5 In A Row

I won our home game, for the fifth time in a row. That is a new record, not only for myself, but for our game. Pretty good start to the year. Three tournaments, three wins in 2008. So, over the past 7 tournaments, I've won 5 and cashed in 6.

The tournament went well tonight. I continued to play aggressive, small ball poker. I have found that this is by far the best strategy you can use. Make smaller raises and play position whenever possible. Trust your reads and always stay observant on what your opponents are doing. When you think that your opponents' have caught on to how your playing, switch gears and throw them a curve ball. That's basic poker strategy. That's what has worked for me, and that is exactly how I will continue to play.

There were some pretty key hands that came up tonight. There were several hands, in which I had a big pair, and put in a standard raise. Got called in a couple of spots, and didn't really get much from them. Later, while the rebuy period was still active, I had pocket 2's in the small blind. A tight player limped in middle position. I knew he probably had two big cards and I was ahead. But I wasn't going to get crazy, so I limped as well. I know that if I spike a set, I can get paid off in a big way. The big blind checks and the flop comes Q-10-2, with two hearts. I watch the player to my left, and I know that they are aggressive and like to make a lot of bets. I check, and sure enough she fires out 2000. The tight player just calls, so I figure he probably has a hand like KJ, maybe the nut flush draw. So I check-raise to 8500. Both call. The turn brings a 4 of HEARTS, at which point I go all-in. I did this for a couple of reasons. I represented a big hand, and checking on the turn is an obvious sign of weakness. If I get called by someone who turned a flush, I have outs to a better hand. I can still hit the case 2, or three of each card on the board. 10 outs is not a bad position. Long story short, the tight player turned over KJ of HEARTS and folded. I couldn't believe he folded that hand. If I was in his position, I don't think I could have folded.

As the tournament went on, I continued to buy blinds and steal pots from time to time. My chip stack was up and down, and I never really saw any big hands. I raised from the button with 64 suited to steal the blinds, and flopped a straight. The big blind bet out, I raised, and they folded. I kept trying to build my stack while doing two things. One, stay under the radar and keep my table image intact. That way players don't think I'm playing too loose, and start to call me down or make moves at me. I see a lot of players willing to fire and fire at pot after pot. You want players to respect your bets and your raises. When they respect your play, it makes it easier to steal blinds. When your image gets destroyed, you have to tighten up and wait to rebuild your image. Second, play small ball and keep the decisions as easy as possible. Poker can be agonizing when you have to make tough decision, after tough decision. However, when it's a clear cut decision as to whether you should; call, raise, or fold, poker can be very easy.

That being said, the end of the tournament went pretty quickly. We lost a player when they pushed (as a short stack) with AJ and got called by KK from the small blind. That took us to four handed. Later, I was on the button and raised with 67 suited, to try and steal the blinds. I had a pretty tight image, but not NIT tight. I got called by both blinds, and the flop came 10-8-5 rainbow. Pretty good flop for my hand. The small blind checked, and the big blind bet 8500. I knew the big blind had a 10, however, there were a couple of things in my favor. One, I showed strength before the flop, and a call would not go along with that story. If I just call, he'll put me on two big cards or a big ace. If I don't hit my draw, I've pissed away 8500 from my somewhat short stack. Second, I have an open end straight draw. Against what I think he has, I'm a 2:1 dog. I have 8 outs at the straight and if I pair a 6 or 7 on the turn, I'll have even more outs. However, I figure that a re-raise should win me the pot right here. So I push all-in for another 22,500. The small blind comes back over the top and goes all-in. I wasn't going to get upset or groan, I just looked at her and said, "Well, I guess it's time to get there." She turned over pocket Kings. Sure enough, a 4 hit the river and made me one of the big stacks. I feel that she played the hand badly for a couple of reasons. First, by taking Kings up against two opponents, there are a lot of flops in which you can be outdrawn. Second, she tried to slowplay the hand, and was up against bet and raise. Yes, she has pocket kings, but she only has a PAIR OF KINGS. She could have very easily been up against two pair, or a set. You also have to remember that I was the pre-flop raiser. If I have Aces, she is in bad shape. When it goes, bet and raise, there aren't many hands that she could be up against that she is beating or is not marginally ahead of. Of course, up against my hand she was a favorite. But it comes down to the action in front of her. She was eliminated on the next hand and we were now 3 handed.

I took Jesse out when I had K4 in the small blind. I limped he checked it down. The flop was blank, and it went check, check. A 4 hit the turn, and I made a small bet, and got called. Another 4 hit the river and I led out again. I bet 2000 on the turn, and 4000 on the river. He raised me to 12,000. I went all-in and he called. He had 64, and I had K4. Heads up was pretty short, and I'm thankful to say that I won. Let's see if we can make it 6 in a row.