[J.Copperthite]

Hi everyone,

I want to share some experiences I have when in the final 2 tables of Limit Hold 'em tournaments. First off, my luck in this spot has been atrocious - I have 7 finishes between 10th and 18th in limit hold 'em multis, and only 1 final table (and that was a 9th place finish). What always seems to happen is there is one pot I lose while in the final two tables either to bad luck or my being out of line. This past tournament I was playing at a very timid and tight 2nd table. I had Q-T suited in middle position, and I decided that i'd either be threebet or win the blinds - the table has been folding their blinds most of the time. For a limit hold 'em tournament, we were seeing very few flops at the final 3 or 4 tables. Anyway, the SB ends up calling, and he is a tight player. That right away makes me very concerned. The flop comes down Q-J-4 rainbow. He checks to me, I bet, and he calls. The turn pairs the board w/ a 4, putting two dimes on board. Same sequence. The river is an 8 of dimes. While this hand was going on I put him on some kind of draw or a mid pocket pair. The 8 of dimes puts a potential straight out there, and he may have slowplayed a set on me. He checks and I check, and he shows me K-Q suited and I have lost half my stack.

Should I have checked the turn because he called my flop bet? Should I automatically give credit to him for calling my bet late in a tournament? Would any of you have played it any differently (even by simply folding the Q-T suited, despite the passiveness of the table)? Insights are welcome!