ThePokerResource.net: A Rounder’s blog

And the tough beats keep on coming�If you’re not a big fan of bad beat stories, you should probably skip this blog.

I returned to Vegas on Thurs. night after chilling out for several days in California. Time spent away from the table always does me good as my desire to play poker increases the longer I’m away from a card room. I came back ready for the 2000 NL-Hdm tournament on Fri. with the mindset of getting involved and amassing chips at each opportune time.

I drew a pretty good table. No names with the exception of Ron Rose (an older gentleman who won the inaugural Reno WPT and the WPT tourney of champions several years ago). However, given all the WPT champions, he’s not really one to fear. There were several poor playing opponents. The poorest one was directly on my right, and he had doubled up on one of the first few hands.

The day started off fantastically, as I doubled up with AQ. With blinds at 25/25, I raised to 100 in early position and got called by the two blinds. Flop, A Q 9. I got check-raised by the SB on the flop, and then all the money went in on the turn. He had AK. I doubled up early and that, of course, feels great, especially given the table condition. I won two more small pots when I re-raised with aces pre-flop and on a separate hand, flopped a boat heads-up, both times against Rose. The first two levels I was between 4000 and 4500 without putting any chips at risk, without a very strong hand, and without having to show down any hands.

The play at the table was pretty bad, especially the older gentleman on my right. He called a bet on the flop and turn with a board of 3 4 6 7, three clubs, and he had the Kh and the Js. He kept raising his hole cards really high and I couldn’t believe some of his plays. It was obvious that the bettor had a 5 and that the caller either had a straight also or a big club. I guess gramps was hoping to pair the king. Either way, I made a mental note of trying to play pots against him and players like him.

Be careful what you wish for. I was the BB (25/50), everyone folded to the cutoff who limped, and the SB (gramps) completed. I looked at AQ hearts and I raised to 300, expecting to take it. Limper folded but gramps, who had a pretty big stack, called. Flop Q 6 2 rainbow. He checked, I bet 400, and he called. Turn was a 10. He checked and I thought for a while about checking behind. Something didn’t quite feel right and I didn’t feel like reopening the betting. But, my hand in all likelihood was good. I put gramps on a relatively big Q, so I bet 850 into a 1450 pot. He announced raise and put in 1700. I went into the tank for about a minute and a half. 4000 in the pot. I need to call 850. Nice odds, perhaps my hand is good, but I just can’t see him playing KQ or QJ that way. He also wasn’t the type of player to make a move. His most likely holding was a set or Q10. I thought a long time, counted out my chips, grabbed my entire stack like I was going to ship it and gramps didn’t flinch. So I mucked and he showed me KK. What?! How is my hand not good there? I felt good about the laydown, but I went on my first break at just over 3k, instead of 4500 or 5k. Losing a sizable pot definitely puts a damper on your spirits but it�s important to regroup during the break and 3k was fine, given the blinds of 50/100 when we came back.

I came back for level 3 and caught the absolute cooler. First hand was in the SB, and after everyone folded to me. I raised to 300 with AJ. BB shipped it on me for just under 2k. Again, I thought for a while, but ended up folding. The BB and I had been on friendly terms and I’m pretty sure he had me beat. Even if he didn’t, I could pick a better spot for most of my stack.

Several hands later, I made it 300 with kings, and my neighbor on my left shipped it again for 1700. I called quickly and we took the flop. AK hearts for him, KKs for me. Ace on the flop had me drawing essentially dead. This crippled me to 1300. Several hands later, I raised to 300 with AK diamonds, and got called by my neighbor on my left again. We took it heads-up and the flipper rolled off a beautiful 10 6 2 with two clubs. I have sort of made a decision not to make continuation bets with AK after having missed the flop with a player to act behind me. I checked and he checked. Turn was a 9 of club. I check, and he bet 500. I thought briefly about doing something stupid and raising all-in, but I folded. My good neighbor quickly flashed me pocket tens. I was happy that I didn’t lose any more chips on the hand but also felt sorry for myself that I had done so poorly during the World Series with AK and also against AK (even with kings, twice). I can’t win with slick and can�t beat slick.

That hand put me at 1000 and it was short stack mode. I had to look for good spots to ship it first in. In the BB, I had J10, called a raise to 225 by an early position limper who was similarly short stacked, and a caller (solid player). I was left with 675 and planned on shipping any flop that came 10 or jack high. Flop came Q 10 3 with two diamonds. I thought for 30 seconds about shipping it, but the caller easily could have two paints. I checked trying to find out if that was the case. The pre-flop raised went all-in for 1000 and thankfully the caller folded. I again went in the tank and studied my opponent for over a minute. The longer I studied, the more it seemed like AJ or AK. Or perhaps that�s what I was hoping for given my hand. Even if he had me beat, the pot was laying 2 to 1 and I thought this was a better spot than trying to pick up a hand before the blinds came to me again. I called, he showed AJ of diamonds. Ouch, he was actually a small favorite but it bricked off twice. Nice!

I was at just over 2k when I played my next hand in the BB (100/200 now). Everyone folded to the button who went all-in for 525. SB folded and I called the extra 325 with the A10 of spades. Button had J7 off. Flop A 10 8 with the 8 of spade. Turn 7 of spade. River, a red 9. Burn. Loved th

Our table broke and I went to my new table with 1375. I folded until I had to post my BB. Everyone folded to the button who raised to 600. SB folded and I looked at two fives. I studied the button and he looked pretty weak. I counted out my chips and saw that after calling his raise, I’d have 775 left. I really wish I had a touch over 1000 left as that would�ve been enough to get him to fold pre-flop. 775 was just short of the cutoff as he’d call with any playable hand. He’d probably only fold hands like J3 or Q4. I contemplated the stop and go, which is calling pre-flop and then shipping the rest of my 775 on the flop regardless of what the flop is. This plays rests on the math that your opponent misses the flop about 2/3 of the time and therefore can’t call a substantive bet. After thinking through both options, I decided on pushing pre-flop because I thought his hand was so weak that he might�ve folded pre-flop. Unfortunately, he called with a hand considerably stronger that I thought it would be: A8 off. Flop was Q96 with two diamonds. Turn was 3 of diamonds. I checked and I had the 5 of diamonds and he thankfully had no diamond. That reduced his outs from 6 to 4 as the ace or 8 of diamonds would not be wins for him. River, black 8. Ouch.

It was certainly a tough level. I lost to a three outer, a five outer, and a four outer for pots that would’ve put me back in the game. I’ve played poker long enough to know that these things happen, sometimes repeatedly. Even three, four and five outers happen about 10% of the time, but to lose all three was definitely tough. Especially given how I’ve run so far.

Overall, a tough, tough day. I felt really good, especially early on after the double-up and the lineup. But in the end, I just have more bad beat stories. I was very happy about my play, and with all my decisions. I thought I played both my big stack and short stack pretty well.

I’m pretty happy with my overall play (with the exception of my exits in events 4 and 5). The field overall is pretty bad and I definitely think there is an overlay there. However, I think that I underestimated the lack of play we’re given early. If our starting stacks were considerably bigger, that would�ve made things so much easier.

-PR