Okay, I feel guilty for my blogging neglect, and its late and so this is just a teaser, its another Al story of course, since I busted out of the Monday game early and saved my best poker for the cash table, and this blog isn't about cash poker, its about tournament poker.
Anyway, I had the good sense to walk away from the cash table with a tidy 217% profit after 2 hours. I was getting tired, and the sng satellite I had bought into 2 hours before had finally filled, another game I care not to talk about tonight. Like I said saved my best poker for the cash table. I had peeked over to see what Al was up to from time to time, and the last time, I watched him rake in a nice fat pot, which he told me about later, calling two short stacks all in with 33 thinking they had each other's overcards, and being both right AQ and AK, and catching a set on the flop helped. A call I can't make by the way, unless I can afford to lose or have to win. 33 is just two damn small 3 handed, but his read was dead on....
This blog is not about that hand. It about Al's big laydown that never was.
We are 26 handed, Al has over 10,000 chips, blinds just turned 400/800/100 ante, I am within hearing distance when I hear Al make a raise to open the pot in early position to 1800, an almost immediate all-in from the next player, and, very, very quickly, just enough for 7 more players to fold without any hesitation, Al calls. Al will show QQ and lose the showdown.
And Al kicks himself with the quick call as he storms out,furious with himself.
I haven't told you what beat him. I am sure you can figure it out, but lets put all the clues together.
- Al has been at that table for 20 minutes and demonstrated both real poker savvy making a huge crazy call with 33 and his usual patience.
- The player to his right had just slightly over Al's stack, both an average stack at a table with bigger stacks yet to play, and his all-in appeared to be thoughtless, and his tone of voice clear and solid enough for me to hear clearly in a room full of clacking chips 20 feet away.
- Al had a strong hand just from his preflop bet. He is a solid, veteran player capable of making knowing when 33 is good and just raised UTG a value raise that screams big hand.
- His opponent didn't care what Al had or what he did with his 1800 chip investment. That all in was for the whole table, and the whole table knew this was an action hand and who was getting involved and got out of the way.
- In other words, AJ shrinks to garbabe in the face of that action coming at it.
His opponent had KK. Some people will make the obvious reraise for action, some people just get damn excited that someone bet into their KK and spunk all over the dealer before she was even wet. Ugly, but accurate, analogy.
All Al needed to do here was offer himself 15 seconds to think it through, and he was kicking himself, not because he had married his two ladies for better or for worse, far from it, but because he played his hand and not the whole hand. Fatigue killed him earlier than last time because without chips, his preflop decisions were always simple, and now they were more complicated.
And Al does not marry any hand preflop or post flop. He once laid down KK to my AA because there was a draw on the board and I was trying to push out the donkey who'll play any draw for any price and protect my AA post flop. I was pretty overt about taking the pot down, but still, its a 10 high flop with 2 hearts. His preflop raise was designed specifically to keep him out of trouble should he get in it knowing that the 8200 remaining chips of his were monsterous compared to what he reached the final table with the week before.
Voice tone, body language, everything was there. Al's opponent either panics over KK busting all the time and protected or made a huge mistake being so overt about striking the motherload at the Twin Cowpoke Ranch. The rest of the table thought the showdown was inevitable, but Al knew it. Spidey sense. When that tingle comes like, maybe I'm in trouble here, pay attention.
Just as a comparison the other direction, playing no-limit pineapple over the weekend with the boys, I called blind a small raise in the BB and then get to wake up to see I flopped a straight on a 6 high board with 45. Having rraised Al's small bet to a pot sized one, Brian, a very good player on the more aggressive side of the spectrum, makes an outrageous overraise. I had bet 75 to win 75: he raises to 500 even and B and I both have 1200 chips: the original price to pay was 30. I immediately put Brian on a big overpair and raise him all in knowing he'll call, and he does, and I bust KK.
If I have ANY MESSAGE AT ALL its put that man on a hand!
The Lady of Luck told Al to look up! Stop staring at her tits, y'all, and see if she's laughing or crying for ya.
Enough with the sexual references. Poker ain't sexy folks.
Bigger blogs to come.
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