I'm laying here writing this and actually beating myself up for the final table mistake I made today. And it wasnt a mistake I made playing poker.
At the first break of the tournament I was by far the chip leader at the deep stack tournament hosted by the South Point Casino. It seems like I am usually the chip leader very early almost every tournament, and then somehow at the end lose it. But anyway after the first break I played about 3 hands until the final table. It took a lot of discipline to just keep folding and folding and folding... folded for about 2 hours. When we were down 7 handed with two tables left I picked up a few hands and won a few small pots to put me at around 60,000 in chips with the blinds at 2k/4k. When we had finally lost enough players to get to the final table, the guy next to me yells "YES!" And stands up and starts asking people if they want to chop the prize pool.
I'm usually that guy at the final table that tells everyone No, I do not want to chop, and everyone hates me and tells me I will be the first one out because I'm the only one who won't chop, Blah blah blah I've heard it all. I never let it affect me and it never has. Today every single person at the final table wanted to chop.
In case you don't know what that means, it means to chop the prize pool by dividing by the number of players left, giving everyone an equal share of the money that would otherwise be paid out to the top 5 spots. in this case, the chop value was $495. 1st place was $1,960. Out of the 10 of us, I had about 65k in chips and there were a few other stacks of 80 and 90k. Majority of the players had 20-40k.
The dealer went individually around the table and asked everyone if they wanted a chop, because it has to be unanymous, and of course I was in seat 10, so I got asked last. Every single person said yes. This time I fell to the pressure and said ok.
You might be wondering why this is a mistake, $500 is good to me. But you have to see it from my perspective. This is what I love to do, how I am making my money. If I chop, what am I chopping for, so I can make it all the way to the final table again in another tournament to play for 1st place money? I'm playing these tournaments to score big in order to ride out the times where the cards are against me, like they recently were. By making it all the way to the final table, I took my session in which the cards were in my favor and threw it away, and didn't capitalize on it. I had an edge on this final table to play for 1st place. That's why it was a mistake.
I choose to look at it like as if I were to have shoved over the top of a preflop raise with AK and gotten called by AQ and they hit a queen, and I would have lost in 9th, and not even made that $500. I also view it as a learning experience. I will never ever ever do that again.
I also went early for this tournament in order to play a smaller, cheaper tournament. I like to offset long, deepstack tournaments that include a lot of patience, folding, and being bored with playing fast-paced, high variance cheap all in tournaments where I also have an edge. And this is the tournament where I witnessed what might have been the worst play I have seen to this day in live tournament poker.
The hand played like this. The blinds are at 100/200 and I am in the big blind with about 3200 in chips. Action folds around to the cutoff who limps for 200, button folds, SB completes, and I check with T 8 offsuit.
The flop comes 9 7 3, with two hearts. The SB checks, I lead out for 300, the cutoff guy folds, and I expected the SB to fold as well. But he didn't, he calls. Turn brings another 9, this time the 9 of hearts. Kind of an action card. He checks again, and this is the street where I will get all the information I need to know. I bet out 700, and he calls again.
At this point I had a tight image so I was only playing and showing good cards. I put this guy on either the same hand as me, or an 86, or some kind of strong 7 with a high heart going for a flush draw, or maybe even just a 3. The river brought a black 5, and he checked again. I know that this particular player always has lead out with his made hands, and usually just calls down with any draw and then gives up on the river if he misses. So I figured I would do that again. If he has a 7, he might not be comfortable with it as there are two nines and a flush out there (this is also assuming HE doesnt have a 9 or a heart, but I am 100% sure he does not). If he has a draw, hes folding, as the 5 doesnt change anything except bring a straight for 86, in which case he would bet out, but he didn't. So he has to have a pretty weak hand or a busted straight draw, like I have. So I go all in for my last 2200 and hope that it will get the job done.
He called rather quickly. I turned over my T8 in hopes that he would read it for something good and fold his better hand (hey, it has worked before). He asks the dealer what I have, and she says "ten high, sir." He then turns over his cards with the 85.
I couldn't believe it. Not only was he chasing a gutshot straight draw with a flush and paired board out there, he hit a 5 on the river and called my all in, someone who bet all 3 streets!
As of today, this goes down as the worst play I have ever seen in my poker career. Until I see something worse, this will hold the crown.
On the to the last topic: I wanted to discuss some ideas for playing some of the special events that are going on at some of the big casinos.
Caesar's has a WSOP circuit event going on right now. There are a lot of good tournaments with very high buy-ins going on. The Venetian also has a deepstack event going on as well. I still haven't decided what I am going to do about all this. I want to play in some of them, and even if I find that I am outmatched with these players, I will be learning a lot by seeing how they play.I have been looking at the super satellites that they will put on to get into the main events, and they are around $300 just to play in a high variance sng to try and get into the big one. That is why I needed to bank a big score this weekend or this week before the main events start. But I chopped it 10 ways like an idiot.
I was at Caesar's last night just to play in a high variance tournament and check out the scene. The players there seem pretty good and well established among everyone there. They were also doing some filming of a final table that has been going on for 10 hours. Seems legit, but its also a little scary. I dont know what I will end up doing this week besides concentrating on school M-Thurs.
Still looking for a way to get better without a hand history to study like I had when I played online.
Comments welcome.
-ATR
I
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