mathare
16th July 2008, 22:43
14th July 20.32pm start - Finishing position: 6th out of 10
1. Fold 73o UTG
2. Get a walk with J8o in BB - a little early for that sort of thing to happen in my mind but I’m not complaining as I got the chips
3. Three players call the BB so I limp from SB with QTo, a call based on pot odds alone – 5 players (100)
2-A-4 all clubs
BB bets out and gets a caller, I fold with no draw and no hope of a hand.
4. Fold 94s on button
5. Limp one off button with ATo after mid position caller – 4 players (80)
4-K-T with two clubs
BB bets the minimum (20), limper calls and so do I, which strikes me know as a little odd. Had I taken my eye off the game and called out of laziness? There is a flush draw and an overcard to my pair, plus two cards to a broadway straight so likely to have connected with one of my opponents. SB folds – 3 players (140)
5c
BB bets 20 again, pre-flop limper raises to 200 and I fold.
That flop call was a little loose, similar to the loose call in the last tournament. It was a cheap, speculative call and if I only make one of those a tourney I should be OK really.
6. Fold A8o
7. Fold 62o
8. Call with 33 after the loose player to my right limps – 5 players (165)
A-2-8 rainbow
I continue the checks and the next player bets half the pot. Everyone folds
9. Fold 75o
10. Fold 94o
11. Fold 63o UTG
12. Check 44 on the BB after 3 limpers from early and mid positions – 4 players (225)
J-2-3 rainbow
I bet 50 in what now seems like a crazy move. Here I need to establish where I am and to do that I should either check and see if anyone shows any strength or bet bigger and flex my own muscles (whether or not they are real, which in this case they aren’t very real). There is one overcard to my pair so I have kinda got away with this but I still have a small pair. I don’t like this bet in hindsight.
I get a caller and then a raise to 100 followed by a re-raise to 150. I do the right thing eventually and fold. I know the caller had AJ and the initial raiser had AK but I don’t know what the re-raiser had. The betting on this hand later went a bit crazy and when the fella with AK ended up all in and then all out when an A on the river gave the AJ hand two pair.
13. 53s in the SB and I call after 3 players limp in – 5 players (250)
Another pot odds based call this one really.
Q-J-2 with two of my suit
I bet out 200, which is much more like it. This says I have hit this flop and looks to close down the odds on offer to anyone else drawing. I get re-raised to 850 and chicken out of it. I was on a draw that I needed to hit to get a real hand and even if I did I would have a weak flush so this was an easy fold. I think the raiser made a great play there.
14. Limp from the button with A9s after it is folded round to me – 3 players (150)
3-8-4 with one of my suit
Checked round
Turn is 7 and of my suit so I have a flush draw now
SB bets the pot and BB calls. The pot is laying me 3/1 which isn’t enough for the flush draw but I call based on implied odds (or so I tell myself). There are straight draws that could connect with that board but I am drawing to the nut flush. I don’t fear anyone filling up if the board pairs so while I didn’t have the pot odds I really think the implied odds made this call OK, if a little passive. If I am not worried about the other draws etc should I be raising this up? What would a raise signal to my opponents? That I liked the 7. A straight (65) is unlikely so I either have a straight draw or more likely a flush draw as it puts two of the same suit on the board. But they know I am on a draw, or have two low pair with 8s and 7s being the best I could have. A raise isn’t going to make much sense I don’t think and unless it is a big raise anyone switched on would see I am drawing and call.
The river is 7 so the board has paired. I’ve missed my draw and have just one pair but as I don’t think anyone has made a full house or anything what do I do? Someone could have trips or two pair on this board when the opponents are the blinds who were allowed to get in cheap/free.
It’s checked round and the blinds show 83o and 66 for two pair each with the SB taking the hand with the better two pair.
I have really gone off that pre-flop bet. According to Poker Office my hand is 34/169 starting hands so why just limp? I don’t have pot odds to draw to a flush so I should be trying to exploit the relative high card strength by raising. I think I should have bet 150 there. I still had over 20xBB and both blinds had me covered so a standard 3xBB raise would have been the order of the day here. I can’t decide about my play on the flop, it’s probably fair enough as I had nowt. I can justify my call on the turn, as you have seen, and the river was an obvious check for me. But I played it wrong pre-flop.
My stack is now around 9xBB and that’s the top end of the shove/fold stack sizes for me.
15. Fold J2s
16. Fold K7s
17. Fold T7o
18. Fold Q2o
19. Fold 65o
22. Fold T5o UTG
21. Get a walk with the blinds at 75/150 holding 66. I would have shoved but instead I get 75 free chips
22. I get T8s in the SB. Early position calls, another mid position player limps and I shove all-in for around 6xBB. Everyone folds and I grow my stack by around 50%. That’s how these steals should work and why I make them. Too many players get into shove/fold mode too late in the game to have any fold equity which is why I say they have no understanding of endgame strategy. The average stack at the mo is around 11xBB with several stacks quite a bit shorter than that so they should be in endgame mode around now.
23. Fold 83o
24. Fold 42o
25. Fold 84o
26. Shove all-in from middle position with 33 for 7xBB. Everyone folds and I steal the blinds. This is going well.
27. Fold J4o
28. Shove with KQo in early position for 8.5xBB. I steal the blinds unopposed and now have 10xBB but the blinds will be going up in a few hands
29. Fold J6o
30. Early position player raises to 4xBB committing him to the hand so I shove all-in with TT to get him to put his other 100 or so chips in the middle. This seemed like too good an opportunity to miss with this hand in this position. He shows A9s
The board comes 5-Q-K-J-6 and he’s out and I have more chips.
The blinds increase but I have over 9xBB and am second chip-leader with 7 players left. I am in a very solid position to cash here with 5 places paid. But we already know I go out on the bubble don’t we?
31. I min-raise with 87s from the SB when it’s folded to me. The BB folds. My stack is now the biggest at the table and I am now wondering how I managed to lose this one.
32. Fold Q4s
33. Hmmm. Shove all-in with A8o one off the button. The button has 6xBB so should fold. The SB is 2nd in chips and unlikely to defend too strongly because of that as I have him covered. The BB has less than 4xBB behind after posting. I know he’s tight but I don’t know how well he knows endgame strategy. He folds and I steal more blinds to give me over 12xBB and a healthy chip lead. And no, I still didn’t cash in this one and at this stage I don’t know why. It gets more puzzling with each passing hand.
34. Fold K5s
We’re now down to 6 players as the short stack loses out.
35. Fold Q6s UTG
36. Short stack shoves all in for 3xBB and I call from the BB with Q2s. Loose? I feel have the chips to spare really and a win here puts me in the money. He shows 66 so I am behind but have outs.
K-3-7 is no help to me
Nor is the Ace on the turn, or the 7 on the river.
So I double him up and he now has a bigger stack than me.
Good call or bad call? I still can’t really decide. I could have folded there, and every hand after really and let my big stack see me into the money fairly comfortably. But I had one eye on the prize and went for it there and then by trying to felt this guy. He was 67/33 ahead pre-flop and further ahead once the flop is down. The turn increases his advantage even more so I never really stood much of a chance. This was a greedy call to try and bust him and secure the cash. It didn’t work and I was left with just over 5xBB. I should have worked out exactly what I would have left after the call if I lost. Had I done that I would have folded and in hindsight that’s what I should have done here.
37. Fold 52s from SB after UTG calls
38. Fold K4s from button. The SB had 2.5xBB after posting so I was assuming he would shove and didn’t particularly want a caller with this hand, hence the fold. As it was the SB folded.
39. Fold J6o
40. Fold K5o
41. Fold 89o UTG
42. A7s on the BB so I shove as I feel short-stacked. There is a stack smaller than mine but he is somehow clinging on longer than I feel he should have been. The SB has KK so of course calls. I am behind 67/33 again.
The board is 3-T-9-5-8 and I have had no help so am out.
From chip leader to bubble boy in less than 10 hands – let that be a lesson to you. And it was all caused by one lousy call I’d say, that pre-flop all-in call in hand 36. Fold that and I have a bigger stack when I get to hand 42. Of course, the SB still has cowboys so is likely to call anything with that hand so I may well have gone out all the same but that’s not the point. The point is to look back and see where I played poorly and I now believe that all-in called with Q2s from the BB was poor. I am very happy with my play to that point though. I have made my steals and got them through unopposed. My bets and raises are respected at this stage and the general endgame understanding seems poor. But what I need to do in future is work out more what I will have left if I fold compared to what I would have if I call and lose in situations such as hand 36 and see what my stack size would be in BB terms in each case. I didn’t do that here and it may have cost me.
Bit of a mixed one this one. I have identified a problem hand (36) but reckon I would have busted out in the same way on hand 42 anyway. So a bit of bad play and bad luck? Maybe, but even so I am putting this down as bad play earlier on making it 2-1 to bad play for the three tourneys I have analysed so far.
Hang on, had I not called off a chunk of change on that all-in in hand 36 I would have more chips and would probably have had the fella covered in hand 4. I may have had enough to make a standard raise without pot committing myself but I doubt it. Either way, I should have lived to see another hand or two and ultimately stand a better chance of scraping into the money. Definitely bad play that one.
1. Fold 73o UTG
2. Get a walk with J8o in BB - a little early for that sort of thing to happen in my mind but I’m not complaining as I got the chips
3. Three players call the BB so I limp from SB with QTo, a call based on pot odds alone – 5 players (100)
2-A-4 all clubs
BB bets out and gets a caller, I fold with no draw and no hope of a hand.
4. Fold 94s on button
5. Limp one off button with ATo after mid position caller – 4 players (80)
4-K-T with two clubs
BB bets the minimum (20), limper calls and so do I, which strikes me know as a little odd. Had I taken my eye off the game and called out of laziness? There is a flush draw and an overcard to my pair, plus two cards to a broadway straight so likely to have connected with one of my opponents. SB folds – 3 players (140)
5c
BB bets 20 again, pre-flop limper raises to 200 and I fold.
That flop call was a little loose, similar to the loose call in the last tournament. It was a cheap, speculative call and if I only make one of those a tourney I should be OK really.
6. Fold A8o
7. Fold 62o
8. Call with 33 after the loose player to my right limps – 5 players (165)
A-2-8 rainbow
I continue the checks and the next player bets half the pot. Everyone folds
9. Fold 75o
10. Fold 94o
11. Fold 63o UTG
12. Check 44 on the BB after 3 limpers from early and mid positions – 4 players (225)
J-2-3 rainbow
I bet 50 in what now seems like a crazy move. Here I need to establish where I am and to do that I should either check and see if anyone shows any strength or bet bigger and flex my own muscles (whether or not they are real, which in this case they aren’t very real). There is one overcard to my pair so I have kinda got away with this but I still have a small pair. I don’t like this bet in hindsight.
I get a caller and then a raise to 100 followed by a re-raise to 150. I do the right thing eventually and fold. I know the caller had AJ and the initial raiser had AK but I don’t know what the re-raiser had. The betting on this hand later went a bit crazy and when the fella with AK ended up all in and then all out when an A on the river gave the AJ hand two pair.
13. 53s in the SB and I call after 3 players limp in – 5 players (250)
Another pot odds based call this one really.
Q-J-2 with two of my suit
I bet out 200, which is much more like it. This says I have hit this flop and looks to close down the odds on offer to anyone else drawing. I get re-raised to 850 and chicken out of it. I was on a draw that I needed to hit to get a real hand and even if I did I would have a weak flush so this was an easy fold. I think the raiser made a great play there.
14. Limp from the button with A9s after it is folded round to me – 3 players (150)
3-8-4 with one of my suit
Checked round
Turn is 7 and of my suit so I have a flush draw now
SB bets the pot and BB calls. The pot is laying me 3/1 which isn’t enough for the flush draw but I call based on implied odds (or so I tell myself). There are straight draws that could connect with that board but I am drawing to the nut flush. I don’t fear anyone filling up if the board pairs so while I didn’t have the pot odds I really think the implied odds made this call OK, if a little passive. If I am not worried about the other draws etc should I be raising this up? What would a raise signal to my opponents? That I liked the 7. A straight (65) is unlikely so I either have a straight draw or more likely a flush draw as it puts two of the same suit on the board. But they know I am on a draw, or have two low pair with 8s and 7s being the best I could have. A raise isn’t going to make much sense I don’t think and unless it is a big raise anyone switched on would see I am drawing and call.
The river is 7 so the board has paired. I’ve missed my draw and have just one pair but as I don’t think anyone has made a full house or anything what do I do? Someone could have trips or two pair on this board when the opponents are the blinds who were allowed to get in cheap/free.
It’s checked round and the blinds show 83o and 66 for two pair each with the SB taking the hand with the better two pair.
I have really gone off that pre-flop bet. According to Poker Office my hand is 34/169 starting hands so why just limp? I don’t have pot odds to draw to a flush so I should be trying to exploit the relative high card strength by raising. I think I should have bet 150 there. I still had over 20xBB and both blinds had me covered so a standard 3xBB raise would have been the order of the day here. I can’t decide about my play on the flop, it’s probably fair enough as I had nowt. I can justify my call on the turn, as you have seen, and the river was an obvious check for me. But I played it wrong pre-flop.
My stack is now around 9xBB and that’s the top end of the shove/fold stack sizes for me.
15. Fold J2s
16. Fold K7s
17. Fold T7o
18. Fold Q2o
19. Fold 65o
22. Fold T5o UTG
21. Get a walk with the blinds at 75/150 holding 66. I would have shoved but instead I get 75 free chips
22. I get T8s in the SB. Early position calls, another mid position player limps and I shove all-in for around 6xBB. Everyone folds and I grow my stack by around 50%. That’s how these steals should work and why I make them. Too many players get into shove/fold mode too late in the game to have any fold equity which is why I say they have no understanding of endgame strategy. The average stack at the mo is around 11xBB with several stacks quite a bit shorter than that so they should be in endgame mode around now.
23. Fold 83o
24. Fold 42o
25. Fold 84o
26. Shove all-in from middle position with 33 for 7xBB. Everyone folds and I steal the blinds. This is going well.
27. Fold J4o
28. Shove with KQo in early position for 8.5xBB. I steal the blinds unopposed and now have 10xBB but the blinds will be going up in a few hands
29. Fold J6o
30. Early position player raises to 4xBB committing him to the hand so I shove all-in with TT to get him to put his other 100 or so chips in the middle. This seemed like too good an opportunity to miss with this hand in this position. He shows A9s
The board comes 5-Q-K-J-6 and he’s out and I have more chips.
The blinds increase but I have over 9xBB and am second chip-leader with 7 players left. I am in a very solid position to cash here with 5 places paid. But we already know I go out on the bubble don’t we?
31. I min-raise with 87s from the SB when it’s folded to me. The BB folds. My stack is now the biggest at the table and I am now wondering how I managed to lose this one.
32. Fold Q4s
33. Hmmm. Shove all-in with A8o one off the button. The button has 6xBB so should fold. The SB is 2nd in chips and unlikely to defend too strongly because of that as I have him covered. The BB has less than 4xBB behind after posting. I know he’s tight but I don’t know how well he knows endgame strategy. He folds and I steal more blinds to give me over 12xBB and a healthy chip lead. And no, I still didn’t cash in this one and at this stage I don’t know why. It gets more puzzling with each passing hand.
34. Fold K5s
We’re now down to 6 players as the short stack loses out.
35. Fold Q6s UTG
36. Short stack shoves all in for 3xBB and I call from the BB with Q2s. Loose? I feel have the chips to spare really and a win here puts me in the money. He shows 66 so I am behind but have outs.
K-3-7 is no help to me
Nor is the Ace on the turn, or the 7 on the river.
So I double him up and he now has a bigger stack than me.
Good call or bad call? I still can’t really decide. I could have folded there, and every hand after really and let my big stack see me into the money fairly comfortably. But I had one eye on the prize and went for it there and then by trying to felt this guy. He was 67/33 ahead pre-flop and further ahead once the flop is down. The turn increases his advantage even more so I never really stood much of a chance. This was a greedy call to try and bust him and secure the cash. It didn’t work and I was left with just over 5xBB. I should have worked out exactly what I would have left after the call if I lost. Had I done that I would have folded and in hindsight that’s what I should have done here.
37. Fold 52s from SB after UTG calls
38. Fold K4s from button. The SB had 2.5xBB after posting so I was assuming he would shove and didn’t particularly want a caller with this hand, hence the fold. As it was the SB folded.
39. Fold J6o
40. Fold K5o
41. Fold 89o UTG
42. A7s on the BB so I shove as I feel short-stacked. There is a stack smaller than mine but he is somehow clinging on longer than I feel he should have been. The SB has KK so of course calls. I am behind 67/33 again.
The board is 3-T-9-5-8 and I have had no help so am out.
From chip leader to bubble boy in less than 10 hands – let that be a lesson to you. And it was all caused by one lousy call I’d say, that pre-flop all-in call in hand 36. Fold that and I have a bigger stack when I get to hand 42. Of course, the SB still has cowboys so is likely to call anything with that hand so I may well have gone out all the same but that’s not the point. The point is to look back and see where I played poorly and I now believe that all-in called with Q2s from the BB was poor. I am very happy with my play to that point though. I have made my steals and got them through unopposed. My bets and raises are respected at this stage and the general endgame understanding seems poor. But what I need to do in future is work out more what I will have left if I fold compared to what I would have if I call and lose in situations such as hand 36 and see what my stack size would be in BB terms in each case. I didn’t do that here and it may have cost me.
Bit of a mixed one this one. I have identified a problem hand (36) but reckon I would have busted out in the same way on hand 42 anyway. So a bit of bad play and bad luck? Maybe, but even so I am putting this down as bad play earlier on making it 2-1 to bad play for the three tourneys I have analysed so far.
Hang on, had I not called off a chunk of change on that all-in in hand 36 I would have more chips and would probably have had the fella covered in hand 4. I may have had enough to make a standard raise without pot committing myself but I doubt it. Either way, I should have lived to see another hand or two and ultimately stand a better chance of scraping into the money. Definitely bad play that one.