Stumptown round 3

Smallish tournament, maybe 10 people. I could not catch any cards at all. I got impatient, played a conceivably good hand trying to get back in the tournament. I had won a couple when I bet strongly after hitting top pair and people getting out of the way. This time I had Q/9 Diamonds. The flop came with Q Hearts, 9 black and 5 Hearts. I had top 2 pair and one out for anyone with Hearts was mine, a little better than 8% to improve my hand and not much for people to beat me. Lady to my left called and flipped up A/4 hearts...she needed a Heart. 4th street was a blank and the River gave her the King for the flush... and I went out 5th. The Goose did better, finishing 4th (in the money), proving once more she is a much better live player than I am. She left and I hung out for the sit & go which developed into a larger game, running to about 15 people coming in and out.

I folded in the sb, sat, sat, sat, the guy to my right raised it strong. I peek at my cards....Cowboys. I was trying a new style tonight based on stuff in Hellmuth's book so I decided to re-raise...a quick calculation said that would leave me almost nothing so I went all-in. He called and flipped the fishhooks. A little better than 4-1 advantage...I like. The flop came...and the top card was a Jack. But the bottom gave me the Alabama Night Riders. Visions of yet another top boat busted by quads flashed through my head but it did not happen and I doubled up.

Then it was back to sit, sit, sit. 3 people busted out before I saw a playable hand. People checked to me 2 spots before the small blind, I raised with q/3 suited...probably an iffy hand but I wanted to play one. Fold, call, call, all-in from the maniac who had already busted once. Huh? He was wild...on one all-in he had flipped up 10/2 off, on another a/5 suited. I folded. Next time I played I was in the big blind and checked into a q/2 suited. The flop gave me 2 more spades, 4 to the flush. One guy raised 1500, folded to me. Hasty calculation, 36% of the time I hit my hand and I called. 4th street was a blank. If I were following my new style I would have bet into it there but I had a cowardly moment and did not after he checked to me, wanting to see the free card. Whether he would have called or not is irrelevant...I needed to bet to see where I was. He checked the River too...and like an idiot so did I because I wanted to risk no more. He would have folded because he had nothing...a low pair...but his nothing was more than my nothing.

Several things: first off, I should not have gotten involved in the hand. Yes, I had the right drawing odds...but NOT the right pot odds. With only one other person in, the payoff had I hit was not worth the risk. Second, by not continuing my bet I gave up any chance of forcing him out of a pot he had small chance of winning. Third, I paid no attention to his hand when he flopped it up because I was disgusted with myself. And instead of properly mucking mine, I showed it...with only a Queen I could have easily been beaten by a higher flush and without hitting my draw I could not beat a decent pair even...so it was a weak play all around.

Even worse, it left me with about 2 times the big blind so when I picked up j/9 I went all-in with it. This was a poor move for several reasons.
1) it was too early. I saw close medium high connectors (I know most people do not consider them connectors but I prefer the 1 separation cards since when I hit those straights I am more likely to have something A)others don't and B) others don't believe) and figured it was the best hand I would see the rest of the way. Had I waited I could have seen 6 - 8 more hands and maybe gotten something better.

2) It was a sub-par hand...j/9 off suit is something to be played rarely, never in desperation.

3) it was timed horribly. Most people had already folded out of the hand...I know, that should be a good thing as it made my hand stronger with less chance of someone sucking out. But it also severely limited the amount I could pick up if I DID hit my hand.

4) It was too early. Yeah, I said it twice. I think it may have been a slight tilt bet since I was irritated at myself for playing cowardly and not betting into the hand I should not have been in earlier.

On the bright side, I think I will be more patient in the future. When the blinds are low I like to limp in for cheap. The problem is you can bleed away a lot of chips that way and get sucked into overplaying a hand out of desperation. So patience is my by-word. I will be more patient in the future and win more hands.

On the bright side, I did improve my reads. There was one hand with Q/K/J on the board. The guy 2 spots to my right raised it. But I had his tell down...when he has a good hand he looks at his chips, then the other people. When he has an average hand or a weak hand he looks at the other people first, then at his chips when choosing to bet. I read him correctly and called a large bet with low pair on the board and took in a nice pot. So hey...it was not all bad. And it was fun...