Jerboa
04-24-2005, 04:19 PM
Hello all. After quite a while of lurking, I had to post this one.
I finally won my first MTT. Ok, it wasn't a big one. It was a 500FPP satellite to today's $500,000 tournament on PStars. So the top 4 all got a seat. But when the tournament finished, I was in the chip lead!
I had been on vacation this week, and had determined to study tournament strategy. So I took Sklansky's TPFAP with me, and reread it cover to cover. I guess something in there stuck.
Now for the interesting situation. We are down to 6 player. I have about a 3-1 chip lead on everyone else at the table with ~140,000 T. I tell myself, "Self...you're guaranteed a win here so just fold away until 2 people bust".
In fact, I was determined to just fold my way into the top 4 and a win....even willing to lay down AA preflop. After about another 20-30 minutes, the player 2 to my left(a very aggressive player) busts someone else out and we are down to 5. It is 1:30am, I hadn't even planned on playing in this tournament, and I have to be up at 6:00. That's when the hand happens. Here is the situation:
Me: 138,000 T
Schlub 1: 38,000 T
Mr Aggressive: 107,000 T
Schlub 2: 68,000 T
Schlub 3: 26,000 T
Blinds 3000/6000, ante 300
I am on the button. It is folded to me with K /images/graemlins/diamond.gifQ /images/graemlins/diamond.gif
I know I told myself to just fold everything, but it's late, and I'm dozing off between hands. So I put in a small raise (18,000). SB folds, and the BB (mr Agressive) calls.
The flop comes K83 rainbow.
I figure I'll make a decent bet to take down the pot.
But, Mr. Aggressive makes a bet of 9,000.
At this point I wake up. I have this guy covered by about 40,000. All he has to do is play the same way I am, and let the 3 bottom stacks fight it out...and here he is betting into me on a hand I raised pre-flop! How dare he bet into me..doesn't he know that this is MY pot...that's it...I'm going to bust him! It'll serve him right!
I hit the slider, and get ready to make it about 40,000 to go. And my finger hovers over the raise button.....then I start to think....what's this guy got? He's been very aggressive about stealing pots, so a bluff isn't out of the question. He couldn't have a draw. Would he bet a weak king? Or a medium pocket pair (say 99, or JJ)? Hmm....would he have called preflop with AK? What about K8? giving him 2 pair? /images/graemlins/confused.gif /images/graemlins/confused.gif
Eventually I mucked my top pair...and chalked it up to the price of being stupid and entering the pot in the first place. I'm convinced that at this stage in this particular tournament that it was the right thing to do. I might have tangled with him if there were a difference between 1st and 4th, I don't know.
What do you think...would you have tangled with this guy right now? I'm almost convince I had the best hand and he had something like pocked 10s or maybe had paired the 8. But I keep coming back to "why would he tangle with the chip leader when folding guarantees a winning place?(unless he had flopped a monster)"
The tournament ended on the very next hand when two of the small stacks got stuck in so I didn't have a chance to chat about it with him(for what that might have been worth).
I finally won my first MTT. Ok, it wasn't a big one. It was a 500FPP satellite to today's $500,000 tournament on PStars. So the top 4 all got a seat. But when the tournament finished, I was in the chip lead!
I had been on vacation this week, and had determined to study tournament strategy. So I took Sklansky's TPFAP with me, and reread it cover to cover. I guess something in there stuck.
Now for the interesting situation. We are down to 6 player. I have about a 3-1 chip lead on everyone else at the table with ~140,000 T. I tell myself, "Self...you're guaranteed a win here so just fold away until 2 people bust".
In fact, I was determined to just fold my way into the top 4 and a win....even willing to lay down AA preflop. After about another 20-30 minutes, the player 2 to my left(a very aggressive player) busts someone else out and we are down to 5. It is 1:30am, I hadn't even planned on playing in this tournament, and I have to be up at 6:00. That's when the hand happens. Here is the situation:
Me: 138,000 T
Schlub 1: 38,000 T
Mr Aggressive: 107,000 T
Schlub 2: 68,000 T
Schlub 3: 26,000 T
Blinds 3000/6000, ante 300
I am on the button. It is folded to me with K /images/graemlins/diamond.gifQ /images/graemlins/diamond.gif
I know I told myself to just fold everything, but it's late, and I'm dozing off between hands. So I put in a small raise (18,000). SB folds, and the BB (mr Agressive) calls.
The flop comes K83 rainbow.
I figure I'll make a decent bet to take down the pot.
But, Mr. Aggressive makes a bet of 9,000.
At this point I wake up. I have this guy covered by about 40,000. All he has to do is play the same way I am, and let the 3 bottom stacks fight it out...and here he is betting into me on a hand I raised pre-flop! How dare he bet into me..doesn't he know that this is MY pot...that's it...I'm going to bust him! It'll serve him right!
I hit the slider, and get ready to make it about 40,000 to go. And my finger hovers over the raise button.....then I start to think....what's this guy got? He's been very aggressive about stealing pots, so a bluff isn't out of the question. He couldn't have a draw. Would he bet a weak king? Or a medium pocket pair (say 99, or JJ)? Hmm....would he have called preflop with AK? What about K8? giving him 2 pair? /images/graemlins/confused.gif /images/graemlins/confused.gif
Eventually I mucked my top pair...and chalked it up to the price of being stupid and entering the pot in the first place. I'm convinced that at this stage in this particular tournament that it was the right thing to do. I might have tangled with him if there were a difference between 1st and 4th, I don't know.
What do you think...would you have tangled with this guy right now? I'm almost convince I had the best hand and he had something like pocked 10s or maybe had paired the 8. But I keep coming back to "why would he tangle with the chip leader when folding guarantees a winning place?(unless he had flopped a monster)"
The tournament ended on the very next hand when two of the small stacks got stuck in so I didn't have a chance to chat about it with him(for what that might have been worth).