Help me please

vegasjj · Help me please

I must be doing something totally wrong - has to be in the mental attitude - or somewhere

Please look at this sequence of events - and please advise - I feel terrible right now - and at least I would like to learn from this.

In a $2 satellite I won ticket (worth $33 to 10K grtee bounty game. I did not rebuy - just did the add-on, so the cost was $4.20 and I was extremely happy as I normally don't play in expensive tournaments.
So I had made the original decision to play very conservative expecially early in the game.

Then this is what happened. In the 8th hand that was dealt - I'm fist time BB in the game I get AK. I made a raise to pot - 3 people in with me. Flop is bad, so I check to stay conservative and to see (in retrospect - that was a mistake i see it) with an other 2 showing on Turn - I think I did check correctly this time - and then folded to a bet.

OK so that was hand 8 - some more insignificant ones - then I get in dealt hand #11 KK. One mini raise before me - I am scared I really want to be in this game - it is so early... I just call it - let's see if there is a A in the flop. Sure thing an A shows up .. on a small bet I fold my beautiful KK

OK so that was hand #11 - now comes hand #12 - the very next hand - and geee I get a QQ. Holly cow what is this.. I cannot throw away all these good cards - just cannot do it. So i rasie to pot - get a re-raise - and I go all in - and I am called. Suited AK shows - I feel OK - until the flop hits - delivering a flush to my opponent.

I hope that some of you can find a million things wrong with this whole story and will in a fact take the time to tell me about it. I really would appreciate it.

MAD _ BITTER _ ANGRY_ FRUSTRATED
Judith

DangerMouse

Ok, 1st hand.

Most of the time I`m dealt AK in either the sb or bb and it`s early in a tournament I`m just flat calling or checking. I don`t like to raise because I`m going to be out of position against any callers and as I`ve raised pre-flop I`m expected to bet out on the flop. If I don`t bet then someone in later position is probably going to bet into me and then I`m forced into either chasing and hoping to hit an overcard or trying a check-raise bluff, or folding.

If I smoothcall and flop either an ace or king I`m in great position to take down a big pot if someone has limped in with a weak ace. There`s really no way anyone can put me on a hand as big as I have. If I miss I haven`t really lost anything.

2nd Hand.

I`d probably have made it about 150 to see the flop. Just calling makes it a great value pot for both the blinds to come along and I really want to be playing HU. If you`re re-raised you really have to call as you have the 2nd best starting hand. If the original raiser just calls then you can see the flop and it`s still easy enough to get away from if the ace lands and he bets out (although I might be tempted to play back at the player depending how much he bets or call and see what he does on the turn.In this case I would definitely have called and seen the turn. If he checks I`d probably try and take the pot there. If he calls my bet it`s unlikely he`ll lead out on the river unless he has a very strong hand and then I can just check and see if my kings are good)

3rd hand.

I think I would have just called the re-raise. It`s come from the sb so until I see evidence to prove otherwise I`m going to presume he has a strong hand. I`d rather see the flop and plan my next action according to the board and his action. It`s possible you might have gone bust on this one anyway as you had overcards but when the board is single suited I think you can get away from it.

I think you`ve highlighted one of your problems yourself.

" - I am scared I really want to be in this game - it is so early..."

Playing scared is never a good thing. Unfortunately overcoming that fear isn`t always easy when you`re in a game that means a lot to you or is higher staked than you`re used to. I`ve been there myself and I still feel the same way sometimes.

There are a couple of mental tricks you can try to overcome it.

Firstly you can say to yourself "I sattelitted into this game. It isn`t an
x$ buy-in I only payed $4 or whatever it happened to cost you. As long as the sat value is around what you`d normally pay for a regular tourney then you`re not actually risking any more than you`re used to. You just have to keep that in mind.

The second trick is when you get your hand, take your time and think about what you should do. If you know you should raise (and you would raise in a normal game in this situation) then say to yourself (either mentally or vocally) I should raise here and then make your raise.

Hopefully all will go well and you`ll win the hand but even if you don`t win it just say to yourself "I know I was right to raise there. I didn`t do anything wrong the cards just didn`t run my way"

If you do win a couple of those hands hopefully you`ll start to feel more confident and you`ll relax into playing closer to your normal game.

Finally remember that no matter what level of poker you`re playing. No matter how good your opponents are. They still only get 2 cards, just the same as you.

Hope some of that makes sense and is helpful to you.

PoolDemon

Some great advice from the mouse there JJ...

That first hand, as I would be first to act, would be to bet 300, if they call or RR, that's it for me in the hand, unless the turn or river helps...

the 2nd hand, no way am I only calling a min raise there, pop it up to 200 or 300 & show him you got a hand, & if needed, yeah I'd go all in, only AA has you here, obviously the flop wasn't good, but only if he indeed had an ace, he could have QQ on down, I see lots of players make small bets with a weak ace, but they also do it with any pocket pair too...

the 3rd hand, with a big RR like that to your only 70 bet, yeah I could easily put them on AA, KK, or AK, so with a decent but weaker PP, calling here is good, & unless flopping a set, get ready to bail, he would have flopped the nuts, not that you would know it without AI PF, but a low suited flop like that is not the one you want to push with even if checked to...

I usually don't want to get into a coin toss early on, unless I have aces or kings, even AK suited, anything else, I play it hard, but don't get all in, unless you have a history with the player & can put them on playing weaker hands regularly...

My only trophy for a season win here, there where a few that could have won also on the last game, if I played scared hoping to hold on for the win, I would have not won. I decided to play that day as aggresive as I normally do, played every top 10 hand hard, and ended up outlasting my runners up (might have even won the tourny, can't remember) but the point is, I played as I usually do, without worrying about the outcome, only that I wanted to play well, and I did, and if I lost out on the trophy, it was only because of (bad) luck, & not bad play.

katymaty

Whether you buyin direct or satellite in on the cheap to a big game you should play your normal game.

When you start worrying about the amount it costs to play it will affect all your decisions mostly making bad ones as its scared money.

When you have good hands especially on loose tables make them pay to see the cards. Its always good to play conservatively at the start because you only pick up small pots which dont add up to much but when you have premium hands you have to raise.

1st Hand you raise 6 x which is good. As you said flop is bad for AK but doesnt look good for anyone else either. Would have maybe bet 150 to see
if any callers if anyone reraises easy fold.

2nd hand - As strong as KK is I would say its a terrible call for a minimum raise. As its only cheap both the blinds will call and unless you flop the set you wont know how strong you are especially against the blinds.

Even if the flop was something like 2 5 7 rainbow one of the blinds could have 2 pairs or good draws. If the blinds were alot bigger then maybe you could warrant a call as they would be a bigger percentage of your stack but as they are only a small percentage you might find it difficult to get away from if the flop looks good for you.

I would raise at least 160-200, better to win a small pot than lose a big one.

As you called and flop wasnt good for KK they only bet a small amount. YOu cant automatically asssume they have an Ace. They could have underpair as well or KQ KJ suited etc. I probably would have reraised to 160 to see where I stand, If they then reraise alot probably safe to fold.

3rd hand. Once you raised and they reraised you as you still had plenty of chips left in relation to the blinds (over 100) I would have just called and seen the flop. You have position and a strong hand.

Maybe your decision was based on the earlier hands.

All 3 hands were difficult to play and alot depends on what the players have done on previous hands. Dont punish yourself, I think the only mistake you made was the KK hand.

Too many players do the min reraise now. When it first started it usually meant a strong hand but now I would say the majority of the time its someone trying to look strong to either take the pot or get in cheap to see a flop with a good drawing hand.

harry_lime

RenoPoker

Such great comments and great insight into smart poker. Thanks all!

I too often play "afraid" and too often pay the cost. As in yesterday's 2K at merge where I just doubled the bet preflop with JJ and let 8 10 get two pair on the flop of 2 8 10. He just sucked me in where I had to call the last bet and went out early from weak play.

vegasjj

You guys are just so amazing!

I cannot thank you enough for taking the time and getting really right into it to look review discuss!

I cannot single out anyone of the responses - in general - I hear a lot of similar advice. For the most part I know it too.

The real big issue is as YOU ALL did point out and I totally know - that i was playing strictly with fear and emotion - and did not play my hands.

Just to explain the "fear" it was not really the cost of the tournament satelited in or not - I think once the fee is paid - that money is gone. I no longer think of that money. It is the opportunity - that I want - that I was just so determined to use well. I just did not want to screw-up the opportunity. To be honest if I was to lose late in the game - that I would be well prepared to handle, it would hurt of course - but I wanted that feel of "I played a good game" at higher stakes - and maybe get rewarded. Don't know if it all makes makes sense. The big failiure is that i did not even get to play - and it is clearly my fault.
And yes the third hand was tilt - cause - I knew I played bad before.

In a small $1-$3 game - early - I play a good hand - no problem - and of course mostly that gets rewarded - and if I lose - oh well no big deal. I go to play an other $1-$3 game. At "valuable" game I freeze.
There is some good advice you guys gave me - on how to try to overcome that. I was thinking maybe i should sit-out the first say 20 minutes... how does that sound? Just until I have a better handle on it.

Or maybe I simply should stay away from games that - to start with - mean "too much" to me. I am comfortable in games up to $6 buy-in the occasional $10. Maybe I have to "grow" into it...

Again I want to thank you all who took the time to give me such good in depth answers. Lov ya all

Cheers

Judith

Know-nuffin

SoSoft

Lots of great advice and comments here. I appreciated reading them all myself.

Not that applies here, but in freerolls I will often wait for the crazy donks to knock themselves out before getting too serious about my hands. I guess you could call it sitting out for the first 20 minutes.

katymaty

vegasjj

I want to report back that all the good advice was not a total waist on me.

I managed again to get a ticket through the satellite.

This time I was for sure not out in a hurry - I did manage to stay calm - and I played a good game.

I got three bounties $10 worth each - and finished - almost in the money.. was a bad beat - nothing I did wrong.

So thank you all -

Judith

PoolDemon

well done JJ !! UL with the bad beat @ the end...so your taking us all out for supper right

MrBadBeat

I just caught up with this thread. Some really good advice here. I think I'll print it off and stick it on the wall next to my computer.

vegasjj