A Good Plan Derailed

Not as much poker over the last week or so - GTA San Andreas coming out on PC has diverted my attention somewhat. I did get stuck in a bit on Friday and Saturday night as a) I was in anyway, b) I wanted to make sure I cleared my Crypto bonuses this month and c) after last Saturday's good fortune, I hoped to take advantage of the drunk fish who tend to play late at the weekend.

I was not to be disappointed, turning in a profit, despite twice taking big hits when an opponent showed down the only two cards that could hurt me. I've become quite good recently at gradually building up my stack by taking down lots of small pots, which is more in line with good NL play, rather than just waiting for big hands. I've also got better at stealing pots when it is clear no-one else has a hand (or when I spot a weak player who I can knock off the pot).

I'm still not having any luck with pairs of TT and below - I just cannot hit a set with them at all. One other thing I haven't yet been able to do is the classic NL trick of crushing a player with a big pair by playing a small pair or connectors against him. I just haven't had the cards yet - hopefully my time will come (and I'll start hitting those sets).

Only one tournament of note this week - a £15K where I came 28th for £120. I was actually quite pleased with this because of the structure of the payout. 21st-30th was £120, 11th-20th was £150 and 10th was £225 (with jumps of £75 or so for each place thereafter). Therefore, once I made the top 30, there wasn't anything much to be gained by coming 11th-30th - I had to make a push for the final table. I saw my opportunity when on the BB with T8s. There was a min raise and a call ahead of me so, with the antes and blinds already in the pot, there was about 17,000 chips in the middle, and I only needed another 2,400 to call. I did so, with the plan of going all in if I caught the flop at all (this would have been a pot-sized bet). Flop came down KQJ, giving me an outside straight draw. I pushed in, but came up against someone who had flopped the nut straight with AT. Another Ace would have given me a split, but there was nothing doing. Still, I wasn't displeased as I still think the theory was sound - if I'd won that hand I'd have doubled though (or tripled if I'd been called) which would have almost certainly got me to the final table.