THE POWER OF WAITING

I played in the $20,000 guaranteed a few nights ago. The thing went 6 hours and the last 3 hours were after the payout period. I finished in the money and was knocked out when my all-in JJ was beat by A5. I had doubled against the same guy twice earlier, as he was always willing to call with any ace.

The funny thing was a situation that happened right before the money. There were something like 84 players left and only 80 made the money. The guy to my left was playing super tight and he had enough for about four rounds of play. He flat called with KJ in mid position and I made a big enough raise with QQ so that he was all-in before the flop. He hit a K and then continued to play tight and eventually placed 5th making over $700. That was one hell of a comeback no doubt, but what baffled me is why he would call all-in with KJ when he could have simply waited the last 4 players out for the money. I mean some guys make that play automatically, but this fella was playing so tight that it seemed like too loose a call. Had he been the aggressor that would have been one thing, but he was the caller. It certainly doesn't jive with going back to tight and making it to 5th place.