coxy took third. Bunny took second. I hope he's reading this (I was shilling my blog), because I love a good session of poker smack talk. It really is one of the many joys in my life.
I signed off, happy to have won. 45 minutes later, Kim was asleep, and I was watching GCox take down 2nd in another SNG. Does this guy ever lose? Inspired by his winning ways and my addiction to poker, I signed up for a six-person turbo SNG, which I promptly lost in 5th place when my T4 BB hit a AT4 flop. I slowplayed the flop. Another player bet. I smooth-called expecting that he was playing his A. The turn was a blank. He bet again, and I came over the top. He shot back at me and I called. My TT44 v. his AA44. He flopped a higher two pair. Maybe I should've gotten away from this hand, but I believe this is one of those situation when you get played by the cards. I don't blame myself. Ironically, I do blame myself for calling with AJ, even though I won that hand.
I chased the blues with one last 6-person turbo SNG, which I placed 2nd in. In my last hand, I had K9. The flop was 889. Checked to me, and I bet. He called. The turn was a blank. He checked. I checked. The river was a K. He checked again, and I bet. He re-raised. I called. He had 78 or something. I lost. Sucks, but at least I made some paper.
This brings me to the WSOP. Check out Pauly's site for some outstanding play-by-play coverage. I've read about several players losing early when their KK comes up against AA, or when their set loses to a higher set. Some people thing poker is all about luck. I hate to say it, but these people, idiots that they are, are partially correct. To win the WSOP you HAVE TO GET LUCKY. Bottom line. You are not going to win without getting semi-decent cards. More importantly, you are not going to win if your cards appear solid, but are actually outdone by someone elses'. Consider my flopped two-pair. Or the many times when I flopped a set only to be outdone by a higher set on a rainbow, no straight board. It hurts, but it is inevitable. I still want to play in the WSOP. Next year, I hope to try to qualify online. This year, with the wedding coming up and my meager bankroll, it really wasn't a possibility. But next year, who knows.
So, my heart goes out to all of the WSOP players who lost to hands that you just can't escape. Good luck next year, because you are going to need it.
posted by Jordan @ 8:58 AM,
4 Comments:
-
At 10:41 AM,
GaryC said...
-
J,
As always, it was great playing poker with you last night. Had a great time again.
Thanks for the kind words. I can assure you, though, that not only do I lose, but when I do, I usually bleed off chips faster than Amer Vehidi did in the 03 Main Event. The cards happen to be hitting me over the head right now, lord knows I was due for a good run. But, Mr. Variance will get even sooner or later.
Keep playing good poker, because I will come back to earth sooner or later. By the way, I would pick TripJax or Kipper as the favorite, after watching them for 2 nights.
G -
At 11:35 AM,
Jordan said...
-
I'm still placing you as my favorite, because I haven't had a chance to really focus on Trip or Kip's game. I'm placing Trip in second from what I read. Then me, because I am that damn good. Followed by DNasty, Kipper, and lastly Steeler.
Kip, don't hate me man. I just haven't seen you play yet. Steeler, I'm just going on all the smack I hear from D and your recent losses.
This is why I want to eventually play in the same SNG as all of you guys. It really helps me see where you are at. -
At 2:10 PM,
said...
-
Thats funny I place myself last out of all of you! I really need some work on my play after watching you guys last night.
-
At 1:18 AM,
GaryC said...
-
J,
The link to the focus articles I was talking about is bigpirate.blogspot.com. Wes wrote some good shit, check him out.
G
