PokerNeal
10-26-2004, 04:26 AM
I just won a trip to St. Marteen on Partypoker. Besides sun and surf there supposedly is a poker tourney you can play in as well. Thanks, Enon, for being there at the final table sweating the game. I am glad that you too have won a trip to St. Marteen!
This makes it the third such tourney I have won in the last couple of months. I must tell you that it seems so hard to keep a consistent track record and win tourney after tourney. I have had a bad time at tourneys ever since my last tourney win a few weeks back. Everytime I felt I got my act straight I started falling apart and then going back to the knowledgebase to see why my game had fallen off the cliff. Frustrating! You feel like you got it all right and keep winning and then you fall off the wagon for the next several tourneys! Right now I think I again have a handle on the game but after a couple of losses I probably will start questioning my play again! /images/graemlins/confused.gif
Let me share a few perspectives that I have fresh in my mind after this win.
1. I had to win three life/death coin flips. Case #1 -- AK holds up. Case #2 -- KK holds up. Case #3 -- 9-9 makes a set against someone else's pocket king's and holds up.
2. I laid down good hands an on the button a few times in the final table because I was quite confident a few weak players would self destruct. My goal was not to make #1 but to end up in the top 5. (top 5 in the satellite got the St. Marteen trip)
3. Didn't give a rat's behind to issues like stack size, number of players left, etc. Just had my head down and tried to play a solid game.
4. Didn't go on tilt after a couple of badbeats. It seems to me like a couple of badbeats are inevitable in a large tourney. I tried to handle it with grace and kicked the pillow to vent my anger. I did not let it get to my head.
5. Was liberal with hand selection in early part of the tourney and played with hands like K-J, Q-J even from early position. Did not push my luck and folded against a big bet even with a top pair because I suspected kicker problem. My goal with these hands was to make either a two pair or a straight. Same with hands that carry flush prospect like A-9 or A-10 suited. If I didn't land my stated goal I played the cards very carefully. Therefore, never had a kicker problem or a higher pair beating me on the turn or the river.
6. At every flop I asked myself the question "AM I NUTS?" This helped me think what hands my opponents could possibly hold. This thinking helped me fold a hand where I had the top pair but I suspected my opponent had made a set. Turned out to be true and I was glad I had folded.
7. Lastly, I said to myself that this tourney was not life critical event. Many times one is so worried about losing a tourney that they abandon their normal game and play too cautiously giving up opportunities.
That's all for now. Thanks all!
This makes it the third such tourney I have won in the last couple of months. I must tell you that it seems so hard to keep a consistent track record and win tourney after tourney. I have had a bad time at tourneys ever since my last tourney win a few weeks back. Everytime I felt I got my act straight I started falling apart and then going back to the knowledgebase to see why my game had fallen off the cliff. Frustrating! You feel like you got it all right and keep winning and then you fall off the wagon for the next several tourneys! Right now I think I again have a handle on the game but after a couple of losses I probably will start questioning my play again! /images/graemlins/confused.gif
Let me share a few perspectives that I have fresh in my mind after this win.
1. I had to win three life/death coin flips. Case #1 -- AK holds up. Case #2 -- KK holds up. Case #3 -- 9-9 makes a set against someone else's pocket king's and holds up.
2. I laid down good hands an on the button a few times in the final table because I was quite confident a few weak players would self destruct. My goal was not to make #1 but to end up in the top 5. (top 5 in the satellite got the St. Marteen trip)
3. Didn't give a rat's behind to issues like stack size, number of players left, etc. Just had my head down and tried to play a solid game.
4. Didn't go on tilt after a couple of badbeats. It seems to me like a couple of badbeats are inevitable in a large tourney. I tried to handle it with grace and kicked the pillow to vent my anger. I did not let it get to my head.
5. Was liberal with hand selection in early part of the tourney and played with hands like K-J, Q-J even from early position. Did not push my luck and folded against a big bet even with a top pair because I suspected kicker problem. My goal with these hands was to make either a two pair or a straight. Same with hands that carry flush prospect like A-9 or A-10 suited. If I didn't land my stated goal I played the cards very carefully. Therefore, never had a kicker problem or a higher pair beating me on the turn or the river.
6. At every flop I asked myself the question "AM I NUTS?" This helped me think what hands my opponents could possibly hold. This thinking helped me fold a hand where I had the top pair but I suspected my opponent had made a set. Turned out to be true and I was glad I had folded.
7. Lastly, I said to myself that this tourney was not life critical event. Many times one is so worried about losing a tourney that they abandon their normal game and play too cautiously giving up opportunities.
That's all for now. Thanks all!