octaveshift
03-22-2005, 12:28 PM
So last night I decided to make a run at the WSOP qualifier on Paradise. It was only a $25 buy-in, and I figured it would be a fairly loose group of WPT-watching maniacs pushing every hand. I was right. So I played my standard tight-aggressive game, and by first break, I was in 20th place, out of a field of several hundred. (With no rebuys, even. Woot!)
Anyway, a few hands after the break, my stack is around 12,000, and the blinds are somewhere around 600, with a 25 ante.
I've got rockets in the CO: AsAd
MP (T9000) raises to 1200
Folded to me.... I push, praying for the call, and he does, with: JsJc
(I would have much preferred Ax, so this kind of sucks)
Flop comes: JhXsXs
(I want scream.)
Turn: Xs
(OK. One more spade please. God, are you listening?)
River: Xd
(Pokar is a heartless bitch.)
OK, so here it comes....
This is the second time in two days I have been severely crippled by getting my money in PF with AA and getting cracked. In a normal ring game, this wouldn't bother me at all. In fact, I'd reload and earn it back from the promiscuous caller. But in a tournament, I feel like I can generally outplay the competition, and busting out like this sucks.
- Yes, I know that getting my money in with AA preflop is the best-case scenario.
- Yes, I know that I should question if poker is the game for me if I am even pondering this play.
- Yes, I know this seems like a thinly-veiled bad beat story. It's not. I love having the best of it.
Just humor me....
Without improvement, AA is just that- a pair. Does it make sense to risk your tournament life on a pair?
If you are a better player than the players at the table, I think the answer could very well be no.
(But I am open to hearing I need to pull my head out of my ass.)
Here are some things I have been entertaining:
1. Should I have just reraised instead of pushing?
I think that in a situation like this, a reraise might actually be more likely to get him to fold than my push was. I think a lot of times, weaker players get panicky with a hand like JJ and are likely to call a push when they shouldn't. If I reraise, it says "I think my hand is better," and I think this forces the other player to ask himself if JJ really is that strong, and gives me a chance that he will lay it down. (At this level in a tourney, I'd actually like to see him lay it down, especially with an underpair. I'd be very happy to pick up the pot and move on to the next hand, as I am confident I can outplay him later.)
2. Should I have called, and seen the flop?
I am not sure how I could get away from this flop, as there are no draws, and I have the backdoor nut flush possible, but you never know. I have become somewhat "OK" with detecting a set, so I may have let it go here, but in all honesty, I doubt it. Just an option to consider. IE- if the flop comes TJQh and I have AsAc, I would consider dropping it to considerable action. (And then probably push anyway. Hah.)
So I guess, in the end, the question is this:
No matter what level of a tournament, is trying to get your stack into the middle with AA _always_ the correct play?
Discuss.
(Disgust?)
Anyway, a few hands after the break, my stack is around 12,000, and the blinds are somewhere around 600, with a 25 ante.
I've got rockets in the CO: AsAd
MP (T9000) raises to 1200
Folded to me.... I push, praying for the call, and he does, with: JsJc
(I would have much preferred Ax, so this kind of sucks)
Flop comes: JhXsXs
(I want scream.)
Turn: Xs
(OK. One more spade please. God, are you listening?)
River: Xd
(Pokar is a heartless bitch.)
OK, so here it comes....
This is the second time in two days I have been severely crippled by getting my money in PF with AA and getting cracked. In a normal ring game, this wouldn't bother me at all. In fact, I'd reload and earn it back from the promiscuous caller. But in a tournament, I feel like I can generally outplay the competition, and busting out like this sucks.
- Yes, I know that getting my money in with AA preflop is the best-case scenario.
- Yes, I know that I should question if poker is the game for me if I am even pondering this play.
- Yes, I know this seems like a thinly-veiled bad beat story. It's not. I love having the best of it.
Just humor me....
Without improvement, AA is just that- a pair. Does it make sense to risk your tournament life on a pair?
If you are a better player than the players at the table, I think the answer could very well be no.
(But I am open to hearing I need to pull my head out of my ass.)
Here are some things I have been entertaining:
1. Should I have just reraised instead of pushing?
I think that in a situation like this, a reraise might actually be more likely to get him to fold than my push was. I think a lot of times, weaker players get panicky with a hand like JJ and are likely to call a push when they shouldn't. If I reraise, it says "I think my hand is better," and I think this forces the other player to ask himself if JJ really is that strong, and gives me a chance that he will lay it down. (At this level in a tourney, I'd actually like to see him lay it down, especially with an underpair. I'd be very happy to pick up the pot and move on to the next hand, as I am confident I can outplay him later.)
2. Should I have called, and seen the flop?
I am not sure how I could get away from this flop, as there are no draws, and I have the backdoor nut flush possible, but you never know. I have become somewhat "OK" with detecting a set, so I may have let it go here, but in all honesty, I doubt it. Just an option to consider. IE- if the flop comes TJQh and I have AsAc, I would consider dropping it to considerable action. (And then probably push anyway. Hah.)
So I guess, in the end, the question is this:
No matter what level of a tournament, is trying to get your stack into the middle with AA _always_ the correct play?
Discuss.
(Disgust?)