Fancy Play Equals No Pay

It is still quite astounding to me how I can continue to make the same tactical errors over and over again as I move forward in my evolution as a poker player. Yesterday I played for a little while in a 2-5 nl cash game. I made a couple of hundred dollars, and then the game I was playing in got short. "Get short" means the game had gone from 9 handed to 5 handed. Normally, I don't mind a short game, but the reason the game got short was because of the tournament that scheduled to start in about 5 minutes.

Since I did so well in last months tournaments I thought I'd give yesterday a roll as well. I still think the luck factor is large in tournaments, particularly as the blinds increase and the stacks dwindle, but they are quite fun to play. I rushed up to the cashier to buy-in to the tournament and then headed towards the back of the room to find my seat.

There were only 21 people in this tournament, which meant 2 people were going to get paid and everyone else was going to be disappointed. I am confident as I sit down, however, because I recognize all of the people at my table. I have played with them all, and while there are some very good players at the table I don't expect any real surprises in any one person's style of play. I expect there to be a lot of people seeing the flops early on, with little raising, and the game plays very similar to a cash game. The big raises and all-in bets would come later.

In the second level, when the blinds were 50-100, and I had nearly my full T6,000 in chips (the "T" is used to differentiate tournament chips to actual casino chips), I picked up QQ in middle position. Now, normally I would like to limp here (just call the big blind) and feel my way around, hoping to be able to pinpoint whether I have the best hand, or not. There are a couple of limpers in front of me, and a lot of people yet to act behind me, and I started to get that queasy feeling of "If I don't get some of these people out of the hand now, then these queens have no chance to win". Readers of this blog know, by now, that I have reasons for not playing "according to Hoyle". The standard play, a la "according to Hoyle", is to raise, narrow the field, and take down a small pot with my big pocket pair. This was my first clue that I was not on top of my game.

Instead of playing my style I decide to play like everyone else. I raised to T500. The field behind me is folding, which is good, because now I will be last to act on all future streets of the hand. It's good until the person in the big blind re-raises to T1050. Uh-oh, danger Will Robinson. My take on the player who re-raised is that he is a competent player, and a thinking player, and therefore capable of putting in a re-raise in this spot with pocket pairs AA-77, as well as AK, or maybe AQ. Well, you can see that if this is my read on this guy's range of hands that he will re-raise with, then I probably cannot fold. The only hands within that range that I am in big trouble to are AA and KK.

The other limpers fold and now it is my decision. I act quickly, three betting (re-re-raising) to T3,000. He immediately goes all-in for a total of T4050. Now I'm screwed. This completely changes things as now I can narrow his range down to AA, KK, QQ, JJ (maybe) and AK (maybe). The reason I can narrow it down this far is because he knows, being a thinking player, that while I may raise with crap the first time, I would not re-raise his raise without a big hand. Therefore, he HAS to have a big hand, and probably a VERY BIG hand, like AA.

It's back on me, and my first instinct is to just fold and save the extra T1,000. I count out all of my chips, and I realize that if I call I'll still have more than T2,000 left if I lose this hand. This, coupled with the idea that he may have JJ or AK, even though I really doubt it, I decide to call.

He turns over KK, and I table my QQ. I quietly condemn myself for committing all of these chips while being this far behind. Stupid, stupid, stupid. I knew he had me crushed, and yet, my over-thinking of the situation has led me to this very point. Bad poker, just bad poker all the way around. Of course, a queen rolls off on the flop and he is busted, and out. In retrospect I may have been better off losing that hand, because I am sure had I lost that hand I never would have played the next one.

About fifteen minutes later I'm dealt Ac3s in the big blind. No one raises and four of us take the flop. The flop comes 2c, 4d, 9c. I looked back to verify I had the ace of clubs, yup, I do. Good, I may be able to take this right now, and if I get called I'll have plenty of options on future streets. I bet out T500 into a pot of T800. If no one has much they should just give up now. An older gentleman, whom I have played with a bunch of late, raises to T1500. Damnit! The other two people fold and now it's on me. This is a simple fold. I have a gut shot straight draw, and a back-door flush draw to the nut(best) club flush since I have the lone ace of clubs. For some reason I really like this hand. I begin to think that if a club comes on the next card I can put a big bet in and he will have to fold, no matter what he has, unless HE has a club flush draw. I put him on a made hand though, so I believe in my heart that he will fold if the turn card is another club. There is also a chance that I can make the straight, or hit my ace, both of which I believe will win me the hand.

I decide the options are too great to just quit now. So, I call his raise. The dealer puts down the burn card, and turns over the 5 of clubs. Wow, I hadn't really expected that to happen. That card, although perfect for my hand, has caused a short circuit in my brain. Suddenly, I know I have the best hand because I now have a straight, with the draw to the best flush. Here is where it all goes south. Remember that I bet out on the flop, representing a pair of some sort? I decide to now check, trying to represent that I am afraid of the flush card. I'm hoping he sees this and bets his hand so I can raise, putting him all-in. I decide to get greedy and try to bust him, and it is my undoing. He checks quickly behind me, he sees the clubs and is not going to bet into that board. This is still alright though, because my check will probably make him curious enough to call a medium sized bet on the river.

The dealer puts down the burn card, and rolls over another 5. What a crappy card for me. For all the glory and hope that the 5 on the turn brought, the 5 on the river represents nothing but shattered dreams. I still believe I may have the best hand here. I mean, I have a straight, and unless he flopped a set (three of a kind) then I most likely have him beat. He'll still likely call out of curiosity, and he can only raise in this spot if he has just made a full house when the river card hit. I bet T1500, and he very quickly goes all-in. It takes me about two seconds to fold my hand.

Jesus! I played that hand about as bad as I could, just like with the pocket queens a little while earlier. The only difference is that I got very lucky with the queens, and I got what I deserved with the straight I just made. It's misstep after misstep and now I'm left with T3000.

I fold for a little while, the blinds are 100-200, and about to go up to 150-300. It is at this time that I make my last mistake of the day. Nobody is raising, and I look down to see an ace in the big blind. There are 3 limpers, plus the small blind, which means there is T800 in the middle when I see that ace. I push all-in. It is a hyper-aggressive move that I expect will make everyone fold and I will increase my stack by about 25%, which I need. Of course, the older gentleman who took most of my chips 10 minutes earlier, calls. He flips over pocket nines, and I pray my ace has a big card with it. I peek at it slowly, but no, it's a 5. I have A5 off suit. I mumble "uh-oh, this is bad" and table my hand. The flop, turn, and river are dealt out and no ace comes. I lose and am out of the tournament before it even got started.

It wouldn't be so bad if I didn't always preach about how patience was the key to victory. I don't get it. I don't understand what happens to me, or to my psyche, as I go through the decision making process. It's a perfect example of how one bad decision can compound itself as a hand plays out. On another note I just heard, on the news, that scientist think they have a pill that can improve your memory. Wow, do I need me some of those magic beans. I'm miserable.

The really nice part about it is that now I get to walk all the way back through the poker room, passing a lot of acquaintences, and all of them want to know what happened. What happened is I played like a damned donkey and now I'm so sick about it that I'm going the fuck home! Anything else? Of course, I don't necessarily voice my opinion exactly like that, but I think those who know me got the jist of what I had to say.

I'm thinking about going to Biloxi next week. It should make for more interesting writing, at least.