Saturday with Dr. Pauly

Well, if you are going to do well in tournaments you just have to get lucky every once in a while.

This kind of luck though is ridiculous.

G-Rob got moved to my right with a good sized stack. I was the chip leader at the table but not a big one. In the small blind(300/600 w/ 50 antes), G-Rob raised to 1800. No one had limped so I figured him for a steal. He has seen me play as much as any of the bloggers and knows I have a tendency towards tightness. (Who am I kidding. I’m squeezing out diamonds here) I called (Kc4c) with the intention of raising on the flop as I figured he would make a continuation bet. He obliged by betting 3000 into a 3950 pot on a Qc 6d 5s flop. I made a quick 4200 raise which was 2075 less than his stack. I knew if he called, he was all-in, but I was hoping that the less than all-in push by me would make him think I wanted the call and he would fold. In all honesty, I thought he had diddly and would not make the call. Hell, I thought there was a good chance I was ahead as he has exhibited little fear in the past about making strong moves with weak hands. When he pushed all in for his last 2075 I was getting over 5:1 on my call. I thought I was beat but I could not be sure (see above about G-Rob). If I was behind, I had backdoor straight and flush draws and an over card to the Q in my naked K high. All of this added up to a call. Well, he had Q7 but I sucked out on the river ( I actually had 11 outs as a second club came on the turn) when a K hit and I knocked out G-Rob.

My play was based on my perception of him and what I thought his perception was of me and it turned out to be completely wrong. If he lays down his top pair to my bet, I am a genius. He calls, I suck out and am a lucky idiot. The beauty of poker is that it is a game of constant strategy and decision making. A cruelty of tournament poker is that one wrong decision can send you home. The primary cruelty, though, is that one can make the right decision, get their money into the pot, and get dinged by a monkey. Sorry about that G-Rob. “Oooga, oooga.”