Winning the Party Super Monday (LONG, oh so long)

[HoldingFolding]

Great win, thought provoking play, incisive analysis.

I hope you realise you'll never be able to play another MTT as PandaFan [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[Che]

I really enjoyed reading the history, Punker. Thank you for posting it.

I printed the whole thing out (11 pages when pasted into a Word doc [img]/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img]) and I plan to read it a couple more times so I can really get a handle on how you're putting pressure on your opponents with minimal risk to your own stack (and how I can incorporate that into my game, of course [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]). Very nice work.

I do have a few questions that have not been addressed yet:

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Dealt 77 in the SB with blinds at 25-50. One limper and I raise to 200. BB calls, and limper folds. Flop 962. SB bets 50 and I raise to 350. SB calls. Turn J. SB moves all in for 684 and I call. He has AK and I win on the river 2. Stack: 3929

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Did you have a read here? Could you have made this call for all (or almost all) of your chips?

[ QUOTE ]
Dealt AhJh in the cutoff with blinds at 50-100. Two to my right raises to 275. I fold. Stack: 4314

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Why did you post this hand? You weren't actually "involved." A similar hand appears later (99, I think). Are you just trying to show us that you don't play every decent hand you see? [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[ QUOTE ]
Dealt Kd7d in the BB with blinds at 100-200. Late position caller and I check. Flop Ks5d5h. I bet 200 and he raises to 400. I call. Turn 9h. I check, he bets 450, I call. River 6h. I check, he bets 2000 I call. He has AhKh. Stack: 6589.


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I know his flop raise and turn bet were both very small relative to the pot, but your bet-call flop then check-call (small bet on turn) then check-call (big bet on river) with TP-no kicker on a paired flop really gave me a sick feeling in my stomach when I read it. Not only is this a bad line in general IMHO, it seems very out of character for you.

So, I'm wondering why you chose that line. Did you have a read on this particular opponent that affected your decision-making process?

[ QUOTE ]
Dealt Q7 in the cutoff with blinds at 3000-6000. Button calls. Flop AQ7. I bet 30000. Button raises to 60000. I jam and he calls (he has me covered). He has AJ. Turn 4, river Q and I win. Stack: 220728

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I assume you open-raised ~18000 here, but I'm not sure. Is that what happened?

Finally, I noticed that you called some all-ins with rather marginal hands in the late stages. I forget where you explained the rationale behind when you lower your calling standards/increase your raising standards versus when you increase your calling standards/lower your raising standards, but that post was excellent. I would certainly recommend that post to anyone who aspires to do well in MTT play.

Thank you for all the work you put into this thread. I know my game will improve as a result and I really appreciate it.

Thanks,
Che

[Punker]

"Did you have a read here? Could you have made this call for all (or almost all) of your chips?"

The bet he made was close to the biggest amount I would have called; this was a hand where he played so confusingly that I thought there was a reasonable chance I had the best hand and the pot was laying something like 2-1. I just couldn't let go here since his hand made no sense.

"Why did you post this hand? You weren't actually "involved." A similar hand appears later (99, I think). Are you just trying to show us that you don't play every decent hand you see? "

The two hands were both decisions that affected my final result that I didn't think were super easy (the 99 was easier than this one, certainly).

"I know his flop raise and turn bet were both very small relative to the pot, but your bet-call flop then check-call (small bet on turn) then check-call (big bet on river) with TP-no kicker on a paired flop really gave me a sick feeling in my stomach when I read it. Not only is this a bad line in general IMHO, it seems very out of character for you."

No doubt...this was a mistake on my part. A river fold was in order. The rest of the hand, the bets in relation to the pot/stacks were not enough to get me to fold. He played the hand well and I played it less than well.

"I assume you open-raised ~18000 here, but I'm not sure. Is that what happened?"

Yes, exactly to 18000.