Schaefer
10-07-2004, 06:07 AM
This week was a less eventful tourney for me. There were still a few hands and strategies I want to get written down. So here ya go.
I sit down brimming with confidence. I rebuy right away and I'm the only player at my table who does so. Everyone looks scared of my big stack but it's really not worth stealing blinds yet so I play uber tight. The guy I bluffed out last week with 24o is sitting on my right and he swears revenge so I try to stay out of his way.
Third orbit, blinds 25/50, I get red Jacks UTG+1. I raise to T150 and the button and BB call. Flop is T85, all spades. I bet T350, button folds and BB calls. The turn is Kc and BB checks. I want his naked As to pay so I bet T500 with the intention of checking through the river. BB raises all in, with about T1200 more. He's been playing and winning a lot of hands and I can't call this bet. I fold and he tells me later he had 3s4s. Nice hand sir. I'm down to T2000 and pretty pissed off.
I get no playable hands for an hour and basically pick spots to steal blinds. I work my way back up to T3100 when the following hand happens. Blinds are 100/200 with a 25 ante I open raise to T500 in the cutoff with QTo and the button goes all in for T725 total. I shake my head a little but it's an easy call for T225 more. Button has Jc7c. This guy had been sitting around and folding forever then makes a move with J7s! Anyway, flop comes Jack high, turn gives me an OESD but the river is no help. I really could have used this T2000 pot but alas, I'm down to T2375.
This hand seems to open the table up a bit and my steal opportunities really shrink. I get blinded and anted down to about 1800 and my steals become all-ins. I really hate it but I just don't have enough chips to do anything else. It led to a funny hand that I wasn't in...here's the story.
I'm in the SB with 74o. The cutoff open limps and I push. BB and cutoff fold and this is the 3rd time I've picked a spot to push like this. It's only happened once a round but some guys start to comment that I'm gonna get caught soon and I better watch it. I tell them thanks for the advice. Anyway, the very next hand UTG looks at his hand, slowly looks at me, then limps. 2 other players limp and I muck. SB completes and they see the flop 5-handed. The flop is AK4 with 2 spades and it checks around. The turn is an offsuit Q and now the UTG player bets T500. Another guy goes all in immediately and the UTG player disgustedly calls. UTG has KK and the other player has JTo. The board fails to pair and Mr. Limp with KK is out of the tourney. Fun times.
So I steal a bit more but really get no hands. My table breaks and I get moved to a different one. As soon as I sit down, we move to 200/400 blinds with 100 antes. I have T2500 and I know my time is coming soon. The first hand I get is ThTs and I'm absolutely thrilled. UTG raises to T1500 and UTG+1 flat calls. Now I'm a little confused. I have no reads on the raiser but I played with the caller for a little while earlier in the tourney. I put him on a big Ace, probably big slick. He wants to see a flop and get away from his hand if he can. He has about 5K left and the original raiser has around 10K. I can't put the original raiser on a hand but I tell myself that if he has a big Ace too, I'm in good shape.
The Fundamental Theorem of Poker: Put your opponent on a hand you can beat.
This is as good a spot to triple up as any so I move in for T900 more. Everyone else folds but UTG and UTG+1 call. The flop comes 975 with 2 spades. UTG checks and UTG+1 goes all in. UTG shakes his head and says, "I have AK, I hope you have him beat," and folds. I flip my TT and UTG+1 has As8s for 14 outs to beat me. The turn is the Js and I'm drawing dead. Just for fun the river is a T but I'm out in 26th place.
I'm real happy with that last hand. I was a 54.6% favorite to move up to almost 9K in chips. I think my reasoning was legit but there's something in my head that says maybe I could have waited to steal some more. I got lucky that they had these types of hands but UTG could have easily had JJ-AA. Oh well. I had no hands. I saw a river 2 times all night and lost both hands, the QTo and the TT. But I still made it to 26th place, "risk-free" to quote Mr. Hellmuth. I'll get these guys next time.
Maybe I'll stick to reporting when I win, or at least make it into the money. Those are a lot more fun and a lot more interesting.
Schaefer
I sit down brimming with confidence. I rebuy right away and I'm the only player at my table who does so. Everyone looks scared of my big stack but it's really not worth stealing blinds yet so I play uber tight. The guy I bluffed out last week with 24o is sitting on my right and he swears revenge so I try to stay out of his way.
Third orbit, blinds 25/50, I get red Jacks UTG+1. I raise to T150 and the button and BB call. Flop is T85, all spades. I bet T350, button folds and BB calls. The turn is Kc and BB checks. I want his naked As to pay so I bet T500 with the intention of checking through the river. BB raises all in, with about T1200 more. He's been playing and winning a lot of hands and I can't call this bet. I fold and he tells me later he had 3s4s. Nice hand sir. I'm down to T2000 and pretty pissed off.
I get no playable hands for an hour and basically pick spots to steal blinds. I work my way back up to T3100 when the following hand happens. Blinds are 100/200 with a 25 ante I open raise to T500 in the cutoff with QTo and the button goes all in for T725 total. I shake my head a little but it's an easy call for T225 more. Button has Jc7c. This guy had been sitting around and folding forever then makes a move with J7s! Anyway, flop comes Jack high, turn gives me an OESD but the river is no help. I really could have used this T2000 pot but alas, I'm down to T2375.
This hand seems to open the table up a bit and my steal opportunities really shrink. I get blinded and anted down to about 1800 and my steals become all-ins. I really hate it but I just don't have enough chips to do anything else. It led to a funny hand that I wasn't in...here's the story.
I'm in the SB with 74o. The cutoff open limps and I push. BB and cutoff fold and this is the 3rd time I've picked a spot to push like this. It's only happened once a round but some guys start to comment that I'm gonna get caught soon and I better watch it. I tell them thanks for the advice. Anyway, the very next hand UTG looks at his hand, slowly looks at me, then limps. 2 other players limp and I muck. SB completes and they see the flop 5-handed. The flop is AK4 with 2 spades and it checks around. The turn is an offsuit Q and now the UTG player bets T500. Another guy goes all in immediately and the UTG player disgustedly calls. UTG has KK and the other player has JTo. The board fails to pair and Mr. Limp with KK is out of the tourney. Fun times.
So I steal a bit more but really get no hands. My table breaks and I get moved to a different one. As soon as I sit down, we move to 200/400 blinds with 100 antes. I have T2500 and I know my time is coming soon. The first hand I get is ThTs and I'm absolutely thrilled. UTG raises to T1500 and UTG+1 flat calls. Now I'm a little confused. I have no reads on the raiser but I played with the caller for a little while earlier in the tourney. I put him on a big Ace, probably big slick. He wants to see a flop and get away from his hand if he can. He has about 5K left and the original raiser has around 10K. I can't put the original raiser on a hand but I tell myself that if he has a big Ace too, I'm in good shape.
The Fundamental Theorem of Poker: Put your opponent on a hand you can beat.
This is as good a spot to triple up as any so I move in for T900 more. Everyone else folds but UTG and UTG+1 call. The flop comes 975 with 2 spades. UTG checks and UTG+1 goes all in. UTG shakes his head and says, "I have AK, I hope you have him beat," and folds. I flip my TT and UTG+1 has As8s for 14 outs to beat me. The turn is the Js and I'm drawing dead. Just for fun the river is a T but I'm out in 26th place.
I'm real happy with that last hand. I was a 54.6% favorite to move up to almost 9K in chips. I think my reasoning was legit but there's something in my head that says maybe I could have waited to steal some more. I got lucky that they had these types of hands but UTG could have easily had JJ-AA. Oh well. I had no hands. I saw a river 2 times all night and lost both hands, the QTo and the TT. But I still made it to 26th place, "risk-free" to quote Mr. Hellmuth. I'll get these guys next time.
Maybe I'll stick to reporting when I win, or at least make it into the money. Those are a lot more fun and a lot more interesting.
Schaefer