Poker Entry No. 3

October 9, 2004
Players: 17
Entry Fee: $25
Rebuys: N/A
Place: 3
Winnings: $50

This was an extremely fun game. It was in Weatherford and the guys who played in it were a lot of fun, however not that good. Clint, Chad and I entered the tournament and if Clint hadn't had his pocket A's taken down by A-K it would have been Clint, Chad and myself in the final three.
I made two mistakes, however I salvaged the mistakes by winning one hand and keeping the other mistake to a minimal loss.
First mistake: I limped in with K-5 suited to see a flop. I had about $110 and to limp was $2. I hit two spades on the flop with the highest card on the board being a 9. The first guy, Barry, bet $5. The second guy, named Chad (not our Chad), went all in with another $31. I should have thrown away the hand right there, however I said to myself, I can manage a $36 loss with these guys and be okay. So I decided I wanted to call Chad's bet, however I had Barry behind me. I thought if I go all in also, Barry probably won't call. Nobody, unless they had a great hand would call two all ins. So I pushed all my chips in after thinking about all this in about two minutes time. Barry asked how much more it was to call. Not a good sign. I said $72. He called almost immediately. Well, I'm beat. My tournament is over.
Barry flipped his cards over and said he had an open-ended straight draw. He called two all ins on a straight draw. Wow. Yet I can't complain too much because I called an allin with a flush draw. Chad had A-J of diamonds. He had nothing, yet he was winning at the time. I needed a spade badly. The turn came with a K. Now I'm in the lead with a pair of kings. Chad needed an A that wasn't a spade and Barry needed a Q or a 6, again not a spade. I was happy with my winning hand but I wanted a spade to be sure. The last card was a red 2. I won the hand. It sent me to $250.
Lesson #1: That hand was a miracle for me. It's also what got me to the final table, however I shouldn't have called Chad's all in for that much on a flush draw.
Second mistake: I was dealt pocket J's. The table had four of us at it (and one of those was Chad, our Chad). I raised $25, with blinds being $5-10. One guy, named Joe, just called and the second, Smiley, raised another $20. Not a legal raise, but I didn't say anything. Instead, I raised another $25. Joe called both bets and Smiley called. I'm beat right now by one of them and the other probably has overs (I'm guessing A-K). The flop came with a Q and two under-cards. I'm second to act. Smiley bet $20. I should fold, however now I have pot odds. I call and Joe calls. The next card is a blank. There is no flush draw or feasible straight draw. Smiley bets another $20. Again, I should fold but I called for the pot odds of hitting a Jack or winning the hand, which I'm pretty sure I wouldn't without the third Jack. Joe also called. The last card was another blank. Smiley checked. I knew better than to bet. I checked also. Joe checked out of fear I suppose. I flip over my Jacks not too confidently. Smiley proudly and loudly yells Kings. He had the pocket pair. Joe confidently turns over his Aces and said, "Yes, Aces." Another pocket pair.
Lesson #2: I shouldn't have re-raised. I didn't drive the point I wanted with these guys. They just don't have the skills to understand what a re-raise means. However in hindsight, I wouldn't fold with pocket A's or K's either.
Except for these two mistakes I played very well. The tight, but aggresive play is doing very well for me.