$125 Buy In Limit Hold Em Tourney Report (Long)

[balt999]

On Saturday, 1166 of my closest friends decided to pony up $125 in the First event of the Orleans Open Limit Hold Em...In A previous e-mail I wrote about my boneheaded play that cost me a chance of making the money. Event though I
finished 37th..and didn't make a dime (Except for a nice Dinner buffet comp), I felt I played one of my best tournaments...I felt I make some unbelieveable reads that got me to the point of finishing so high....Here
are a few hands I played...as always please critique my play. I consider myself a instinctive player..I rely on my reads, my profiles of others players, past betting patterns, and position..I don't rely much on Pot
Odds or stacks of other players..I usually go with my gut when I make close decisions...please keep that in mind when your reading my report.

First a quick rundown of the tournament....We started with 700 chips...levels were 40 mins each...With 1166, I felt the only way to have a chance of winning this tournament was to gamble it up a few times to amass some chips, so I was going play any suited connectors, small pairs, and just
about any two cards on the button (For one bet)...I plan on calling all raises with suited connectors, small pairs, and high Ace suited....IT was a hit or miss strategy, but I didn't want to watse my time folding all day....

Hand #1 Blinds 50-100.

I Limp from UTG2 with A /forums/images/icons/club.gif Q /forums/images/icons/diamond.gif (My justification for just limping here, the table was playing pretty lose, so I felt if I raised in this situation, I would get some callers, and I would have to play this hand out of position..something I wanted to avoid so early in the tournament)...I had 1300 at this point....it's raised by a solid player...then cold called bytwo other players on the CO and button...The CO is an absolute
maniac....Blinds muck....I called....4 to the flop...

Q /forums/images/icons/spade.gif 7 /forums/images/icons/spade.gif 4 /forums/images/icons/spade.gif

I checked...Initial raise also checks.....Maniac bets...Button mucks...I call....Intial raiser mucks....AT this point, I believed the Maniac was betting on a spade draw..Earlier I saw him check the flop with a set so I elimated a flush and a set of possible hands he had...So only 2 remain for
the turn....

It's Q /forums/images/icons/club.gif ...

I checked.....Maniac bets....At this point, I believed I had the best hand....I just didn't believe h had the flush...With this in mind, I decidedto raise.....Manaic didn't hesitate and popped me back!!! Oh [censored]...Now I
believed may of had the flush, but a hand like KQ was in the range of possiblities....If he did have a flush..I still had outs to the win the hand....so I just called....but I made up my mind to call any bet on the
river....

The River was the Q /forums/images/icons/heart.gif !!! YIPPEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I bet out again...Maniac agonizes before calling..... I win with quads....Maniac showed 8 /forums/images/icons/spade.gif 3 /forums/images/icons/spade.gif for a flopped flush....

Luck may have been the ulitimate factor here, but I felt with my profile ofthis opponent I felt I played the hand perfectly....

Hand #2

BLinds were $300-$600...

I have around 7K....I get moved to a table with tournament pro, Jimmy Tran....If anyone knows anything about tournament poker knows that Jimmy Tran is a very aggressive and relentless player...He will always put the
pressure on you...When I sat down..Tran was raising and re-raising about 2 out of every 3 pots....probably cause the table was playing kind tight....I didn't get involved with him until this hand...

Jimmy Tran opened raised again...it's folded to me in the SB and I see 6 /forums/images/icons/spade.gif 6 /forums/images/icons/diamond.gif ..and call....BB mucks...

Flop comes J /forums/images/icons/heart.gif 5 /forums/images/icons/club.gif 8 /forums/images/icons/spade.gif rainbow...

I check with the intention of check-raising...but Tran check behind me...That immediately put a red flag in my head...I felt that Tran may have flopped a set and was setting me up hoping I'd make a play on the turn...

The turn is a 7 /forums/images/icons/spade.gif ...

i check again.....Tran bets...with an opened ender, I decided to gamble and hope to get lucky on the river....I didn't calculate odds..I just decided that I still had a good stack to work with even if I don't hit my hand....so
I called..

River is 9 /forums/images/icons/club.gif ....YIPPEE....

I bet....Tran calls.....I win with my straight...Tran had pocket 9's to river a set......

Again I believed I got lucky, but now thinking about...I may have benefited from Tran's misplay of the hand....

Hand 3

Blinds are still $300-$600

I'm starting to feel good about myself, I'm around 9K when this hand comes up....

It's raised from Middle Position (HE has around 3K)....I'm sitting in the CO with 8 /forums/images/icons/diamond.gif 8 /forums/images/icons/club.gif and decide to see the flop....it's called by the BB...3 see the flop

It's Jh 4h 2d

BB checks....raiser checks.....I check as well (Probably a bad play here) river is a 6 /forums/images/icons/heart.gif ....BB checks again...raiser bets.....I hesitated for the long time...replaying how this hand has gone...the first question that popped to my mind was why would the raiser risk giving a free card to use with a flush draw on the board...even if the raiser had a strong, I believed
he would made up pay in case one of us had the flush draw or a J...so I believed the raiser had AQ or AK......so I just called (A raise was probably best play here based on my thinking)..Luckliy the BB mucked...If convinced
myself that if any card other than an Ace, King, or Queen fell, I was going to call...

The river was a 6 /forums/images/icons/diamond.gif

Raiser bets...I called...Raiser had AK...and I took down the pot

I felt strongly that this was my best-played hand of the tournament.....and was very proud of myself....Bottom line is you gotta trust your reads and go with your instincts!

Hand #4

I think I played this hand a little tentitively, only because my original plan went awry and I had to go to plan B....

Blinds are $300-$600. I have around 7K

I open raise with K /forums/images/icons/spade.gif K /forums/images/icons/diamond.gif .....Folded all around to the BB who calls (BB has
around 5K)...BB has been really quiet, haven't seen him play too many hands....

Flop comes Q /forums/images/icons/spade.gif 7 /forums/images/icons/spade.gif Q /forums/images/icons/heart.gif ...BB immeditely bets out...I instantly know the BB doesn't have a Queen for two reasons...we're heads up and if the BB did have a queen he'd probably check-raise me on the flop or the turn...so I put him on a mid pair or a flush draw....my plan of attack was to call the flop...raise the
turn if anything but a spade falls...Unfortunely, my plan has hit a snag when the turn comes out..

It's the J /forums/images/icons/spade.gif .....BB fire another bet.....Now I was in a dilema...I had the K of spades, but I was wondering if I was drawing dead to a King or a spade....But I noticed the BB came out stronger tossing his chips into the
pot...I believed this was a sign of weakness....so I convinced myself, I was going to call him down no matter what came out on the river....so I just called...

River is a 3 /forums/images/icons/club.gif ....He bets...I hesistant for a moment..cutoff 600 from my stack and toss it in.....BB says, "I miss." and shows A10off...so my Kings
are good...

I probably should have raised the turn to see where I was at....but at that point....I had to look at all possibilities...There were still around 400 people left and I was eyeing the big picture of getting as far as
possible.....


I appreciate everyone who read my entire report....as always the 2+2 tournament posters as been very helpful in my progress to become a solid tournament player.


Comments and critiques would be appreciated.....

[curtains]

One note about the hand in which you had Kings.... what reason is there to "see where you are at" in this hand? What would be the benefit of this play? With KK and the K of spades, you can easily just call down, like you did. Your opponent is almost always drawing nearly dead, if hes not beating you already. Also if he is beating you, there is a great chance you have outs. Note that I would probably play like this on the turn in a ring game as well.

What I wonder is if calling on the flop is correct, as opposed to raising? I can't give you a confident answer on that one, but the call down strategy appears quite reasonable in this spot.

I think fossilman is a genius because in these posts he manages to explain his points in about one or two short sentences and somehow I need at least a paragraph.

[Greg (FossilMan)]

> I think fossilman is a genius

Who could argue with that?

Later, anonymous (anonymous)

[Greg (FossilMan)]

Thanks for the nice post, and all the details.

I am guessing in all your posts that you didn't actually mean the blinds are x-2x, but the limits are x-2x, because otherwise a couple of hands don't make much sense (because players would be all-in, and you don't mention that). I will reply using this guess as a given.

> Hand #1 Blinds 50-100. I Limp from UTG2 with AQ
> ...
> I felt with my profile of this opponent I felt I played
> the hand perfectly

I agree.

However, you need to realize that your profile was wrong. While I don't disagree with the assumption you made, that if he would slowplay a flopped set he would slowplay a flopped flush, it turns out it was wrong. The big difference is a flopped set on a raggedy board is less likely to get action and less likely to get caught up with than a small flush on the flop. Why not bet your small flush, when you know the As and probably the Ks and maybe the Qs, Js will call, AND that you're giving them a dangerous free card if you don't bet. It's truly going to suck when the Js9d calls you down after the free card makes his Jhigh flush, when he would've folded for 1 bet on the flop. So, even maniacs sometimes do the right thing (albeit coming in with 8s3s preflop was clearly wrong).

> Hand #2 BLinds were $300-$600... [hero has 66]

You've got 66 in the SB against a tough aggressive player. While I don't think folding is correct, I don't like calling here preflop either. Raise and get out the big blind, unless you've got a tell that he's folding anyway. 66 plays fine heads-up, but loses a lot of strength 3-way, so you definitely need the BB out.

As for the rest of the hand, while there were options to many of your decisions, all of your choices were fine.

> Hand 3 Blinds are still $300-$600
> It's raised from Middle Position (HE has around
> 3K)....I'm sitting in the CO with 88 and decide to see
> the flop....it's called by the BB...3 see the flop

Similar to the 66 hand above, if you're going to play the 88 here, I think you need to raise and get it heads-up. 88 plays fine against 2 overcard, but not so well against 4 of them. If you feel there is a big chance the raiser has an overpair, fold. Otherwise, raise. I think calling preflop is the worst of the 3 choices.

> [The flop is] Jh 4h 2d
> BB checks....raiser checks.....I check as well (Probably
> a bad play here)

I definitely think this check is wrong. You are lucky that only one overcard hit. At this point, you are either the best hand, or being trapped. Bet and find out, and deny a free card to all those overcards waiting to hit and beat you.

After a 6 hits the turn and river, I agree that you are quite correct to call down the preflop raiser. Again, his check on the flop is a sign of weakness, so he either has AK or was trapping, probably with JJ.

Hand #4 you played correctly. You don't want to raise the turn to see where you're at. If he's capable of bluffing with AT up to that point, he might decide to 3-bet bluff you on the turn as well, and if that succeeds, he's just turned an almost sure loser into a winner. If you raise the turn, that's 2 bets, the same two bets it will cost you to just call him down, and get the same information with 100% reliability. If you're going to raise for information in a limit game, it has to be on the flop. A raise on the turn should never be primarily for information.

Good work to make it so far, sorry you didn't go all the way. I'm surprised they paid less than 37 players. If the WSOP chose to pay 63, you'd think they'd pay at least that many here with 30% more entrants.

Later, Greg Raymer (FossilMan)

[punkass]

hey balt -

37th out of 1166!!! Very nice. Not a dime? Geez, that sounds wrong.

I don't have much to comment, but...I like your play in these hands. I probably would've played the AQ 3 flush board a little harder, but I tend to do that. Excellent read on the AK.

Those KK are hard. I probably would've raised the flop. I am a big fan of finding out where you are on the flop. That may have folded your opponent, but your KK aren't AA, which is a big difference. If only a K fell on the river. /forums/images/icons/smile.gif

Congratulations on your "should have taken some money away" finish. I look forward to future posts.

[Kurn, son of Mogh]

Will you be at FW tonight? If so, I'll look for the fossils.

[Greg (FossilMan)]

Yes, about 95% confidence level.

Later, Greg Raymer (FossilMan)

[TJSWAN]

balt999,

Sounds good to me... except I'll agree with the expert and say you should have re-raised the 88 hand. You might have picked up that pot right there on the flop. That does suck they couldn't pay a few more positions for that sized buy in and field. Lucky Chances paid top 20 out of 113 last Saturday. Granted 11-20 basicly got their money back, but so what?

You finised top 4%. /forums/images/icons/cool.gif
Glad to see you have a lot of friends. /forums/images/icons/tongue.gif

Tim