I had to feel good about my home game last Saturday night. The first time I'd ever had 19 people in my garage, the first time it was all No Limit Hold-em. I finished 7th (I think) and overall was very pleased with how I played. I went out when I played the cards well, but again-completely misjudged who I was playing against. My card reading is pretty good, when I pay attention. My people reading really needs some work.
I survived a few close calls before that, and even sucked out the chip leader at the first table. I was on the BB and UTG made a min-raise. It was folded all the way around and I limped in for the discounted flop. The flop came 4 Q 7 rainbow with Q 10 in my hand. I bet out half the pot. UTG, who was the chip leader, min-raised again, x2 the size of my bet.
I didn't put him on AA, KK or even QQ, he would have bet larger pre-flop to protect his hand. He might slow play these premiums post-flop with such a ragged board, but even he would value bet a big more I would think; especially since he had the big stack. Nope, more likely he had JJ, 10 10 or similar and was trying to get me away and/or see where he was at. It would also be very typical of him to still think he had the best hand, even with an over card on board. He would also fire a min bet with AK, or even AQ, AJ, etc. Again, to get me to leave or get more information on my cards.
So rather than simply just raise, the minimum would have been half my stack - I pushed all in. He insta-called and turned over AA. A 10 spiked on the river and he was left reeling.
I screwed up. I misread him completely, as a player and his betting patterns. I overvalued my hand here, and since I was up against a passive player, I likely could have smooth called after the flop, and he would have fired a small enough bet (or even checked!) on the turn to let me see the river for cheap and get paid when my 5 outer hit.
In any event, the night progressed and I happily was able to steal a handful of times, as well as flop a broadway straight as the bubble approached AND get paid for it. My downfall came as once again (as is the inevitable nature of a two table one night tourney) the blinds rocketed skyward and my once healthy stack was in trouble. I was in the BB and the small blind limped after everyone had folded around. I checked my option with rags.
The board came three low cards as well, giving me a gut-shot and a backdoor flush draw. The SB checked and I started digging my own grave. The pot was actually quite big already, nearly a quarter of my remaining stack. I really needed to pick up the blinds to go longer. I KNEW, absolutely without a shadow of a doubt that the player to my right had squadoosh. She had been weak-passive all night, never betting or raising without at least face cards, never slow playing her monsters. She had mistakenly stuck around in pots she shouldn't have been in and put bad beats out several players; she really didn't know what she was doing.
I went all-in. She had me barely covered, she couldn't risk her tournament life with nothing. I had checked my BB option, I could have anything, the flop could have hit me solidly. Surely she would fold. She called with Ace high. It held up. I shook my head in disbelief, what a donk!
Now, to be fair, if an experienced player at the table had called me down with that with a similar chip stack I would have to give them credit for a great read. In her case however, I knew that she had no clue what she was doing. Or maybe she did.
She had been making remarks (before making loose calls) all night like "Oh what the hell, I need to get to bed early tonight anyway." Do you think I'm an idiot? I do.
I really need to pay more attention to people, since I have a good grasp on reading the board and gauging what people might have based on how they bet. The biggest donk in this whole scenario, culminating with me looking like a moron to everyone else, was me.
Still, I had probably the best time I've had at one of my home games. The energy of a NL Hold-em tourney really can't be beat. Everyone knows how to play, and the tables run themselves - I get to concentrate more on playing and having a good time. So we'll do it again in a month!
In other news, online league play starts tonight. I'm pleased that I was able to recruit a new player from my home game, a great guy whose game I really respect - so it should be a barrel of fun. Stay tuned!
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