It's All About Aggression

Published on April 13, 2006 By PacDragon In Gaming

Sorry for the severe lack of updates. I wasn’t on the computer much during my vacation and my new job keeps me pretty busy. It’s not like the old job, where I was left with plenty of time for blogging. And now that my wife is pregnant, she needs a lot of attention when I’m at home. I’ll try to squeeze in more updates going forward, though.

I got 5th place at the Casino San Pablo tournament last weekend

That was pretty exciting, it had been a while since I made the final table. I had gotten busted out early in that tournament three weeks in a row. At least each loss was due to my opponents hitting long shots after I was all-in, so I think my play was still decent. Luck just wasn’t on my side.

Last weekend, I just wasn’t getting very good hands. I had a couple of big hands, but most of them were just trash. But it was all about aggression. I have a couple of interesting stories to share from that game.

So, there’s this regular at my table. I’ve played with him a few times and I consider us friends at the casino. We’re in a hand together when he limps in from under the gun. Everyone folds around to me in the small blind. I figure he probably has some weak cards, because he usually likes to come in for a raise. He's not too tricky. I look down to see AsQd, so I raise it about triple the big blind. I'll be out of position for the rest of the hand, but I want to stay aggressive in case there's any chance I'll be able to take down the pot. The big blind calls my raise and so does my friend.

The flop comes 8cAc9c (or something like that). I've hit top pair, but there are three clubs on the board and I don't have any. The board could also make a strait draw for a number of possible hands. It's a dangerous flop, but it could look just as scary to my opponents. If they have a flush, I need to find out now. Plus, I can't give the strait draws the right odds to stay in, especially if I can represent the flush myself. And if anyone calls my bluff with nothing, I've still top pair with a good kicker. So I come out with a decent raise of about half the pot. The big blind quickly folds and then my friend takes some time to think about it.

It's looking like a tough call for him, so I know immediately that he doesn't have the flush. It's taking him too long. But he still wants to call it, so I'm thinking it's likely he might have one club. He finally makes the call and I'm a little worried. I decide that if another club comes, I’m going to give up the hand.

The turn card is the Qc. It gives me two pair, but it just put four clubs on the board. All he needs now is a single club to beat me. It's still possible for me to outdraw a flush by getting another A or Q on the river (for a full house), but that’s pretty unlikely. But when that card fell, I wasn't looking at it. I was looking at my friend’s face and his reaction to seeing the turn. I saw that he didn't really want to see that fourth club… he unconsciously cringed. With great moxie, I immediately changed my mind about what I would do, skipped any suspicious hesitation, and made a large bet of about 40% of the current pot. I tried to make the bet size look like I wanted to be called, but it was still a significant portion of his stack. A wrong decision here would cripple the guy.

He thought about for a long time, then finally said that he wasn't sure what card he was looking for, grumbled a bit, and folded the hand. He said he had had a club and asked me how big my club was. I didn’t want to be specific, just in case someone else that the table had the card I said, so I told him it was medium-high. He told me his was medium-low and seemed content with his decision. But I think losing that pot probably cost him any chance at the final table.

My next story involves another regular, who I’m also friendly with at the casino. He’s great for my image, since he seems to frequently talk about how tight I play. It usually helps me avoid getting called

Anyway, we're in a hand. Everyone folds to him in the small blind and he calls. I'm in the big blind, so I consider raising it (which is what I usually do to him in that situation). But I only have 92o, so I let him know we'll see a cheap flop and just check it.

The flop comes up all rags... 56T rainbow, or something like that. He checks. I don't have anything, but I have a lot more chips than him, so I come out with a good sized bet. It's almost his entire stack... and he re-raises me all in! Now, I don't have anything at all. But his re-raise would only be costing me about another $150 in chips... the pot already had about $2000 (according to my spotty memory). I had to call, even with nothing. I figured I was caught bluffing and ready to lose the pot.

He turns over 34o, for an open ended strait draw. I ended up winning the pot with my 9 high! Man, the whole tournament was like that. I seriously got crap cards nearly the entire time. I wasn't in many pots, but I fought like a madman for each one I was in. It's a little easier to get lucky by your enemy not hitting anything than to get lucky by hitting something yourself.

By the time we got down to the final table, I was put to a decision. I was getting marginal cards and a lot of opportunities to go all-in. For example, holding 77 when one player pushes all-in and another calls. I had to decide if I was going to push for a win or play it safe. Each person that went out before me meant a higher payout. So I ended up doing the safe thing and pretty much folded every hand until I got blinded out in 5th place. Considering that I made that decision early, I was more than happy to take home that $260 prize.

Comments

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on May 01, 2006

I like what you do, continue this way.

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