Last night's Monday tournament was a good one for me. I haven't won it in a few weeks, and I was more than glad to do so, collecting a first place prize payout padded by my must-win bet against Dale.
I was playing really well overall, and got my money in good in a lot of spots. The addition of the ante into the game at the fourth level created some great opportunities for chipping up via well timed preflop aggression combined with continuation-type bets on the flops. However, one pot developed early on in the tournament in which I went broke when all my chips went into the pot on the flop in the following hand:
Marc: KK
Me: TT
Flop: Q 6 T
Turn: 9
River: J
Marc caught runners to the straight! Even worse, Chip folded two jacks on the flop when Marc shoved all-in and I insta-called, making his hit on the river even more painful. I rebought, and began aggressing more than usual preflop, as it was more important to steal the blinds given my short stack. After taking down four pots in a row, I three-bet Chris all-in and doubled up when my tens held up against his eights. I now had about what I'd had before Marc took me out earlier.
Marc had huge chips at this point, and was playing his usual any-two-are-good-to-see-a-flop-with-even-if-it's-raised strategy. Unfortunately for him, the escalating blinds meant that he was calling off 2 or 3 bucks each hand, which was eroding his stack. A little while into the fourth or fifth level of blinds, I limped one off the button with the 8 5 of hearts, and Chris called in the small blind. The big blind checked. The flop was gin for me - 5 8 5. He bet $1 on the flop, which I flat-called. The turn brought a 6, and he made the same bet, which I again elected to just call. The river came off an offsuit 9, and he now bet $5. I raised all-in, having him covered. He called, showed ace-5, and was out of the tournament.
A while later, I picked off an all-in play that Marc made with second pair on a board of T 8 5 when I held the 10 3. The turn brought a 3, the river a ten, and we were heads-up. The heads-up match between Eric and I lasted a little less than an hour, and finally the following hand came up:
I had $80.25 in chips, Eric had $84. Blinds were $1/$2 with a 25 cent ante, and I was on the big blind. Eric called, and I looked down at ace-deuce. I had been playing fast in heads-up, raising nearly every hand from the button, and I decided to step out and raise $4 more from the big blind, which he called. The flop brought A 2 K with two clubs. Normally, I'd try to trap here, but (A) I got the sense that Eric was sick of my constant betting/raising, and (B) I wanted to shut out the possible draws. I led for $8.50, and Eric thought for a while before calling. The turn brought a ten of spades, which wasn't that threatening since I didn't think Eric would make the call there with a queen-jack. Ideally, he'd have king-ten and I could stack him. I made another bet, this time of $40. Eric tanked for a long time before raising all-in. I instantaneously called for my last $25.50 , and he showed K 8. The river brought another ace, and having only $3.75 left in his stack, Eric conceded the match.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Saturday, September 20, 2008
an interesting heads-up match
tonight I played a heads-up game with Dale for ten bucks, because we had nothing to do and couldn't get a game together. There were two interesting hands. We began the hand fairly even in chips, though he was up a little. He limped the button, and I checked my option with the ace of spades and the four of hearts. The flop came down 2 5 9, all spades. I checked my nut flush draw/inside wheel draw, and dale bet 75 cents (three quarters of the pot, since blinds were 25/50. We had started with $35 in chips each.). I check-raised him to $3.25, and he thought about it for a while before eventually making it 4 more on top of that. Feeling that he was weak, I decided to go all-in (debatable, but I knew I had a gazillion outs and two cards coming). Dale decided to call, showing the ace of clubs and the seven of spades!!! By the way, I hate this call. As it turns out, even though his high cards were better than mine, I was a favorite to win the pot.
A five of clubs peeled off, pairing the board. Still, I was a favorite to win it (check the math yourself on Cardplayer.com's odds calculator). However, the nine of clubs came on the river and we split it with nines and fives, ace kicker.
The other interesting hand came when Dale made it $1.50 from the button. Holding ace-ten offsuit, I decided there was a good chance my hand was good and made it $5 to go. Dale (fairly quickly) went all-in. I had a good amount of chips left, about $20 or $25, but there was $10 in the pot. I thought it was possible he had a better ace than me, but it was likely I was up against a pair lower than my tens, or something like KQ suited. After some deliberation, I decided that Dale just wouldn't have played it that way if he had a monster, and I made the call. He showed king-ten, which meant I was a 4:1 favorite to win the pot. It looked good when the flop came down 5 2 4 with two spades, but the king of diamonds turned and I was unable to redraw against him on the river, thus ending our match.
Though neither of these hands ended up the way I liked, I feel I played them well, and that's what really matters to me in a game like that, especially with the stakes as low as they were. Anyway, you have to take the good with the bad, and I got my money in good, which is really the object of poker.
Incidentally, as a quick aside on the Monday night tournaments, I'm ahead in the points still, by fifty. I have 195 against Chip's 145, which makes me feel pretty damned confident I can win this thing. There are twelve or thirteen games left in the year, and I'd really like to win at least two of them. Cashing is fine, and staying consistently in the points is good, too, but I feel I can win the individual tournaments as well. At any rate, enough bad beat stories and gloating about the Monday points. I'll keep everyone updated as best I can.
A five of clubs peeled off, pairing the board. Still, I was a favorite to win it (check the math yourself on Cardplayer.com's odds calculator). However, the nine of clubs came on the river and we split it with nines and fives, ace kicker.
The other interesting hand came when Dale made it $1.50 from the button. Holding ace-ten offsuit, I decided there was a good chance my hand was good and made it $5 to go. Dale (fairly quickly) went all-in. I had a good amount of chips left, about $20 or $25, but there was $10 in the pot. I thought it was possible he had a better ace than me, but it was likely I was up against a pair lower than my tens, or something like KQ suited. After some deliberation, I decided that Dale just wouldn't have played it that way if he had a monster, and I made the call. He showed king-ten, which meant I was a 4:1 favorite to win the pot. It looked good when the flop came down 5 2 4 with two spades, but the king of diamonds turned and I was unable to redraw against him on the river, thus ending our match.
Though neither of these hands ended up the way I liked, I feel I played them well, and that's what really matters to me in a game like that, especially with the stakes as low as they were. Anyway, you have to take the good with the bad, and I got my money in good, which is really the object of poker.
Incidentally, as a quick aside on the Monday night tournaments, I'm ahead in the points still, by fifty. I have 195 against Chip's 145, which makes me feel pretty damned confident I can win this thing. There are twelve or thirteen games left in the year, and I'd really like to win at least two of them. Cashing is fine, and staying consistently in the points is good, too, but I feel I can win the individual tournaments as well. At any rate, enough bad beat stories and gloating about the Monday points. I'll keep everyone updated as best I can.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
cold-decked, but not too upset
As the reader can probably infer from the title, I didn't end up winning the Monday tournament tonight! However, I'm not too upset with my play, and I'm still the big points leader. After a brutal stack-off to Andrew early on, I scraped my way back for a while. One of the players had to leave the game and his stack was just sitting there getting blinded off.
However, I was in a tricky spot! There were six players left, including an absent Chris, and both he, Dale, and I were on short money. I tried to think about whether it made more sense to go for the aggressive, marginal all-in short stack strategy, or to simply try to wait Chris out in order to place in the points. A points finish was strategically significant to me, since if I went out with no points and Chip won, he could gain nine points on me, which I would have been far from comfortable with. Fortunately, I picked up a pretty good run of cards and was able to take down the blinds uncontested quite a few times, allowing me a little bit of breathing room. Chris eventually was blinded out, and I had made at least five points. Thus, I had guaranteed that even if Chip won the tournament (he actually came in second), he could gain at most four points against me.
The final hand for me came when it folded to Andrew on the button and he doubled the bet to $3. Eric folded his small blind and I went all-in on the big blind with AK of clubs for $13.50 on top of Andrew's $3. He decided to call me with the ace-jack, which I was excited about until the board came 8 3 Q J Q and I was out of chips and out of the tournament in fifth place. Still, I got my money in pretty good throughout the night and just got into some unavoidable cold-deck situations. To give you an idea, here's tonight's bad beat story:
Me : 99
Andrew: K5
Flop: 5 9 5
Turn: 6
River: 5
It was the second time in this year's Monday tournament that I'd flopped nines full against Andrew's trips, and he hit a sick one-outer to make quads. Pretty frustrating! What's worse is that after the flop came out, there's no way I could have made him fold his hand. He was destined to hit his quads on the river, since there's no way a player who plays loose poker is folding trips in that situation. Oh, well!
Still, Chip gained only three points on me, and there are now only sixteen or seventeen Monday tournaments left in the year. Ideally, I'll be mostly gaining points on Chip, or allowing him only small gains those nights when I'm less fortunate. Here are the updated points for the tournament:
Me (171 pts.)
Chip (139 pts.)
Lee (121 pts.)
Chris (120 pts.)
Marc (107 pts.)
Eric (99 pts.)
Jake (92 pts.)
Dale (88 pts.)
Andrew (75 pts.)
Lori (65 pts.)
Justin (14 pts.)
Daniel & Brent (11 pts. each)
Mark (9 pts.)
Randy (8 pts.)
Jesse (6 pts.)
As you can see, those players below tenth place in points are for all intents and purposes out of the running at this point. It would take not only consistent wins, but also consistently bad results for almost everyone else playing - pretty much an impossibility, especially since a lot of the players at the bottom end of the spectrum aren't regulars. It pays to play.
However, I was in a tricky spot! There were six players left, including an absent Chris, and both he, Dale, and I were on short money. I tried to think about whether it made more sense to go for the aggressive, marginal all-in short stack strategy, or to simply try to wait Chris out in order to place in the points. A points finish was strategically significant to me, since if I went out with no points and Chip won, he could gain nine points on me, which I would have been far from comfortable with. Fortunately, I picked up a pretty good run of cards and was able to take down the blinds uncontested quite a few times, allowing me a little bit of breathing room. Chris eventually was blinded out, and I had made at least five points. Thus, I had guaranteed that even if Chip won the tournament (he actually came in second), he could gain at most four points against me.
The final hand for me came when it folded to Andrew on the button and he doubled the bet to $3. Eric folded his small blind and I went all-in on the big blind with AK of clubs for $13.50 on top of Andrew's $3. He decided to call me with the ace-jack, which I was excited about until the board came 8 3 Q J Q and I was out of chips and out of the tournament in fifth place. Still, I got my money in pretty good throughout the night and just got into some unavoidable cold-deck situations. To give you an idea, here's tonight's bad beat story:
Me : 99
Andrew: K5
Flop: 5 9 5
Turn: 6
River: 5
It was the second time in this year's Monday tournament that I'd flopped nines full against Andrew's trips, and he hit a sick one-outer to make quads. Pretty frustrating! What's worse is that after the flop came out, there's no way I could have made him fold his hand. He was destined to hit his quads on the river, since there's no way a player who plays loose poker is folding trips in that situation. Oh, well!
Still, Chip gained only three points on me, and there are now only sixteen or seventeen Monday tournaments left in the year. Ideally, I'll be mostly gaining points on Chip, or allowing him only small gains those nights when I'm less fortunate. Here are the updated points for the tournament:
Me (171 pts.)
Chip (139 pts.)
Lee (121 pts.)
Chris (120 pts.)
Marc (107 pts.)
Eric (99 pts.)
Jake (92 pts.)
Dale (88 pts.)
Andrew (75 pts.)
Lori (65 pts.)
Justin (14 pts.)
Daniel & Brent (11 pts. each)
Mark (9 pts.)
Randy (8 pts.)
Jesse (6 pts.)
As you can see, those players below tenth place in points are for all intents and purposes out of the running at this point. It would take not only consistent wins, but also consistently bad results for almost everyone else playing - pretty much an impossibility, especially since a lot of the players at the bottom end of the spectrum aren't regulars. It pays to play.
Monday, September 1, 2008
prepare yourself
Well, I'm off to work for a short three-hour shift, and then it's Monday night game time. I've had to walk a careful line in the tournaments, balancing between playing for first place in each game with the need for consistent in-the-points finishes so that I can be sure to take down the big share of the jackpot in December.
I'm ready for it tonight, though, I believe. Plus, my opponents in that game have huge leaks, especially with regard to hand selection. Some of them are calling raises with hands like queen-five! It is going to be an uphill battle for them if they continue playing this way, but there will always be the element of luck involved, so it's not impossible to lose to them given a couple of bad beats. At any rate, I hope to get my chips in with the best of it! Results to follow. . .
I'm ready for it tonight, though, I believe. Plus, my opponents in that game have huge leaks, especially with regard to hand selection. Some of them are calling raises with hands like queen-five! It is going to be an uphill battle for them if they continue playing this way, but there will always be the element of luck involved, so it's not impossible to lose to them given a couple of bad beats. At any rate, I hope to get my chips in with the best of it! Results to follow. . .
Saturday, August 30, 2008
the end of august
An interesting game last night. As has been the trend for me the last few Fridays, I went down in chips early on, the reloaded, found my rhythm and scored a decent profit. Perhaps my biggest mistake last night was to try an ill-timed, multi-barrel bluff against Marc, who can be a bit of a calling station.
However, since I knew Marc's strategy was to take a lot of small shots (nearly every hand, he raised preflop and bet the flop), I knew a lot of the time he'd be in there with total air. I managed to make a big call on the river against him with nothing but an ace-jack high, which turned out to be the best hand. This pot definitely helped restore my confidence and set my game back on track.
Also, I stacked Andrew no less than three times in the game, and though he was using a short buy-in strategy, the pots added up nicely. I flopped a set of eights against his aces, hit a straight against his top-pair-top-kicker AK, and picked off a preflop all-in bluff with two sevens (he had the nine-deuce offsuit!!).
Marc, maybe by sheer virtue of being in almost every pot, was hitting a lot of boards hard for the first half of the night. He was getting especially lucky against John, putting him on tilt. In one pot, John held pocket kings and flopped top trips, only to have Marc hit a four-outer straight on the turn against him. However, he made much of the money back when he and Marc both held top pair of queens on the flop and improved to trips on the river. John's AQ outkicked Marc's KQ, and he raked in a nice pot.
Last Monday's tournament had some interesting pots as well. The key hand in the early stages of the tournament came for me when a three-way all-in pot happened between Lori (queen-high), Justin (KK), and me (AA). This pot gave me the chip stack I needed to make my way to the endgame and therefore the points and money. Eric, who ended up winning the tournament, got his early chip lead when he made a tough all-in call on the river against Andrew on a dangerous board with a lot of possible straights holding only top pair with a weak kicker.
It got down to three-handed play, and Eric had the decisive chip lead. Eric folded the button, and Justin called in the small blind (we were at $0.75/$1.50). I looked down at QT of clubs and raised it $9 on top. Justin called after a lot of deliberation, leaving himself $12.25 in chips, which he promptly shipped into the pot on the flop, which came jack-ten-nine. Having hit too much of the board to possibly fold even if I knew he had the jack, I called and he showed down two fours. My hand held up and we went into two-handed play. Despite this pick-up, I went into heads-up at about a 4:1 chip disadvantage, and eventually the final hand occurred. Eric raised from the button and I reraised all-in with the ace-ten. He thought about it for a while and called with two deuces. The board bricked out, and my tournament was over.
Fortunately, my second-place finish allowed me a further extension of my first-place points on the leader board. With August coming to a close, I'm excited to go into the final third of the year with a fairly solid lead over the rest of the field. Still, placing outside of the points on any given night when there are a lot of players playing could allow players like Chip to gain ground. Barring any cosmic mishaps, though, that won't happen.
However, since I knew Marc's strategy was to take a lot of small shots (nearly every hand, he raised preflop and bet the flop), I knew a lot of the time he'd be in there with total air. I managed to make a big call on the river against him with nothing but an ace-jack high, which turned out to be the best hand. This pot definitely helped restore my confidence and set my game back on track.
Also, I stacked Andrew no less than three times in the game, and though he was using a short buy-in strategy, the pots added up nicely. I flopped a set of eights against his aces, hit a straight against his top-pair-top-kicker AK, and picked off a preflop all-in bluff with two sevens (he had the nine-deuce offsuit!!).
Marc, maybe by sheer virtue of being in almost every pot, was hitting a lot of boards hard for the first half of the night. He was getting especially lucky against John, putting him on tilt. In one pot, John held pocket kings and flopped top trips, only to have Marc hit a four-outer straight on the turn against him. However, he made much of the money back when he and Marc both held top pair of queens on the flop and improved to trips on the river. John's AQ outkicked Marc's KQ, and he raked in a nice pot.
Last Monday's tournament had some interesting pots as well. The key hand in the early stages of the tournament came for me when a three-way all-in pot happened between Lori (queen-high), Justin (KK), and me (AA). This pot gave me the chip stack I needed to make my way to the endgame and therefore the points and money. Eric, who ended up winning the tournament, got his early chip lead when he made a tough all-in call on the river against Andrew on a dangerous board with a lot of possible straights holding only top pair with a weak kicker.
It got down to three-handed play, and Eric had the decisive chip lead. Eric folded the button, and Justin called in the small blind (we were at $0.75/$1.50). I looked down at QT of clubs and raised it $9 on top. Justin called after a lot of deliberation, leaving himself $12.25 in chips, which he promptly shipped into the pot on the flop, which came jack-ten-nine. Having hit too much of the board to possibly fold even if I knew he had the jack, I called and he showed down two fours. My hand held up and we went into two-handed play. Despite this pick-up, I went into heads-up at about a 4:1 chip disadvantage, and eventually the final hand occurred. Eric raised from the button and I reraised all-in with the ace-ten. He thought about it for a while and called with two deuces. The board bricked out, and my tournament was over.
Fortunately, my second-place finish allowed me a further extension of my first-place points on the leader board. With August coming to a close, I'm excited to go into the final third of the year with a fairly solid lead over the rest of the field. Still, placing outside of the points on any given night when there are a lot of players playing could allow players like Chip to gain ground. Barring any cosmic mishaps, though, that won't happen.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
lesson four: stack size and pot size dictate the right play
A lot of times, what decision you should make on a given betting round is determined by how many chips you or your opponents have in their stacks. This principle is true in cash games, of course, but magnified in tournament situations when you can't rebuy and the blinds continually go up. This is true not just in relation to whether to bet in a given situation, but also how to size a bet you might make.
A pot that played out during the Monday night game this week illustrates this principle quite well:
It was the $0.25/0.50 blinds level, which is the first level after the rebuy period. Eric was second to act with $12.25 in his stack, and looked down at pocket eights after a fold from Marc under the gun. There were seven players at the table at this point, and he elected to limp. I like limping or raising here, but given Eric's chips, it didn't cost him too much to limp into the hand and adopt a wait-and-see approach to the hand. If he raised to something like $2, he could potentially have trouble getting away from the hand and end up playing for all of his chips in a "coinflip at best" situation.
He elected to just call. Chip called in middle position with pocket sixes, and it folded to me in the small blind. I looked down at the pocket fives. There was no way I was going to fold here. With a pocket pair, and $1.75 in the pot, it cost me only $0.25 to see the flop if Chris checked in the big blind (which he was likely to do). I had about $35 or $40 in chips at the time, so I could have raised and then gotten away from the hand without doing serious damage, but there wasn't any real reason to do so: I'd be building a big pot out of position in which I pretty much needed to spike a five on the flop to stay around, plus, I didn't want to be confronted by a reraise from the other players. Specifically, if Eric shoved all of his chips in, I'd have a tough decision. Interestingly, if I had raised, Eric would most likely have been forced to go all-in against me. I'd be most likely making it $2.50 or so to go, so if he just called, the pot would be $6 and his stack would be $9.75. With a hand like a pair of eights, which is likely to be best preflop, it'd be much better for him to shove than to see a flop and possibly have to fold for that much of his stack when overcards hit the board (even though they may have missed his opponent). Therefore, I completed the blind, and Chris checked. The board came five of spades, seven of spades, five of hearts.
Since I had flopped four fives, a basically unbeatable hand, I elected to check. I didn't want to bet yet and force out the possible flush and straight draws that could be out against me. Chris checked, and Eric went all-in for $11.75. Chip thought for a long time, and eventually folded. When he did this, Chris folded without waiting for me to act. I said "wait a minute, it's on me. I call - quads." and showed down my hand, eliminating Eric when my quads held up (he would have needed both of the remaining eights on the turn and river).
The biggest mistake made in the hand, in my view, is Eric's all-in bet on the flop. Since it wasn't raised preflop, there are several things wrong with raising here. First of all, since it was limped around, the pot was small. There was $2 in the pot when he bet $11.75. If he had bet a lesser amount, say something in the $1.75-$2.50 range, he could find out if his hand was best, and maybe fold his hand to a raise. Given his stack, it didn't make sense to make that bet. It's true he was short-stacked, but he's risking way too much to win too little in that spot.
Think about it. The pot is two dollars, and your opponent bets $11.75 and is all-in. With a board of 5 7 5, what hands would you be willing to call that bet with? In my opinion, nearly all of the hands that can call that bet can beat pocket eights. The only hand that can call maybe and be behind the eights is ace-seven. Any five calls, and overpairs may call too (and they all beat eights). Therefore, he's putting himself in a situation where there are only two outcomes possible: either he takes down the $2 in the pot because no one has anything (which would've happened if he'd bet a smaller amount, anyway), or a hand that beats him makes the call and he gets eliminated.
Here's another approach that could've been taken - raising rather than limping preflop. Eric still would've been stacked in the hand, but his decisions would have been much easier. Assuming he makes it $2 preflop and Chip calls, I'm probably calling too, not to get Eric's stack, but to get at Chip's (he had me covered). Getting a great price, Chris probably calls here too and we see a flop four-handed still. This time, however, the pot would be $8 and Eric's stack would be $10. He would have to move at that pot with the overpair. He'd still get called by better hands, but he might also get called by flush or straight draws, and definitely the ace-seven. More importantly, though, the times when his eights are best, and no one else has anything, he's taking down $8, rather than $2. This represents almost a 50% increase in his stack. The odds no one has anything make it a common sense play against three opponents in a tournament, especially when you're on a shortish stack. You just have to consider the risk-to-reward ratio. Is it worth risking X for a shot at Y? How likely are my opponents to fold, etc.? This is how good poker decisions are made.
As a last note, if Eric had begun the hand with $6 rather than $12, limping becomes entirely too speculative, as he is risking too big a portion of his stack to just see a flop. Again, it is just too likely a bad flop will come off and he will have let players with overcards come into the pot and beat him. Therefore he'll either have to fold, or commit the rest of his chips with only a 9% or so shot of winning the pot and staying alive in the tournament. With a stack that small, and a hand that is likely to be best preflop, it's much better to go ahead and shove the chips in. If everyone folds, he picks up the blinds, increasing his stack by more than 10%, and is thus enabled to wait another round for a hand to move all-in with.
A pot that played out during the Monday night game this week illustrates this principle quite well:
It was the $0.25/0.50 blinds level, which is the first level after the rebuy period. Eric was second to act with $12.25 in his stack, and looked down at pocket eights after a fold from Marc under the gun. There were seven players at the table at this point, and he elected to limp. I like limping or raising here, but given Eric's chips, it didn't cost him too much to limp into the hand and adopt a wait-and-see approach to the hand. If he raised to something like $2, he could potentially have trouble getting away from the hand and end up playing for all of his chips in a "coinflip at best" situation.
He elected to just call. Chip called in middle position with pocket sixes, and it folded to me in the small blind. I looked down at the pocket fives. There was no way I was going to fold here. With a pocket pair, and $1.75 in the pot, it cost me only $0.25 to see the flop if Chris checked in the big blind (which he was likely to do). I had about $35 or $40 in chips at the time, so I could have raised and then gotten away from the hand without doing serious damage, but there wasn't any real reason to do so: I'd be building a big pot out of position in which I pretty much needed to spike a five on the flop to stay around, plus, I didn't want to be confronted by a reraise from the other players. Specifically, if Eric shoved all of his chips in, I'd have a tough decision. Interestingly, if I had raised, Eric would most likely have been forced to go all-in against me. I'd be most likely making it $2.50 or so to go, so if he just called, the pot would be $6 and his stack would be $9.75. With a hand like a pair of eights, which is likely to be best preflop, it'd be much better for him to shove than to see a flop and possibly have to fold for that much of his stack when overcards hit the board (even though they may have missed his opponent). Therefore, I completed the blind, and Chris checked. The board came five of spades, seven of spades, five of hearts.
Since I had flopped four fives, a basically unbeatable hand, I elected to check. I didn't want to bet yet and force out the possible flush and straight draws that could be out against me. Chris checked, and Eric went all-in for $11.75. Chip thought for a long time, and eventually folded. When he did this, Chris folded without waiting for me to act. I said "wait a minute, it's on me. I call - quads." and showed down my hand, eliminating Eric when my quads held up (he would have needed both of the remaining eights on the turn and river).
The biggest mistake made in the hand, in my view, is Eric's all-in bet on the flop. Since it wasn't raised preflop, there are several things wrong with raising here. First of all, since it was limped around, the pot was small. There was $2 in the pot when he bet $11.75. If he had bet a lesser amount, say something in the $1.75-$2.50 range, he could find out if his hand was best, and maybe fold his hand to a raise. Given his stack, it didn't make sense to make that bet. It's true he was short-stacked, but he's risking way too much to win too little in that spot.
Think about it. The pot is two dollars, and your opponent bets $11.75 and is all-in. With a board of 5 7 5, what hands would you be willing to call that bet with? In my opinion, nearly all of the hands that can call that bet can beat pocket eights. The only hand that can call maybe and be behind the eights is ace-seven. Any five calls, and overpairs may call too (and they all beat eights). Therefore, he's putting himself in a situation where there are only two outcomes possible: either he takes down the $2 in the pot because no one has anything (which would've happened if he'd bet a smaller amount, anyway), or a hand that beats him makes the call and he gets eliminated.
Here's another approach that could've been taken - raising rather than limping preflop. Eric still would've been stacked in the hand, but his decisions would have been much easier. Assuming he makes it $2 preflop and Chip calls, I'm probably calling too, not to get Eric's stack, but to get at Chip's (he had me covered). Getting a great price, Chris probably calls here too and we see a flop four-handed still. This time, however, the pot would be $8 and Eric's stack would be $10. He would have to move at that pot with the overpair. He'd still get called by better hands, but he might also get called by flush or straight draws, and definitely the ace-seven. More importantly, though, the times when his eights are best, and no one else has anything, he's taking down $8, rather than $2. This represents almost a 50% increase in his stack. The odds no one has anything make it a common sense play against three opponents in a tournament, especially when you're on a shortish stack. You just have to consider the risk-to-reward ratio. Is it worth risking X for a shot at Y? How likely are my opponents to fold, etc.? This is how good poker decisions are made.
As a last note, if Eric had begun the hand with $6 rather than $12, limping becomes entirely too speculative, as he is risking too big a portion of his stack to just see a flop. Again, it is just too likely a bad flop will come off and he will have let players with overcards come into the pot and beat him. Therefore he'll either have to fold, or commit the rest of his chips with only a 9% or so shot of winning the pot and staying alive in the tournament. With a stack that small, and a hand that is likely to be best preflop, it's much better to go ahead and shove the chips in. If everyone folds, he picks up the blinds, increasing his stack by more than 10%, and is thus enabled to wait another round for a hand to move all-in with.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
read 'em and weep
Unfortunately, the first August post comes late in the month, as things have been rather hectic the past couple of weeks. After winning several weeks ago in the Monday night game, I had a couple of tough exits, placing out of the points for two weeks in a row. One time, Chip also placed outside of the points, which was good for me, but a week ago, he won it (bastard!). Last night though, I rallied and took one down after playing Chip heads-up for over an hour.
In fact, all told, the tournament lasted about nine hours, which is pretty grueling since the rebuy period ended 2 hours 15 minutes into the game. I'd say that the three-handed and heads-up portion of the game took up about that much time when put together. All in all, though, I was totally satisfied. The prize pool was decent considering there had been about eight or so total rebuys from the players in the game (not bad, that's almost one per person). This, plus hitting my must-win bet with Dale again, padded my win nicely.
Currently, the points break down like this:
Me - 158 pts.
Chip - 125 pts.
Lee - 121 pts.
Chris - 120 pts.
Marc - 107 pts.
Jake - 92 pts.
Eric - 83 pts.
Dale - 82 pts.
Andrew - 66 pts.
Lori - 62 pts.
In fact, all told, the tournament lasted about nine hours, which is pretty grueling since the rebuy period ended 2 hours 15 minutes into the game. I'd say that the three-handed and heads-up portion of the game took up about that much time when put together. All in all, though, I was totally satisfied. The prize pool was decent considering there had been about eight or so total rebuys from the players in the game (not bad, that's almost one per person). This, plus hitting my must-win bet with Dale again, padded my win nicely.
Currently, the points break down like this:
Me - 158 pts.
Chip - 125 pts.
Lee - 121 pts.
Chris - 120 pts.
Marc - 107 pts.
Jake - 92 pts.
Eric - 83 pts.
Dale - 82 pts.
Andrew - 66 pts.
Lori - 62 pts.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
a must-win bet, and a hot streak
Yet another win on Monday night. Chip went out outside of the points and I am now forty-one points ahead of him. Added to that was the fact that Dale and I had a $20 must-win bet on the game. A must-win bet means that one of the two of us had to come in first place in the tournament to collect, otherwise the bet was a tie. I gave Dale 3 to 2 odds, meaning that if he won I'd have to have given him $30. Interestingly, he held the chip lead for most of the game.
If there was a theme to the tournament for me, it was definitely the big pots I played with the ace-king. It seems like almost all of the larger pots I was in tonight, that was the hand I held. In fact, I held the ace-king the last hand of the tournament, and was all-in in a pot with it at least four or five times. Perhaps the biggest pot with it happened when we were three-handed, and Marc and I held most of the chips. Marc raised it up to $3 from the small blind, and I came over the top from the big blind with the AK of diamonds, making it $8.50. Marc called, and the flop came 6 3 6. Marc checked to me, and I thought about it for a while, and then bet $12. Rather quickly, Marc went all-in. I thought about it for a while, and made the call. Marc showed me the ace-queen! I eliminated him, and gathered what was probably the largest pot of the night.
Unfortunately for Lee, he ran into some tough luck during the tournament, getting eliminated twice when his pocket jacks ran into pocket queens. However, for me it was a good night, as I earned chips in three places: from winning the tournament, from a small win in the cash game afterwards, and from collecting on my must-win.
Perhaps best of all, though, is the fact that this is my third consecutive first place finish in the Monday night game this year, a feat which I also accomplished in 2007, but no other player in the game has done so far. On one hand, I'd like to see another player do that well out there so that I can feel like I've got real competition, but on the other (more important) hand, I'd rather win it myself.
If there was a theme to the tournament for me, it was definitely the big pots I played with the ace-king. It seems like almost all of the larger pots I was in tonight, that was the hand I held. In fact, I held the ace-king the last hand of the tournament, and was all-in in a pot with it at least four or five times. Perhaps the biggest pot with it happened when we were three-handed, and Marc and I held most of the chips. Marc raised it up to $3 from the small blind, and I came over the top from the big blind with the AK of diamonds, making it $8.50. Marc called, and the flop came 6 3 6. Marc checked to me, and I thought about it for a while, and then bet $12. Rather quickly, Marc went all-in. I thought about it for a while, and made the call. Marc showed me the ace-queen! I eliminated him, and gathered what was probably the largest pot of the night.
Unfortunately for Lee, he ran into some tough luck during the tournament, getting eliminated twice when his pocket jacks ran into pocket queens. However, for me it was a good night, as I earned chips in three places: from winning the tournament, from a small win in the cash game afterwards, and from collecting on my must-win.
Perhaps best of all, though, is the fact that this is my third consecutive first place finish in the Monday night game this year, a feat which I also accomplished in 2007, but no other player in the game has done so far. On one hand, I'd like to see another player do that well out there so that I can feel like I've got real competition, but on the other (more important) hand, I'd rather win it myself.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
mountains of chips
Another win tonight in the Monday game! It was particularly a fun tournament to play for me, since I was an early chip leader and hung on to a large stack throughout the entire game.
It all began in one key pot. Blinds were in the first level, $0.05/$0.10 (It was a short-handed tournament and there were six total players). Lee limped one off the button. Looking at the queen-ten offsuit, I limped the button. Andrew completed the small blind and Chris checked in the big blind.
The flop came down four of diamonds, queen of hearts, five of diamonds. I had flopped top pair with no real kicker to speak of. Still, the action had been limped preflop and there was a pretty good chance I had it on the flop. Andrew and Chris both checked it over to Lee who fired $0.30 into the pot. Wanting to thin the field, as well as try to get a better read on Lee's hand, I raised it up to a dollar straight. The blinds both folded, and Lee raised me to $3.75 on top. Now it was time for me to do some thinking.
The board allowed for straight and flush draws, and it wasn't entirely unlikely that Lee held something like ace-x of diamonds, maybe a suited wheel draw or something like that. I didn't think it was likely he had a better queen than me, unless it was queen-jack (though he might've raised that preflop, too). I figure with AQ or KQ he would've raised. So, the only hands that really make sense here are trip fours, trip fives, a nut flush draw (possibly with a straight draw), or a worse queen than me with a flush draw.
Deciding that I was likely to be ahead, even despite my mediocre kicker, I put all of my chips in the middle, making the total bet $8.80. Lee made the call and showed queen-eight of diamonds. The turn came 6 of hearts, the river a deuce of clubs, and I doubled up early. Interestingly enough, we were almost exactly even money on the flop. According to the CardPlayer.com odds calculator, we were both 46.67% to win and 6.67% to tie.
After that pot, which was of course well within the rebuy period, I went on to win several more big ones. In one pot, Lee raised all-in preflop with ace-jack, only to run into my pocket kings. When the flop was dealt, the ace was the first card off (the door card), but I spiked my king, leaving Lee drawing very slim with two cards left to go.
Meanwhile, we were still at $0.05/$0.10. Andrew had rebought a few times and was on ultra-tilt, shoving all-in in three consecutive pots, having lost about half his stack. I was dealt pocket sevens on the button and decided to limp it after everyone folded it to me. Andrew pushed all his chips in the middle, for $5.30 total. Chris folded the big blind. I knew I was getting essentially even money on a call, since the raise was so much more than the pot. However, my hand rated to be good in this spot given all of Andrew's reckless shoving. I called and he turned over the ace-six. Again, a flop came which both gave my opponent their pair of aces and gave me my set of trips: The board came queen, ace, seven five, eight, and I took his stack.
The rest of the tournament went well, and I don't think I misplayed anything too serious. In reality, I know I outplayed my opponents in several spots, including the heads-up match between Eric and I, which started somewhat evenly in chips. I'm glad to have picked up another win and extended my lead. A points update follows:
Me 139
Chip 108
Chris 102
Lee 96
Marc 84
Dale 70
Jake 68
Eric 67
Lori 60
Andrew 57
It all began in one key pot. Blinds were in the first level, $0.05/$0.10 (It was a short-handed tournament and there were six total players). Lee limped one off the button. Looking at the queen-ten offsuit, I limped the button. Andrew completed the small blind and Chris checked in the big blind.
The flop came down four of diamonds, queen of hearts, five of diamonds. I had flopped top pair with no real kicker to speak of. Still, the action had been limped preflop and there was a pretty good chance I had it on the flop. Andrew and Chris both checked it over to Lee who fired $0.30 into the pot. Wanting to thin the field, as well as try to get a better read on Lee's hand, I raised it up to a dollar straight. The blinds both folded, and Lee raised me to $3.75 on top. Now it was time for me to do some thinking.
The board allowed for straight and flush draws, and it wasn't entirely unlikely that Lee held something like ace-x of diamonds, maybe a suited wheel draw or something like that. I didn't think it was likely he had a better queen than me, unless it was queen-jack (though he might've raised that preflop, too). I figure with AQ or KQ he would've raised. So, the only hands that really make sense here are trip fours, trip fives, a nut flush draw (possibly with a straight draw), or a worse queen than me with a flush draw.
Deciding that I was likely to be ahead, even despite my mediocre kicker, I put all of my chips in the middle, making the total bet $8.80. Lee made the call and showed queen-eight of diamonds. The turn came 6 of hearts, the river a deuce of clubs, and I doubled up early. Interestingly enough, we were almost exactly even money on the flop. According to the CardPlayer.com odds calculator, we were both 46.67% to win and 6.67% to tie.
After that pot, which was of course well within the rebuy period, I went on to win several more big ones. In one pot, Lee raised all-in preflop with ace-jack, only to run into my pocket kings. When the flop was dealt, the ace was the first card off (the door card), but I spiked my king, leaving Lee drawing very slim with two cards left to go.
Meanwhile, we were still at $0.05/$0.10. Andrew had rebought a few times and was on ultra-tilt, shoving all-in in three consecutive pots, having lost about half his stack. I was dealt pocket sevens on the button and decided to limp it after everyone folded it to me. Andrew pushed all his chips in the middle, for $5.30 total. Chris folded the big blind. I knew I was getting essentially even money on a call, since the raise was so much more than the pot. However, my hand rated to be good in this spot given all of Andrew's reckless shoving. I called and he turned over the ace-six. Again, a flop came which both gave my opponent their pair of aces and gave me my set of trips: The board came queen, ace, seven five, eight, and I took his stack.
The rest of the tournament went well, and I don't think I misplayed anything too serious. In reality, I know I outplayed my opponents in several spots, including the heads-up match between Eric and I, which started somewhat evenly in chips. I'm glad to have picked up another win and extended my lead. A points update follows:
Me 139
Chip 108
Chris 102
Lee 96
Marc 84
Dale 70
Jake 68
Eric 67
Lori 60
Andrew 57
Monday, July 21, 2008
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