I’m running good. Not sure if this is because I’ve been playing real well or I’ve been getting cards. I suspect it’s a little of both.
I played a league game Wednesday night. Another deepstack tournament. I like these tournaments because I can be aggressive on speculative hands and not worry about being short stacked. It also gives me ample opportunities to outplay my opponents on the flop, turn and river. But most of all, I have a good handle on the players in my league. I know how each player plays like for the most part and I employ different strategies depending on the player.
I’ve improved my play also. I usually play cash most of the time and it’s a different approach. I’ve learned to separate the two disciplines. I’ve been been getting my value bets called more often now. My bet sizing is really starting to get good also. I seem to know the exact amount I need to get guys to fold. I’ve also been making some good calls also. Perhaps this is a result of knowing the players better and knowing their tendencies. My ego won’t allow me to say that I’m a better player than most of the league players because overconfidence is a recipe for disaster but I do feel that I’m playing at a different level than the other players….lately at least.
My philosophy lately is to see a lot of flops and outplay my opponents on the flop, turn and river. I feel that they’ll make more mistakes than I do on these streets. I’ve been known to be an aggressive player and it’s still true but now I’m mixing it up more. I’ll limp in with monsters and raise with marginal hands. Then once I’ve established an image, I’ll switch it up.
The blinds are 300-600 when this strategy does me well when I limp in with KK and get a button raiser, who raises to 2k. I re-raise him 2k and he flat calls. The flop is Q high. I bet out 2k and he calls. The turn is a blank. There’s a baby straight out there but I doubt this guy will play something like 4/5 to a re-raise so I’m confident I’m ahead. But I feel like he’s got something. He’s not going to call a 2k bet on the flop unless he has something. I’m hoping it’s A/Q or JJ. He might have QQ so I need to be careful. The turn is a blank. I again bet out 2k and he calls again. The river is a blank. This time I check. Not because I’m worried that he has something decent (although he could have a set in this situation but I’ll take that chance) but because I really feel that he’s going to take a shot at the pot. So I check like I’m giving up on the pot. He bets out 5k. A nice bet. If he’s got a set then so be it but I have to call. He shows A/Q. I’m pretty sure this is an odd way to play KK but I did win a lot of chips playing this way.
3 players are knocked out by the time the blinds are 400-800 and I have A/Q spades in the cut off. I raise standard 3x the BB. Bobby a super tight player flat calls. The flop is Q high. Bobby checks. I bet out 2k and he calls. Again, Bobby is a super tight player. I know he has something. He’s not going to call a bet unless he has something. The good thing about Bobby is that If I’m ever in a hand with him, I don’t have to make strong plays at the pot because he’ll fold to a small raise. He’s bluffable, but he’s also sneaky. He prefers to have other players do the betting for him. The turn is a blank. He checks again. Now I have top pair and top kicker yet I’m not feeling real good about this hand. I reach for chips to make it seem like I’m going to bet and I peek over to Bobby to see his reaction. He’s reaching for his chips. So I pull back my chips before I announce a bet and check instead. The river is a blank. I check again. He bets out the minimum 800. Typical Bobby. He has something he wants to get paid off on. The pot is about 5k. So I’m getting better than 5-1 in this pot but I know I’m beat. There is no way Bobby is bluffing. He could have A/Q also but he’s definitely not bluffing. I decide to fold top pair and top kicker. I tell him that I have nothing and muck my cards. Bad fold? maybe but I really think I was way behind.
I hit a set of 3s to take down a player with top pair king kicker. I push on the turn, faking a bluff and get a call.
With the blinds at 500-1,000 there’s only 5 players left. I have over 28k in chips and I’m sitting pretty. I have close to a third of all the chips in play when I slowplay QQ in the BB. Everybody folds and the SB calls. I check. The flop is 10 high. He bets 2,500 and I flat call. The turn is blank. I check and the SB makes another 2,500 bet. I shove all in. He calls off his last 10k and shows Q/10. River is blank and I take down another nice pot.
By the time the blinds are 800-1,600 we’re in the money and I’m the chip leader with close to 48k in chips. I take down the 3rd place player with K/J vs. K/9.
This is where things fall apart. I have over 50k in chips and the other player has about 36k in chips. We go back and forth for a level when I lose a crucial race. The blinds are 1k-2k, he raises to 5k. I have 88. I raise to 15k. He shoves all in and I call. He shows A/Q. He hits trip Queens on the flop and I ship a whole lot of chips his way.
Maybe I played this hand poorly. I probably should’ve called instead of raising just to see a flop and proceed from there. I don’t know. I was slightly ahead so I guess I’ll have to live with this call. Maybe next time I’ll just flat call and proceed from there. But then again 88 heads up is a pretty strong hand so perhaps I played it right and just got outdrawn.
I’m awarded $135 for my second place finish. I’m content though. I have 4 cashes out of 6 tournaments this quarter so I’m playing well.
By the time I get home I’m still pumped from the tournament. So I play a little 50NL. I played about 200 hands and cleared $14.95 before I get tired and finally go to bed.
So far I’ve had a strong July and I hope and pray to the poker Gods that this keeps up.
Posted by brooklyn bum 
