Consider the Source
Friday, November 21, 2008
I didn't have much for you today. I played in the Wall Street Game's two table tournament earlier this week, lasting until 11th place on a shortstack most of the night. I feel good about my live game, but you can't win them all.
I was looking through my "work-in-progress" posts to see if I had any gems. Sometimes, when I'm playing late at night, often not sober, I'll cut and paste a hand history or two into Blogger with the plan that I'll go back the next day and do some sort of pretty write up. Sometimes when I do this, I'll loook at the hand a day later and wonder why I focused on a particular hand. These next two hands were right up that alley...until I saw the last line in my post. So, without further adieu, let's clean out the vaults with two wacky hands from a $24+2, 45 person SNG on Full Tilt.
I had already chipped up to 4185, the table chip leader, when this first hand came out. I'm still slowly reading Gus Hansen's "Every Hand Revealed" and it's really loosened up my game. I've re-learned how to play strong, loose poker with a small ball element. As long as I can see the flops for cheap, I feel confident that I can outplay most opponents. Self-delusion or reality, either way, I'm enjoying the style of play.
I'm in the BB (50/100) with 57c when this hand happens. Buzz, in EP, raises to 350 (pot), and TheMan calls immediately after him. The button, Crabman, calls as well, so after the SB folds, I call fairly light with the knowledge that my 57c may be just what the doctor ordered....and if not, I can get away from the hand.
The flop comes down Q88, with two clubs. I have a low flush draw on a paired board, but based on the action, I have little reason to believe that my opponents have QQ or an 8. My goal here is to represent an 8 from the big blind. It makes some sense, given my loose defense of my blinds. AND, I have a nice backup, the flush draw. I figure it is still a good draw, and if not, I will have some indication from a flat call or a small re-raise.
I bet 700 into the 1400+ pot. I consider it a reasonable bet. It won't leave me crippled if I get called, its big enough to scare away Buzz and TheMan, who have mid-sized stacks, and Crabman has a measely 450 left, so I'm also insulated from losing a lot if he calls. Sure enough, Buzz and TheMan decide to fold. Crabman calls and shows KJd. He has no draw, but ironically is ahead.
The turn is a 2 of diamonds. The river is a 9 of hearts. I have 7 high and Crabman takes down the 2350 pot.
To me, this was a perfectly fine hand. I pushed out two players who were potential threats and then essentially put up 450 to win a 14,000 pot with 9-outs twice. You don't even need to do the math to know those were good odds.
I'm down to 3,385 on the very next hand. I'm still in the top 4 stacks though, none of which are about 4,100. Buzz can't help himself and types, "lmao," Internet speak for "I am a 12 year old girl who incidentally is laughing my ass off." I think nothing of it. After all, it must've been odd giving up a pot to K-high and 7-high. TheMan chimes in with "I play so bad." He probably is reliving the last hand and is damning himself for folding after the fact, even though I'm sure it was a logical choice at the time.
I am dealt 66 in the SB. It folds to TheCore (2,350) on the button, who raises to 300. I call for 250 more. I figure that TheCore is probably trying to steal with position after it folded to him, but rather than re-raise now, I want to see how the hand develops. I figure that after the last play, a re-raise will only get me into deeper trouble. After all, I already displayed my willingness to play loose cards to large raises, so I want to avoid getting into a preflop raise war with AQ or even KQ. The BB, CaptBilly (2,945) calls.
The flop comes down Q72, with two hearts. I don't have a heart. I check. Capt checks. TheCore bets 900 into the 1050 pot. I consider my options and go into the tank. I had him raising light preflop and nothing has happened to change that read. There are two overs to my pocket pair on the board, but unless he has 77, I don't see him hitting that card (and definitely don't see him calling a significant re-raise if he got lucky and hit the 7 only). He may've hit the Queen, but that would only happen if he had QJ, QQ, QK, or QA. He has a wide range, so the chances are more likely than not that he does not have one of those holdings. He may have a pocket pair higher than my 6s, but once again, I surmise that he may fold to a large re-raise, fearing that I hit the Queen, or even a set with 22, and am now checkraising. I push all-in for 3,085 into the 1950 pot. CaptBilly folds and TheCore calls for his last 1,150. What does he have? 89h, for a flush draw.
The turn is a heart and the river is a heart. I lose the 5,000 pot and am left with 1,035, slightly more than 10x the BB.
Two hands where I made some gutsy plays; two hands where the gutsy plays did not pay off. But the hands didn't mean that much to me when I re-read them until I saw the final line:
Buzz: "Way to donk off all those chips."
Thanks, table captain!
I mean, what the fuck?! The way I saw it, my plays were not only justifiable, but downright well done. Sure, I didn't get the results I wanted, but I made the plays I wanted, and in both instances, when all my chips went into the middle, I was either ahead, or had a slew of outs making it +EV. All this goes to show is that not only are there complete idiots out there playing poker, but if you pay close enough attention, they will announce their presence to you at the table. Buzz would've been better off typing, "My mommy let me play on her account! Yippee!"
Until next time, make mine poker!
posted by Jordan @ 11:20 AM,
3 Comments:
-
At 9:24 PM,
Pokerwolf said...
-
Sounds like I need to read a new book.
Thanks for the tip! -
At 4:23 PM,
Memphis MOJO said...
-
I just finished the Gus Hansen book, it's an eye-opener for sure.
-
At 12:51 PM,
SirFWALGMan said...
-
Both hands the people seem to have no fold equity so the jams are going to be called. In the first hand you have a ton of outs. You got unlucky and lost. No problem with how you played that.
Second hand also you were racing but ahead and got unlucky and lost. However the overjam of all your chips looks suspicious and the guy who lead out really is not going to be able to fold with the pot and the crumbs he has left. I mean would you fold there?
I really have no problem with either of your hands though. MTT play is full of decisions that do not always work out until that one magical time you win something. It is why you need to have a really good mindset to win.
