Part 1
Played in a Sng (11 players) last night. 5 were noobz, so the blinds started non-aggressive. This gave me time to scope out the 5 other “real” players. Two I knew prior, one played slowly but was not afraid to move all-in when he hit a flop (later he would move in pre-flop anytime he was dealt two paint cards). One guy is a solid tight player. Then there was the killer.
I knew right away he would be trouble because he knew how to bet. Do not underestimate this skill. If he was in late position and there were limpers, he would pop them with a raise. And it was the right amount! This is rare, so I tried to watch what cards he would play.
He also busted one of the noobz on a big hand. Me, terrible cards. Had to be patient.
Later, Killer misreads a looser player and makes and all-in bet with 2 pair only to be shocked when the guy turns over the nut flush. Everyone, it seemed, over valued their holdings.
Fast forward again and there are 7 left. From MP I raise to 3xBB with AJs. Fold to the killer on the button. He makes is 5xBB from the button and I call.
The flop is AJ3 with two clubs. I check, thinking I will re-raise him when he bets. But he checks.
The turn is a King. I bet out 200 and he comes over the top all in. ??? I did not really stop to think about this here because I was so sure he was behind. He had over valued hands all night. I called way too quickly. He turned over QT, he had FLOPPED a straight draw and I GAVE him the free card. You could say it was a loose call with QTo to a tight raiser, but so what?
The bigger thing to see here was that he checked behind on the flop, yet was willing to go all in on the turn. At first, I thought it was because he decided his Ace was good and his kicker did not matter because I checked. (There was a lot of weak Ace play at the table). But still, why would anyone move all in with TP there?
No, the better read here was that he was IN POSITION, yet was willing to see a free card. That screams draw. I should have at least respected the KING as a scare card, and I did not.
Ironically (based on yesterday’s post), the river was a J and I made Jacks full.
PART 2
I finished in second on this VERY interesting chain of events.
3 players left. $5k, $2k and $1k. I have $2k and am in the SB. Blinds are 200/400. The button calls and I can see he is itching to double up (he has had great success with this).
The BB (also the big stack) would now go all in anytime he had two face cards pre-flop. I had a good feeling that one of them was about to get in trouble, so I folded my J5o even though it was only $200 more to me. The BB to my surprise, checks. (No two face cards this time!)
Sure enough, they clash when they both flop middle pair and the big stack has the better kicker. Funny part was, a Jack flopped also which would have given me TP. But I stand by the tight fold there. I just knew he was headed for trouble… I think it was A8o vs. T8s.
Epilogue
After that, two hands later, the big stack (now with a dominate chip leads and huge blinds relative to my stack) once again moves all in pre-flop and I know he has two face cards. I look down and A6 and with my M of 5, this was an easy call. Sure enough, he had KJ and my decision and read were correct. Still lost, but that isn’t what mattered. I made the right decision there.
What more can I ask for?
Played a near perfect game decision wise, and the one bad read I made, I got lucky. If there is ONE thing I always remember out the old SnG. When you get lucky and double up, NEVER look back. Chances are you are going to finish in the money.
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