On The Precipice of Mediocrity, Teetering
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| I Am John's Stomach Pains. On The Precipice of Mediocrity, Teetering |
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Thursday, May 05, 2005 Fish That's how I felt at the tournament last night. Like I'm just flopping around on the ground as a group of children look on and laugh. Suffice to say, I didn't do as well as I would've liked, and I felt like the first hand of the night was an omen. To start off, I pull seat seven, my favorite seat, and get the button as well. Each player starts with $4000 in chips, the blinds starting at $25-$50. Each level is twenty minutes long, with a break every hour. The cards are dealt out, and I catch 8-9c, a good hand, and one I'd usually like to play. However, I told myself that unless I got a Big Ten hand on the first deal, I wasn't playing... just superstition, I guess. So I fold, and the SB raises, and I smile inside, thinking it's good I got out, I don't want to have to call a raise. And what happens? Flop comes 9-9-8. By the time the river comes, my flops nuts would have still held up, and the SB, who I found out later had cowboys, was pushing hard... I probably could've double-upped on the first hand. Oh well. I get crap cards for the next half hour, and in that time, I think we only see 2 showdowns. Two rotations have passed, and I'm One player in EP (early position) calls the BB, and when it gets to My Opponent. I look at my cards and find Q-9h. Now, these are probably the best cards I've seen so far (like I said, getting crap) and I'm getting antsy, so I call, and the blinds fold. The flop comes: Q-3-4, giving my top pair, with a marginal kicker. The guy in EP checks, My Opoonent bets $200, and I raise to $600. EP Folds, and after some consideration, she calls my raise. I'm putting her on a pocket pair, but not Aces or Kings, so I feel good. The turn comes, a 9 of spades, giving me top two pair, with two spades on the board being the trouble I see. She checks, and I bet $600, which she calls. The river comes, a 10, showing a board of Q-3-4-9-10. I'm planning on simply checking with my two pair, because I think they're good, but I want to see what she has. Before that happens though, she thinks for about 15 seconds, and goes all-in. Goddamnit! Now, there are two hands I'm worried about: pocket 10s and Kojak (K-J). I struggle for a good minute here, because at the turn, I put her on tens, and her push here almost confirmed it. There was $3700 in the pot before she pushed, and seeing as she had a healthy chip lead on me, this would kick me out if I lost. And the worst feeling: I'd be the first one out. No one wants to be the first one out. So, even though I had a good hand, I just couldn't do it. I dumped, and the guy next to me immediately asked if I had two pair. Of course I had two pair, the entire table knew I had two pair... The chick never showed, and I never found out what she had... that's probably better. So, what did I do wrong? While it could be said I shouldn't have even been in the hand, I don't find too much fault in calling the $200 from the button, as it's not a bad positional hand. On the flop, I think I pushed as much as I could with top pair... top pair's good, but can seriously get you in trouble. No, my problem was my $600 bet on 4th street. There was already $2500 in the pot, and a bet of a quarter of the pot is just asking to be called, odds-wise. If I'm calculating correctly, she was getting about 20% pot odds to call ($600 to win $3100). But, like I said earlier... I didn't want to be first one out, and I wasn't going all in without the nuts. So, my chip stack was cut more than half, and I may've dumped the best hand. I fold til' the end of the third round, and after we come back, I double up with K-10o when I hit trips on the turn. I lose half of my stack about 20 minutes later with snowmen (88) in early position, when the flop comes J-J-7. I bet $600 and am raised all-in, forcing me to fold. Another dump I don't feel good about, especially now. I know he didn't have the Jack, and I had the 7 beat... I was just afraid of overcards hitting. With $50 antes for every hand, and blinds at $200-$400, I quickly get blinded out, catching 2-3o in the BB, and 3-7o in the SB, which I can't even pretend with my short stack. On the button, and with only $1750 left, I catch QJo, and push all-in. The BB calls my all-in, and a guy in MP pushes all in himself. Then another guy goes all-in! Main pot has about $8000 in it, and the side pot has another $3000. The BB struggles and dumps pocket nines. I cringe as the guy who went all-in after me shows cowboys. The guy between us shows sailboats... at least I have two live cards. Anyway, my Jack hits on the flop, but that's it, and with that I'm gone. Overall, I had a good time, but man, do I have alot to learn with No Limit. Later that night, I got some more practice in at the live no-limit table... and lemme tell ya', that is fun. Hard as hell, but damn fun. Update: I had to make some corrections to the main hand, because I realized last night it didn't make sense. I originally called my opponent The Button, when in fact I was, and she was two in front of me. posted by Holz | 11:00 AM | Rant & Rave, Bitches! (1) 1 Comments:Hee, no, the buy-in was $155, they just give you $4000 in chips to play with.
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"Let a man get away with fuckin' you once, you stay bent over so's he can fuck you again whenever he damn well pleases. An' if one man can do it? Another will too. An' another, an' another still. So's being fucked, that's yer life. 'Til who you were, you ain't. 'Cause all you are is an asshole." 100 Bullets #42 | |||||
