burningyen
11-26-2004, 04:38 AM
As I posted in the B&M section, Wednesday night I managed to place 3rd in a $150 MTT at a local club. I'm mostly a $10+1 SnG/MTT and $50NL player on UB, and this was only the 3rd MTT I've played with a buy-in bigger than $40, so $870+ in profit was a big score for me. I'm pretty happy with the way I played, but results aside, there were a few hands I'm still not sure about:
Hand 1:
Blinds at 150/300 w/25 antes, 9-handed. I'm in the CO with ~3000, and the button is a solid tight player with ~4000.
I open-limp w/QTs, button limps, SB folds, BB checks.
Flop comes Q22 rainbow, BB checks, I check, button bets 500, BB folds, I push. I didn't think he would limp with KQ or better, and it didn't even occur to me that he might have a 2. I was most worried about QJ. Reasonable?
Results in white:
<font color="white">The button checks out the size of my stack and wonders aloud whether I have A2s. I send out "please call me" signals. After agonizing, he folds.</font>
Hand 2:
Blinds at 250/500 w/50 antes, 8-handed. I'm UTG with ~5000, CO+1 just sat down with ~8000.
I open-raise to 1500 w/AJo, all fold to the CO+1, he pushes and it's folded back to me. He's sending out such strong "I'm cool if you call me" signals that it's debatable how unconscious they are. Should I have opened with a push or limped pre-flop? The table started out playing very LAG, but had tightened up by then. In the end, I decide I can't call without having seen him play a single hand, so I fold.
Results in white:
<font color="white">After I fold, he shows AKs. Later on in another hand, I saw him send out "please don't call" signals when he went all in and showed JJ.</font>
Hand 3:
Blinds at 250/500 w/50 antes, 8-handed. I'm UTG w/~6000, and LMP, a very young guy, sat down at the table with a giant stack but had repeatedly gotten involved in some big hands that he had to fold and was now at ~5000.
I limp w/AQo, 2 callers, LMP pushes. I had to think about this one, but decided he was an action player looking to claw his way back up, so I called despite the fact that it was for most of my stack. Reasonable?
Results in white:
<font color="white">He flips over AJo and doesn't improve. The call felt right to me at the time, but a few people were shaking their heads at me, and not out of admiration. For better or for worse, that hand pretty much got me to the final table.</font>
Hand 4:
At the final table, blinds at 400/800 w/75 antes, 9-handed, I'm in the BB w/~5000 (a relatively small stack), CO is an aggressive player who built a huge stack by pretty much outplaying my first table, showing down solid hands. But as soon as we sat down at the final table, about a round ago, he tangled with the chip leader in one huge hand, folding to a big river bet, and is now down to ~4000.
It's folded to the CO, who pushes, and I look down to see ATo. With the pressure of the blinds and antes and my weak stack, and the fact that this guy was in even worse shape, I decide to call. Reasonable?
Results in white:
<font color="white">He flips over A3s and doesn't improve, saying "I got too impatient."</font>
Hand 5:
Blinds at 500/1000 w/100 antes, 8-handed, I'm in the BB w/~12,000, SB has ~20,000 and has played very few hands since I sat down. At this point it may be worth pointing out that only the top 4 spots pay out.
It's folded to the SB, who raises it to 3000. Something about the way he reacted to the button folding gives me a very weak read that he's making a move. This is the 1st time we've been heads-up in the blinds. I push w/A6s. Reasonable?
Results in white:
<font color="white">After asking for a count of my stack, he folds. A couple of rounds later, he tried open-raising on the button and I pushed in the SB w/QQ. He chuckled and shook his head but unfortunately didn't look me up.</font>
By the time it got down to 6-handed I pretty much shut down and waited for the 3 shorter stacks to bust out. The chip leader and the guy on my right had such huge stacks that I didn't feel safe making any bubble moves. So it ended up being a game of attrition with us shorter stacks. After outlasting the guy who finished 4th, I had less than 3BB. I guess I need to play more aggressively early on.
Hand 1:
Blinds at 150/300 w/25 antes, 9-handed. I'm in the CO with ~3000, and the button is a solid tight player with ~4000.
I open-limp w/QTs, button limps, SB folds, BB checks.
Flop comes Q22 rainbow, BB checks, I check, button bets 500, BB folds, I push. I didn't think he would limp with KQ or better, and it didn't even occur to me that he might have a 2. I was most worried about QJ. Reasonable?
Results in white:
<font color="white">The button checks out the size of my stack and wonders aloud whether I have A2s. I send out "please call me" signals. After agonizing, he folds.</font>
Hand 2:
Blinds at 250/500 w/50 antes, 8-handed. I'm UTG with ~5000, CO+1 just sat down with ~8000.
I open-raise to 1500 w/AJo, all fold to the CO+1, he pushes and it's folded back to me. He's sending out such strong "I'm cool if you call me" signals that it's debatable how unconscious they are. Should I have opened with a push or limped pre-flop? The table started out playing very LAG, but had tightened up by then. In the end, I decide I can't call without having seen him play a single hand, so I fold.
Results in white:
<font color="white">After I fold, he shows AKs. Later on in another hand, I saw him send out "please don't call" signals when he went all in and showed JJ.</font>
Hand 3:
Blinds at 250/500 w/50 antes, 8-handed. I'm UTG w/~6000, and LMP, a very young guy, sat down at the table with a giant stack but had repeatedly gotten involved in some big hands that he had to fold and was now at ~5000.
I limp w/AQo, 2 callers, LMP pushes. I had to think about this one, but decided he was an action player looking to claw his way back up, so I called despite the fact that it was for most of my stack. Reasonable?
Results in white:
<font color="white">He flips over AJo and doesn't improve. The call felt right to me at the time, but a few people were shaking their heads at me, and not out of admiration. For better or for worse, that hand pretty much got me to the final table.</font>
Hand 4:
At the final table, blinds at 400/800 w/75 antes, 9-handed, I'm in the BB w/~5000 (a relatively small stack), CO is an aggressive player who built a huge stack by pretty much outplaying my first table, showing down solid hands. But as soon as we sat down at the final table, about a round ago, he tangled with the chip leader in one huge hand, folding to a big river bet, and is now down to ~4000.
It's folded to the CO, who pushes, and I look down to see ATo. With the pressure of the blinds and antes and my weak stack, and the fact that this guy was in even worse shape, I decide to call. Reasonable?
Results in white:
<font color="white">He flips over A3s and doesn't improve, saying "I got too impatient."</font>
Hand 5:
Blinds at 500/1000 w/100 antes, 8-handed, I'm in the BB w/~12,000, SB has ~20,000 and has played very few hands since I sat down. At this point it may be worth pointing out that only the top 4 spots pay out.
It's folded to the SB, who raises it to 3000. Something about the way he reacted to the button folding gives me a very weak read that he's making a move. This is the 1st time we've been heads-up in the blinds. I push w/A6s. Reasonable?
Results in white:
<font color="white">After asking for a count of my stack, he folds. A couple of rounds later, he tried open-raising on the button and I pushed in the SB w/QQ. He chuckled and shook his head but unfortunately didn't look me up.</font>
By the time it got down to 6-handed I pretty much shut down and waited for the 3 shorter stacks to bust out. The chip leader and the guy on my right had such huge stacks that I didn't feel safe making any bubble moves. So it ended up being a game of attrition with us shorter stacks. After outlasting the guy who finished 4th, I had less than 3BB. I guess I need to play more aggressively early on.