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The above is my take from yesterday’s Badger Poker Finals. I finished better than 18th. There were 18 players (108 finalists) left last that I knew but I didn’t do a head count when I got knocked out. It would not have been better than 15th, though. I was hooking up with the boys from the softball team so I just walked over to Wes and Jason, picked up my goodies and headed downtown.
The cards weren’t my best friends, but they weren’t my enemy either. They were just lukewarm and had bad timing. I actually had the best hand only twice. The other pots I won with skills (thanks, Napoleon Dynamite).
I laid down JJ once when a player made a desperation all in call before the flop. At least he was making it look like it was a desperation call. I thought that he had felt this way for a while and was being admirably patient. So I believed he was sitting on something good. If my read is correct (he has some combination of A’s K’s or Q’s) I’m at best a 55% favorite, and I didn’t think it would be wise to risk close to half my chip stack in a race. Everyone else folded so I didn’t get to find out. He did go out down the road after going all in with a pretty weak hand. Now I wasn’t so sure about my earlier read. But since no one else wanted to challenge him, I’ll take solace in the fact that they must have had the same read as me.
I was able to pad my stack nicely with my first real hand of the day. I limped in with Qc10c. The flop comes 10-10-x. It’ soon down to one of the other top players and me. I can’t recall the betting precisely after the flop. I think he checked and I bet the pot. He called, with his obligatory delay. He checked on the turn and so did I (I didn’t like the fact that he called me, and there was a straight possibility out there.) The river is a Q. Sweet. (again, thanks Nape). He bets and I of course raise him. He says out loud that there is only one hand better than his so now I’m thinking he also has Q-10, because the only hand that can beat me is QQ. He calls me with the straight. He forgot about the full house possibility, so there wasn’t really only one hand that could beat him. I liked this hand because it really set up the read on me being a tight player. The only hand anyone saw from me for the first 4 hours was a full house.
So I was able to steal a few blinds and limps here and there. And I was able to make others fold their hands on big pots. On one I had A-7 and raised before the flop. There were 2 callers, including the big blind. I’m not too worried about him because he’s playing everything. But the guy to my left, he could be a problem. Flop comes 7xx. So I have top pair with an ace kicker. The blind checks, and so do I. I want to see what Brent does. He bets the pot. The blind calls. I’m pretty sure that a check-raise from me will shake them up. I know the blind will definitely fold because he’s on a draw at best and he’ll respect my check-raise. But Brent is sitting on an over pair and he may find it hard to lay it down. Since I was the one who raised before the flop I’m trying to sell that I have a real nice over pair. Brent is agonizing but he eventually lays down. He had 8-8. I thought his pair was higher. I think his exact word was “crap” when I told him after the tournament.
But I made my own bad lay down. I had AdKd and the extremely loose player goes all in when the flop comes QJJ. He keeps going all in all the time, so this may mean nothing. But even loose players hit once in a while. Since I’m still on a draw, if he did hit he’s at least a 75% favorite. I folded. He had nothing. : (
The last 2 tables are assembled. Just 20 players left. But the blinds have caught up to me. Actually, they’ve caught up to a lot of people. The crap shoot shall commence. I had thought that the blind structure would have been slowed down for the finals, but that wasn’t the case. Twice I had low pocket pair but in early position. So I folded them. Good thing. It turns out I would have been up against AA once and 10-10 the other time. So when I had 6-6 later I went all in. I figured that the odds of others having higher pocket pairs had been used up. I was correct. The only caller had Qc10c. My sixes held up. Whew!
Like all the books say, in tournament poker, one mistake is all it takes to bring it all to a crashing end. Other players say they would have done the same thing, but it doesn’t help. I limp in with A-7 (again). The flop comes A-10-x. The small blind makes a bet larger than the size of the pot. With such a large bet you kind of think he doesn’t want a call. So if he doesn’t want a call, he sure won’t like a raise. Especially from me. I raise all in. He calls with A-10. UGHH! : ) There’s an odd thing that I haven’t figured out yet. He took a while to call. I don’t understand the hesitation. So I’m not sure if he was that brilliant, or if he stumbled into his brilliance. Because it was a brilliant hand, and I hate being on the wrong end of those. : )
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