FULL TILT $24 - 9/186

Just exercising my poker muscles with this smallish tourney. Focused on making good decisions and avoiding confrontations. It was good enough to get me to the final table. This was my first final table at Full Tilt. It's neat how the scenery changes to a television studio complete with cameras and press.

So, I reach the final nine, midstacked, sort of on the low side. The second hand, I have a pair of treys. I made a small raise, hoping to either thin the field or encourage calls rather than reraises. The big stack calls. No problem, given a favorable flop, I can push all-in here and push out either AK or a medium pair. Then both blinds call, and for the first time in over 90 minutes, there is a four-way pot.

It's no set, no bet time. The flop comes AA6. Both blinds check to me. I just can't believe that nobody has an ace, so I am done with the hand, unless by some miracle, I can turn a free trey. The big stack in position also checks and we get a free turn, which is a trey. Now I've got the boat and I fully expect that one of the blinds will come out firing. Again, they both check to me. Okay, my stack allows me only one move. Do I push in here? There are absolutely no straight or flush draws out there, so I'm only going to get called by whoever is sandbagging an ace. If nobody has an ace, then there must be at least one, probably two pocket pairs in play. If I push all in here, and the big stack behind me has a pair over six, I believe I get called.

With that automatic call in mind, I decided to take the last card off, then push all in no matter what hits, unless it's an ace. There's more of a chance it will look like a bluff, should it get checked to me a third time. Plus, if it connects a T, J, Q, or K, then I will likely get called by one or both of the blinds. The only threat is that the big stack behind me hits a two outer for a bigger full house. But with those odds, I'll gamble.

So off comes an 8, both blinds check to me, and I go all in. The big stack goes over the top, both blinds fold, proving that nobody had an ace. The big stack shows pocket eights and wins on the two outer. The pundits will lambaste me for not pushing the turn. If I had pushed there, the big stack may lay down the eights, figuring, as I did, that one of the blinds was sandbagging an ace. I'll never know now, but comments and analysis are welcome.