(Warning, you need to visit my site to see the hand replays).
Things started off so well last night. I really felt like I was zoned in and managed to build my stack up to 43k (from its 20k start) before a single person was eliminated. I actually did it playing crappy cards too (95 offsuit, 86 offsuit, 97 suited)!
In one big pot I made a pretty loose call against the chip leader on the flop. He'd been extremely aggressive all night turning over bluff after bluff, weak holding over weak holding. At this point I just wasn't giving him credit and knew that if I made my hand I'd get paid off big time. It was still early game with 13 players total and our table had 6 people.
I was pretty happy with that one. His 1200 bet and Leeanne's call into a 3200 chip pot was definitely worth calling to see if I could hit a 9, 6, or heart on the turn. I could get away from the hand cheaply if I didn't hit, but at this point I was getting almost 5 to 1 on my money and had a 1 in 4 (28%) chance of hitting at least a 9 or 6. I knew I'd get paid if I hit my 9, 6, or flush (by the river), so the implied odds were even greater.
Winning this hand made me the chip leader at my table, so I shifted gears to bully mode. The very next hand I picked up 7200 more chips with an AJ offsuit bluff on a raggedy flop that paired on the turn. Too bad I got cocky and showed that bluff... that's when things started going down hill! I almost never show my hand unless I have to and I recommend you don't either!
I quickly doubled up the two short stacks at my table when they reraised me all-in, draining 13k from my holdings. Both calls were somewhat loose (KJ/QJ), but I had a 40% chance to win each of them preflop. I just couldn't get lucky.
Also, the guy to my right annoyingly raised from the small blind on my big blind every chance he got. Each time I had calling hands (K10 suited, QJ offsuit). Hilariously, I never saw him look at his cards preflop... he'd just raise in the dark. I should have re-popped him because each time the flop came I wouldn't connect and he'd make an automatic continuation bet.
So anyway, I went to final table with about 24k chips from my high point of 43.2k. I won a couple small pots and then this hand happened. I was BB with 43 offsuit and two limpers came along. The guy in late position had about 13k in chips and the SB had me covered. The flop was 425 rainbow making me open-ended with middle pair.
I don't want to say DONKEY here... but the guy is pretty short stacked and he limps with AQ suited? He misses the flop yet calls a $3000 bet (~30% of his stack) with only over cards and a gut shot? At best he thinks he has 10 outs (3xA, 3xQ, 4x3). In reality, he has 6 outs or less. His ace is dead because pairing it would give me a straight and I have one of the 3s he needs for his gut shot. Who knows who else folded a 3 or Q.
So this hand kind of pissed me off. I would have respected a shove instead of a call on the flop, which I still would have called because I'd have so many outs. But just a call? That just shows how weak he was playing and how lucky he got.
One round and a few hands later I get QQ when he's in the BB. "Time for a little revenge" I think, so I raise 3x the BB hoping for a caller and pick up two, including him. As long as I don't see an ace, king, or 3-card suited board that I don't have a piece of I'm going to ship it on the flop. Grrr...
So what could I have done differently there? I guess I should have shipped it all in pre-flop been happy with the blinds. I mean, I was pretty short stacked at the time (7BB) and I really don't think anything but A10 or higher would have called me. I could have actually beaten A10 or better...
But I made it cheap enough for Paul D to defend his BB with K10 suited. I can't fault him for that because I would have done the same. I probably would have called the all-in too with an over and a flush draw. The hand was basically 52% to 48% in my favour (36% for his flush draw + 12% for his king), which isn't really how you want to get it all in. Having a heart in my hand gave me a small glimmer of hope, having taken away one of his outs but the coin landed in his favour.
I'm not really displeased with how I played last night. I think I did very well actually, but you can't always count on the cards to come your way. In the three hands I went all-in against Paul D I was a huge favourite (75%+), tiny favourite (52%), and small dog (40%). He won every single time. Not much you can do about that but hope for better luck next time...
Week 1: 3rd place of 12 ($20 profit / 6500 points)
Week 2: 9th place of 12 ($15 loss / 1000 points)
Week 3: 7th place of 13 ($15 loss / 2000 points)
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