A Week of Not 1st Place

I have been slow to post this week. For some reason when I do not win I do not feel like writing in my blog but I decided to do it today to hopefully encourage a win.

I played 4 times live this week:

Sunday - 2nd - $140
Monday - 3rd - $100
Wednesday - 2nd- $130
Thursday - 2nd - $110

To me it looks like opportunity lost because the only game that I did not feel like I could win was on Wednesday. Sunday I got all my money in preflop with QQ vs. 66 so I cannot be upset with that.

On Monday I made a horrible bluff with 10 high and got called. I did not bust but was short and got unlucky when I pushed with AJ and got called by KJ and my oppenent hit a 4 card flush.

On Wednesday I made the best comeback I have ever made. After coasting to an easy chiplead I had over 12000 in chips. 2nd place had over 10000. With blinds 150/300, I raised with 44, both shortstacks with an M of less than 6 folded. The other bigstack called. I pushed allin on a KJ4 flop because there was 3 re-raises and I was worried about two hearts on board. My opponent had KJ with one heart and hit runner runner heart to absolutely crippled me. I was in the dead zone and managed to battle back and finish 2nd. With the blinds at a bingo level I pushed all-in with 1010 and got caught called by JJ.

Thursday night was another easy coast into heads up. Only top 2 paid and I made a huge laydown on an 8 high flop with 99. My opponent put me all-in after I bet half my stack on the flop. I was getting 6/1 to call with my overpair but it was my whole tourney life. When I asked my opponent why he re-raised and did he know that more than half my stack was in the pot and I pretty much had to call. I could tell by his reaction that he had not thought of that. I knew I was likely good however the board was 782 with 2 hearts. A set or 2 overs with a flush draw were possible. Even a 910 straight draw were likely so I decided I was not that far ahead and I folded to wait for a better spot.

When we got to heads up I was outchipped by about 12 to 1 but the blinds were so low I just waited for the right opportunity. I doubled up, then doubled up again and we were exactly even. With about 9000 in chips each blinds were still 150/300. I had no reason to push but I got caught in another bluff. I felt this one was set up much better than Monday night and my opponent called with A high on the river for all his chips on a QJJ45 board. I had raised preflop and he min-raised. I called. On the flop he checked to me and I was certain he had nothing. I bet 2/3 of the pot and he flat called. On the turn he checked again which seemed very strange. On the river another check...I wanted to check and give up on the hand but I was 100% certain my opponent had a weak hand. I was trying to figure out how much I would have to bet to get a fold. The power of position poker in my opinion is that you can get the information from your opponent and then decide what you were going to do. I was 95% certain of my read which was A10 or AK which are pretty much the only 2 hands that check call then check turn and check river. The issue was I could not value bet the river as it would cripple me if I was called and basically if he thought his A high was good on the flop we was not folding no matter what the turn and river were unless it was a significant bet. I made the choice to push all-in. My opponent deliberated forever and then exposed his A and said "is it good". I started laughing thinking to myself, wow my read was 100% correct but he is still going to call. So again I bust on a bluff with 10 high. I was not as upset with this bluff as I was with Monday night as I felt I played the hand perfectly and I was getting more than 2/1 on my money. The biggest issue for me on this hand was that although I knew what my opponent had I played the hand like I was bluffing. If I check the flop and bet the turn, he may put me on the Jack. The other problem was I put all my chips in because I felt my opponent would lay down AK.....I did not put any thought to a possibility that A high might call there when it meant all-in. Either way it was a great learning experience because that hand taught me a lot.

Onto the TEAM TOURNEY TONIGHT......GO WNP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are taking it down for sure. I have to say that this the most stacked team I have ever played on.