One of the most common refrains from poker players is that "I'm due a win". They've had a run of bad luck and are convinced that "it will even itself out soon". The longer the losing run goes on, the more it affects their play - the losing run itself becomes the focus of the player's attention.
Regular readers will know I've had a rather impressive sequence of non-cashes in tournaments - about 40 at the last count. One thing about it is that I haven't let it get to me at all, which has surprised even me. Not winning in tournaments is due to one of two things, bad luck or bad play. There have been many occasions during this run where I've been eliminated by an opponent getting lucky. This I don't mind as I'm more than capable of seeing the big picture - if I play well and my opponents play badly I'll win in the long run.
There have also been tournaments where I've gone out through playing a hand badly. This is more annoying, but I've been able to turn this to my advantage by properly examining how and why I made the mistakes in order to improve my game. I have identified one particular trait of mine (going all-in on a flush or straight draw on the flop against an opponent I know won't fold) which I'm now striving to eliminate.
All losing runs must end eventually, and I managed to make the cash in Saturday's £15K Guaranteed on Crypto. By 'make the cash' I actually mean 'totally destroyed everyone to win £4200'.
It was a dream tournament. I'll do a proper analysis of important hands in another post but a quick glance reveals the amazing stat that I got dealt a hand of a pair bigger than 66, or Ace bigger than AJ, on 30 occasions, and won every single time. Talk about big hands holding up! Admittedly, the majority of these hands won without a showdown, but not losing a big hand was crucial.
I amassed a huge stack of chips (I went to the final table with half the chips in play) which allowed me to concentrate purely on winning. I can honestly say I didn't think of the money until the tournament was over - my overwhelmingly commanding position meant that I would have considered anything other than a win as a failure, so concentrated purely on that.
So, we're still in February, and yet I can already cross off one of my goals for the year.
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Sunday, February 05, 2006
The run continues
My tournament woe goes on. This evening I entered another £20 Crypto tourney. 154 runners and I did some good ducking and diving early on. I wasn't getting any hands but managed to keep somewhere near the average chip count by raising limpers a couple of times and then bluffing the flop. As we got down to three tables I managed to make some progress when, in consecutive hands, I reraised someone when I had KK (and took the pot there), raised with AK and took the blinds and antes, and raised with 44, which held up against the BB's all-in with A6. Three hands later, a check-raise bluff on a raggy flop punished a continuation bet and everything was looking quite healthy. A raise with J9, followed by another flop bluff, had me in good stead as we approached the bubble...
I had AQ UTG. We're at 400/800 with antes of 100, so there's 1900 in the pot before we start. I raise to 2400 (about a quarter of my stack). The BB calls (the only stack at the table bigger than me). The flop is T84 rainbow. He checks, and I have just over the pot left, so I stick it in to take it. Mateyboy has flopped a set with 44. Initially I hadn't realised we were at 21 left, but remembered as soon as he called, then had a little chuckle to myself as I realised what I'd done. I will break this losing run sometime.
This afternoon I finally managed to get down to the Sportsman for their £30 freezeout. 23 entrants and, by george, was the general standard poor. Unfortunately I got no cards early on, and wasn't in the mood to bluff it all off to some calling stations. I lost a good chunk when I raised with AT and got a caller in the BB (calling station). The flop was Ace-high, she checked and I bet, which she called. The turn was a Q, and she immediately went all-in. Even though I'd seen little of her play, this seemed unusually aggressive and, after a think, I folded. The turn hadn't completed any draws, so I think I was beaten.
After the break, we were down to two tables. I was moved two places to the right of someone who was calling everything pre-flop and liked to bluff afterwards. I was very shortstacked and raised with AT. He called (like he always did) and the next guy immediately went all-in. I knew I was in trouble, and I was - he had AJ. However, muppet then proceeded to call this second all-in with 53! Of course, the flop came down 33K, and a 5 on the turn sealed our fate. It was quite funny to see possibly the worst player I have ever seen at a poker table with so many chips. Even guys who were playing their first ever game seemed to play better than he did. One example was raising with 84 off suit, which found one caller. He then bet out on a KQ8 flop, which was called. He then bet all-in when a Q came on the flop - the way he did it screamed 'the world's most obvious bluff'. However, the other guy was playing his first game and called with his JT straight draw!
There's little you can do against these sorts of players except get cards and get lucky. I think you also have to make bigger bets than usual to get them to fold anything and, invariably, if they call you've committed a lot of chips and will be shortstacked. Despite all this I think I will definitely go down there again as there was a very friendly atmosphere and there wasn't the 'Gutshot crush'.
I had AQ UTG. We're at 400/800 with antes of 100, so there's 1900 in the pot before we start. I raise to 2400 (about a quarter of my stack). The BB calls (the only stack at the table bigger than me). The flop is T84 rainbow. He checks, and I have just over the pot left, so I stick it in to take it. Mateyboy has flopped a set with 44. Initially I hadn't realised we were at 21 left, but remembered as soon as he called, then had a little chuckle to myself as I realised what I'd done. I will break this losing run sometime.
This afternoon I finally managed to get down to the Sportsman for their £30 freezeout. 23 entrants and, by george, was the general standard poor. Unfortunately I got no cards early on, and wasn't in the mood to bluff it all off to some calling stations. I lost a good chunk when I raised with AT and got a caller in the BB (calling station). The flop was Ace-high, she checked and I bet, which she called. The turn was a Q, and she immediately went all-in. Even though I'd seen little of her play, this seemed unusually aggressive and, after a think, I folded. The turn hadn't completed any draws, so I think I was beaten.
After the break, we were down to two tables. I was moved two places to the right of someone who was calling everything pre-flop and liked to bluff afterwards. I was very shortstacked and raised with AT. He called (like he always did) and the next guy immediately went all-in. I knew I was in trouble, and I was - he had AJ. However, muppet then proceeded to call this second all-in with 53! Of course, the flop came down 33K, and a 5 on the turn sealed our fate. It was quite funny to see possibly the worst player I have ever seen at a poker table with so many chips. Even guys who were playing their first ever game seemed to play better than he did. One example was raising with 84 off suit, which found one caller. He then bet out on a KQ8 flop, which was called. He then bet all-in when a Q came on the flop - the way he did it screamed 'the world's most obvious bluff'. However, the other guy was playing his first game and called with his JT straight draw!
There's little you can do against these sorts of players except get cards and get lucky. I think you also have to make bigger bets than usual to get them to fold anything and, invariably, if they call you've committed a lot of chips and will be shortstacked. Despite all this I think I will definitely go down there again as there was a very friendly atmosphere and there wasn't the 'Gutshot crush'.
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