AT $2500, this was one of the largest buy-in online tournaments I’d ever entered, and the first two-day event. It had a great structure, with gradual blind increases every half hour and deep starting stacks.
I got a pretty good starting table, with the only names I recognized being a well-known cash game short stacker and three FTP pros. I didn’t know much about mandyb, but I’ve played a fair amount of full ring cash games lately with the the other two, Marco Liesy and Mike Matusow. Mike at least was probably above average relative to the field, but he was also a known quantity, whereas I was going to have to figure out how to deal with a lot of the others at table. From what I’ve seen, Marco is a pretty weak deep stack player, so I was happy to have him at the table.
In the second hour, I made a move on Matusow that, though successful, I regretted as soon as I made it and still think is pretty poor:
Full Tilt Poker, NL Hold’em Tournament, 15/30 Blinds, 9 Players
LeggoPoker.com – Hand History Converter
BB: 4,810
UTG: 4,860
UTG+1: 5,335
UTG+2: 7,185
MP1: 2,515
Hero (MP2): 4,205
CO: 5,490
BTN: 5,740
SB: 4,860
Pre-Flop: (45) A
K
dealt to Hero (MP2)
UTG folds, UTG+1 calls 30, 2 folds, Hero raises to 135, UTG+1 calls 105
Flop: (315) 5 8
5 (2 Players)
UTG+1 checks, Hero bets 220, UTG+1 calls 220
Turn: (755) 7 (2 Players)
UTG+1 bets 270, Hero raises to 850, UTG+1 folds
Results: 1,295 Pot
Hero mucked A K and WON 1,295 (+670 NET)
His turn lead is pretty clearly a blocking/probe bet, but my raise doesn’t make a lot of sense. Even with a flush it’s not necessarily a great raise, and there aren’t a lot of ways for me to have a full house. If I had a club, I would have just called and then bet any river, but I think folding is actually better without a club, at least against a skilled handreader who isn’t afraid to be a hero. Early in a tournament, Mike’s probably playing pretty conservatively, so maybe it’s ok. Anyway, it worked.
For the next hour or two I won and lost some small pots but hovered close pretty close to the 5K starting stacks, which was fine, since the blinds were so shallow. Then this happened:
Full Tilt Poker, NL Hold’em Tournament, 40/80 Blinds, 9 Players
LeggoPoker.com – Hand History Converter
UTG+1: 1,425
UTG+2: 4,815
MP1: 3,755
MP2: 10,766
CO: 5,445
Hero (BTN): 4,705
SB: 5,480
BB: 10,605
UTG: 8,175
Pre-Flop: (120) K J dealt to Hero (BTN)
4 folds, MP2 raises to 240, CO folds, Hero calls 240, 2 folds
Flop: (600) J 7 9 (2 Players)
MP2 bets 415, Hero calls 415
Turn: (1,430) 4 (2 Players)
MP2 checks, Hero bets 800, MP2 raises to 3,830, Hero raises to 4,050 and is All-In, MP2 calls 220
River: (9,530) 8 (2 Players – 1 is All-In)
Results: 9,530 Pot
MP2 showed T J (a straight, Jack high) and WON 9,530 (+4,825 NET)
Hero showed K J (a pair of Jacks) and LOST (-4,705 NET)
I forgot to register for the $100 PLO rebuy, and now, instead of playing day 2, I’ve just started the $240 knock-out (it’s a $200 tournament with a $40 bounty for every player you eliminate).
Once again, another great blog entry on the best poker blog!
I love the way you describe your thought process in the hand, and I also think that it takes a great player to realise a subtle mistake such as the big hand with Mike even though the result is in your favour.
2nd hand is a puker. Ever consider folding top pair there and waiting for a better spot?
Thanks, ashwin!
Fuel,
Yeah, I tanked for a while before making the call. I just ran some numbers, though, and I’ve got 48.6% equity against a range of overpairs, AJ, KJ, QT, JT, T9, and QT. Getting almost 2:1, that’s much too large an edge to pass up. It’s possible that QT and T9 aren’t in his range, but it’s also possible that he could have smaller pairs with a flush draw, which I didn’t put in his range. So although I did consider it, I think this is too good a spot to pass.
For what it’s worth, I did discount two pair and sets from his range. I find that from weaker players, this check-raise usually means they think they have the best hand but they want to take the pot down now. They’re usually betting again or min-check-raising or something with those stronger hands instead of making the big check-raise all in.