I've been grinding the .10/.25NL tables again. I've been very successful. I can control tables at these limits with ease, as long as I'm paying attention and not steaming from losing at .25/.50NL.
I also purchased two books I had meant to buy forever ago- Harrington on Hold'em and Super System. I'm about halfway through Harrington's book right now, and before I read Super System I think I will reread Caro's Book of Poker Tells and The Theory of Poker just to brush up a bit. I would recommend these reads to any player that wishes to advance their game to the next level.
Anyway, on to the tournament. I entered the KofC Annual Davison Festival of Flags Hold'em Tournament, scheduled as a two-day event today and tomorrow. The field was projected to max out at 450 players, but we ended up with a little under 300. The promised first prize was downgraded from 6000 dollars to 3500 dollars accordingly, and with this field only the top 25 paid out. I intended on being one of them. But unfortunately, I can recall each and every pot I played in, as I only held my seat in the tournament for an hour and forty minutes. But before we get into what actually happened, I want to show you exactly what I was thinking going into the event. I knew three things going into the tournament: one, the type of field; two, the caliber of play; and three, how I planned on playing.
1. These types of tourneys generally garner a field consisting of 70% old people. Old people are a double-edged sword when it comes to poker. They are good to play against because they cannot control their emotions- they wear their tells on their sleeves and often times play too tight for the structure. They also tire easily and are more likely to make bad mistakes after a while at the table. They are bad to play against because they tend to be unpredictable at times- they make prideful plays out of spite, and they will defend their blinds too often. Some of them have also been playing their entire lives- granted, some haven't improved much along the way, but a few of them are better than you'd expect them to be.
2. The caliber of play is pretty much the same in these tourneys. TOO TIGHT. No one wants to risk their chips, so hyperagressive play is almost always the best option against these fields. Another thing to note about this particular poker event- the Festival of Flags and its beer tent were likely to lure no fewer than a dozen drunks to the big game, where they would subsequently order more beer and then donk of their stacks to the first person that found a legit hand against them.
3. My strategy went as follows. In the first two levels, 10/20 and 20/40, I would be playing very conservatively and raising only in position, and only with hands I felt were ahead. I planned on spending more time observing the table than playing cards. I wanted to construct a tight image- show them my monster hands and show a big laydown or two. Once we came back from the first break, I was going to open up a little and start bullying some players around, in particular the ones I felt were overly tight in the first two levels. The blind levels shortened to 30 minutes each, beginning with the third round, so I knew that if I made it to level five or six I was going to have a big stack from pushing my table around.
LEVEL 1
By the time the tables got sorted out and we recieved our chips and a dealer, it was close to 8:15. From talking to the table for the last 45 minutes, I already had a solid read on almost every player, but I will explain in further detail the reads I had and why later on. The first hand I played was with Q5 in the BB. The table folded around to the button, who limped, and the SB folded. I checked and the flop came Q-2-3. I checked, and he bet out 20. If it was later in a tournament, I would likely raise here, but I was trying to stay out of trouble early, so I just called. The turn was a K. I checked again, and he bet 40. Again, I just called. The river fell a J, and I checked to him a third time. He bet 60, and with the pot at 230, I was getting almost 4:1 on a call. I studied for a minute, thinking about what hands I could possibly beat. A2 and A3 seemed likely, and I just didn't think he had a Q beat. Although we'd only played a few hands so far, once already he had bet the entire way in a pot with a woman at our table, and then folded to a modest raise on the river. The final reason that I called was the fact that he kind of slammed his last bet into the pot, as if to say "GO AWAY!". I told him that I like to start off tournaments with bad calls, and he shook his head and said, "I doubt it..." I showed my queen and he mucked, mumbling something about "Those damn small pairs."
The next hand I played was in my SB, when I completed with Kd7d. The came 8-7-3 and the three players in the hand checked around. The turn came another 3, and I bet out 60, prompting folds from the BB and the MP limper. A little later I raised from the cutoff to 60 with AJo, and it folded around. I showed my hand, letting the players know I wasn't stealing. In my next small blind, the guy UTG+1 raised to 70. I hated that, because it was the first time he entered any pot. I was hoping to look down at AA or nothing, but unfortunately I found TT. I was the sole caller and we took a flop of 8-Q-6. I checked, and he bet (rather unconfidently) 80. I should've seized this opportunity to raise, at least to see where I was at. However, I just called, and the turn was an A. I looked at him and saw him noticeably twitch, then start shaking a little, so I couldn't have check/folded fast enough. I told him he hit his Ace on the turn and folded my TT face up. He either had AA or AK, I'm not really sure which.
I took another small pot late in the level by raising to 70 with AJo in MP and having it fold around.
Then I raised with Tc6c two from the button with about 5 minutes to go. It was a bit of a dumb play, and it kind of went against my strategy. Just the button called- a woman with a death wish that either was catching a sick rush of cards or had balls of steel. The flop came 9-6-2 and I led out 70. She asked what the bet was, and I said 70. She turned to me with a puzzled look and said "Seventeen?!?" I said S-E-V-E-N-T-Y really slowly right in her face. She looked down at her chips and said "Oh yeah? Well I raise it to 100 then!" If you don't play poker very often, you may not know that the raise was an illegal bet. In the commonly accepted rules of Texas Hold'em, your raise must be at least double the original bet, and hers wasn't even close. I folded fairly quickly and flashed a 6, but my table went crazy arguing over whether or not it was a legal raise. Our dealer was no help- he didn't know the flop from his asshole. An idiot or two at our table sided with the woman, and we called the floor over. The tournament director told our table that any raise is legal as long it is at least the amount of the big blind. If I had known we were playing back-asswards Texas Hold'em, I would've made a different decision. With 340 chips in the pot, I absolutely MUST call with my T6 and a backdoor club draw- I am getting more than a sick 11:1 on the call. Even up against AA, I will win that pot about one out of every five times, and the pot is offering me righteous odds at drawing to do so. Not to mention the implied pot odds, assuming I make my hand with a T or 6 on the turn. She might move in with a hand like A9, and that 11:1 might be child's play before long. Had we been playing by sane, human rules, her raise would have laid me only 5.33:1 odds on a call- a little more than I'd need, but my read on her would indicate that I can easily fold my hand getting that price. I had seen her jam a couple pots on the turn with oversized bets, ergo ensuring that I only see one card with my call of her 70 chip raise. Therefore I am only roughly going to improve 16% of the time, so instead of getting 5.33:1 on a call with a 5:1 chance of winning, I am getting 5.33:1 on a call with only a roughly 8:1 chance of winning - not nearly close to the price I would need to call a monster turn bet.
LEVEL 2
Going into level two I have slightly over 2200 in chips. Not quite where I wanted to be, but doing well. When it folded around to my SB, I raised to 120 with T4 offsuit in attempt to steal WomanWithADeathWish's blind. She called, and the flop came 9-4-2. I checked, she bet 50, and I called. The turn was a 3. I checked, she bet 100, and I called again. the river was a sick 5. I checked, and she threw in a black $500 chip. I tanked for forever. A part of me really thought I had the best hand. I don't know why, but my gut told me to call. There were just too many hands that caught up to me, and although I could beat an A2 on the flop, I couldn't do so on the river. I folded and was down below 2000 for the first time in the tourney.
On my next small blind I completed with 86. The pot was three ways, me, crazy deathwish woman, and a loose/passive player in the cutoff seat. The flop was a glorious 8-6-6. I checked, crazy ass checked, and so did the cutoff. The turn was the 7s, which put out a flush draw and a straight draw. I checked again, batshit insane checked too, and the old man on the cutoff said "Well, someone's gotta bet!" and he threw in the min bet of 40. I quickly minraised to 80, and for some reason crazy lady called and so did the old man. The river was the Ac, and I took a big chance by just checking. The woman checked, and the old man looked like he was about to turn over his cards before he decided at the last second to bet 100. I sat back, put on a show, and raised to 300. The woman folded, much to my dismay, and the old man called relatively quickly. That pot got me up back to around 2300.
Later on in my BB the button minraised to 80, and I called without looking after the SB folded. The flop came J-9-6, and I looked down to find Q9. I checked, and he bet 150. I raised to 450, and he immediately raised 500 more. I laughed and said "Kings are good!" as I mucked my hand. He showed QQ (essentially the same hand). I told the table I had AJ.
I stole a couple of small pots and lost a couple of small pots, all leading up to this final hand. The old man directly to my right had shown some curious tendencies- to get involved in pots with very modest holdings, and bet them like monsters before folding. He went to the bathroom and came back to the table acting UTG+1. He raised to 200, hardly even having sat down. This set an alarm bell off in my head. I asked myself three questions before looking at my cards. 1. Why would he raise to 5 times the blind at such a tight table? 2. Why would he raise on his first hand back to the table? 3. What range of hands do I need to call? I failed to mention earlier that this man told me his least favorite hand was AK. He raised with it earlier, then checked it down in a pot with a loose, shortstacked player. I could tell just by looking at him in that previous hand that he had AK, and just as he checked the river I yelled out "You've got AK don't you!?!" He chuckled and showed it, telling me how much he hates the hand. Anyway, I looked down at TT. Immediately, my stomach dropped and someone from deep inside my brain screamed "FOLD!" Not exactly the action I want holding TT, but I figured if the flop was bad I could get away easily. The table folded around, and the flop fell J-9-3. He led out for 300. I went into the tank. Head first. His bet told me he didn't have 33, 99, or JJ. It was unlikely he held any Jack at all, and with AJ this particular player probably isn't going to bet this flop. It also told me he didn't have Aces. Or at least, if he did, he really wanted to charge a tight table a steep price before the flop. In my mind, if he didn't have QQ or KK, I had the best of it. He was overplaying hands for the last two hours and there was no way I could put him on a monster. I really had only two options here- push or fold. If I fold, then I may be passing up a big opportunity where I might be ahead. If I push, I risk being called by one of the two big hands I thought he might have. I contemplated for a while, and decided to make my move. I pushed, and he almost beat me in the pot. He showed KK, and I bricked out. He had me slightly covered, and I was as goodas gone. As I analyze the hand now, I still don't regret my decision. Most of the time he is going to have a hand like AQ, AK, or 66-88 and will fold when I re-raise. I was just unlucky to run into an overpair.
Although I think that one day I will be able to fold TT before the flop in that spot, I am not at that point yet. And judging by the way I broke down the hand, a J-high flop was good for me, so its tough to fold to a bet that any player is going to make in that spot with any variety of holdings. Next time I'll do better.
Here is a list of reads/tells/playing styles of the table I was at yesterday. I'm disappointed I couldn't play longer... I think I had everyone pegged. it woulda been a rough night for all of them had the flop come J-T-3 instead. :)
Seat One: Loose, sad looking man that limped into too many pots and played very passively postflop. He checked top pair several times. He also limped with a hand as solid as AQ at least once. His tells of strength included general interest in the action at the table- otherwise, his eyes were all over the room as he leaned back in his seat.
Seat One (Replacement): Tight asian player who didn't enter a single pot before I busted. He was very shortstacked when he came to the table.
Seat Two: Old man who limped into more pots than anyone, many times with very modest holdings (he once showed down Q4). He was capable of a three-bullet bluff, but also smart enough to fold when he was played back at. He overplayed small pocket pairs and middle pairs on the board. He also did not bet properly as to discourage other players from fighting for the pot. His tells of strength included the worst shaking I have ever seen, barring only one player, a guy I met at 3/6 once at Soaring Eagle. If he wasn't shaking, it was safe to assume he would fold to a bet. Concordedly, if he was betting and not shaking, he would likely fold to a raise. He stared at the flop when it didn't help him; he looked at his chips when it did.
Seat Three: Boisterous old man who busted me. He played tight, and raised with solid hands. He would sometimes limp with rags, but not too often. His tells of strength occured whenever he stopped laughing and talking. He became brash and stern when he had a real hand.
Seat Four: Me.
Seat Five: Death-wish woman. Limp/Called a lot. Re-raised very small amounts on several occasions, only to overbet on later streets. Very catty and dislikeable. Tells of strength included small raises and general excitedness. She played hands with general disregard to her chips- she called down a few pots and even bet the whole way with things like bottom pair.
Seat Six: A solid player who told us he played in event 35 at this year's WSOP. I saw him raise two pots in 2 hours. He was good, and he appeared very tight and very commited to a conservative strategy. I had less of a read on him than any other player.
Seat Seven: An old man with thick, yellowy glasses. He talked like he knew the game better than anyone else. He played very, very, very tightly. The few hands he did play were conducted with sheer unabated aggression. His hands shook like a fish out of water whenever he had top pair or better. If he finds cards and adjusts to the bigger blinds, he might cash in this tournament just out of sheer stubbornness.
Seat Eight: The tightest player. He said maybe three words in over two hours sitting with him. He was old and frightened looking. He also had a terrible shaking habit when he was strong. When he was weak he would stare at the flop like it was a nude woman, his eyes unbreaking like more cards might be coming.
Thank you for reading this long ass blog. I hope you like it. Please post some questions/ suggestions/ comments in the forums section if you would like.
-$pade Flush-
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