It really sucks to get knocked out of a poker tournament after doing everything right to get the other guy to put all of their money in bad, only to hit the (however many) outer to bust you. Almost nothing worse…that is nothing other than playing solid all day long, losing concentration during one hand for a split second, donking off a big pot you should have won, then going on tilt and dusting off all the rest of your chips.
That’s how I managed to get busted from the Shooting Star event. I ran into some difficult hands early in the day. One hand from big blind, in a limped pot with 79 offsuit flopped a 7 and turn a 7 to lose a big pot versus a flopped set of 2s that filled up when I hit trip 7s. Luckily it went check/check on the river and I only lost 1/2 of my stack. Hand shortly after that I had to fold pocket Aces when a guy shoved on the turn with a board of 7228. Hard to fold but I just couldn’t convince myself I had the best hand.
A couple of hours before dinner break I got moved over to Gavin Smith’s table. Since Gavin is a good friend it always makes for more fun at the table even if he is generally mean to me. I played one hand pretty bad early on when I tried to represent a flush draw that got there on the river and bluffed off half my stack versus someone who is never folding (And I really knew it but couldn’t stop myself from trying anyway). A lucky almost double helped keep me in action then right after the dinner break I lost my mind and went broke.
In a three way pot I lost my concentration which caused me to lose a big pot which set me up for the moron move I made to go busto. I was in a three way hand when I raised in mid position with KQ diamonds. Call on the button by an old dude and Gavin called from big or small (don’t recall which). In the middle of the hand I am running my mouth so I fail to continuation bet the flop like I should have, which would have more than likely taken it down but I was too busy talking. The flop was like 9 high…anyway the turn puts two diamonds out there and if I have my head in the game, I am easily betting here and taking it down 100% of the time..but again I am running my mouth so I check. The old dude bets out 2500, Gavin folds, I call..I mean really not even a check raise here, just a check call…what an idiot! So the river comes a King and I check hoping to get him to bluff at it so I can win a nice little pot and he bets out 10k (basically a full pot size bet at this point). I reluctantly call and end up losing a 30k pot and half my chips when the old dude rolls over AK….I mean really???? I could have easily won on the flop, guaranteed to win on the turn then lose on the river all because I was in a conversation in the middle of the hand. That was a serious lesson learned about paying close attention during a hand…a very expensive lesson as well.
So I ended up putting my money in super bad…getting broke and going home on the next lap of the table. I really wish I could have done better on the day. I really enjoyed being a part of the event. They really know how to take care of people at Bay 101 and as always Matt Savage runs a terrific tournament. I just hope I get invited again next year.
After heading back to Vegas I decided to play a couple of events at the Wynn with Chris and we both ended up making a final table. He cashed in 4th place in the last 1k buy in event and I cashed 6th in the last 2k buy –in event. Both frustrating positions since you are right there by the big money but not quite there. Oh well a final table is a final table so I was excited either way.
One key hand that came up during the final table was when we were still 7 handed. One of the most basic lessons to learn when you first start to play poker is to get into the habit of putting people on their hand. Obviously the better you are at getting it exactly right or really close the better off you will be. It is surprising to me how many people will sit there in a game and routinely act on their hand as though they not only have no clue what the other person’s hand is but also as though they did not put any thought into what it might even be.
On this particular hand the guy in front of me raises and I look down and see KQ offsuit and decide to 3X his raise to 50k. At this point I believe the blinds were 3k/6k and his initial raise was to 15k. I have 265k total and he has approx 150k. After folding around to him he shoves and I snap call. I had initially put him on a mid pocket pair when I three bet him and I was going with my read so the call was easy especially since I would still have almost 20 big blinds left if I lost the pot and it gave me a chance to have a great size stack. He ended up having pocket 7s and I hit either a King or Queen I don’t remember. I think a lot of times people are snap folding there but for me I simply go with the hand I put people on most of the time. I rarely talk myself into changing my read. A lot of times it makes me look like an idiot but a lot of times it makes me look like a genius. In that hand it was definitely the right call when the money I already put in the pot was calculated, I just wish it would have translated into a better result overall. We ended up playing 6 handed for four hours before I busted in 6th. There were a number of spots where other folks could have gone busto but all ins were either being folded to or won everytime til mine…oh well.
I got back in the saddle with my cash game over at Aria after busting from the Wynn Main Event. I invested a lot of money last year getting consistent at that game and so far this year the investment has been paying off nicely. I have been running good and playing good and I am loving cash games a bunch right now. When you have such a great place to play, like Aria, in games you enjoy to play and run well at, it makes it so hard to travel to somewhere, stay in a hotel and grind tourneys. Still, overall, I am really looking forward to the WSOP this year. The schedule looks great and its gonna be a super year….I can feel it!
