It certainly has been awhile since I last posted. I have not been playing much poker lately except online and nothing happened there that was of note. I have been back at my usual Monday game at Parkway the last few weeks and I thought it was time to post some observations.
Two weeks in a row now I have gone out on the bubble in fourth place. As frustrating as it is to finish that close to the money, I look at it as a sign that I am consistently becoming one of the better players who can expect to go deep each time we play. I much prefer that reputation to that of a one hit wonder or someone who is more lucky than good.
What do I expect to happen each time I play poker? It is a question I have asked before and not just with poker. What does one expect anytime they set of on a new endeavour? Concerning poker I think I finally have the answer. Of course I expect to win. You can't have success in anything competitive unless you expect to win each time you play. You're not going to win every time but if you don't expect to you are destined to fail. Beyond that, I expect to a) learn something and b) play well.
Learn something each day is a pretty simple concept. To do it ensures that you will be successful in all you do. To play well each time deserves some additional discussion. My definition of playing well is to be solid tight-aggressive. Play position and get my money in when I have the best hand. This does not mean that I will not occasionally outdraw someone but rather it means that when I enter a pot I enter it as the solid favorite to win. If I do that then no matter what position I finish in I will still have had a good game. The best part is with that style of play I should win more often than not and I think I am seeing that by come to fruition now as week after week I am there at the end rather than out in the first hour.
A couple of hands of note from last night. First one came pretty early, hand 9 to be exact. I am in the big blind and pick up a pair of sevens. 4 people call and I check because I know how aggressive some of callers are and if I catch the flop I can count on them doing the betting for me. Flop comes Q 7 3 all different suits. I check and UTG bets out $100 (blinds are $10/$20). Villain raises to $500 and the rest fold around to me. This is a dream scenario for me. I look at the raiser and say "really? $500?" I take a look at my cards once more for show and re raise him all in which at that point is a little over $1000. UTG folds to the villain who I have covered. Feeling pot committed since he has over half his stack in the pot he calls. He shows Q 8 off suit and I show my pocket 7's for the set. He gets no help on the turn and river and he is out. He looks at me dumbfounded and makes a few comments like he has just suffered some bad beat. I asked him if he really thought I would fold a set and he replied that he could have easily had a set of Queens. I told him that it was not believable for him to have pocket queens since he did not raise before the flop and then goes in for $500 after the flop. That was a "I really don't want any callers so I will try and win the pot right here" kind of bet. Plus I told him that the odds of one set losing to a higher set on the same hand is very slim and if it happens I am OK with that.
Other hands were not too dramatic. I rivered a straight on another small blind special where I had A 4 suited and the flop came 2 3 X with a blank on the turn and the 5 on the river. There was not too much betting going on so it was easy to stay in the pot. What was perfect was that the betting started after the river with the straight draw sitting out there folks started betting. I raise when it gets back around to me and get paid off. Other hand of note did not have a good result for me but it taught me about the dangers of chasing. It also showed me a good way to play a hand when you know someone is chasing. I was on the button and had J 3 suited. Flop is low with 2 hearts one of them being the Ace. Everyone checks to the villain and she bets $100 which I call with my flush draw. I am big stack at this point and can afford the call. Everyone else folds. Turn is no help on the flush but ends up giving me a straight draw to go with my flush. I can now win with a 5 or a heart. Villain bets $150 which is just too hard to pass up. River is nothing I can use, she bets $150 again and I fold. Villain told me later she had pocket 10's and I believe her. I think she played the hand well since she maximized the value of her hand. By betting an amount that was too good to pass up she kept me chasing. Had I caught the heart I would have crushed her but that's gambling. I got some chuckles from the table though when I said "this is why my daughter will go to community college" as I mucked my hand.
Now my mistake hand of the night. We are at the final table and I am either in the chip lead of very close. I came to the final table as the second shortest stack but managed to double up by flopping a set of 6's against the short stack and pick up the blinds with some timely all in's in position. I am on the button and have pocket 8's. I don't know why but I don't go all in, I raise 3x the blind to $2400. Small blind folds and big blind calls. Flop is X A Q. Big Blind bets $2000 and I go into thinking mode. I really doubt he hit the flop with a bet like that. My instinct tells me that he has correctly put me on a small or medium pair and he is just trying to represent either the Ace or the Queen. I really don't think he has it. My reads have been better than usual tonight. Not all perfect, but it is something I have been working on and I am seeing marked improvement. Back and forth I go when I finally decide to listen to my instincts and gamble that the cards will once again be good to me like they were earlier with the pocket 6's. I re raise all in and he insta-calls. He asks if I have an Ace which without seeing his cards yet tells me he has an Ace with what he deems is a weak kicker. He has A 8 which is a killer for me in two ways. I am already beat and he has one of the two outs that would give me a set. I get no help on the turn or river and just like that I am now crippled and the short stack.
Hindsight being 20/20 of course I played the hand bad. I could have went all in from the start and probably should have but pocket 8's while four handed is a big hand and I thought I would try to get some action. After the flop came 2 over cards I should have let the hand go but I really wanted to listen to my instincts. Too often I don't think we listen enough to that voice in our head. Most of the champion players will tell you that you have to trust your instincts to be successful and I was giving mine a chance.
I tripled up the next hand with a nice suck out, but was down and out the hand after that when my A 8 got no help.
Again I am happy with my play. Sure I did not cash but I went a long way to developing a reputation as a solid player which is what I want. Now I just hope my success the last two weeks translates to Vegas when I go there next week for my birthday. Stay tuned for a full report!
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