Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Blind Play

Hey, y'all, I'll admit it; I'm a bad blogger. Sorry! I'm even a bad blog reader...I need to catch up with everyone and will try to get to that today since I have a day off from work. :)

2014 has not kicked off with the poker rungood I had hoped for. I've played four tournaments and have yet to cash. I did make a deep run in one of them, but I was hit with three river suckouts late and that was that. So, yesterday, I was going over the hands I've played, looking for a pattern or something, just trying to see what I could've done differently if anything. I posted the following pic on twitter (@jusdealem) and got some good feedback and discussion from 2 other local players. (One has a private account, so you probably can't see his comments if you go looking.) I appreciate their input.


I don't take notes at the table, even though I said I was going to start doing that this year, so I don't have exact stack sizes or what the blinds & antes were on some of those hands. I do have very good hand recall, though. I still remember hands, flops and who bet what from hands I played 6 years ago, ha! But I do need to start noting stacks & blinds in the future to get the most info from the hands.

But as you can see, I am having a helluva time from the blinds. In 3 of the 4 trnys I've played this year, I have busted from either the small blind or the big blind every time. I thought that was kinda odd and deserved some reflection. After going over them though, I think most were just coolers. Yes, I could've 3 bet the AT hand (that was actually a hand from last year that has already been discussed & dissected to death by me and others. Interestingly enough, that was the one that got the most discussion on twitter, as well. But I am over that hand, not sure why I even included it, really. So, let's move on...)

The only thing I know that I could've done differently was the Q2 vs J2 hand. I think I had about 15bbs to start the hand. It was at the end of level 9, so it was 600/1200/200 9 handed. UTG+1 limped in, he had about 20bbs. He was a loose player who liked to limp/call a lot trying to take it away later. He was at my first table and he had tried a donk-lead-river-bluff on me that I hero called with top pair for a nice pot. The sb was a typical, tight-ish older man with about 30bbs.

So, UTG+1 limped, the small blind completed and I checked from the big blind. Looking back, this would've been a perfect squeeze-shove spot for me. I think, not really sure about the UTG+1 player, because he did not like to fold pre, even with a short stack, but I think it's likely, due to our stack sizes and our history, he would've tank folded. But, even if he had've called, Q high is likely pretty good against his limping range there. I don't think he's limping with any Ax, Kx or pocket pairs. I think he is 100% raising those from what I had seen him play. As for the small blind, I am absolutely certain that he would've folded his J2. Instead, I flop trips and he flops a boat on 22J. Meh. But because I was not paying attention, I missed a great spot to shove and I was out. Lesson learned: I should always be paying attention and looking for good steal spots. Always. Especially when short stacked. Focus, focus, focus. Ugh.

So, there's that. I may have said this before, but poker tournaments, while they do require some luck, are almost more about not putting yourself in a position to get 'unlucky'. I think you have the ability through good play to avoid some coolers and I feel this one was definitely avoidable.

Also, note to self: chip up more early to withstand the inevitable cooler or 2. Oh, and run good. :)


6 comments:

  1. Oh, and run good.

    Best advice of all!

    ReplyDelete
  2. "note to self: chip up more early"

    You have a system to do that? : o ) Pleeeeeeeease tell me.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yes, I do! See the second part; "oh and run good"...lol

    ReplyDelete
  4. To delve deeply into odds is an exciting adventure. At first glance odds may seem unenchanting, however its study is a necessity for any one wishing to intellectually advance beyond their childhood. Though odds is a favourite topic of discussion amongst monarchs, presidents and dictators, odds is not given the credit if deserves for inspiring many of the worlds famous painters.

    ReplyDelete
  5. That Q2 hand is ridiculous. Check out our article on poker blinds play

    ReplyDelete