Anonymous says

Good report. I liked the way you played the last hand.

08/20/07

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This report was actually from January of this year, but I wasn't using this blog site then so only posted the report on 2+2. Since I haven't won too many larger tournaments I thought I would re-post here. Enjoy!

As many of you know I’ve been taking a break from poker after my WSOP overload. I’ve played an occasional tournament over the past few months, but no online multi’s at all. Had some time on Friday night and decided to give the PP $100+9 a shot. Stayed around average for a few hours, but with about 50 to go (was in the money already) had two big hands. In hand number one I made a positional raise from the button with broadway cards and missed the flop and when checked to me made a continuation bet. Opponent calls. On the turn it’s checked to me again and I bet (there was a straight and flush draw out there) and he calls again. The river brings a blank and now I’m pretty committed to the pot so I push thinking there is a strong chance that my opponent missed his draw. Of course I could check it down but I don’t want to see that he has a low pair and I just feel he’ll fold to the push (it would make him equally short stacked). Anyway, he thinks forever and folds. On the next hand I double up when I flop TPTK, make a strong bet, my opponent pushes and I call. He has a straight draw and misses. I’m now the chip leader.

I get to the final two tables and am losing my steam. I want to switch gears and play only solid hands for a while, but I’m very tired and the super-loose aggressive player sitting on my shoulder keeps on telling me to play marginal hands, come over the top of my opponents, make continuation bets after missed flops, etc. I make two idiotic plays which I’m embarrassed to share and get knocked out 15th. I pocket about a $500 profit, but am pretty disappointed by this.

So you’re probably now thinking, “I thought the title of the thread was ‘Multi Win’”. Well read on, my friends…

Fast forward a few days to this past Tuesday. I find time on my hands again and decide to give the PP $100+9 another shot. While the field is a somewhat less than the prior Friday, there are a little more than 500 players and first prize is over $12,000.

I find AA during the first few rounds and stay about twice the average for a while. EdmondDantes is online following me and calls me during an important hand. I have 99 and an early position player makes a standard raise. Another players who has shown to be a bully and has me covered pushes. I seriously contemplate calling but my buddy urges me to fold. Not sure what I would have done if he was not on the phone, but I do fold and the first player has 77, the second player has AK and a K does hit. Wouldn’t have minded the call if I knew the cards they had, but it did save me from getting knocked out if I called.

After that hand and after speaking to Edmond I decide to slow down my normal bullying style and try to play a more solid game of poker. Play strong hands. If I do make positional raises, do not bluff off my chips if I miss. Also, as long as I have an above average stack do not get into unnecessary tangles especially when I miss the flop. That said, I did deviate once.

There was a hand at about the bubble where I had AK in the SB, make a standard raise and am called by the SB who has been very loose since we’ve played together. I forget the exact sequence of the hand, but I did miss the flop and made a continuation bet and was called. The turn was a blank and I bet again and he calls. The river is a blank and now I check getting ready to give up the hand (which would bring me down to a bit under average from twice average prior to the hand), however, my opponent made what I considered a weird bet for him. He has about the same chips as me, I think around 18k (there is 30k+ in the pot I believe) and he bets 14k, leaving only 4k behind. It seems to me if he has something he either makes a smaller value bet or if he’s feeling really aggressive he pushes. This seems to be the kind of bet designed to make me think he wants a call. Anyway, at the very last second something tells me to call and I do. He turns over AQ so he also had nothing. My nothing was better and I’m back up to one of the chip leaders.

Now I really do tighten up for the next 2 hours and I let all temptations to play iffy hands pass. I go a few times from one of the chip leaders to average while waiting for hands, but every time I get right around average or a bit below average I get a nice hand and stay in a comfortable position. I've been in several big pro tournaments in similar situations including a WSOP event where I could not seem to shift into this mode late in a tournament when I had a comfortable stack, so I'm really challenging myself to avoid marginal situations.

I do get very lucky during the 20-10 people left mark. At around 18 there is a raise and I push with QQ (when I’m average stack) and get called by AA. I hit a Q on the river. A similar thing happens right before the final table when I have 99 versus QQ and hit a 9 on the flop.

At the final table, I keep on telling myself that this is an experiment and do not play marginal hands unless the situation is just perfect for it. It’s tough because the play is very wild, but I just allow everyone to kill each other and only play an occasional solid hand. When I do get a good hand I play it strong and my favorite hands always hold up. I even decide to fold in the SB when it’s folded to me if I have crap. My logic is that I was usually well above average at the final table (yet not near the 1 or 2 leaders) and I don’t want to get into a situation where I see a flop with junk like 84o, hit middle pair or a straight draw and am temped to call on a draw or get check raised and have to fold. Anyway the strategy works and I find myself heads-up.

I do have a 3-1 deficit in chips; around 330k to 120k. On one of the first hands I made a 3x raise with ATs and my opponent pushes. I insta-call and he turns over A7. My hand holds up and after just a few hands we’re even in chips.

Two hands later I make a 3x raise with QTs. My opponent calls (there is now 40k in the pot) and the flop comes AJ7o. My opponent checks, I bet 25k (inside straight draw, but I’m really trying to represent the A and take down the pot), but he re-raises me 25k. I call figuring that I can break him if a K comes, but I also feel there is a good chance that he was just testing me so I want to see what he’ll do on the turn.

The turn brings a Q.and my opponent checks. This seems weak and I’m now thinking that my Q’s are good. I’m about to bet again to try and take it now, but then I decide that a check call strategy is best. Why? If he has an A, it’s probably a weak A given the check on the turn and he’s likely to call my bet, but if I check he might not bet much if anything on the river, so I save myself some money. He also might have KT, the nuts, but again if I show weakness here he’s likely to make a smaller value bet on the river so I save myself some money. However, what I really think is that he has nothing, so if I check here he’s likely to sense weakness and bluff at the pot on the river. I do check the turn. The river brings a blank and my opponent quickly pushes and now I really think I have him. I just don’t see him pushing with an A or with the nuts given what I’ve seen of him at the final table. I call and he turns over T7. That was it.

So the moral of the story is that my ability to switch gears and play a more solid brand of poker than normal really paid off. Of course it also helped to crack AA and QQ with my smaller pairs. Hey, most everyone who wins has these types of lucky hands <G> and I did lost a few early hands on the river where my opponent hand 2-8 outs, but none of those hands killed me.