What a strange play…
By Generally speaking, I am a far superior live game limit player than I am a no-limit tournament player. I did, however, decide to try my hand at one of the Fall Poker Classic lead-up events, a $200 buy-in no-limit hold’em affair.
Each player started with 10,000 in chips, and the first few rounds came and went with very little eventfulness. At 50-100, one player limps, and the player to my right raises to 350. At this point I had about 11,000 in chips, and look down at A-Q off. Knowing little about my opponent, and being somewhat suspicious of the limper, I decide simply to call. The player to my left also calls. As does the big blind, as does the limper, and we take the flop off 5-handed, with 1,800 already in the pot.
The flop comes down A-K-K, with two diamonds. The big blind checks. The limper checks. The pre-flop raiser also checks. I thought this odd, and decided to check as well. The player to my left made sure the action checked around, and we went to the turn for free.
The turn was a total blank, the 3 of clubs. The action once again checks around to me. I think for a moment, analyzing the action. I figure both the big blind and the limper for nothing. The pre-flop raiser concerns me slightly. The flop check may have meant A-K, but the turn check doesn’t add up. Of course, this player looks to be a novice, and could be falling in love with his own deception. Furthermore, there is a player left to act behind me. I decide once again to check. The player to my left bets 500, and action folds around to the pre-flop raiser who calls.
I truly had to consider my options now. The bet was very small in relation to the size of the pot, and, knowing the player to my left the way I do, he is absolutely capable of betting with position in an attempt to steal a pot, even if it was 5-handed. The pre-flop raiser’s call could mean a number of things. Although the possibility of him having a huge hand still lingered in my head, I figured he may have check-raised in this spot if that were the case. I thought it was altogether likely that the pre-flop raiser had a hand like A-10, A-J, or maybe even A-Q. He could be as soft as 9-9, calling with the hopes that the player who bet 500 was simply on a steal. I called.
The river brought another blank, the 2 of hearts. The pre-flop raiser checked, as did I. The player to my left now bets 900. The pot, before this wager, was at 3,300. And, with the action back to the pre-flop raiser to my right, he tanks for about 30 seconds, and begrudgingly calls. I was really quite confused, but actually thought there was at least a 50-50 chance of my hand being good, and given that my pot odds cost me 900 to call a pot of 5,100, I simply had to call.
The player to my left said, “Dammit, you guys win, I had a flush draw,” and mucks. I thought, “Yes, my hand must be good!” Just as I say this, and table my A-Q, the pre-flop raiser flips up his K-6 of clubs, for trip Kings.
What?!?
I replayed the action in my mind, and simply could not see how I could’ve put him on this hand. He raises before the flop, an amount from middle position (with a limper already in the pot) that was almost certainly going to be called. He then manages to flop golden, hitting trip Kings against his 4 opponents. Then he runs and hides behind a rock!! What are you doing?!? You’re playing a prime brand of what I’d like to call anti-poker: playing aggressively when you have shit, and playing soft, missing value bets when you’re strong. (Ah-hem, Jamie Gold…)
He showed no aggression post-flop, and had no reason to suspect he was beaten. Granted, in a field so large, he could have been beaten by a bigger King, but grow up and play your hand like a man.
So, I was really quite frustrated and quiet for the next several moments, contemplating where I went wrong, as the player to my left broke the silence. ”Did you have a flush draw too?” Oh my god, sir. You’ve got a good read on me; yes, I called the river without a pair, hoping my four diamonds would be good enough to take down the pot…
Who are these people?!? The better question then becomes, Why did I do so poorly in this tournament?!? Haha, dammit…
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