Playing Too Good, then Playing Too Poorly

"Sometimes I play too good for myself." That was Phil Hellmuth's reaction to folding Ace-Queen preflop to Chan's all-in in the 2004 WSOP Tournament of Champions. Hellmuth wouldv'e flopped a pair of Queens, winning the race against Chan's pocket pair. The funny thing about the hand was that Howard Lederer seemingly went on tilt because he called Chan with Ace-Jack and didn't hit. He was then mad at Hellmuth because if Phil had called, Howard obviously would have folded.

The reason Phil folded was because Ace-Queen doesn't dominate many hands. About the only hand AQ dominates and Chan wouldv'e moved all-in with is Ace-Jack. On the other hand, AQ is dominated by Big Slick, Queens, Kings, and Aces. Every other good hand is pretty much a 50/50 race.

A similar gut wrenching situation happened to me at the casino twice. Both with pocket 9s. I limped in each time. Then there was a raise, and a re-raise. I'll call a raise up to $15 to see a flop with 9s, but after a raise and a re-raise, I know I'm absolutely crushed and in that situation, I don't want to commit a large amount of my stack when I'm that far behind. In both situations, I made the correct fold. One was against pocket Aces and pocket Kings. The other was against pocket Jacks and pocket Tens. Both times, however, I wouldv'e spiked a 9 on the river. If I were a complete idiot, instead of just occasionally an idiot, I wouldv'e tripled up twice.

I made one really good fold and three really bad calls. The good fold was with pocket Jacks. This moron across the table decided to raise to $15 with Kings. I knew my jacks were beat but I also knew I could hit a set and take every chip this guy had. I didn't flop one though and he bet out $20 on a blank flop so I folded.

I let my stupid fucking ego get the best of me in one hand. This kid, who was cocky as all hell telling people how they shouldv'e played their hand, kept raising to $7. I had Jack-10 and called hoping maybe two other people would call. No-one else did though. The flop was all low cards and gave me an open ended straight draw. He bet $10 and I called. The turn was a 4, no help. He bet out $20 and I called, figuring I had 14 outs with the straight draw and two overs. The river was a 10 giving me top pair. He bet out $25 and I called with tens. He had Aces. I shouldv'e just folded the JT and saved $62.

In another hand I had Aces and limped in. The flop was 8-Jack-Queen. This guy bet out $10, I stupidly called even though the first thought that came to mind was that he had a straight. It's sick how good I am sometimes at making correct reads, and sickening how often I ignore my instincts. I called. The turn was a blank, he bet out $15, I called. The river was a blank, he bet $15 and I called. I shouldv'e folded on the flop and wound up losing $40.

Another hand, I had 8-9 of spades and limped in under the gun. I shouldn't have even done this in such early position. The flop was 6-7-Queen with two spades giving me the nut straight draw and a flush draw. A player bet out $15, I called. $20, I called. The turn and river were blanks and I had to fold to the $25 on the river. I figure the guy had King-Queen or Queen-Jack. On the flop then, I'd be about a 57% favorite to win with my large number of outs. Still, I didn't have it and wasn't protecting my chips which is what a good grinder needs to do. I lost $37 on the hand and shouldv'e folded preflop in such early position.

Another stupid situation. The flop and turn made it pretty obvious that someone had a straight. The turn gave me a pair of 4s and the Jack on the river gave me two pair. I bet $5. The purpose of my bet was to see where I stood. Any re-raise and I should fold because all someone needs to make a straight is a 5. The player on the button re-raised to $20. I pondered, and even though my instincts put him on a straight, I called. I shouldn't have even bet the $5. If I had it, I had it. The only way someone would call the $5 would be if they had a 5 and a straight. Stupid bet and even dumber call on my part. $20 down the tubes.

So that's $159 gone right there on stupid calls. Now for the stupid decisions that didn't win me big enough pots.

Usually, I start off slowly and lose about half my stack just waiting for the big hand. This time though, I was fortunate enough to get one early. About 3 or 4 hands into playing, actually. I had pocket Kings and limped in late position. The flop was 4-4-3. The guy to my right bet out $15. I didn't think he had a 4 so I called. The player to my left also called. The turn was a 4, giving me 4s full of Kings. The player to my right checked and I then knew he didn't have the 4, giving me the best hand barring pocket Aces. I bet out $15, the guy to my left called, the guy to my right folded. The river was an Ace, a very scary card. I checked, the player to my left bet $30. Had the Ace not come, I wouldv'e re-raised to $60 or $75 and probably wouldv'e gotten called. Instead, I simply called. He had pocket 8s so I won a decent sized pot but I couldv'e made $30 to $50 more on the hand.

Much later, I limped in with King Jack. The flop was 3-King-3. This kid bet out $5, I called. He bet $10 on the turn, a 4 and I called. He checked the river, a 5, and I checked. I shouldv'e bet out $10 or $15 because he would have called it. He actually told me after the hand that he wouldv'e re-raised very strongly had I bet. I'd like to think I'd be intelligent enough to call him. I possibly could have won $40 more on the hand. Perhaps more.

Near the end of my session, some guy raised to $7. I was in the small blind. There were about 4 callers and I figured the lady to my left was going to call. I had 5-2 of diamonds. I shouldv'e just pushed $6 more into the pot when I saw how large it was getting. I was getting about 6 to 1 on my money before the flop. The odds of hitting a flush with 2 suited cards is 15 to 1. I don't know what the odds of flopping a straight are, but they probably weren't better than 15 to 1. Still, I couldv'e flopped something and NO-ONE would be able to put me on 5-2. Furthermore, its pretty dam easy to fold 5-2 if it doesn't hit. I decided to fold. The flop was 3-4-6, which would have given me the 2nd best possible hand behind only 5-7. I wouldv'e checked in the dark before the flop. The kid in late position 2 seats to my right bet $20 on the flop trying to protect his 2 pair. This would have gotten raised to $40 by me, he would have moved all-in and barring an outdraw, I wouldv'e doubled up and won about $170 to $200 on the hand.

Had I played as well as I should have, I would have made about $250 instead of losing $180.

There is one cardinal rule to being a grinder: "Get your money in there when you have it, proetect it when you don't" - Rounders. I didn't do that last night. I will do it tonight.