09-03-2001, 11:48 AM
I'd like to get your comments about a tournament hand I recently played. It's late in a NL tournament, the blinds are 200 & 400. I'm in medium position with A9 Suited -- 2775 in chips. A player in early position raises, next player folds. The early position raiser tells a tournament regular and the player next me that he should help him out and fold. I call "time" as it's my play. I like my Ace, I'm not thrilled about the kicker, but I like the Nut flush possibility. There's been a lot of bluffing going on lately and I've been picking it up pretty well. Something in the raiser's tone and this comment tells me he doesn't have a pat hand. I call. The player to my left and tournament regular folds, and the player next to him raises it, making it 1200. The blinds fold to the initial raiser, he calls, I call. The flop comes:
A 10 5 rainbow.
The initial raiser bets 400, I call, LP (Late position) calls.
At this point, this is how I see it. The late position player likes to bluff. I've played against him before and he likes to make large bets when has garabe to try and steal a hand. He's basically admitted this in table talk to other players. He tried it four times against me half an hour earlier when I sat at a different table on his immediate left and I beat him 3 of 4 hands. In fact, a large part of my chip stack is from him. But I figure he may have something, but probably a low pair, 8's or 7's. The player in early position is a little different. He likes to bluff as well. But he might have an ace, but not a good kicker -- is it better than mine is the question? He bets 800 into me, I call, late position player calls.
An A comes on the river for A 10 5 A.
This is where it gets tricky. I'm feeling insecure about my kicker at the moment, but I'm pretty sure I've got the early position player beat. I have 6 outs (10's & 5's) to chop the pot with him if he has the Ace. 3 more outs for my nine to make a Full house. Don't ask me why, but I know he doesn't have pocket 10's. If he has a high pair (K's or Q's), then I already have him beat. He bets 800, I call, LP calls. The river comes for a 3.
The board now looks like A 10 5 A 3 rainbow with no flush possibility. First player bets, I go all in for 775, and LP mucks.
I guess I should tell you that I lost this hand and left the tournament in 16th place. I do like the way I played it, and it took me a day to figure something out which I will use for later on. Here's the scoop: The early position player had A3 off-suit and paired his kicker for the full-house on the river. I never did see what the LP player had, but I figured him for a garbage hand anyway. I'm thinking that I should have raised on the river when the other A came. This would let the early position player know that I had an Ace (I'd been playing pretty tight and had respect from the table) and then maybe he would have worried about his kicker and folded. But then I would have been all-in, so maybe he would have called anyway. I consider this to just be a tough loss. I'm glad I read my opponents and basically hit it dead on as to what they had, I'm just bummed I lost it on the river. These things happen. When I got up to leave, one of the chip leaders at the table said to me, "A9 loses to A3 -- ow, that hurts" which made me feel good. I realize that A9 is not a great playing hand, but I called my opponents well. Or am I just flattering myself? What do you think?
A 10 5 rainbow.
The initial raiser bets 400, I call, LP (Late position) calls.
At this point, this is how I see it. The late position player likes to bluff. I've played against him before and he likes to make large bets when has garabe to try and steal a hand. He's basically admitted this in table talk to other players. He tried it four times against me half an hour earlier when I sat at a different table on his immediate left and I beat him 3 of 4 hands. In fact, a large part of my chip stack is from him. But I figure he may have something, but probably a low pair, 8's or 7's. The player in early position is a little different. He likes to bluff as well. But he might have an ace, but not a good kicker -- is it better than mine is the question? He bets 800 into me, I call, late position player calls.
An A comes on the river for A 10 5 A.
This is where it gets tricky. I'm feeling insecure about my kicker at the moment, but I'm pretty sure I've got the early position player beat. I have 6 outs (10's & 5's) to chop the pot with him if he has the Ace. 3 more outs for my nine to make a Full house. Don't ask me why, but I know he doesn't have pocket 10's. If he has a high pair (K's or Q's), then I already have him beat. He bets 800, I call, LP calls. The river comes for a 3.
The board now looks like A 10 5 A 3 rainbow with no flush possibility. First player bets, I go all in for 775, and LP mucks.
I guess I should tell you that I lost this hand and left the tournament in 16th place. I do like the way I played it, and it took me a day to figure something out which I will use for later on. Here's the scoop: The early position player had A3 off-suit and paired his kicker for the full-house on the river. I never did see what the LP player had, but I figured him for a garbage hand anyway. I'm thinking that I should have raised on the river when the other A came. This would let the early position player know that I had an Ace (I'd been playing pretty tight and had respect from the table) and then maybe he would have worried about his kicker and folded. But then I would have been all-in, so maybe he would have called anyway. I consider this to just be a tough loss. I'm glad I read my opponents and basically hit it dead on as to what they had, I'm just bummed I lost it on the river. These things happen. When I got up to leave, one of the chip leaders at the table said to me, "A9 loses to A3 -- ow, that hurts" which made me feel good. I realize that A9 is not a great playing hand, but I called my opponents well. Or am I just flattering myself? What do you think?