Hold 'em Blues

if there is one thing that i know about myself, it is that sometimes i do not see what i should see when it is right in front of me. in fact, it seems to happen a bit more often than i would like to admit. this evening, i played in a free poker tourney for a trip to Aruba. it is one thing to get beaten on a legitimate hand, it is another to make a stupid mistake that costs you the tourney. i tend to play conservatively and look for big hands to increase my chip lead.

to prepare for the tourney, i ordered a pizza and a pepsi, and earlier in the week, went a picked up a copy of Dan Harrington's book "Harrington on Hold 'em: Expert Strategy for No-Limit Tournaments: Volume 1: Strategic Play" that can be found at any large chain bookstore. so far, it is a good book with plenty of info that will take a while to digest.

so, i guess this is going to turn into a running diary of the evening. i started in mid-late position with $2500 in chips. i also don't usually record each hand as it plays, but since this is as close to a real tourney i have ever been in, i figured it might be a good learning experience.

Hand 2: i folded A-8 of clubs, the felt turned 6 10 8 2 Q, and a pair of sixes won the hand.
Hand 4: i called A-J of clubs, the flop turned 4 K J, but i folded on the turn after a big bet (he probably paired his K on the flop).
Hand 8: i called with a K-9, after a 10 6 7 flop, i folded, turn and river came 9 and 8. probably would have split the pot.
Hand 10: i called with pocket 5's in late position, and after a 4 hit on the turn, i made a pot bet and my opponents folded after everyone checked the flop (7 J A). i am raking in my first pot.
Hand 12: in mid- late position, i folded K-7, the flop turned 2 7 7 (a big opportunity missed, would have won the hand).
Hand 13: i folded 5-8, the felt showed 9 7 6 2 7.
Hand 20: in middle position, i folded a Q-9, the felt showed J 6 7 K 10 (who would have thought?)
Hand 21: i folded a 9-10, the felt showed 8 5 10 J 10 (would have won the hand)
Hand 27: i check an A-Q of diamonds in the big blind, the flop hits two diamonds for the possible nut flush draw, i fold after an all in bet.
* i fold the next 10 hands
Hand 38: pocket 5's once again and i fold them in late position to a raise, the felt ends up showing 8 9 5 5 6, i am not happy right now.
Hand 47: i look at a 4 and an A spades, the flop comes 8 J 5 spades, once again i am on a nut flush draw, i bet the pot and take the hand.
Hand 49: i fold a K-8, the felt shows Q J A 6 10, another probable split or winner.
Hand 56: in the last hand before the first break, i fold a K-3 of hearts in early position, the felt shows K 8h Ah 9h 6, the nut flush draw again.

after the first hour, we are now down to 1,103 participants out of 2,040.
i started with $2,500 and i am now at $2,305; table 105.

i feel like i have played my usual conservative game thus far, and while i am behind the chip leader by $13K, this is the usual for me. i am pretty happy other than folding those fives, and early on in the first hour it isn't unusual for me to only take a couple of pots. i could have had more chips at the end of the first hour if i had been a tad more aggressive on a few hands. overall the table is playing tighter than normal (i guess a trip for two to Aruba will do that).

Hand 57: the dealer gives me K-K in one of the blinds, the felt shows 5 Q 6 6 A, and i win a substantial pot with the two pair (a nice way to start the second hour of play).
Hand 60: i fold an A-4 in late position the felt shows A 7 5 10 4, would have won the hand.
Hand 63: i raise in middle position with Q-Q, the flop shows 8 K 7, i bet half the pot to see where i am in the hand since the K is showing and i get called, not a good sign. the turn is a 10, i bet the same amount, and my opponent raises me BIG, i fold.
* i fold the next 12 hands
Hand 76: i fold 4-A in early position, the felt shows 10 6 A 5 8, would have taken the hand with the aces.
Hand 79: i am dealt 6-6, the flop shows 3 6 5, i bet half the pot and take the hand.
Hand 86: in the big blind i fold 4-3 after a substantial raise and the felt shows A 3 6 4 8, would have won the hand.
Hand 87: i call in the small blind with 9-K, the flop shows 4 8 9 (top pair!), i wager half the pot and take the hand.
Hand 91: i fold 4-2 in middle position, the felt shows 5 5 4 5 10. if i would have played this hand, i might have busted out...the winner of the hand had pocket 10's for the higher full house.
* at this point, my table is broken up, and i move to table 6.
* i fold the first three hands at my new table.
Hand 95: i check in the big blind with a 5-10, the flop turns 3 10d 8d, i bet half the pot to find out where i am, my opponent just calls. the turn is a Kd, and again i wager half the pot, my opponent bets enough to put me all in. i call. i am busted when he turns over his diamond flush draw. my dream of basking for a week in Aruba has come to an end in 692nd place.

now, i realize that you are asking the same question that i am right now: Bryan, you were playing well, what happened? in an examination of the hand, when the flop hit with the top pair, the diamonds didn't bother me, but my opponent only called my bet, he didn't raise to the potential flush draw. if he had raised me, i probably would have put him on a flush draw and folded because that is the conservative player in me. also, i would have lost a minimum amount of chips on the probe bet. when the third diamond hit on the turn, i should have checked for fear of the flush draw, but my eyes looked past the diamonds on the felt, and i made another half pot bet. he raised enough to put me all in, and i realized that i had made a big mistake. i knew at that point (albeit too late) that my 10's were garbage, and while i could have tried to rebuild my stack, i only had around 1K left with the blinds at $100 and soon to be $150, so i called all in. the other reason that i called was because the pot odds were 2.5-3:1 favorable if he happened to be bluffing, and i would have been in the $5-6K range with a win.

since most any situation in life can be used as a learning experience, this has provided the reinforcing thought that focus is important concerning anything that we are trying to accomplish in life. with that in mind, i am reminded of a short conversation between Linus (Matt Damon) and Danny (George Clooney) in Ocean's Eleven when they are trying to blow the vault door after Basher (Don Cheadle) uses the EMP:

[Yen's cast is caught in vault door, Unaware that Yen is trapped, Danny and Linus try to blow the door but the bomb doesnt go off]
Danny: Did you check the batteries?
Linus: You know, you lose focus in this game for one second...
Danny: I know, somebody gets hurt. You don't hear Yen complaining. [they replace the batteries and the door explodes]

in any world, your focus determines your reality.