Mistakes, Mistakes, Mistakes

The RPT made a stop at the AC Tropicana yesterday, enjoying a rare day off and a rare day out of New York City. We arrived just before noon, were handed $17 in cash as we stepped off the bus, and within 20 minutes were all seated at our respective tables. Participants were:

Me - 1/2 NLHE, 60/300. I bought in for 300.
Ugarte - 4/8 LHE.
BkynPlague - 1/2 NLHE
Deke - 1/2 NLHE

So how'd I do?

Well, I made several mistakes, but let's start with how cold-decked I was. In 5.5 hours (approximately 200 hands), I was dealt zero Group 1 hands, two Group 2 hands, and three Group 3 hands. I was dealt a pocket pair six times; none of them was bigger than 6s. Suited cards were hard to come by; most of what I was seeing was K5o. My suited kings and aces were almost invariably babies (A2s, A3s). Deke says I complain about my cards too much, and maybe that's true, but to go 200 hands without even a single big pair and only two big aces is a pretty dry stretch.

Be that as it may, you have to play the cards you're dealt. You don't get to choose your cards. The first pot I got involved with past the flop was with pocket 5s. A guy two seats to my right, who had been raising all manners of hands, came in for $10. With position, I called. It was just me and him for a flop of A-rag-rag. He checked, and I checked(?!). I wish I could tell you what I was thinking here, but the truth is I have no idea. Another rag hit the turn, and he bet $17. I raised to $50, and he pushed for about $250! I deliberated for a while as if I was pondering a call, and then mucked my hand. My deliberations at least got him to open his hand: AKo. It was a useful tidbit that unfortunately I wouldn't be able to take advantage of -- he was willing to push in on the turn with top pair. Go figure, he did eventually bust.

That was my first mistake. I think it's pretty obvious I should have bet $20 on the flop, and if he raised, I could safely fold, whereas if he called, I could take one off on the turn and fold to any bet if I missed the river. I consider that a $30 mistake.

A bit later, I tried to limp ATo from somewhat early position, and got in (the table started out fairly tight). We might have been 4 or 5 to a flop of T-7-3, two spades. I led out $10, and was called by only one player, who seemed to have a pretty straightforward style -- bet when he had the goods, call when he didn't. The turn was another ten. I fired off $30, trying to win it right there. He frowned and called to see a river 7. "Crap," I thought. "That's a bad card."

Here was mistake number two: I bet $50 on the river. This was an insanely dumb bet. There was only one hand that could beat me: 77, and I would have expected to be raised on the turn if he held 77. I was chopping if he had any ten, and pretty much any other plausible hand (drawing spades, for example) would fold to my bet. It was extremely unlikely he was holding x7, because once the second ten popped on the turn he probably would have released for $30. Thus, he either held xT (split pot) or spades, a hand that would fold to any river bet. My bet, therefore, accomplished nothing, and since I would call even if he pushed all-in, I should have just checked. Anyway, he called my $50 and showed JT for a split pot. Boooooo.

I think Ugarte may have watched me let this tight local draw into a flush. When I bet $25 on the river (a defensive bet into a medium-sized pot) and he raised me to $50, I safely threw away my hand. I had seen him make that raise previously, holding the nut flush. I had a feeling he had drawn into it on the river, so maybe this bet was a mistake and maybe it wasn't.

The one hand that made me want to puke (and caused me to get up and go for a walk) was about halfway through the day. I got into a pot in late position with 7h6h. The flop came down 8-5-3, two diamonds, and a player who was relatively new to the table and hadn't played many pots bet $10. I called; nobody else came along. The turn was the 6d. He bet $15 into a $30 pot. This one was clearly a raise or fold situation. I don't think he had the flush yet, and it was VERY conceivable that I could have been drawing to it. Instead, I very weakly called. The river was the Ad, and he bet $15 again (there was $60 in the pot). I'm almost sure he didn't have a diamond or an ace, but I was too disgusted to even try buying this pot and I don't think a river bluff was believable anyway, given that I didn't raise the turn. I just mucked my hand in disgust.

After my break, I slipped into a pot with J9o in late position, to flop J-8-5. When it checked to me, only the two blinds called my $10 bet. An offsuit king brought a $30 bet from the big blind. He was the type of player who could be stone bluffing there. I called. We checked down the river, and he showed KQo. Ugh. I don't know how I feel about my play on the turn in this one. I was only invested in the pot for $10, and he was representing the king. Calling seems like it can't possibly be the right play.

Finally, I took down a decent-sized pot with KhTh. The flop was T-9-3, all spades, and it checked to me in middle position. I bet $10 (pot), and the same guy called behind me, along with two other people in early position. Icky. Did somebody already have the made flush? The turn was an offsuit 4, and I felt like I was walking into the jaws of the beast with a $30 bet. This time only my friend behind me called. The river was a pretty good card: Kd. It gave me top two. It did put a QJ straight on board, but I didn't put him on it. Here was the problem -- he had position on me, so I felt if I checked, I would be facing a large bet that would be difficult to call. My sense was that he didn't have the flush, but I wasn't entirely confident of that. So I bet $50. In retrospect, I think this was another dumb bet. If he raised me I probably would have had to fold with a straight and flush on board unless I had a dead read that it was a total bluff. But then again, is checking right here either? I can just as easily face the same large bet if I check. This one has me puzzled a bit, about what the best play is. Regardless, he called with 9s-4h for a turned two pair. He had a few choice words and some dirty looks for me when I showed him my rivered two pair.

Late in the day, I made my last mistake against BkynPlague. It was a series of mistakes, really. With AT, I raised to $7. On my immediate left, he reraised to $20. I know he's not screwing around, and I should have just dumped my hand immediately. Instead, I called. That's a $13 mistake. The flop was Ace-rag-rag. Here's my second mistake: I checked. He bet $30, and I raised to $60. Yes, a minimum raise. I wanted to let him know I had an ace, without making it too expensive for me if he also had one. He called, and I knew I was beat. We checked it down, and he showed AK. Big mistake, check-raising the flop. It was a theme for the day: me raising when there was a strong likelihood I was behind. The proper play here would have been to fold preflop, but barring that, would have been to bet $30 on the flop, and if he called or raised, to shut down. So this was either a $73 or $30 mistake, depending on how you want to look at it.

Add them all up, and my mistakes combined with dead cards pretty much ensured a losing day, and that's how it ended: down $170. I was tempted to stay, to try to get un-stuck, but BkynPlague reminded me that "It's all one long session". I pushed out of my chair to go catch some shut-eye on the bus back to NYC.