I have been hosting my own poker games, mostly tournaments, about once a month for the last 2 years. In all of my tournaments until last night I have failed to cash. Yet for a mere $10 buy in (with multi-rebuys and an add-on) my home game tournies (PSP - Pepper St. Poker) have been more than worth their entertainment value. I've got a great stable of about 30 players, which insures about 15 to 20 bodies crammed into my garage on any given month. There is not a jerk in the bunch, though a few (including myself) have a grumpy moment now and again.
Ultimately, as much as I want to fancy myself a "serious" player - I play mostly for fun. I've kept good records for awhile now, and I do happen to turn a profit in every venue I play (save my home tournaments) but I know I'm in this game for enjoyment first and foremost. Otherwise I would only host cash games.
Last night I finished in second place; helped in great part by a rush of good cards as the bubble approached. I knocked out two players and more than doubled up at once when my all in aces pre-flop was called by two pocket pairs. I slow played my brother two perfection when my middling ace became trips and he pegged me as weak and pushed. Overall I'm very pleased with my play; but I can't help be disappointed that my 5 to 1 chip lead heads up at the end, fell by the wayside thanks to my impatience and loss of focus.
I played Alex pretty much perfectly for about half an hour, giving up my lost causes quickly, keeping the pot small except when I was committed with good cards and generally reading him first and looking at my cards second. He was getting rags and so was I, yet I was getting chips from him steadily simply by capitalizing on his frustration at not being able to go all-in. If he min-raised or flat called, I was able to raise him out about 2/3 of the time. Result - more chips were coming my way.
My problem was that I got excited ahead of time and lost track of his chip count; so that when I called his all in with j6 suited in my hand - I thought he only had a few hundred; in reality he still had over 1K. After the hand finished, he had me covered. It was my turn to bleed chips for a bit, as the momentum had clearly shifted to him. With time winding down, and the blinds pretty big I donked off the last hand with Q6 suited against his K10os. He deserved to win; the only reason I didn't take down the title was my own inability to stay focused and hungry for victory.
MOST important; both of these losses (the big blow to my stack, and the final hand) came from CALLING decisions on my end that were made FAR too quickly. When I had been all in in the past, both against him and against others earlier; I always had taken the time to assess stack sizes either in advance or before my decision. My big lesson last night - take my time. Decide AFTER thinking things through.
I guess it seems a little late in the game that is my poker enthusiast's career, to be reminding myself to be patient and thoughtful; but really it needs to be said out loud (or I guess typed out loud) officially so hopefully it will sink in.
I still had a fantastic time last night, and I know I'm really blessed to be running such a great game with good people involved. There probably won't be a tournament next month, I'm off to China, but there's a small possibility of a cash game. In April it looks like we'll have an Omaha/8 tournament. A game that I love, but I know will be a bit more of a pain to TD than good old Texas.
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