MAY WEEK 3 WRAP

It was a fairly light week of poker. I don't have enough cash at Full Tilt to play any meaningful events so I've been trying a lot of small satellites there. I had just enough plans with the kids after school that I was unable to join the 10A tourney at Stars most days because I knew I couldn't be late to school which precludes me from placing well in the event. At night, I've been sleepy, with the wife in China, so I only played a couple of evening events.

I've been playing with more controlled aggression since reading Gus' book and I've got to admit, it's getting me some chips. Sometimes it's getting me eliminated but that is an acceptable downside to an increased penchant for chip accumulation in most tournaments. The style was on display Wednesday in a $109 event in which I called from the big blind holding Ts-6s. The flop came Js-8h-4s and I did the standard check/call to keep the pot manageable. The turn was the 9h, adding an up-and-down straight draw to my flush draw. When he put in another bet on the turn, I came back firing. I had enough of a draw that I figured I could test him to see how much he trusted his hand. Well, he had Td-7d and loved it plenty so we got it all in and I was eliminated, but I still like my play there. He needs a big hand in that spot and even with one, I still had a decent shot at outdrawing him should he go with it. A week ago, I would have simply called the turn bet then folded the river. That version of me would have still been alive in this particular tournament but I'm still intrigued by the updated version.

Thursday, I played a few low-stakes satellites to no avail. Friday, I played only one tourney and it paid off. I joined a $225 Turbo STT with ten players. I realized early that the only skill needed was realizing when it was a good time to go all in and when to call another player's all-in. Luckily, I have that skill. All my gambits paid off. It's mainly just getting it in with the best hand and hoping the good odds pay off. I knocked out a couple of players in the middle which gave me enough chips to coast to the top three, so rather than trying to run over the table, I thought it wiser to tighten up and let the cards and the odds do their thing.

Four-handed, there were two hangers-on and while I remained card dead, the other player took advantage by amassing a huge stack once he realized I was in coast mode. One of the shorties actually accused me of colluding with the other shorty. Unlike him, I had no preference of which of them was eliminated first, so I refused to vary my strategy to appease him. When the other short-stack had nearly half his chips in the big blind, I woke up with 9-3 in the small blind and folded. I could have gone either way with it based on the odds but considering he would likely play any two cards in that spot, why should I offer the courtesy double-up with one of the weakest hands in the deck? I figured I could keep him relatively weak and then attack him the next time around. My fold outraged the other short-stack who let me have it in the chat box.

The next time around, on my big blind, the shorty limped in for nearly half his chips and I was comped in with T-6. I thought the limp showed strength and again, I was not going to offer a courtesy double-up unless I connected in some way. The flop brought a Queen and two other random cards. I checked to Shorty, who checked behind. The turn was a Jack and since I figured his most likely holding was Ace-high if not a pair, I checked again. He pushed his chips in and I folded. Again, the other guy let me have it and was convinced we were in league against him.
He was knocked out on the next hand and stuck around to bark at me from the rail. Meanwhile, unlike him, I was in the money so I was able to loosen up my game again and make a push for the top spot. I knocked out Shorty and took a 2:3 disadvantage into heads-up play, which lasted all of two hands. I was dealt an ace both times while he was dealt a king both times. All the money met the middle in each instance and I paired my ace both times to win them both. First place paid $1050, leaving me no question that my super-tight strategy on the bubble had paid off.

Friday, I had friends over for drinks and afterwards, I played a $15 double shootout. I won my first table but went a little nuts at the final table and was the first one out. Saturday, I played a $23 HU Omaha H/L match against a guy who checked just about always, either intending to fold or to trap me. I found him agonizingly easy to beat and was irked since I thought I would be improving my skills and not merely wasting my time for a $21 profit.

Saturday night, I played a $109 MTT with 279 players and finished 19th for a $240 payout. I played really well all the way up until that final hand. I actually avoided busting out earlier when I folded 66 to an early position raise. I used to always flat call there, but taking the relative stacks into account, I decided to simply let it go. I doubt if I would have made it to the flop anyways as there was a K-K lurking on the button. The original raiser had J-J so it turned out to be a good pre-flop fold, especially since the Jack and the Six came on the flop, so I would have busted for sure. On the final hand, I called a late position raise with Kc-8c from the big blind. The flop came K-Q-x and I should have bet out strong as Gus prefers, but instead, I went for the more expensive check/raise, only to be up against K-Q for the knockout.