Arrrggh... POKER STORY

user8073964251 · 03-02-2006, 01:15 PM

Ok, well I'm a poker buff... always entering tournaments, playing home games, etc.

So we have a local tournament here every other month or so. $200 buy-in. Pays out the top 9 players. At this particular event there was over 300 enteree's, so the money was pretty good.

Well I breezed through the first few tables (Tables of 9 until 6 are eliminated, the the remaining 3 join the remaining 3 from two other tables, until the final 9 are left.)

Well... I'm holding a 6 3, both of clubs and in the big blind. I have 3 callers but no raisers and the flop comes: J, A, 8 (J, A, both clubs) The small blind raises and I go all in (I'm low stack) and I get 2 callers. One caller has A, J in hand, but I get the flush and that big pot carries me all the way to the final table.

So ANYWAY, final table, and I'm in the small and I get a A 9, both hearts, and call. Big blind raises to triple the pot and I call. Flop comes out 7 7 8 (2 hearts.) I go all in and get called. He flips over a pair of pocket 10's. Next card comes... and it's a 4, of HEARTS! I got my flush! (This was with 9 players remaining, I was 2nd to last in chips, he was 2nd chip leader)...

guess what the next card was... a FRICKIN 10!

Ahhh I got knocked out, and my prize was 200 dollars, my entry fee back. I kicked butt all day, for about 7 hours and all I got was my money back. Talk about depressing considering that if that 10 wouldn't have fell, the next hand 2 people got knocked out and I would've been guarenteed 1000 dollars. Argh... (thanks for reading this rant.)

my_whey · 03-02-2006, 01:18 PM

Wow... I can't believe you went all in twice on draws just hoping for a flush. That takes balls...

twisted03 · 03-02-2006, 01:23 PM

all in twice on a flush draw??

Reservoir Dog · 03-02-2006, 01:24 PM

Wow thats a ****ty pay out for 9th place. Over 60 grand in the prize pool and 9th place is your entry fee back?

user8073964251 · 03-02-2006, 01:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by my_whey

Wow... I can't believe you went all in twice on draws just hoping for a flush. That takes balls...

The first time (the club flush) I had to. I had over a quarter of my stack in the pot already, and my pot odds were great. I had to make a play soon or I would've dwindled out. I put the one person on a pair (they ended up having 2 pair) and I thought the other guy was bluffing. In hindsight, this was one of my smartest moves of the day.

The hand I lost on, I truely believe that this was the only mistake I made all day. I was 2nd low stack and I counted the other guys stack wrong. I SHOULD have folded when he raised triple. My A 9 suited was obviously losing at that point. But when the flop came out 7 7 8, I figured that if he had a small pair, or big slick, that I could bluff him out. It didn't work, but besides that play, I played great all day. I was just ashamed that I played so well and choked at the least opportune time.

user8073964251 · 03-02-2006, 01:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reservoir Dog

Wow thats a ****ty pay out for 9th place. Over 60 grand in the prize pool and 9th place is your entry fee back?

The place we played at had to take a good sized rake (Believe it or not, I think they got almost 10 grand). They supplied the dealers, cards, tables...etc. But then again, the provided a buffet, and all you could drink... even free cigarettes.

First place took almost 20 grand. Second took around 10.

Reservoir Dog · 03-02-2006, 01:35 PM

Damn dude, that sucks. I've felt like that playing online tournys before. Played for 4 1/2 hors and won $5. Another time I played 3 hours and was at the final table and my internet connection went out and I was blinded out of the tournament in 9th place.

TheDude824 · 03-02-2006, 01:36 PM

i could see you going all in on the first time being that u were short-stacked.. The second time, however, it was a mistake. I'd make that same play sometimes too tho. Of course it never works out lol.. On a side note, pocket 10's are crap in my book.

user8073964251 · 03-02-2006, 01:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by da cutness

i could see you going all in on the first time being that u were short-stacked.. The second time, however, it was a mistake. I'd make that same play sometimes too tho. Of course it never works out lol.. On a side note, pocket 10's are crap in my book.

I agree.

I knew he over-raised when he tripled the blind with his raise of pocket 10's. The blinds were very high, and I had already called, so I came in with the hopes of hitting the flop, or getting something I could bluff with.

When I saw the 2 hearts on the flop, and the flop had paired itself, I got antsy and went all in...

but, like I said, I miscounted his chips. I THOUGHT that he was right around my total, but he had his big chips hidden behind his stack. It turned out that he could cover me more than 4 times.

Needless to say, if I could've taken that play back I would be living a bit differently now. I was something like the 3rd or 4th youngest player that played (18 was the limit, I was 20) < but the young guns really didn't wanna put up 200 dollars...especially becaus this is by far the best competition in a local event.

I played great all day, and I only made 1 bad mistake the whole 7 hours. Unfortunantly, that mistake cost me a couple thousand dollars...

Trappy · 03-02-2006, 02:28 PM

I suggest you join us in the official bb.com poker thread.

MetaPhysical · 03-02-2006, 03:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by my_whey

Wow... I can't believe you went all in twice on draws just hoping for a flush. That takes balls...

The first draw was stupid, all he really could hope for was the flush, and even then there is some danger that someone had higher clubs than him.

The second draw is something I would have done after the flop. He had two overcards to the board, 6 outs right there if you only put your opponent on a pair, and not an overpair obsiously, although the paired board can pose a different story if you think your opponent on a the third card. Given however, the low cards on the board, and that his opponent raised, you should generealy put him on higher cards. Anyway, meanwhile he gets another 9 outs from his flush draw, likely the nut flush draw too. With that many outs, he is a slight favourite to win the game by the river, at a percentage in the low to mid sixties. So he is close to (but not quite) a 2 - 1 favourite (roughly 1.9 or 1.8 to 1) which is better than going all in for example on a suited ace or two suited face cards, which often results in a near coinflip odds to win. Even if he suspected he was facing an overpair, he would face a coinflip situation, but he would have the best of it unless he was facing aces (which would still only drop his percentages into the mid to low forties. In the position of a shortstack he made a good decission at the point in the game.

To the original poster: I feel your pain. Plenty of times I have been drawn out to 8 - 1 dog's and worse (your oponent being roughly about an 11 - 1 dog after the turn). It's been so bad for me over the past few weeks that the guys in my poker league are making a bad beat pot in my honour next season. Despite this, solid consistent good play has still lead me to have a positive expected value over time. Good play usualy still beats bad luck in this game, and if I have learned anything from my studies of statistics, it's that if you have been suffering a lot of bad beats lately, just wait, and things will even out over time.

getbig3193 · 03-02-2006, 03:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stamp-on-kids

So ANYWAY, final table, and I'm in the small and I get a A 9, both hearts, and call. Big blind raises to triple the pot and I call. Flop comes out 7 7 8 (2 hearts.) I go all in and get called. He flips over a pair of pocket 10's. Next card comes... and it's a 4, of HEARTS! I got my flush! (This was with 9 players remaining, I was 2nd to last in chips, he was 2nd chip leader)...

guess what the next card was... a FRICKIN 10!

how many ppl were in the hand when he bet 3 times the pot? How much was the pot and how much were the blinds and how big was your stack?

user8073964251 · 03-02-2006, 03:10 PM

I agree that over time they all even out... unfortunantly they all aren't worth thousands of dollars....

And I have the inverse opinion about the two draws.

The first one was smart. I was low stack, and my pot odds were incredible.

getbig3193 · 03-02-2006, 03:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by getbig3193

how many ppl were in the hand when he bet 3 times the pot? How much was the pot and how much were the blinds and how big was your stack?

bump...just wondering

MetaPhysical · 03-02-2006, 03:34 PM

your pot odds were good on the second draw too, considering you were the favourite to pick up the pot more than half the time. The first time your pot odds may have been good, but your percentage to win was a lot worse (a LOT worse specialy since there was more than one caller), and with your tournament life on the line, out of the two draws you were more likely to be eliminated in the first draw. Pot odds arn't everything, and considering what I mentioned above with the more than one caller, I doubt your pot odds weren't much better than the second pot. (Besides if you have really ever analyzed it, you would know that pot odds make a lot less of an impact on your real money expected value in tournaments than it does with money games).

In the two mentioned cases the second draw you made a much better decission (post flop. I agree that you probably should have considered folding a bit more pre flop). Like you said though, you were a shortstack, so you would have been eliminated if you called and lost anyway (which was less likely with only one caller anyway), just like before, so making a play like that with the higher percentage to win is smarter decission. You just happened to get outdrawn, it happens to everybody, but the fact that it got you eliminated doesn't make it a bad decission. On the reverse side, the first draw was a worse decission, and turned into a bad situation, but you happened to outdraw your opponents, one of which was a favourite to win over you in the pot, and thus turned into something good for you, but that doesn't make it a smart decission.

user8073964251 · 03-02-2006, 03:36 PM

it was just me and him. I was small, he was big... and everyone folded around. I KNEW I should've folded but I read him as a small pair and thought that he overbet.

The flop came out (somewhat) favorably so I moved. Before the flop I had about 1/3 of my stack commited. In hindsight, it was dumb.

getbig3193 · 03-02-2006, 03:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stamp-on-kids

it was just me and him. I was small, he was big... and everyone folded around. I KNEW I should've folded but I read him as a small pair and thought that he overbet.

The flop came out (somewhat) favorably so I moved. Before the flop I had about 1/3 of my stack commited. In hindsight, it was dumb.

blind size? Your stack size? His stack size?

What kind of player was he?

Why did you only call with A9 when it was folded around?

Why call 3 times the pot in bad position with A9?...usually not profitable

not trying to be critical...just trying to help for your future tournies and just wondering your thoughts as a poker player myself