My Mistake at the Local Sunday poker tournament
I have not played in a live event in quite some time. I decided to play at the Oaks Sunday event. It is a no limit event with a $125 buy-in and $100 rebuy.
Everyone begins with $2,500 in chips with 20 minute rounds.
Early levels
Nothing was happening for me early on, until this hand. The situation was that I was in the big blind for $50. Everyone folded to the small blind. The small blind is one of the stronger players in the event--I've played against him before. He will bet his hand and follow-up with a half-sized continuation bet almost every time.
In the small blind, he raised to $250. I thought he was trying to steal my blind. I found A-7 offsuit. Not a great hand, but I had position. I called.
There was $500 in the pot.
The flop was A-J-2 rainbow. He bet $250 and I called. I figured he would check the turn if he didn't have the ace.
There was $1,000 in the pot.
The turn was a 6.
He had about $2,000 left and I had about the same. He moved all-in.
That surprised me. Did he have top pair with a better kicker? Or was he just firing another bullet?
I was unsure of what to do. He was in seat 10 and I was in seat 1. I leaned back in my seat to see if I could pick up a tell. One of my edges in live poker is that I tend to be real good at picking up tells.
My opponent was totally still and looking down at the board cards. This indicated weakness to me so I called.
He showed pocket 4's and I doubled up!
A key hand for me was the last hand before the break. The blinds were $100-$200.
The same player from before was in early position and he raised to $600. I was next and found pocket Jacks. This hands needs to be played very carefully when early player raises 3x's the big blind upfront. I called.
To my surprise, the player in the big blind called. The player was a woman who played ABC poker, but will give up a hand on the turn, if her c-bet gets called and hasn't improved.
The three of us took the flop. There was $1,900 in the pot.
The flop was 9-9-4. The pre-flop raiser was first and he had $2,000 and moved all-in. I had pocket Jacks...what to do here?
Well, I leaned back in my chair and checked him out. This time he was relaxed and he was looking up and away fro the table. I thought that meant he had AA, KK or QQ...but I could be wrong.
The only other thing to worry about was the player behind me. I thought I noticed a slight reaction from her when the flop was revealed. Was she reacting to the paired board or did she have a 9? She may have hit that 9, I thought. I could be wrong.
Given the situation I folded my overpair. A mistake?
She insta-called and showed A-9 suited. The guy turned over Q-Q and was knocked out. I was feeling real good about my play...
Middle Rounds
I didn't take the rebuy since I was up to $7,500.
After the rebuy period, though, I went card dead.
The blinds are now $200-$400 with a $25 ante. I was in an early position.
The player under the gun limped in. I found A-Q. I had about $7,000.
I started to count out chips for a raise, when I had a feeling that this was going to be a bad hand for me. I was going to raise to $1,600, but in the previous hand, the limper had won a huge pot and had about $10,000. If I raised, I knew he would call, and I would be in a tough spot if I missed the flop.
I limped. The big blind checked. There was $1,600 in the pot.
The flop came A-4-2 with 2 diamonds. I had the Q of diamonds.
I liked the flop. The big blind checked, but the limper bet $1,000.
What did I know about this player? He was an amateur. If he had a hand, he bet it. If not, he checked. Of course, he had only been at the table for about 10 minutes, so I could be wrong about his game.
I called, and the big blind folded. There was now $3,600 in the pot.
The turn was another Ace. A diamond! Now I had three aces and the flush draw with the Q of diamonds.
I really liked my hand...until....my opponent moved all-in for over $7,000!
Geeze....what to do now?
Did he have a flush? Why overbet the pot?
When this player had won the previous pot, he made a full house on the river and moved all-in. When he moved all-in, his opponent didn't know what to do, so he took some time to consider his action. I looked at the player who push all-in and he was so excited, he was practically falling out of his chair. I knew he had to have a hand. His opponent called, and lost a lot of chips.
In my situation, the best thing to do was take time and see if this guy was acting the same way. Sure enough, he was. He was so excited...but why move all-in on the turn? Could he really have a big hand back-to-back? My read was that he had a big hand.
I thought for a while longer. I looked at my cards, and it was such a nice hand. My tells had been working well so far...so...I called for all my chips! What?!
He turned over pocket 4's for a boat, and I was out. Oh my, what I a terrible mistake...
What do you think of the mistake I made at the local sunday poker tournament
Posts
5 comments:
ugh- I have lost with trips the last two times I've had them- but it was by being outkicked. Anyways on to your hand...lol
I say listen to your gut as it's usually right. Not a terrible mistake but your read said he had a monster and your read was right. The brain always has to kick in and talk us in to calling doesn't it?
I dont think there is anything you could have done to change what happens in that hand I think thats just the way that hand goes, maybe you could have gotten off the hand on the flop if you played it more aggressive.
I would have raised preflop to about 1050, bet about half the pot on the flop and he probably raises his set since there are two diamonds on board and maybe you can get away from the hand but you are left kinda short in chips if you fold to a raise there. If you bet the flop and he just calls thats a tough fold when the second Ace comes on the turn, I'm not putting much value in my flush draw on the turn here though with a paired board and if you check and he shoves theres a lot of hands that you are losing to but with the blinds going up every 20mins and your chip stack I can justify putting all my money in here I guess.
Tough spot, really just one of those hands thats tough to get away from.
What I learned from playing in low buy in tournaments that have a mix of amateurs and pro's is that the pro will never shove when he's got the nuts. He will value bet you to get the most chips, but the newbie on the other hand will shove all his chips when he has the nuts. Your gut was right and you didn't listen to it.
First thing I noticed is that you didn't re-buy. That was a big mistake. Had you done so you could have been at 12k and not 7K when you doubled up. For me it does two things. 1. It stops me from thinking about re-buying 2. Gives me a bigger stack to bully other with 3. When I double up instead of being at 5k I will be at 10k. Thats a huge advantage when going up against the little stacks.
Very nice post. Better luck next time, and welcome back to the live game.
Thanks for the excellent advice GiJoeValdez...thanks.
You were in the horrible position where the card you thought helped you a lot helped your opponent a lot more. You had trip Aces and the near nut flush draw. Nearly everyone in your position would have called.
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