A key hand

Now that I am taking points, my goal is to win every tournament. Obviously, that is not possible, but going in, that is my goal. I am not just trying to get "in the points", I want as many as possible. I will take chances that might get me out before the points but if they hit will get me close to my goal of pulling in all the chips.

In each tournament, there is a key hand...occasionally a sequence of hands...that determines how close I will get to my goal. One step to improving my play is identifying those hands early and using them to their fullest advantage.

Sometimes those hands are disastrous; the "big tournament" hand where I got crippled when someone donkeyed into a runner- runner low end straight, a couple days ago when someone called an all-in on a gut shot draw and hit it...other times they are the hands where I get chips to play with such as my first-hand set that held up and almost doubled me up against Taz...or even the sequence of hands where I doubled up 2 or three times while getting pocket pair after pocket pair at Jax a couple weeks ago.

Last night the key hand came early. About the second or third hand I raised with the Greek (A-J, or "Ajax"). Couple callers. Flop came Jack high giving me top pair, top kicker. I bet it. Cowboy Bill called. I had him on a draw. Turn was a blank, I bet bigger, he called, river was another blank, I raised, he folded saying he missed his flush.

On the surface, nothing too exciting. However, this was probably THE key hand for my entire night. At little risk to myself (had he hit his flush he would have been full of regret because I had the Ace high flush draw...so he would have lost more chips), I added about 50% to my chip stack. When I raised I got a couple callers. With a raise of 200 and a couple limpers, there was already about 700 in the pot. Bill called raises of 2 and 500, so I added about 1400 to my stack, give or take a few chips.

With the "big stack", this allowed me to take a few small chances. For instance, the next hand I played, I was big blind. I checked it with something like a 2/9. When the flop came 9 high I had top pair, weak kicker. I bet it, everyone folded. I did not take down much...maybe 3 hundred from the limpers...but I added a little bit to my stack. I was able to do that 2 or 3 times with garbage hands they let me check into and then, when I hit, I took down the pots.

Had I not taken down the first pot I could not afford to risk those chips on marginal hands. I mean, seriously...if someone played back at me with a pair of 9s, playing the board for a kicker, could I call? Nope. So those chips were gone if someone re raised me. So if I am at or about my starting stack...or below...I don't make those raises. However, because I am in good chip position, I can make those raises. And those raises garnered me more chips.

I did not get involved in any big pots...I just kept taking down small pots. But I took down several. Finally I raised with Siegfried and Roy (2 Queens), I took down just the blinds...but that was another 300 added to my stack. It got me about 6000.

And that is where I stayed. For a long, long time. I was almost card dead. I got into a pot here and there, stole the blinds a couple times, but was getting almost nothing. Meanwhile, Adam was being super aggressive and I had nothing to play back with. He is a calling station, so raising to get rid of him just doesn't work. He called an all-in with 10/4. They were suited...but they were still a 10-4. He called someones all-in playing for the 5th nut flush...if that is not the epitome of a calling station, I don't know what is.

And later, almost everyone limped in, I weakly completed from the small blind with pocket 3s, and John checked. The flop was dangerous with A/K/blank. Checked around. I bet the turn, Adam called, I shut it down. Yet at the river my 3s stood up. What was he calling with?


Anyway, I was stuck on about 6K from before the end of the second blind level right down to final table. The blinds were not excessively high...about 3/600. But I was going no place and there was such heavy action on every hand I could not get involved. And it was crazy, crazy action...huge pots being taken down with Ace high, stuff like that.

Gary was being Gary, too...whenever he won a pot, talking about what a good lay down everyone made, complaining every time he laid down a hand that would have won.

And I noticed that is a habit I had gotten into. At one point I was going to raise a K/Q off from late position once we were down to I think 5 handed. But a significant raise came in first, I weakly folded. The hand was won with a pair of deuces, and it was a huge pot. Gary kept complaining he would have paired the 8. I figured out how pointless and whiny that is. I actually would have won the pot with a pair of queens, but I kept my mouth shut. That is a step up and I think I shall continue not revealing all the lay downs I (prudently) make pre-flop that would have lucked into a win. Especially on hands like this one where with all the betting that followed I would have had to lay it down anyway, even though had I stayed to the river I would have won.

A little later they folded to me in the small blind. I know John's style of play. He is a solid, solid player, and a tight one. With just 8/10, I decided to take advantage of that and raised. He folded, showing his K/10. So I showed my 8/10. It brought a good laugh....and also built a crazy table image for me in case I needed to get a loose call later on.

Well, a key hand came up that I wasn't even involved in. Danny was all0in pre-flop and got 3 callers. And when the flop came King high, ragged, rainbow, the betting kept escalating. And 2 more were all-in by the river. Adam took it down with a full house which he hit on the river. Instantly he had about twice as many chips as the rest of the table combined. However, the rest of the table combined was a crippled Gary, myself, and John with about 6K each.

Why was it a key hand? Because it put the chips in front of a maniac. If I could just catch a hand, I knew I could double up. Adam is an effective player...but I would not argue a good one. Sure enough, he doubled up Gary, John got him a time or two, and I got him once.

Gary went out. John built to the chip lead, I built to second place. Finally, Todd busted out of the consolation game, and Adam just wanted to leave so I went ahead and put his chips away and it was down to John and I. He was way ahead, probably about 48K to 16K. And 10 of that 16 I had picked off from Adam over the course of about 3 hands plus a couple well-timed blind steals. When the blinds are 4/800, a simple steal adds 1200 to your stack. If you only have say...7K, steal twice, double up once, and fold through a couple of circuits, you are right there.

Well, of all the people at the tournament, John is the one I most want to face and least want to face. I most want to face him because of the people there, he is the one I most enjoy playing with. He is a fun guy to goof around with, he is polite, considerate, and just generally an engaging fellow. He is the one I least want to play because he is about the only one I think is better than me on a consistent basis. Give John and I the same cards against the same opponents, I think his results will be better. I don't think there is anyone else there I would say that of.

Not that I don't respect their games...Adam often ends up with a good size stack, so do Todd, Gary, both Bills, Randy...there are a lot of people who do so. But it pretty much relates to when they hit big, big hands at the right time. I later dealt the end of the consolation table and Randy will consistently chase backdoor straights and flushes against big raises, for example. That is a weak, weak play. But some nights it is hitting and he gets a huge stack. Todd will bully. Some nights when he does, one of the more sophisticated players will have slow-played something and will take him out. He either gets lucky early or is out...and not always on good hands. Adam plays well sometimes but is susceptible to blowing off huge stacks just trying to get lucky...and so forth. They all have strengths but they have weaknesses that are easy to exploit, also.

In John's case, the biggest weakness I have identified is he can on occasion be a little too tight...but very seldom. He picks his spots, gets in better, and plays HIS game. So it is a really hard thing to take advantage of.

In my case, I am often too aggressive. So it plays right into his strengths.

And that is the thing. I have enough tools to deal with almost anyone. Heads up against Gary, if he bets I know I am beat and will fold. Danny I can read like a book. Adam does not have a slow-play in his arsenal. Barb will chase, as will Randy, Cowboy Bill, etc., and so forth...I know who has what tools in their arsenal and I have all those tools in mine...and more...and know how to attack them. I can switch gears, I can adjust my play, I can adapt to what my opponents are doing...and I know how to attack everyone. Except John. He just has my number and I genuinely believe he is a better player.

Be that as it may, this time I switched up my game. Normally I will play every hand heads up. This time I folded a few hands, which is an adaptation to his style. We both raised a few pre-flop, we both folded a few. But I raised a few more, he folded a few more, and when we both saw the flop I won a couple extra hands. I was catching up a bit.

Which makes what happened next a mistake. You see, there are 2 primary modes I play; one is "small-ball". Take down a few chips here and there, build my stack slowly. I am involved in a lot of pots, and neither win nor lose big pots. I plan to win a lot of small pots and not play any big pots. The other is home-run where I want to double up quickly, where I don't play very many pots but I want the ones I do play to be huge.

Now, all night I have been playing small ball. It would be one thing if it weren't working...but it IS. I am hitting cards, I am catching up to John. Small ball is the way to play.

So I pick up the fishhooks. Blinds by now are 1/2K. I bump it to 6K. He goes over the top all-in. And I make a HUGE mistake. I call before he finishes the word "in".

Why is this a mistake? I have Jacks...ain't no way that, heads up, I am laying those down. So the insta-call seems pretty sharp, especially since it was my plan to send in the chips on the flop anyway.

But remember...small-ball was working. Why give back everything I have made up and then some on one hand? Even if he has 10s or worse, or if it is a straight race, the way things were going, I should have folded and gone back to small ball. I got impatient.

Worse, I did not take time to consider what hands he might do that with. I know John well enough to know he was not making a move...at least, not without something like Big Slick or better.

If I hesitate and try to put him on a hand, I am still going to call because I am too aggressive and have Jacks head up. But I should have still thought about it for a few seconds. After all, his chips are committed, he isn't going anywhere. A quick call is not going to scare him into an illegal bet retraction. It serves no purpose whatsoever. I need to lean back, think about it, THEN make my choice.

And what hands can I put him on here? John is a smurfing good player. He has no doubt noticed I have changed gears and am raising less, folding more. He knows I have a hand. Additionally, I had been limping a lot heads up, taking flops, checking them down, betting when I had something. I had folded to some of his raises, I had even folded a few hands pre-flop and given him a walk. So he knew I had a hand. He is already pretty tight. I have seen him play heads up and he is a better heads-up player than I am.

So with that to think about, I am putting him on any pocket pair 8s or better, maybe 2 cards of paint, or a strong Ace. Of those hands, I am behind 3 (Queens, Kings, Aces), a coin flip against a handful (any 2 overs), and ahead of the rest. I think the most likely is a medium pocket pair or a strong ace, maybe big slick. And against them I am calling. So I still make the call. But I should at least think about it yet. I don't have the bullets so I am vulnerable to being behind.

Which is exactly where I was...he had Queens. He had me dead to rights, a 3-1 dog. Flop was no real help...A/9/K, rainbow. Turn was a 10. "Ah, you can have your queen" I joked, since that would give me a straight. The real irony here is I we had traded outs. Any Jack gave me trips and him a straight, and a queen gave him trips and me a straight. SO neither of us wanted a set. But he got one when I 2-outed him on the river for a brutal beat. Even worse, I had him covered and took him out on that.

When someone else deserves the win and I get it, I feel badly about it, just as I do when I deserve it and someone else takes it. John got me in bad and deserved to win the pot and the tournament. How bad was it? We knew 8 cards, there were 2 left that helped me, so he was a prohibitive 21-1 favorite and I gave him a horrendous beat.

John, of course, is very cool about it because he is such a good guy. And I took down a 17 person tournament, the largest turn-out we have had on Monday in quite some time. But I deserved second. Then again, the other night I deserved to finish much higher than 11th or 12th or whatever it was and was gone relatively early, so...there you go.


And I learned some valuable lessons about patience. I need more.