Live Tournament 8/10/11

  Thirty-eight people had signed up ahead of time, don't know exact count of final number. We had 4 or 5 tables.

  On a non-poker note, I need to get there much earlier if I want to have time to eat a burger! I was earlier than usual and sat with folks from Mark B's old poker group. The waitress took awhile to show up and by the time my burger made it, it was just about time to sit at the tables and play, so I was only able to eat about half of it. Shame, and was good too.

  I had a pretty good night, busted out later than I have in the past, and am only unhappy with my play on the last hand. I did a LOT of FOLDING early on and was beginning to wonder if I'd ever get any decent cards to play as my chip count kept decreasing. I did get AQo once but the flop didn't help so I had to fold to other bets. I had a couple of small pocket pairs that I'd have liked to play but was bet out them before the flop. One middle size pair that I did get to play missed the flop with overcards, so folding to bets again.

  After the 1st break, I finally hit some decent playing cards and was on a win streak for several hands in a row and finally had a decent chip stack again by the time of the 2nd break. After the 2nd break blinds started increasing every 10 minutes and by the time of my last hand we were at 500/1000. I had around 10,000+ chips at that point.

  Last hand. I was cut-off with AsJs. A couple players had limped in and I did the same, the BT and SB came in and the BB checked. The flop was all red cards A T X. I didn't hit or have the makings for a nut flush I'd hoped for, but did have top pair with a decent/fair kicker. It checked to me and I bet 3000. The BT raised to 10,000 which when I called put me all-in. BT had A T, so he had top two pair. The Turn added a possible straight draw for me, but the River was a blank and I was done for the night.

  As I said, except for how I played that hand I was pleased with my play. One thing that comes to mind is how I have difficulty with live play. I went into the flop with the intent of hitting a nut flush or good nut flush draw for the Turn and River. I missed the flush possibilities. I didn't really have a plan for what my actions should be once that happened. The other part of live play I have trouble with is knowing what the the pot size is, so when I made a bet post flop, I think I made it too small to get other players to fold if they didn't have anything decent. As was, I doubt the "A T" would have folded even if I went all-in.

  Which brings me to how I responded to the 7000 raise to my 3000 bet. One thing I've been doing better at online is remembering that it's always better to be the one to shove than the one calling the shove. Same applies to a large raise to my raise. I need to stop and think about why that player really did that (this was a new player at the table and the 1st hand he was in, so I had no idea about how he plays). Would he try to bluff me? I don't know enough about him to judge that. Would he make such a large raise if he didn't have more of the flop than I did? I doubted he had AK but might have AQ, but if he only had AQ would he raise my bet by that much? The reasonable decision, for me, at this point, would be to fold and lick my wounds, as there is a pretty good chance I'm already beat and would need to suck out on the Turn or River to win.

  Per poker stove, if he had the top two pair I was an 85/15 underdog, and if he had top and bottom pair I was still a 73/27 underdog. Odds were not in my favor. But live I have trouble thinking that all through.

  The only other option that I feel might have worked for my AJs was if I RR All-In Pre-F. The ATo likely would have folded. My stack still had some fold equity there.

  Nice to see I did better then the past couple of months and looking forward to better play as I continue showing up and expect to make the money one of these times.