Thanks to my Verizon AirCard I’ve been playing tourneys online while traveling back and forth to Louisiana.  I find it a great way to pass the time.  I also feel I play really well in the car because with lack of any distractions I am incredibly focused on the play at the table.   I play very low limit tourneys incase we loose signal which can happen in the back roads of Texas and Louisiana.

We were traveling to North Louisiana on Friday.  I played a $2 1R1A tourney.  It was a fairly soft group and I chipped up early.  I was sitting at 20K when I suddenly lost signal.  Sigh.  We were in no man’s land so I figured I wouldn’t pick it up for about 20 minutes.  I was right.  I picked the signal up right where I expected.  I had blinded down to about 15K chips but was still in good shape.  The problem though was in the meantime I had lost my focus.  I had gotten out of the rhythm of the game.

I limped in a blind vs blind hand with KJo.  I should have raised preflop but I was playing on auto-pilot.   The flop came Jxx.  No straight draws; No flush draws.  I bet out.  The BB goes all in.   He had me covered.   I was so confused by his play I didn’t know what to do.  I tanked big time.  I couldn’t put him on AJ or a PP because he didn’t raised me preflop.   Being in the BB there was a chance he hit two pair but his all in move was such an overbet.   His move just didn’t compute.  They say if the play dosen’t make sense it is probably a bluff.  I tanked so long my cards auto folded. 

Having lost my focus I couldn’t properly analyze the hand.  I really believe it was a bad steal attempt and I should have called.   I was really busy kicking myself when I got 10 10 on the button.  I raised 3 times the bb .  The bb called.  The flop came Kxx.  BB checked.  I bet.  The BB thought about it a long time and went all in.  I totally tilted and called.  Limper had a weak King and I was out 5 from the money.

From Hero to Zero in two hands.  I attribute it all to losing my focus during the intenet black out I experienced.  My mind went on to other things and I didn’t get back in focus when the connection returned. 

Today’s lesson is……………   Poor Focus = Bad Play = Tilt = Busto!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have avoided the $24 tourneys on FT for a number of reasons.  1st is the size.  These tourneys usually have around 1200 players.  I prefer smaller tourneys.  I like to play tourneys that mirror live tourneys I play and I seldom play live tourneys with more than 300 players.  Unfortunately there aren’t any smaller $24 tourneys on FT.  I also have a problem of the length of a large tourney like that.  I have to go to work in the morning and if you make it deep in a large tourney you can be up until 2:00 am.   When I play late into the night like that I am too pumped to go to sleep.  I am a zombie and miserable the next day.  I have learned to stay away from tourneys that will keep me up too late.

I’ve been having  good results lately but am getting tired of playing so many donkeys in the lower buy in tourneys.  I know that as you increase the buy in amount of the tourneys you play you are playing against better players.  I’ve also learned how I need to feel physically before I sit down and invest some of my bankroll in a tourney.  I have to feel good.  Sharp.  Ready to play.  I am playing too much because I am bored.  When I’m feeling like that I don’t focus and usually end up busting out over some stupid hand.

I’ve been really studying Andy Bloch’s chapter on Pre-Flop play in the Full Tilt Strategy Guide.  This chapter is full of numbers and charts.  The kind that usually make my eyes glaze over.  I know however that this is the info I need to learn so I have been reading it over and over.  It is finally sinking in.  I tend to play too tight when faced with a raise and this chapter really has helped me see my hands in a new light. 

Last night we got home from work early enough to play the $24 tourney on FT.  I think it is the $25k guaranteed.  I had planned to go get a pedicure but I was feeling good.  Really alert and ready to play so I decided to forgo the pedicure for a shot at the tourney.

My first table was perfect with one exception.   The table was very conservative except the player directly to my left.  UGH.  What a maniac.  He was in almost every pot and frequently reraising people.  When he did show down a hand it was very random.  He doubled up quickly.  He Lost a few chips then increased his stack again.  I think he watched Lex on the WSOP on Tuesday night and saw what I did.  Lex was playing extremely aggressive poker betting on the fact that people don’t want to commit too much of their stack early in the tourney.  Lex was running over the table.  This guy behind me was playing the same way.  I had a couple nice hands early on.  AKo in the cutoff and a pp in late position.  I raised and he called.  Both times he bet large into me.  I had missed the flop and had to fold.  My chip stack fell from 3000 to 2000 in no time.  It was frustrating.

I had one chance at the maniac that missed.  I had A3o in late position and it was folded to me.  I let it go, sadly.  In the end I would have rivered a straight to his trip 10’s which he had slow played.  I would have doubled up on him and crippled him in the process. 

This maniac wasn’t as good as Lex.  He just kept it coming too fast and eventually ran into the nuts and busted out.  I’m sure I wasn’t the only one breathing a sigh of relief as his avatar went dark.  My cards started improving and I started hitting some hands.  My stack started growing.  I hit some really nice hands.  I got all in AA over KK.  My AA held up.  In another hand I had AA utg.  I raised and it folded to the bb who went all in.  Oh Yeah.  I won the hand almost doubled again.

I was calling more hands in the bb when faced with a late position raiser.  This is what I have learned from Andy Bloch.  It paid off.  Following are two examples.  In the first I was raised by someone 2 off the button.  He raised less than 3x the bb.  With antes I had the pot odds to call with J8o.  Also I was table chip leader so that gave me some credibility.  I also had a very tight image.  The flop came 8 high.  I had top pair with a lousy kicker.  I bet into the raiser.  He tanked a bit and called.  The turn came a blank.  I still had top pair.  I bet out again.  The raiser really tanked.  Clicked for time and eventually folded.  I was quite proud of myself on that hand.  I owe that to Andy Bloch for sure.  I never would have called a raise with J8o before studying his chapter.

Another hand I played as a result of ready Andy’s chapter was an 89s in the BB.   It was blind vs blind.  The sb made a 3x the bb raise.  Again, there were antes involved.  I called.  The flop came 567o.  Can you spell THE NUTS.  I could hear Mike Sexton doing the “Bingo Bango Bongo” chant in my head when the small blind bet into me.  No flush possibilities out there.  I called.  Turn is a blank of the 4th suit.  OH yeah.  Still no flush possibilities.  I’ve got the nuts and cannot be beat unless the board pairs.  The SB bets into me again.  Again I stall and call.  The turn does not pair the board.  I am GOLDEN.  The sb bets into me a 3rd time.   I do some Hollywooding and tank.  I press the time button then I put in a small raise.  The sb pushes all in.  WOO HOO.  I call and he flips up 67 for two pair.  I take down a huge pot.

After that pot I was 8th in chips.  We are in the money and I am loving life.

I hung in there between 8th and 20th for a long time.  Then the time of the tourney came that I’m not great at.  Lots of table changes and people pushing with less than stellar hands.  I had a DUH moment when I realized that at this stage of the tourney your table image really is gone.  There are only one or two people sitting there that have been there long enough to know I have a tight image.  The slate is clean.

I missed a couple of hands I was sorry about.  In one I had A7s in the cut off.  It folded to me and I raised to 3000.  The SB pushed all in for about 5K. The bb raised all in to 9000.  I only needed to put in 6K to win over a 25K pot.  I clearly had pot odds to call.  That added to the fact that they were both all in and the 6K was for less than 10% of my stack it was a clear call.  Unfortunately I reverted to my old tight ways and didn’t consider the pot odds.  I folded.  I would have won that hand flopping the nut flush putting out two players.  Now that I think about it I would have put out the player that eventually put me out.  Jeesh. 

The 2nd hand opened with an early position limper.  People had been following limpers for the most part.  I had 67o.  It would have been nothing to call.  The implied odds were great.  I didn’t give it any thought and insta folded.  The pot had a couple more players.  My 67 would have won the hand and a very nice pot.  Again I fell into my old pattern of “I can’t call a with hand like that.” 

I was still holding my own until another Maniac was moved to my left.   This guy had 135K chips.  I had about 70K.  Right after he gets there he gets involved in a big pot.  It ends up to be boat over boat and the third hand was a flush.  The maniac had the flush and he was knocked down to 45K.  He started pushing every hand.   He got into some crazy showdowns and got lucky.  Soon he was back to his original $135K in chips.  While this action has been going on I’ve been blinding down.  In the end I hit an AQ.  I raised.  Someone pushed and I called.  My AQ lost to his AK.  Sigh.  I was out in 47th place with a $75 cash.  I should have pushed with my AQ.  I still had fold equity with about 50K.    There is a chance that the player wouldn’t have called.  Slim chance but possible.  Instead I kind of wimped out with my raise and call.  How any times have I read/heard it?  If you are going to call with it then bet it. 

All considered I’m really happy with my improved play and I really enjoyed the tourney.  I really felt I put a lot of what I’ve been studying into practice.  I still played too tightly but that will come.  I also learned from watching the maniacs.  Especially the first one.  People just don’t like committing a lot of chips early in the game.  His reraises paid off.  People folded knowing they probably had him beat.  They just didn’t want to risk the chips.  I’d never use it to the extent of the maniac but it is a play to put in my play book.

Another thing I noticed is the mini bubbles.  At one point I noticed the table really tightening up.  I checked and sure enough we were at a bubble to the next payout level increase.  It was a relatively big jump.  I took advantage of it and raised and won a pot.  You really have to be focused to notice that small change in play.  Being focused there paid off for me. 

While this tourney was only a small addition to my bankroll it was a great boost to my confidence.  I’m really happy with my performance and that is a good thing.