In my previous post I mentioned two hands that gave me problems: one where the Ace High flush got busted by a straight flush and one where Pocket 9s took me out of the tournament against pocket kings. I need to analyze both of those a little bit deeper.
First, the Ace High Flush. I failed miserably on this hand. Let's go over it again. I limped in from the small blind with A/9 with a couple people ahead of me already limping. That was by design. Until people started raising it was pretty much a "limp in and play lots of hands" table. Perhaps I am being egomaniacal but I believe this is advantageous to someone like me. I outplayed people on the flop with regularity and I believe seeing a lot of cheap flops and then outplaying people post-flop led to my comfortable chip position. So I am not displeased with my choice. A/9 off from late position in that environment is eminently playable.
On the flop I picked up top pair and 3 to the flush but both hearts were small. When I raised and Jason re-raised I made my first mistake. I figured he was ahead...but DIDN'T try to put him on a hand. I just figured he was ahead but the price was worthwhile and with a little help my hand could get really strong. I loosely assumed he had maybe Ace/paint or a flush draw...but did not actually try to put him on a hand.
When the turn came I saw the small heart again putting 3 small hearts on the board. I noticed it gave someone a straight draw and knew it gave them a flush if they had 2 hearts. But I had not bothered to put Jason on a hand and did not do so at this time. I just looked at my Ace and raised again. He did not hesitate to call. At that point I figured him for a flush and if I did not hit a heart on the river I was done with the hand. When the river brought the 9 of Hearts I knew I had the Ace High flush and went all-in...and again did not bother to put him on a hand. When he revealed the Straight Flush was the first time I even saw the possibility.
That is bad. Yes, they seldom come. But seeing "small hearts" and "straight draw" and never pausing to think about whether he could conceivably have joined the two was just stupid. I never considered what he might have that would justify calling. I probably still would have gone all-in...but I should have had at least a passing awareness I could be hurt there. Nor did I consider his chips when I pushed all in. I got greedy and it cost me.
Overall I played the hand quite poorly because I only thought about what I had, not what he could have. Nor did I ever really put him on a hand other than a very vague "something". This would not be so bad had I not been counting on outplaying people on the flop to generate my chip stack.
But that hand I am not super disappointed with. I would probably play it the same way again...I tried to push people off draws and lesser Aces. I had a hand that is normally considered the nuts. A pre-flop raise would have changed the table and screwed up the image I was carefully building (I won several hands where I doubtless did not have the best hand but since I had shown several strong, strong hands they believed me). The one I am disappointed with came later.
I worked hard to not "tilt". I did not get involved in hands with sub-optimal cards, did not make crazy bets, and worked my way back to a respectable 4 or 5K. And made the final table, so I am pretty sure I was not tilting.
Picked up pocket 9s. Raised 3 times the big blinds. 2 callers, including the big blind and Dog the limper. Dog typically raises with any pair or paint so I am not sure why he would call. The other guy I had not played with before. The flop came with J/7/5, 2 diamonds. I figured I still had the best hand. I raised 3 times the big blind, BB called, and Dog raised it another 1600 over the top. Dog likes to bluff a lot and I never try to put him on a hand. I instantly put him on a bluff. So did 3 or 4 others at the table.
Problem 1: that is sheer intellectual laziness on my part. "Oh, he bluffs a lot, so he is hard to read". Perfect! Practice on him! I bet he has betting patterns! Put him on a hand!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Problem 2: I am at the final table. If I release my hand I still have 2400 chips, more than respectable amount. I actually DID put him on 2 overcards which meant he would have had 6 outs...which means a quarter of the time, even if I am ahead, I will lose the hand. Do I want to risk my tournament life on that? There would be better times where I would have more than 2 outs...I am what, 12 - 1 against improving my hand? Not smart. Especially since I thought about those things...that I could be out, that I would have chips left, that there was a decent chance I was already beat (if he had Jack-something) or could take me out...and did it anyway.
I called not because of the situation or because of my own read but because of the read of several others and because I figured he was bluffing...but I was guessing at a bluff and the only thing I could beat was a bluff. Stupid raise on my part and when he flipped up the cowboys I got what I deserved.
Looking back at my play on the evening it was not as good as I initially thought. I regularly failed to put people on hands and overplayed my cards. Sure, sometimes I got lucky...for example, at the consolation table I went all-in against Florin because I had "a lot of outs"...I had an open-ended straight. 2 out of 3 times I am done right there. But I got lucky, hit my straight and went on to win. But it was exactly that...luck. Again...did not bother to put him on a hand.
So things to work on:
1) Put people on hands. Every hand.
2) Watch for betting patterns.
3) Consider the situation; stack size, is it worth the risk, will there be better times to get your chips in the middle?
If I work on these things I think I will continue to improve and have better results.
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