Event 32: $5000 6-max NLHE
Argh. I was looking forward to this event a lot, but it was pretty torturous. I did that thing where you flop nothing over and over and fold a lot and you feel like you suck at poker. On top of that, my table was excruciatingly slow for a 6-max table, especially for one mostly composed of young internet players. One guy was just constantly on my personal threshold of being put on the clock and would act just before it. Grr. Serendipitously, I was listening to the latest 2+2 Pokercast with Barry Greenstein while playing and he talked about how surprising it was that all these internet kids who are used to acting really quickly on the internet but somehow are absurdly slow in live poker. He mentions that it's like in golf when Jack Nichlaus would be extremely deliberate when putting and then people would watch him on TV, and soon every crappy amateur at his local club started taking forever and you create this disaster on golf courses around the world.
I really beat myself up over one hand today. 50-100. Folded to the button (the really slow guy). He is clearly an internet player who is inexperienced live because he seemed to play well but handled chips poorly and has a lot of live tells. He raises to 300, and I call from the BB with QdJs. Flop Qh9h4s. I check, he bets 300, I call. Turn is a 9s, check-900-call. Turn is a 9c and I just want to puke because now I know he is going to bet a lot. I check and he bets 3000. For the record, this is the correct bet no matter what you have. I am basically completely fucked in this situation. Bill thought this is a very close to 0 EV call but optimally you have to call at least some time. Gavin said he didn't know what he would do either. I felt the same but I was getting some very strong reads that this guy liked his hand. I should have folded, but I'm me, so I kissed my 3k goodbye and tossed it into the pot so he could show me 9d7h. Blah.
My bustout hand was kind of odd. 200-400/50, I have just 7000 left. UTG means to make it 1000 but tosses out a single chip and forgets to say raise, so it is ruled a limp. Which is unfortunate for me because I am on the button with TT and would really love to shove over the raise. But I shove anyway. Now the BB overshoves for slightly more! And the original limper/raiser calls! I figure I am completely fucked but somehow the BB turns over 88 and the limper/raiser turns over AQ! But there was no way I was going to fade that; four spades run out on board to ship the whole pot to AQ.
Tomorrow is the 10k heads-up NL, yay! It's been a great week for shorthanded poker but I'm hoping for a good performance in this thing because next week is mostly full of full-table lameness.
I really beat myself up over one hand today. 50-100. Folded to the button (the really slow guy). He is clearly an internet player who is inexperienced live because he seemed to play well but handled chips poorly and has a lot of live tells. He raises to 300, and I call from the BB with QdJs. Flop Qh9h4s. I check, he bets 300, I call. Turn is a 9s, check-900-call. Turn is a 9c and I just want to puke because now I know he is going to bet a lot. I check and he bets 3000. For the record, this is the correct bet no matter what you have. I am basically completely fucked in this situation. Bill thought this is a very close to 0 EV call but optimally you have to call at least some time. Gavin said he didn't know what he would do either. I felt the same but I was getting some very strong reads that this guy liked his hand. I should have folded, but I'm me, so I kissed my 3k goodbye and tossed it into the pot so he could show me 9d7h. Blah.
My bustout hand was kind of odd. 200-400/50, I have just 7000 left. UTG means to make it 1000 but tosses out a single chip and forgets to say raise, so it is ruled a limp. Which is unfortunate for me because I am on the button with TT and would really love to shove over the raise. But I shove anyway. Now the BB overshoves for slightly more! And the original limper/raiser calls! I figure I am completely fucked but somehow the BB turns over 88 and the limper/raiser turns over AQ! But there was no way I was going to fade that; four spades run out on board to ship the whole pot to AQ.
Tomorrow is the 10k heads-up NL, yay! It's been a great week for shorthanded poker but I'm hoping for a good performance in this thing because next week is mostly full of full-table lameness.