Tuesday, August 11, 2009

A Taste of My Own Medicine

Last night was very annoying. I was playing in the $15 tournament at the Cable Bridge and was down to only 2,000 chips after the first break and the blinds were 200-400. I was so low in chips because on a previous hand my two pair of Ks and Js got beat by two bigger pair of Ks and Qs. Phooey! Anyway, I figured I was in all-in mode at this point.

I started the round on the button and did not find a suitable hand until my small blind. The guy in the cut-off spot made it 1,200 to go. I looked down to see pocket 9s. Was the guy in the cut-off spot making a move or did he have a hand? He did not look very comfortable. I went all-in for 800 more. Even though it was only 800 more to him, the additional 800 would have been about one-third of his remaining stack, so I really thought he might be able to fold.

He said, "Oh, you caught me. I have my favorite hand and was just making a move, but (here's my least favorite saying of all time) I have to call." He rolls over 5-2 spades, which I was very happy to see until he got a flush on the river. Ouch! Bye bye me. I just walked away. What can I say when I will raise with 7-2? However, I can honestly say that if someone has come over the top for all their chips (pre-flop) and it is not more than one or two chips, I have folded 7-2 every time. I do not believe I have ever called an all-in with it except twice after the flop when I had two pair.

I guess this is another one of those things where you wonder how people can do it. Sick.

1 comment:

Phil said...

i feel your pain...but, my "advice" would have been to execute a "stop & go" rather than push with too few chips to force him to fold. I am not sure if he would have folded or not, but if he did not get 2 of his suit on the flop, it would be foolhardy for him to call for the remaining chips you had. i made the same mistake last week at the legion. The small blind (who I had super covered) raised my big blind with QJ, but only min-raised. I had pocket 5's and pushed all-in. He called and caught a queen on the river to double up. If I had simply called the small raise, then pushed on the flop...he would have folded (I verified this with him later...he is a good player). If you keep in mind that most flops miss most people, then a push by a blind to a late position raiser after flat calling the raise, is usually effective (scratch that advice if flop is all big cards). It works really well if the flop is paired with small cards.