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[bloggerbane1]

Saturday Night Tournament Holdem

I wasn't even planning on playing tonight, but I got a call from Dufy at about 8:00. He wanted to play some cards so I agreed and we headed over to "THE GAME". When I walked in I saw all of the usual faces and a couple of new ones. These two guys are known cash game players but I won't mention names. They play for high stakes and not just holdem. It always excites me to see new faces at the game, even if they are very good players. You can learn a lot from guys that have been playing cards longer than you've been alive!

The first tournament we played was a $10 buy in no-limit holdem. There were 12 of us playing. Every Player usually gets $20 worth of chips. Blinds start at 25 and 50 cents and are doubled every 30 minutes. I was a rock in the first game only playing big hands and playing them for a raise. If I got a call I pushed hard after the flop and usually got everyone to fold. Before I knew it I had doubled my chips and was setting pretty for the "final table" ha.

I was second in chips at the final table when this key hand came up. I picked up AA in under the gun and limped in with a "jackal" who was sitting on a short stack of about $13. The flop cam 457 and we both checked. The turn came 10 and we both checked again.... That's strange for this particular jackal. The river came ACE! I once again checked hoped he would make a move. Sure enough he did, $13 more! I took that pot and the chip lead.

Another key hand that I wasn't in involed 2 of our regulars. Once again I won't mention names. The blinds were at $1 and $2 dollars. The elephant to my right called the blind, as usual. Everyone else folded around to the mouse in the big blind who raised $5. Now when a mouse raises they have the cards to raise with, but the limper being a "calling station" called the big raise. The flop came J J 7 and the elephant checked. The mouse bet out 4 which told me he must have a big pair or he missed with ace king. I didn't really think it was ace king though because guy like him will generally want to see a flop with AK to make sure he hits an ace or king. Then the calling station came out of his shell and pushed ALL IN. The mouse thought about it for a minute and called. The mouse turned over his QQ, I Knew IT! The elephant then slow rolled his jack 5 offsuit. The turn and river were no help and the mouse was gone.

I ended up finishing second place and received $30 for my efforts.

The second tournament started off with a bang as me and the best player at our table butted heads on the first hand. I hand 77 in early position and made it $3 to go. The table folded to, "We'll call him a Lion", the lion who called. The flop came 8 3 5 and I bet $3 and he smooth called. That made me think that he had 2 big cards maybe KQ. Turn was a J. I bet out again and he called. The river came A. Now I figured that this was a good card for me so I bet out double $6 to go. He immediately says "Damned river beat me again." That was good to hear and he folded. He made 2 or 3 more comments about the river but I wasn't about to show him my 77.

I might have showed some lesser player my cards there but you should NEVER show a lion what you had when they didn't pay to see. A good player will pick up on your betting patterns and tells a lot quicker when your "showing off" your hands.

Late in the same tournament the blinds were at $2 and $4. I was first to act and looked down at QQ. Wow, nice so I raised $8. The table folded around to the big blind who is a good player and he called. That kind of worried me. He hadn't called my raise all night and had earlier commented about my "Super Tight" style of play. I put him on a good ace because of that maybe AJ or AK. The flop came A K 8. Crap!!! I thought. He was first to act and checked. That move confused me. If he had AJ or AK wouldn't he bet right there. This was the key point in the hand for me where I should have bet out just to see what he had but I was confoused and checked. THAT IS WHERE I SCREWED UP! The turn card was a 5 and he immediately bet out $8. He gave away another tell when he did this but I didn't pick up on it at the time. He announced the amount he was betting and he hadn't done that all night. Dang... screw up number 2 by me. I quickly folded my hand without even thinking about it. He shows J 10! NOTHING!

That was the last mistake and strike three I'm out of the hand. You should always think about a hand before you make your move whether it be calling, folding, or raising. I made a hasty decision and it cost me 3/4 of my stack and crippled me. I was was blinded out 30 minutes later.

Oh well there's always next year. HA

[Lottery Larry]

BTW, why are you posting random snippets from your past year or so of play?

[bloggerbane1]

Just thought they might be interesting to some people.

[Lottery Larry]

That's fine, now that you've stopped with the blog link

But, it's a bit chaotic in order and timeline. Can you be slightly clearer in the future?

Keep up with them, nothing wrong with game and trip reports for home games.

[bloggerbane1]

I know, no blog links, I'm reformed.