I was playing a $100 live “deep stack” tournament. The blinds began at T25-T50, and we all started with T7,875 chips. (If you’re asking why we started with such an odd number, I can’t help you; I’m still wondering about that myself.) I put deep stack in quotes because while the initial levels did feature true deep stack play, the blinds quickly escalated so that after two hours the play was anything but deep stacked. However, that’s irrelevant for the hands in question.
Anyway, on my very first hand I was dealt 8d-7d in the cutoff. An early position player raised to T150, another player called, I elected to call, and the big blind joined the fun. The flop was Ks-Qs-3c. The big blind bet T500, the initial raiser made it T2,000, everyone else folded. The big blind raised all-in, and was called by the raiser. The big blind turned over Js-9s, the raiser had Qh-Qd. The set of queens was a 2-to-1 favorite, and when the board paired and no 10s came on the river, the hand held up.
Did either player do anything wrong? It’s hard to criticize either player, especially in a tournament with a relatively fast structure. The big blind had the odds to see the flop, hit a good hand, and unless his opponent had a set he might even be a favorite on the flop (though likely trailing as the cards stood). As for the initial raiser, with a set of queens I’d be trying any manner I could think of to get my money into the middle.
In my first big blind I looked down at the monstrous holding of 3c-2c. An early position player made a minimum raise to T100, a middle position player and the button called. I threw in the additional T50 as this would be an easy hand to get away from if I missed the flop.
Sometimes, though, even I get lucky. With a flop of 3h-3d-3s I figured I was ahead. Because most players check when they flop quads, I decided to bet T200. The initial raiser called. I put my opponent on a big overpair, J-J or higher. The turn was the Ad. This was a good card if my opponent held aces, but not such a good card if he had one of the other three pairs that I thought he probably held. I checked and he checked back. The river was the Kd. I bet T450, and my opponent raised to T1,275. I re-raised to T2,600, he moved all-in and I called. He triumphantly flipped over his losing pocket kings.
I’d love to say that the double up helped me win the tournament. However, the overall structure was fast. After two hours, the blinds were T400-T800; while I had more than doubled up to T20,000 I had just an average stack. The next blind level was T800-T1,600 so I could not sit back and wait.
That said, little hands lose their luster when you don’t have the right odds. I looked down at 3h-2h in middle position. Now it’s one thing to call a raise early in a tournament with that hand, but to raise with this hand from under-the-gun would be nuts. On the next hand, which was my big blind, I lost a race with Qd-Qh to Ac-Ks. Unfortunately, most of the time when you play a tournament your result will be a loss of your buy-in.
Russell Fox is the co-author of “Mastering No-Limit Hold’em,” “Why You Lose at Poker,” and “Winning Strategies for No-Limit Hold’em.” He’s a federally licensed tax preparer specializing in gambling, with a blog at taxabletalk.com. E-mail Russ at rcfox@claytontax.com.
»
