Sunday, March 7, 2010

More: How to turn things around in poker when things go bad

{{w|Dan Harrington}} Found at Blind Bet Poker,...Image via Wikipedia

Working on turning things around in MTT's

As I stated in my last post, I have been hitting a bad streak in MTT's. I'd like to declare that after re-reading and studying Harrington's and my books, that I won the next 3 poker tournaments I entered. I did not.

My results (about 100 players in each event):

1. A-K
I lost with my A-K against A-7 with 24 players left.
The situation was that we were 8 handed and everyone folded to the button who raised about 3x's the big blind. I moved all-in on the small blind. He risked two thirds of his stack with A-7 offsuit with an insta-call! I don't understand his play. He was getting 2-1 but there was no way he would be getting the right price.

By the way, if I win with A-K I am the chip leader!

2. A-6
When we got to the final table, I was one of the lower stacks. But I got lucky getting to the final table.

When it was 20 players, I was moving all-in a lot since my stack was low. I probably moved all-in about 6 times. Each time I was able to steal the blinds and antes. The 7th time I pushed I had A-10 and my opponent called with A-9. I won--but it was not a lot of chips since he was low stacked.

At the final table, I lost 33% of my stack with my K-Q lost to T-9. I finally had to make a move with A-6 in a back position. The big blind found pocket tens. I finished in 10th place and won twice my buy-in.

3. A-A
In the middle of the event, I had about $4,000 in chips. One player moved all-in for $1,500 and another one moved all in for $2,500. I found pocket Aces. The first player had K-J and the second one K-10. The flop came down with 2 Kings and the turn was a T.

With the next blind jump to $300-$600, I had to take a stand and it was over quick.

More Learning

Despite these disappointments, I feel pretty good about things. I really believe that reviewing Harrington's Inflection points and my book has helped. My book reminds me to be aggressive and Harrington's book provides solid guidelines using M.

However, I don't believe Harrington has gone far enough in his book. It seems to me that there are different levels of Red Zone play (M of 1-5) that is key to end game strategy. My experience is that there are three segments within the Red Zone: M of 4-5, M of 3, and M 1-2. And, that pot odds may be something to be ignored.

Anyway, I will look at developing these three segments and providing you with some suggested ways to incorporate them into your game.

Questions
If you use Harrington's M for your play, how have you done?

Any learning from following his M and Zones?

Thanks!
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