Think to Things About

Nope, that is not a typo, I am still confused and bewildered by the events that transpired last night at the NLHE satellite tournament at the Valle Verde country club. You will understand what I am getting at pretty soon.

I started the game off with some forgettable rag hands and some pretty decent cards like J10 suited, A10 off, Q10 off. But all these were out of position, and I learned earlier in the day to not play them, so I didnt. The first decent hand I got was an AQ offsuit at small blinds position. Mr Howard Lehderer says that you should come in to the pot aggressive with a hand that should be feared with, so I entered the pot with 4x BB, about 800. 2 players called. Flop comes out 4-3-9, I look at the flop, count 2.5 seconds, and bet 800 again. Both players fold, the one closest to me murmurs, "pockets ...". "I wish brother, then I would trap you and your little friend too.". Not bad for a start I thought to myself.

Next hand I got was an A7 offsuit at big blinds with 3 players and no bets. Flop comes out 4-6-A. Small blinds checks, I bet 600, dealer button reraises to 1200, small blinds folds, and I reluctantly call (thinking he had an Ace with better kicker like 9 or 10). Turn was an 7, and Im in cloud nine. I bet 1200, and dealer button pushes me all-in. I look at the board for a while, then call. I show my two-pair, and he shows his pocket 8s. He has a gutshot straight draw but doesnt hit at the river, which was a Ace. I kept improving my hand the entire time. First it was one-pair, then two-pair and then full house. I already double my chips and am extatic.

A little later, I get pocket Queens, which if anybody has read my previous posts, will know I have no affection for. I always tend to lose more money with them than I win. I look to my right and see a raise of 1200. Mr Lehderer says to enter the pot strong with a reraise with a top hand, and so I do. I bet 2400, which everyone folds to, and guy beside me calls. Flop comes out 6-Q-8. I hit the friggin trips! Guy beside me bets 1200, and I reraise again to 2400. He calls and the turn comes 8. Now i have a full house. He bets 1200, and I raise to 2400 again. By this time he would think that I would be bluffing or something, so he goes all-in with his remaining 3000, I call quickly and he shows his AK suited. I show my hand and he lets out a rather meek rendition of a popular curse, which I cant post, I can only say what it sounded like: tuke ng tina. River comes out a King, too little too late for him and I am significantly up. Let me give you guys a rough idea of my status at this point, which, by the way, is before the 1st break: I had more than 20% of the total chips in the entire tournament. If I wasnt the overall chip leader for the 2 tables (there were only 14 players), I was definitely in serious contention.

This was when my problems started. How? Plain and simple, I got cocky. I got an AQ offsuit at dealers position and just bet, I didnt raise or anything. I thought, that I would trap heads-up with the big blinds. Big mistake! I would learn later is that you trap with made hands, not drawing hands. Flop comes out 2-9-6. I bet 600, and other guy reraises with 1600. I thought he was just trying to steal so I call. Turn is a 6, so I bet 1600 of the bat, and he calls. River is a 9 and I bet 1600 again. After a long deliberation, he finally calls. Before I tell you what happened, let me say that I thought that he had faces as well and was just trying to steal, With the two-pair on the board, the person with the highest kicker would get the pot. The worst thing that would happen, in my mind at the time, was we would split the pot because we would both have Aces. I was wrong. I showed my hand which he exclaimed, "bullshit!". He had pocket deuces and made trips on the flop, which became a full house on the turn and river. The reason he thought so long was because he considered the possibility I had a 6 or a 9 and made a higher full house than he had. That was a chunk of change that I would never recover from.

I kept trying to steal the blinds, with really big bets, but players kept calling because they had nuts. I finally lost it all when my AJ was dominated by an AQ. Flop paired his Q, and that was the end of that. I felt devasted, more so than before because I had a real opportunity to play longer and win a lot. But I didnt, instead I let my huge bankroll get into my head and it cost me dearly. As an added insult to injury, as I was leaving, the dealer motioned to the organizer that I was out and pointed at me. Organizer looked at me and asked, "you're out? you were the chip leader, werent you?" "Thanks for the reminder!"

I did not get any real bad beats and just played lousy. I am still steaming now and cant get the game out of my head. Even if I do, its gone only for a minute and comes right back again. At least I can take comfort knowing it was my fault, and not the board, that led to my downfall and consider improving my middle and late game, protecting my bankroll and most importantly, recovering quickyly from steaming. It anybody has got any comments or suggestions on helping me out I would really appreciate it.

Also, as much as people around me like to think I like to throw my money away at tournaments and high-stake cash games, if i can find a regular low-stakes tournament, like 500 or 600 buyin, I would gladly play those. The problem is I dont know of anyone who has these kinds of tournaments, so Im stuck with the regular high-stakes tournaments. Again, if anyone can help me out in this regard, I would also greatly appreciate it.

I would like to give a shout-out to mr Poker Pond again for all the help he has given me in improving my game and hope to finish ITM and do you proud. Also thanks to my girlfriend who has always been with me to support my losing streak, hehe. Also to my buddies who always want me to win so that they can ask for drinking sessions funded by yours truly, I hope to do that soon.

Will report on things that happen when they happen. By the way, check back here in a couple of minutes and i will post some links to some really helpful instructional videos on improving your holdem game. Good luck guys and God bless!