Church Tourney

[SpicyBisquit]

aloha. first post here but i figured i would just mention the NL tournament i played in last night.

a lot of local churches have been hosting them lately, the buyin is usually around 100 dollars, 150 or so entrants.

i considered myself one of the better players there as the field was generally weak-passive, easy to read, etc.

the problem was i just didn't see a hand all night. i wish i could say someone sucked a 2 outer on me to knock me out, or i was outplayed, or that i just had a hand i couldn't get away from (i.e. full boat losing to quads); but that isn't the case.

the best hands i saw all night were: AKo twice, 77, and 44. Only once did I hit and that was my only solid pot of the night with AK vs. AQ.

About 32 people or so left, the blinds have just been raised to 200-400 (a considerable percentage of a lot of stacks) and i am short stack magee with 1200.

I'm under the gun and look at KQs and decide to push all-i and I am hoping to only steal the 600 in blinds to allow me to survive another orbit. mainly because KQs is my "cursed hand" that i have never one a contested pot at showdown with. ever. this includes the hundreds of freeroll tourneys i kill time playing in and every ring game i play in.

middle position thinks for a bit and calls me, folded around to the blinds who also fold out, he turns over AJ of my suit and i am just happy to see that im not dominated. the flop, turn, and river is all rags and his A takes down the pot and i exit the tourney frustrated at the cold decks all night.

[Al_Capone_Junior]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm under the gun and look at KQs and decide to push all-i and I am hoping to only steal the 600 in blinds to allow me to survive another orbit. mainly because KQs is my "cursed hand" that i have never one a contested pot at showdown with. ever. this includes the hundreds of freeroll tourneys i kill time playing in and every ring game i play in.


[/ QUOTE ]

Illogical, unreasonable, and just plain silly. There is no such thing as a cursed hand, only someone who doesn't understand poker theory well enough to realize this.

Sorry to be harsh, new guy, but get used to it, these are public forums, and I'm nicer than most. Well many. Well some. Well a few! Oh forget it! /images/graemlins/grin.gif

Seriously, get over this illogical predisposition to disliking KQs. It's not premium, but it's far from trash. I have won many a pot with it, and so have many others on these forums. Would you rather have KJs? T9s? QTo? I doubt it.

Funny the church is SPONSORING gambling. What's their cut? The church sponsoring, instead of condemning gambling, is virtually unheard of. Ok, Ok - the catholics!

al

[SpicyBisquit]

capone. the church does it to raise money. just an added part of their "casino nights". they take a pretty big chunk of the prize pool which hurts, but the fact the competition is so soft, it is worth it.

as for the KQs being a "cursed hand", i know it is illogical, which is why i still play it properly for the most part. it is just something my friends and i joke about because of how many times i lose with it in comical fashion. prime examples being flopping kings full of queens and losing to runner runner quad jacks and losing when my flopped flush ends up boarding a four-flush and the single A being out there.

[AceKQJT]

I think Al_Capone makes a pretty good point here (cursed hand). When you start favoring or abhoring two cards , you will inevitably tend to over/under value your hand. This could cause you to play below your level of competence.

There was a time when I cringed when I caught A-A. Mainly because I had a long streak of getting them snapped by the most unlikely hands (3-3, A-J, etc..). I got over it, and the odds have evened out. Don't force yourself to play poorly because of these superstitions.

--Casey

[CrisBrown]

Hi Al,

[ QUOTE ]
Illogical, unreasonable, and just plain silly. There is no such thing as a cursed hand, only someone who doesn't understand poker theory well enough to realize this.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm going to take a very tiny exception to this. There are some hands that, for certain players, might seem unlucky, simply because the player doesn't know how to play that hand well. And in that situation, it may indeed be wise to avoid the hand for awhile until you get a better idea of how to play it profitably.

When I first began playing, AQ was my "unlucky" hand. For a while, it seemed as if every time I lost a tourney, I went out on AQ. This wasn't quite true, but it sure did seem as if it were. What I realized was that AQ wasn't unlucky. It simply wasn't as strong a hand as I wished it were, and I was playing it very poorly.

So my general advice when people talk about having an unlucky hand is to suggest that they re-examine how they play that hand. It may be that it's "unlucky" for a good reason....

Cris

[SpicyBisquit]

again, i mentioned that solely because of the number of comical times i have been sucked out on by 290-1 shots. it is not like i am mucking it pre-flop.

[eastbay]

Were there any strippers at this church gambling event?

It's been awhile since I've been to church. Things must have changed a little.

eastbay

[BigBaitsim (milo)]

I've been in a few of these local tourneys. The juice is high, but the players are so godawful bad that it is +EV for any 2+2er. Keep plugging away. As to the "cursed hand" thing, Cris is right. Look to how you are playing it.