Outplayed or unfortunate? (LONG)

[ohkanada]

Got home late last night and decided to play a 1 table satelite on Pokerstars. Only one with players was the $5.50 NL so I bought in.

I played several hands with Piquette and I thought he/she played very well. After reviewing the hand histories I don't think I was outplayed but Piquette got the best of me in the marjority of the key hands:

Hand 26) Blinds 25-50. 9 handed. I have 2270. Piquette has 1760. I previously raised in the BB and I now find 88 in the SB. Piquette makes it 150 from cutoff. I re-raise to 425. Piquette re-raises all-in and I muck.

Hand 53) Blinds 50-100. 5 handed. I have 4505. Piquette is 2nd with 4245. Piquette makes it 330 in the cutoff. He has been making lots of raises, so I decide to call with 33. Flop is Tc9c2d. He bets 600. I make it 1600 putting him on overcards. He calls after a long pause. Ks is the turn. We both check. Qs is the river. He bets 2315 all-in. I fold. He shows 6c5c. Nice bluff. A re-raise pre-flop probably would have been better than cold calling with a hand that is surely going to see overcards.

Hand 61) Blinds 50-100, ante 25. 5 handed. I have 2525. Piquette has 6400. Piquette makes it 375 from the button. I find AA and re-raise to 850. He folds.

Hand 63) Blinds 50-100, ante 25. 5 handed. I have 2925. Piquette has 6250. Piquette makes it 300 from cutoff. I have AK and make it 900. Piquette calls. BB goes all-in for small amount. Flop is 977r. Piquette makes it 2000. I fold. Piquette shows 98s.

Hand 72) Blinds 75-150, ante 25. 4 handed. Small stack has 805 and has been disconnected the past 2 hands. I have 2000 (3rd). Piquette has 7110 (1st). I make it 550 with AQo. Piquette re-raises all-in. Knowing that I might fold I feel that he could have anything so I call. He shows T2o. He hits a 2 and I am out in 4th.

Comments? Was I outplayed or were my decisions sound and they just didn't work out?

Ken Poklitar

[Greg (FossilMan)]

I don't think any of your decisions were clearly wrong; in fact they all seem quite reasonable. Mostly, P was hitting hands better than you.

The main hand I might play different is the 33 hand where you were bluffed. P called your raise on the flop, which indicates a hand. However, when P checks the K on the turn, you are either being trapped, or P will fold to your all-in bet. There seems little chance P will call with JT or whatever hand they thought was good on the flop. They either have a set, just hit a pair of Ks with their Kx flush draw, or will fold to your bet. Since i think the fold is more likely, I would bet and try to steal this sizable pot.

Later, Greg Raymer (FossilMan)

[The Prince]

Hi Ken,

Well, Piquette is a good friend of mine and I've played with/against him on many occasions in live games or tournaments. He's not the best Montrealer player... /forums/images/icons/grin.gif ...but close to it...mmmhh...me...mmmhh...oops... (Just kidding JP).

As for being outplayed, I agree with Greg that he probably simply hit more hands than you did. That said, I also agree the 33 hand could have been played differently. When good aggressive players collide, it's very often short term luck that will be the deciding factor, especially in an online tournament, where tells are hard to find.

One hand I disagree with is hand 63, I think he should have folded to your reraise, with only 98s. You only had 2K left which IMO is not enough for him to call. I mean, he probably had a hand most of the times he raised but he has to respect you sometimes.

Just my thoughts...

[Beerfund]

Hand 72- With 4 players left and a disconnected player with 800 in chips to your 2000, playing almost any hand is wrong. Raising with AQ knowing that there is an aggresive player to act behind you with a mountain of chips is an even worse play. Just wait 2 rounds until your in the money and then find a hand to get your chips in

[ohkanada]

Yeah I agree the 33 hand was one where there are many ways to play. Pre-flop I would normally muck or raise. 5 handed I don't normally think of calling but for some reason I thought it was worth the chance of hitting a raggedy flop.

I put him on AK/AQ/KQ and when the King hit the turn I did not want to commit my chips. But I was planning on betting on the river but the queen was the second worst card . Calling the river bluff would have been tough being there are 4 overcards.

Ken Poklitar

[ohkanada]

Your friend played well. It was a fun 45 minutes or so and it is neat to have several battles with the same person.

I agree his call of the re-raise is questionable in that situation. He is betting that I am on 2 overcards and miss which of course happened.

I am not sure that he should have even bet that flop. Not a chance I fold an overpair. Even though he showed a nice bluff earlier I think it is unlikely he is going to bluff again with an all-in player. A chance I would bet if he checked.

Ken Poklitar

[ohkanada]

I thought this hand might cause some discussion.

You are certainly right that I am risking 3rd place money. If his stack is 200/300 then I agree with you. With 800 and blinds of 75-150, we are talking 10 or 11 hands before he blinds away. The other thing is I am in 3rd place at this point. So if I do nothing I may get 3rd but almost no chance at 1st or 2nd.

After I lost the hand the leader commented he was surprised that I called with anything but a premium hand. I thought it was a no-brainer call based on him knowing that I was risking 3rd.

Now in reality this is a $5.50 tourney so 3rd is only $9. I think I made the correct play even if this was a $550 tourney and 3rd is $900 since 1st would be $2500 and by doubling up I move into 2nd and give myself a real chance to win.

Ken Poklitar

[The Prince]

I disagree, and I don't think it's close.

It appears that the disconnected player was in the blinds, even the big blind, which makes a raise even better since there a much greater chance you'll win the blinds uncontested.

4 handed, AQ is simply too good of a hand to fold, aggressive player behind you or not. When he pushes in, he really could have anything as he's been aggressive, he's been having a good run against you, which has a psychological impact on you, and he probably saw the disconnected player too.

Securing 3rd place finish is really a wimpy way to play here, since especially as Ken stated, the disconnected player is far from being out.

Once the chip leader moves in on you, it really would take one heck of a read, and this is online, for me to fold. Calling is a big +EV play here, IME, as you should be a 3:2 to 3:1 favorite a vast majority of the times.

[ohkanada]

Actually the disconnected player was the SB. Your friend was the BB. I also raised the previous hand after your friend folded when the disconnected player was in the BB. That time I had crap.

Ken Poklitar

[Greg (FossilMan)]

Yes, this hand is also worth discussion.

This is probably one of those times where overbetting the pot all-in is best. As you say, the guy has been very aggressive. And, given the situation, he can figure you might fold almost anything to his raise so as to protect your chances at third place (vs. the disconnected player). As such, you have to deny him the opportunity to bluff. Of course, he might read the T2000 all-in as weakness, and call with some worse hands, thus putting you at risk. However, that can't be any worse than your raising to 3x the big blind and calling his bluff with the same hand.

Plus, it's not as if the all-in overbet is grossly disparate. A normal raise might be T500, so all-in is only four times the size. If you had T20,000, then I would certainly NOT recommend the all-in.

Later, Greg Raymer (FossilMan)