FULL TILT POKER BLOG

#114 – Fool in Paradise, Part III – For Once, I Save Full Tilt Money

Posted by Editor | Filed under Me in online tourneys

I just completed my heads-up match with rockyruu. Here is something I can tell you about heads-up play: when you get great cards, you can beat people in a hurry. So when I swagger around telling everyone what a heads-up terminator I am, add your imaginary parenthetical “(when you get hit in the head by the deck)”.

I was feeling some pressure here. I understand people are skeptical when they see me in red. I’ve made my living in poker writing about it, not playing it. Even though I’ve had some success online, plenty of people can say that. I always have to prove myself and that’s fine with me. In addition, by making me red, Full Tilt has to pay out a bounty when I bust. That’s no big deal for them to do with Erick Lindgren who (a) gets them monster publicity when he wears the logo and rings up his frequent great tournament results, and (b) plays, tops, a couple tournaments a month.

I probably play more tournaments that anyone in red, and even though I’ll brag endlessly about how great I do, I usually don’t win. I really wanted to avoid putting another -$5,000 next to my name in their ledgers.

The match lasted 9 hands. We started with 1,500 in chips apiece and blinds were 10-20. rockyuu started with the button.

HAND #1 – BB, 8-6o. He raised to 60, I called. The flop was 6-Q-4. I checked, he bet 70, I raised to 200. I didn’t know how far I wanted to go if he had a queen, but just calling seemed like a mistake. Unless the turn was an 8, I’d have to call another bet and possibly another on the river. He called, which made me very uneasy. Unless the turn was a big card, I was going to lead, and then be done with the pot (probably losing nearly half my chips in the process). The turn was a deuce. I bet 340, about 2/3 the pot, and he folded. Whew.

HAND #2 – my button 2-3o. Fold. I’m not going to fold very many hands in the BB. I’m glad to get one of those early, so maybe he won’t realize how few hands that actually is.

HAND #3 – BB, K-8o. He raises to 60, I call. I flop the World’s Fair, K-K-8. How can I possibly get any chips out of him from this great bit of luck? I decide to play it exactly like the first hand. Maybe he’ll think I’m trying to push him around and make a stand with an ace. He bets, I raise to 200 … and he folds. I could have just called and tried to get another bet if he bet the turn, or hope he caught something to tie him to the hand. I played a hunch – that he’d think I was making a move and push – and it didn’t work out.

HAND #4 – my button, 2-6o. Fold. He probably thinks I’m the tightest player on earth. If I played an aggressive heads up game and an opponent folded the first two times on his button, that’s what I’d think.

HAND #5 – BB, 7-5o. He raises, I call. The flop is 6-4-2, with two diamonds. He bets (I forget the amount but I think 70.) I call. I could go for the check-raise but I want to mix it up; I’d done that a couple times. If he pushes against me after I do it, I’ll probably have to call and it’s too soon to call all my chips on a draw. The turn is the king of diamonds, which puts 3 diamonds on the board. We both check. The call at least slowed him down enough to give me a chance to see the river card (or maybe he’s worried about a flush). The river is the three of hearts. This makes my straight. I don’t want to bet because if he has a flush, he could push all-in and I’d have to call. I check and he bets 170. I don’t know if I’ve changed my mind or things feel different, but I think my straight is good. I raise him to 440. If he has a flush, he’ll push in and I’ll call and be very low on chips, but this feels like the right move. He calls, showing K-Q. My straight beats his top pair and he’s down to about 500 chips. He got VERY unlucky there, not so much by the river as by the turn. Making a pair with three diamonds on the board kept him from betting me off the pot, which wouldn’t have been hard to do. And with top pair, how is he going to fold for another 270?

HAND #6 – my button, 9c-Tc. My first playable hand on the button. I raise to 60. He moves all-in and I fold. With nearly 30 times the big blind, 9-Ts isn’t, I think, a good enough hand to call all-in. I’m going to have to check Andy’s jam-or-fold table though.

HAND #7 – BB, Kh-9h. He folds.

HAND #8 – my button, K-9o. He raises to 60, I call. The flop is Ac-Jc-5c. We both check. I don’t have a club. The turn is the six of clubs. He checks, I bet 120. He folds. I’m sitting on the giant vibrating horseshoe, so why not act like I’m hitting everything even when I’m not?

HAND #9 – BB, Ts-Jh. He raises to 60. I call. The flop is K-7-9. This is an intriguing flop. I have a double-belly-buster straight draw and, if he doesn’t have a king or a big pocket pair, the possibility of 2 overcards. I check and he bets 70. I raise to 200 to see if I can get him off his hand. If he has something like A-6, what’s he going to do? Even if he calls or pushes, I’m not even an underdog. He pushes all-in for 470. It costs me only 270 more to call so I’m obviously priced in. The only hand that REALLY kills me is pocket queens. Otherwise (unless he has something like K-Q or K-8), I have eight or so outs, an easy call. He has K-2 for top pair, so I have 8 outs. I get one of them on the turn, a queen to make a straight, and the match is over.

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