How to jinx the chip lead
Tonight’s Mookie tourney was a heartbreaker. After a weak start in which the relentless chatter of bloggers seduced me into playing too many hands, I tightened up and worked my way up to chipleader. I said to myself, “Hmm, better take a picture of this one while it lasts.” Et voila:
Moments later, the horror began:
PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t200 (7 handed)
CO (t4585)
Button (t3200)
SB (t7153)
BB (t4860)
Sowbug (t6426)
MP1 (t4470)
MP2 (t2806)
Preflop: Sowbug is UTG with Js, Qc.
Sowbug calls t200, 1 fold, MP2 calls t200, 3 folds, BB checks.
Flop: (t700) Ts, 9c, Jh (3 players)
BB checks, Sowbug bets t750.
So far, so good. I have top pair, reasonable kicker. I bet the pot to keep pot odds poor for anyone on a draw. And I have an excellent bluffing hand because nearly any card that completes someone else’s straight also completes my straight.
MP2 calls t750, BB folds.
Hmm, so MP2 either is on a draw but can’t compute pot odds, or also has a pair. Let’s call it AJ (though wouldn’t he have raised preflop with that? Maybe not in middle position, but most likely he would. And wouldn’t he have come over the top on the flop?), or maybe 67 or even 78.
Turn: (t2200) 8h (2 players)
OK, I have my straight. If he was on a draw, he probably does, too, and I beat him. If he did have TPTK, I beat him. Let’s put him to a decision.
Sowbug bets t1856, MP2 calls t1856 (All-In).
River: (t5912) 3h (2 players, 1 all-in)
Final Pot: t5912
Results below:
Sowbug has Js Qc (straight, queen high).
MP2 has Kc Qh (straight, king high).
Outcome: MP2 wins t5912.
Ouch! Turns out he’d flopped the nut straight and my best hope all along was a chop. Even if I had somehow figured out he was holding KQ on the turn, I’d have been shoved into a Dan Harrington back-alley mugging with my betting earlier on. This hand dropped me to middle of the pack, but I was far from crippled. Still, it’s no-limit hold ‘em, so you don’t need to be crippled to be knocked out on a single hand:
PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t200 (7 handed)
UTG (t4585)
MP1 (t3700)
MP2 (t7053)
CO (t4560)
Sowbug (t3320)
SB (t4070)
BB (t6212)
Preflop: Sowbug is Button with 5c, Ah.
1 fold, MP1 calls t200, 2 folds, Sowbug calls t200, 1 fold, BB checks.
Flop: (t700) 6c, 7h, Ad (3 players)
BB checks, MP1 bets t200, Sowbug calls t200, BB folds.
Turn: (t1100) 5h (2 players)
MP1 bets t3300 (All-In), Sowbug calls t2920 (All-In).
River: (t7320) 2s (2 players, 2 all-in)
Final Pot: t7320
Results below:
MP1 has 6s 6d (three of a kind, sixes).
Sowbug has 5c Ah (two pair, aces and fives).
Outcome: MP1 wins t7320.
… and I’m out. No comment on his hand, other than that it was nearly the same hand I used to knock out the esteemed SirFWALGMan earlier on in the tourney:
PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t50 (8 handed)
CO (t1413)
Button (t900)
SB (t1075)
Sowbug (t1705)
UTG (t1250)
UTG+1 (t605)
MP1 (t1932)
MP2 (t1645)
Preflop: Sowbug is BB with 5c, Ah.
4 folds, CO raises to t150, 2 folds, Sowbug calls t100.
Flop: (t325) 3c, Ad, 2h (2 players)
Sowbug checks, CO bets t250, Sowbug calls t250.
Turn: (t825) 5d (2 players)
Sowbug checks, CO bets t600, Sowbug raises to t1305, CO calls t413 (All-In).
River: (t3143) 3h (2 players, 1 all-in)
Final Pot: t3143
Results below:
Sowbug has 5c Ah (two pair, aces and fives).
CO has As 6h (two pair, aces and threes).
Outcome: Sowbug wins t3143.
… only this one went so, so differently, and in the winning version at least my excuse for playing A5o at all was that I was in the big blind heads-up against an aggressive player against whom I thought, correctly, I could get action if the stars aligned.
Moral of the story? Don’t take screenshots until you’re finished. :)
Congrats to jjok and surflexus who were heads-up last time I checked!