Operation: WIN a tournament game

Most of what I play is just a local satalite league. I just started playing in November and played maybe 8 games during the course of the rest of the season and ended up with 6300 in points (1 3rd place win, and maybe 4 final table finishes).

I played in the final tournament Saturday and went in fairly short stacked (the 6300 in points translated to the same in chips vs a chip leader of over 50k and average somewhere around 12k). I started off well doubling my chips in a hand where I had a set of Ks against a set of 10s. He thought he had it and pushed all in. I knew I had it and called him. He was one of the chip leaders so it didn't really hurt him, but it helped me. Unfortunately, right after that one great hand I got moved to a different table that housed one of our leagues biggest fishes. We call her Suck out Silvia. Once again I have trips and I'm betting big from pre-flop. She calls EVERYTHING. She also had a huge chip stack. I think the only way I might have bet her off is if I'd gone all-in (maybe). In the end, she rivered a straight!!!! This is what she is known for. That knocked me back down below where I started and I wasn't in much longer than that.

So the new season started on Sunday. There are two different places that we play at where the points count towards this particular league. C&S and MDs

I played at MDs Sunday afternoon with a 7th place finish. Played again Sunday night at C&S with a 3rd place finish. Monday night I played and didn't even make the final table. I was playing too tight and betting too low when I did bet, or not betting when I should have bet (and allowing someone to suck out on me).

I learn each time I play and my goal is before this season is over to have a 1st place finish as well as to enter the final tournament with an above average chipstack. Based on the current start, I should easily accomplish the latter. The former is a little tougher.

Sounds like you might know alittle about poker. I wish you luck in your first place finish. I enjoyed this blog,quick question, what is your style and how did you become comfortable with that style of play.

I don't really know what you would call my style. I'm fairly tight and I'm trying to get comfortable with being more aggressive. I wouldn't say I know much about poker, what I know I've learned just from paying attention while I'm playing.

The first game I played in person I didn't bet at all. The second time I went, one of the guys asked me "do you even know how to bet?" My answer was "no, not really". But after that it did encourage me to try. That was the first time I made a final table.

Played another MTT satalite last night (same group of people). Shortly before the final table I was the high stack (after putting out a drunk). Then when we tabled up things went south. I didn't realize one guy that was to my left was a total donkey... I didn't bet enough pre-flop with my A/K s... and he called me with Q high. Nothing hit the board and I didn't raise since I had no clue what he might have. After the river still no raise so he raised me and I folded to him figuring he might have hit one of the low pairs on hte board. Then he showed me... Q f-ing High.

In the end I made it to 4th place and of course we had a side pot that they split 3 ways right after I got put out.

I'm not unhappy I didn't win because I know exactly what I did wrong.
1. I didn't raise enough pre-flop. The blinds were up to 300/600 and I only raised ti to 1000. Then I didn't bet after the flop and let it just call around. I could have put him out of the pot either pre-flop or post-flop if I'd just bet or bet enough. It's my own fault.

The good news is I'm learning each time I play and I'm taking that and going with it. I did bet much better overall last night (which is how I got to be high stack to begin with). I just didn't raise my bets to match the blinds as the blinds went up so far. It's hard to mentally bet 4 times the blinds when 4 times the blinds is now 1/3 to 1/2 your chips.

My husband beat me to his first win of the season. He went without me Sunday night. They had a low turn out (only about 12 people) and he took first place.

Tonight we both went. I wasn't hitting much of anything and when we got down to 2 tables it seemed like the only time I hit anything was when I was in the big blinds and everyone else folded to me. I ended up going out in 5th place. The blinds had gone up to 400/800 and I was big blind. Including my big blind I had 1200, and A/J suited in my hand. Only one other player was in the hand and he'd just raised it to 1200. I went all in against pocket aces. No surprise on how that turned out.

I learned a lot from the beat that I took last Friday and I've been doing better about betting and being more aggressive overall, paying more attention to how my bets stack up to the overall pot and current blinds. But, I just feel like something is out of sync. I don't know if I'm just not hitting the cards or what.

I've played two more times this week and neither time have I done really well. Tuesday night we played with a new group of people and I think I was the second one out for the night (out of about 22). I wasn't really hitting any cards and the whole vibe of the place just wasn't working for me. The best I ever saw was top pair, and every time I saw that someone else had 2 pair.

Then last night started out ok. I was at a good table with a good vibe, mostly people I'd played with enough before to know what I was dealing with. I took a few decent pots early on, including one where I finally did to someone else what has happened to me SO MANY times - I had a flush... but the high card in my hand was a 9! There was also a 9 on the board, which gave me enough justification to call the other guys raise after the flop and see what happened with the flush. He raised like 5 times the blinds after the river. At that point I had the flush, but I figured he probably did too... the question was was his higher. There was a jack on the board (making my flush jack high). In the end, I called him and he thought he had it with 2 pair, even after I showed my cards. He completely missed the flush, even after I made the comment after he betted asking him "is your flush bigger than my flush?". Good Call! And it's nice to know I'm not the only one who occasionally completely misses a flush on the board.

In the end, I went out before the final table again.

Sunday night my husband is the bounty and I'm really hoping to knock him out and even better would be to win for the night. I just wish I could figure out what's been going on this week. Maybe it's just an off-week. I hope.

I'm feeling a little better about things. I started off well tonight, but then I got thrown the same way I've gotten thrown at least 3 games in a row over the last week or so.

Once again, I had two good overs (can't remember exactly what) pre-flop. I raised it strong (blinds were $5/$10 and I raised $100. One person stayed in and called me. It freaked me out and when I hit nothing on the flop, I just checked it through to the river, which of course is where he hit a straight. He told me outright if I'd bet it on the flop he would have folded. That's about the third time this has happened recently. I know what I'm doing wrong, but for some reason this one thing keeps throwing me. I have a really hard time betting when I basically have nothing but high card.

In the end tonight I took another 4th place finish. Husband took 3rd tonight.

Originally Posted by justaskjulie

In the end tonight I took another 4th place finish. Husband took 3rd tonight.

Hah. You'll get him next time!

Originally Posted by courtiebee

Originally Posted by justaskjulie

In the end tonight I took another 4th place finish. Husband took 3rd tonight.

Hah. You'll get him next time!

I keep hoping.

Tonight, I played a little looser and more aggressive. Not donkey by any means but more willing to play certain hands in cheap blinds and looking more at the odds and pot when asked to call a bet on a chase. It worked out pretty well.

Best hand of the night, though, I had pocket Aces in 25/50 blinds. I raised it to 200 flat. 1 Call. Then an all-in for an additional 750. I insti-called. He turned over Q/Q and I flipped over my aces. The first card out on the flop was another Ace. Idon't even know what else hit other than he hit nothing. This guy is one that is very arrogant about how great of a poker player he thinks he is. At one of the places we play we tends to win probably 1/3 times. So it was nice to put him out.

In the end, I lost most of that later on calling a bet on an inside straight. It was a case of there was too much already in the pot to not call it. But, I didn't hit and it hurt.

I did make the final table but quickly went out in 8th place. Hubby went out in 7th. UGH!!!!

I'm getting really tired of 4th place!

Once again last night that is where I finished. It seems to be where I get stuck. I went into the final 2 in 2nd place and yet somehow I let my chips go and got impatient. I know this is what happens, as the night goes on I just lose patience. I can do it online because I always have other things to occupy me, but playing live I don't have that so I get bored and start playing hands I should have folded.

Last night I put out two of our biggest donkeys in the first 45 minutes (one of which was the reason I only finished 4th 2 weeks ago when I went into the final table with a HUGE cheap lead), and I put out a third guy a little later. I know I was playing well.... right up to the final table.

My hubby rarely ever makes it beyond 7th or 8th (if he makes the final table) but because he actually took 1st place one night he has me beat by about 2000 points. Last night he went out 8th but because he put the bounty out he only got 200 less points than I did.

Finally saw some improvement tonight. We had four full tables (about 24 people) in the game tonight. It started off VERY rocky for me. I was at a table with mostly knowns but there was one guy who had majorly donkey'ed on me the night before and I really didn't want to deal with him again. So I guess you could say I was on tilt a bit from the beginning.

I also wasn't seeing much in the way of cards, even to the point that one of the guys at the table (one of the best in our league) made a comment a few times about how few cards I was playing. I tried to play some mid range hands a couple of times but got raised out of the pot... but mostly I was seeing 8/2 and the like.

At one point I made a huge mistake and thought I had cards of one suit in my hand that after I raised and re-raised turned out to be not only the suit I thought theywere, but not even the same color! That hurt a lot.

Somehow I kept coming back. I'd get short stacked and finally see 2 overs and go all in, get called and hit something (or they wouldn't hit) and double up. I really wasn't thinking I'd make the final 2 tables let alone the final table, but somehow I did. From there things just got better.

I had built up a nice little pot by smooth calling the nuts on one hand and taking another. And then finally I was in against a guy that is known to play pretty loose. I had K/10 and the board was 10 / 9/ 2. I raised. He re-raised. I went all-in. I knew the best he could have was the 10... and my only worry was a bigger kicker. But, he flipped over a 9 instead and I took the pot. At that point we were already down to just 4 people left and it wasn't long after that I put out the third. The stack I took from him put me well set to play her (she had been the chip leader for quite a while). In the end she took me. I made a bad call on a flush draw (and she'd already hit it).

So 2nd Place! One step closer to finally winning one.