However, I am very disappointed at my tournament results though this weekend. I bought into the Saturday and Sunday tournaments for a combination of about $250 and didn’t place very well in either of them. I know my cash game continues to improve and I am really scrutinizing my play everyday to see what I can learn from it. But, I feel stuck in my tournament play with a similar pattern of mistakes.
In both cases this weekend I made mistakes which cost me the tournament. Saturday I had made it from about 220 players to about 40th when I was in the Big Blind with AcKc. The blinds were 1,000 I had about 14K. Four people, including the small blind limped in for the 1K blind. I raised it to $6,000 hoping to have everybody fold. Everybody did except the small blind who called the $6,000 I am hoping he has a pocket pair and that I will flop and Ace or King.
The flop came Ks, 9h, Jc, the small blind went all in. He had a few more chips then me. I first thought he has KK. Then I thought no with the King there, he more likely holds K10, AQ or AK like I did and he is trying to bluff me out of the pot. I should have also been thinking he might have a set. It was faulty thinking on my part and I didn’t even consider it.. He also could have KJ. I didn’t think so because he had been playing real well for the last hour and I didn’t think he would call with KJ that big of raise.
He could have AA or KK and I would be in trouble but I didn’t think so because he didn’t re-raise my raise. I am so adverse to slow playing KK I didn’t think anybody else would either. Well, it turned out my first instinct was right. He had KK. But I called him, because the last strong thought I had before I called was “If I can’t call with an AK, with an K on the board when can I call?
It was fuzzy thinking on my part. It would have been a tough lay-down, and had I challenged that last thought and taken a little longer I would have reasoned out that thought and found it faulty. I have made some difficult lay-downs before and should have done it this time.
I would have still had $8,000 and might have had a much better place to go all in.
(readers, please let me know what you think of this hand and my play)
Tonight, I got caught with my hand in the cookie jar. I was on the blind with Ks10s.
Fold, fold, fold, and a player three seats in front of the blind calls the blind of $800.
Everybody else folds to me and I raise to $2400. Blinds fold and he calls.
The flop comes Qh,7c,3d, he checks, and I go all in for my last $3900.He has $3800 and will be out if he calls and loses. He struggles and struggles and appears like he is going to fold. I am like a statue.
But, he is not really looking at me. He is acting like he should throw it away, but he is having a real hard time doing it when it seems almost like a struggle between his right arm and his mouth he states “I’ll call” and turns over Ac,7d
He called with a pair of 7’s when I was was the raiser and then bet all in to him.
The next two cards don’t help either of us and I am out. I would not have made that call like he did. Most players I know wouldn’t have either. We had been playing about 3 hours and the field had gone from 150 to about 50.
I walked away disgusted with myself for risking my tournament on a stone-cold bluff when I really didn’t have to. Him and I were the short stacks on the table and I was feeling the pressure to build up my stack. My main mistake was I made a great bluff to a player I didn’t know anything about. You can’t bluff bad players. Only good ones who are willing to make difficult lay-downs can be bluffed. Bad players call when they should’t have. This was a case he should not have called.
Again, I would like some feedback on this hand and whether I should have tried a stone-cold bluff or not in that position.
Thanks for reading…. I will try to add to this later. But, I need to unwind and get ready for bed.
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