InternationalToo Much Credit
No not the kind that you have on credit cards, this credit has nothing to do with a FICO score. This is about credit when it comes to poker, but not about borrowing or lending. It is about giving credit to players who don’t deserve it, which is a major leak in my game.
I have been playing in quite a few tournaments lately and Sunday I played in 6 of them and cashed in four, three were free, the others were cash. One was the PokerWorks Family tourney and I hate to count that one as I never play my ‘A’ game because it is just a fun thing for me and I couldn’t care less if I win or not.
Back to credit. I have been playing the $3.30 R/A tourney in the afternoon on PokerStars. Most days my compadre Linda is there too which is the most fun for me as we can sweat each other and cuss up a storm when either of us gets a bad beat. Yep, we do a LOT of cussing. I was struggling in the tourney and doing ok until I got AQ and called a raise from Mr. UTG. Flop was A-7-3 rainbow with one diamond. UTG bet and I called (mistake 1) the turn was a Jd and he fired again and I called thinking maybe he had AK or AJ. River was a blank diamond and he went all-in. I called (mistake 2) I had him covered so I wasn’t busto when he showed the Q-10 of diamonds.
Mistake one was not raising him on the flop. I gave him credit for being a player which I do all too often in these donkfests. I don’t give anyone credit during the rebuy period as 95% of them play any two cards and if they go broke they just get more chips. But this hand was well after the R/A time was done, so I gave him credit for having something and not wanting to blow his chips as he couldn’t rebuy. WRONG! Mistake #2 was calling on the river when it was runner runner diamonds.
I should have given him credit for making a miracle flush but I didn’t. But I had been watching his play and to say it was awful would be again, giving him too much credit. I have to learn to give credit to where it is due.
Every tourney, every table, has the long-eared seat who plays anything till the end, stuffing big hands and having the most chips going into the 2nd period (after rebuys). It really makes me think playing good is of absolutely NO advantage. Ok I know that in normal situations this thinking is way off, but I can’t think of these tourneys as anywhere near normal.
The last three I have been in have had mostly Latin players at my table, which really makes me wonder if this is normal play for players in their country? Don’t ask me where they are from, I can’t begin to pronounce the names. But I do know if this is the average play in their country, I want to move there and play live full time. I would love to sit in a live game with Mr. Q-10 everyday.
After that hand all the wind went out of my sails along with the biggest portion of my chips. I went two orbits seeing nothing and shoved on 5-5 and was up against AQd who made a flush - no surprise there. Earlier if I had called all my chips with 4-4 in the SB I would have won a $50k pot. Timing is everything.
That is another thing, I see most players shoving on any pair and I mean ANY, even 2-2. I like limping or calling small raises in late positiion. I do love calling with them in the blinds too, so I can check raise if they flop and I have had quite a bit of success with this play. So just how do you shove with 2-2 UTG? Or go over the top with A-Joff? Hoping lady luck is on your shoulder I guess.
Winning these online tourneys takes a huge amount of luck and perfect timing. I was watching Clearspine in a WBCOOP event when he called two raises and went all-in with 10-10. He was against A-Q and K-K and he flopped a 10 and won. I went all in with 10-10 vs KK and the KK flopped a full house and no 10 in sight. Is this skill or luck? Play as good as you want boys and girls but if you don’t have luck and make the right choice at the perfect time - you won’t win no matter how much skill you possess. I have been lucky as I placed in all of these $3.30 tourneys except for one - yesterday and that was my fault, I just gave up and didn’t care.
One railbird laughed with me when I had the Q-10 beat me as I couldn’t resist chatting ‘lol’ and he agreed. He told me to hang in and he was a fan. I asked if he read PokerWorks and he said “yes - do you?” I replied ‘yea, I write for them’…so I am not sure if he was joking/did know who I was/didn’t know who I was. I went busto and the conversation was over. Yep another quirk of mine, when I go bust I leave PDQ, can’t wait to hit the exit button as a matter of fact. One exception was when RIP_AA called my all-in J-10 with J-5 off and rivered a 5 to beat me a few days ago. I checked in on the tourney later to see if he was still in and playing J-5. He made it to #11 so he didn’t see the big bucks (hee-hee) but I watched some of the final table as it was 2 am and I couldn’t sleep. First took down over $8k for 11 hours work…sweet. Ten long hours NOT sweet.
I am off to join Linda in a $2.75 for $7.5k and some cussing…
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February 4th, 2010 at 4:59 pm
Clearspine for the defense here. I remember the hand in question, although I don’t have a printout: #1) I was not all-in, as when I won the hand, both the other players disappeared, one of them very upset with my call. “Donk Call” was his comment from the ether, but I definitely had the odds to call. #2) I had already raised, and had money in the pot, and then the first guy who went all-in was someone who had gone all-in a few times in the last cycle, so he could have had almost anything. #3) If I’m not mistaken, the bubble had already burst, and once I had my ticket, the only thing I cared about was trying to get a BIG stack to move up with (this last may not be the case, but the first two points are definitely true).
I will admit, however, that I tend to go the other way on the “give them credit” issue. I’ve seen so many players do so many strange things in online tourneys that, unless I have a note suggesting that it is a tight player, I’ve been tending towards not believing that they are telling the truth, or at least putting them to the hard test if possible. Since doing this, my tournament results have gotten MUCH better. I’ve been making a conscious effort to change gears more frequently, and not to be afraid of making a big move at the pot when it’s the difference between bubbling/small cash and the chance at becoming one of the chip leaders. Sometimes, I wind up looking really stupid, and when that happens, I hope people are taking notes, so that when I’ve got the goods the next time, they pay me off.
Different strokes, for different folks, and so on and so on and scooby dooby dooby (name that tune and the artist).
February 4th, 2010 at 11:43 pm
You don’t need to defend your play. I wasn’t using this example for debating odds, reasoning or anything else. My point was LUCK + timing = winning when clearly dominated.
*Sly and the Family Stone*
And no I didn’t have to look it up…I am that old.
February 5th, 2010 at 4:15 am
When I was a freshman at Dartmouth, Sly and the Family Stone played one of their first post-Woodstock concerts at the college, in the fieldhouse. At the time, it was an all-male, totally conservative college, and so much damage was done to the surface of the fieldhouse by people dancing, on their chairs and otherwise, that they never held another concert in that facility.
My other Sly memory was when I worked at Madison Square Garden, and was at his wedding, which took place on stage during a concert. By that time, he was so coked out that you could see it was only a matter of time before he hit bottom.
Too bad: They were just incredible for that brief moment in time. Dance to the Music is still my all-time favorite driving song.
February 5th, 2010 at 4:25 pm
I have no special memories like your cool ones…but I went to an all Black school in San Diego, so my love of soul/Motown music was cultivated there. Still it is my favorite music with Buddy Holly/50’s a close second.
February 6th, 2010 at 7:20 am
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