Memorable Hand #4–AKA, How I Own Super:System but apparently don’t apply it in my play
By this point, Greenwood Phil had been moved to our table and to A-Hat’s seat. Phil is a helluva player and one of few in the room I believed could tangle with BadBlood.
I was enjoying the tournament and while I wished I had doubled up by the third level, I figured I could make a move shortly as some stacks started to dwindle.
Enter…the Hilton Sisters.
I found them under the gun and raised. Looking back, I think my raises were much too small to garner any respect. Online, I always feel very slot hoki comfortable with the size of my raises. With the blinds at $5/$10, I should’ve raised at least to $30, but if memory serves, I only bet $20.
Greenwood Phil called, which worried me a little. However, as he had only called , I figured him for jacks or perhaps a big ace. Danny C-Gar–without hestiation–re-raised.
For a moment, let’s consider what Brunson has to say about pocket queens. First, while he groups AA, KK, and AK together for a chapter and other pairs together for another chapter, he talks about QQ on its own. Why?
“…because it’s a particular hand that deserves sepcial treatment,” he writes.
Here is the wisdom of Brunson: He’ll raise from almost any position with QQ, because it is, in fact, a good hand. However, if he is re-raised he’ll simply call. And if he has raised and someone wants to put him all-in, he likely won’t do it unless it is an unusual situation.
Here’s what he has to say about going all-in pre-flop with QQ:
“If you get called you’ll usuallly be up against AA, KK, or AK…in which case you’ll be a big dog or just a small favorite. You can pick a better spot than that to get all your money in.” –Doyle Brunson
Most people see Brunson as a hyper-aggressive player with a hyper-aggressive strategy. However, the above statement is fairly conservative.
And so there I sat. Dannt C-Gar hadn’t won a great many hands and those he had won hadn’t been too spectacualr. When someone asked him why he had brought a cigar that sat near his chips, he’d seemingly been honest. “Just to look cool, I guess,” he said.
At one pont I had asked if he planned for it to be a victory cigar. He had said no.
Still, there I sat with my raise on the board, a call from a strong player, and a moderate re-raise.
Doyle would’ve cold-called amd hoped for the queen on a the flop. If it didn’t come, he’d play conservatively until after the turn.
And what do do?
Of course. I did what any novice to intermediate player would do in such a situation.
“I’m all in,” I said sounding as confident as I possibly could.
I figured Greenwood Phil would lay down his hand. He’s smart enough to know that I rarely bluff and when I do, it’s not going to be against a solid player like him. But Danny C-Gar, I was worried about.
C-Gar went in the tank. I immediately started wishing he’d just fold. Reality started to set in.
C-Gar awoke and announced, “Okay, I’ll play.”
Before he had a chance to turn over his hand, I said “I think we’re going to be racing.”
Sure enough, there it was: AK of diamonds.
BadBlood tired to offer some drama by becoming Mike Sexton and saying something about the classic race. But I knew before the flop hit that I was done.
The ace came off on the flop. An overkill king came on the turn. Neither of my two outs materialized and I was bounced.
And so there I was. Out in 17th place, way out of the money, and looking for some reassurance.
In my head I said, “That’s poker. He gambled and won.” I looked to BadBlood to tell me the same thing, but he didn’t.
I rapped the table with my knuckles and stood up in search of a side game. I found one quickly and lost $20 in a titlting hurry to a guy who looked like Amir Vahedi.
I stumbled out into the lobby for some fresh air but didn’t find any. I went back into the conference room and looked for someone to tell me I got unlucky. But no one did.
It was only on the way home that Brunson started ringing in the back of my head. What was that he said about Queens being a different kind of pair?
I barely had time to say hello to my wife and kid before running to pull Super:System off the nightstand.
Yep, there it is in black and white: Otis, you’re a damned fool for playing your queens like that.
I laid awake most of the night, running the hand over and over again in my head. Had I simply called the raise, I would’ve folded when C-Gar bet the ace on the flop. I still would’ve lost but I would’ve not lost everything.
My poor play resulted in my buy-in becoming a $50 lesson in how to remember what I’ve read.
Now, I’m 45 minutes from beginning the Monty Memorial.
I’m hoping thic post served as some sort of catharsis and I can get back on the horse. Otherwise, I’m going to declare myself Poker Bitch and find some nice hiatus hole.
