Last night was the beginning of my vow to stay away from Full Tilt poker, except for the odd free-roll and AIPS tournament. I moved some money around so now I’m able to play at several different sites. My first night of non Full Tilt action was relatively successful.
I played in a total of four tournaments. My first was a NL Sit and Go that lasted only 1 hand for me. I had AKo on the button and was trying to limp in with everyone else. Before anyone thinks of raising this hand I didn’t really see a point yet. There is a lot of dead money out there but plenty of reasons to see a flop cheaply. Most importantly, with so many people in the pot, a small raise is getting plenty of callers. I’d rather see if I can flop big. An interesting development happened though. The big blind put in a min raise. By the time it got around to me there was over T400 in the pot. I figured a big raise would take all those chips in, and with AKo only 2 hands (AA, KK) really give me any trouble. I push all-in since any reasonable raise meant to drive out chasers gets me pot-committed anyways. I get one caller, the big blind and he flips over 77. This is a race situation and with the dead money in the pot, the odds are in my favor. Some will contest that some Aces or Kings were folded by some of the limpers but I still feel if one or two of my outs are gone the math is still correct. Plus, if I take the pot down I get a huge stack, a nice table image, and I can pretty much coast into four-handed play.
Alas no outs came and I was eliminated right away. This doesn’t bother me that much considering I felt I made the right play and I would do it again in the same situation.
The next Sit and Go was an Omaha Hi/Lo8 Hold Em split game. Since playing HORSE this game has quickly become one of my favorites, right behind Texas Hold Em. My first hand dealt was AcAs2s8c. This is a great hand since I can get the nut low and I’m in great shape if I get a flush draw. The action is capped pre-flop with 7 players and this hand, the first hand of the tournament is starting to set the stage for what should be a quick, action filled tournament. By the turn I’m any club away from the nut flush and any card less then an 8 to give me the low. With all the capping of the betting that has happened on the flop and turn I figure I’m going to tie my low with at least one other person so I’m really hoping for the club, and when the Ten of clubs hits the river I know I’m golden. By the time the dust settles I scoop both the high and the low and after hand #1 I now have 33% of the chips in play! 20 minutes later I take first place in the tournament, never really putting my chips at risk unnecessarily.
The next tournament was a Limit Texas Hold Em I mistakenly got into, figuring it was No-Limit. I love limit ring games but I’m not a big fan of limit sit and go’s. There’s not much to say about this tournament since I was playing the
The final sit and go of the night was a No-Limit Texas Hold Em sng. Glad I didn’t make that mistake twice. This was one of the best Sit and Go’s I’ve had in Texas Hold Em in a while. When I had strong hands, they held up, when I had weak hands it was easy to let them go. I was able to steal blinds efficiently and stay out of the way of any crazy hands and pots. Things tightened up considerably when we got down to 5 handed but I basically stayed in the area of the chip lead the entire time. By the time I made the money I was the short stack with a bit of a mountain to climb up. The blinds were still pretty reasonable so I wasn’t panicking. By the time I got heads up I was at a 3-10 chip disadvantage. I played strong heads up, doubling up, giving some back, doubling up again with strong hands. I did get lucky on one hand when I went all in after a low board with KQo. My opponent called with a pair of Tens and I spiked a King on the river to win the hand and give myself the 18-2 chip lead. With where the blinds were and the pre-flop action it was obvious that I was going to have to go all-in once the flop came down. My opponent went so far as to call me a “fish” which I found was very funny. We had been playing heads up for 20 minutes and on the Internet that is an eternity. I came back from being a huge dog and then yes, got lucky on one hand. It’s a player like these that I love being up against. They are willing to blame so many of there losses to fish and lucky players that they aren’t willing to look at the mistakes they made throughout the session and identify their own leaks and rough edges.
I’m not one to say that I didn’t get lucky; I did, for one hand. Most of the other hands I played were the best hands because I was patient and waited for the right situation to exploit. I get my fair share of bad luck at the tables but I never insult the opponent who just beat me. I get mad and I curse them in my mind but getting those beats is part of the game.
So, all-in-all it was a very good night and certainly a refreshing change of pace. Even earlier at lunch, while playing at Full Tilt, I was three outed on the river to knock me out in 4th during a sit and go. 75-80% of my losses at Full Tilt are from when I have hands that are 70% favorites or higher when I get all my money in there. I know in time, that the cards will break my way and things will even out, I just think that for the next little while those cards are going to be dealt to me at Party Poker.com
