Texas Hold'em is a very easy game when you are running well. It can be the most frustrating game in the world when you are running bad. The times when your big pairs don't hold up, and you can never seem to hit your draws; even when you have 21 outs. Those days can make you feel horrible and make you want to quit the game all together. However, when you are running well, you feel like you just can't miss. That's what I have been going through the last 25 games. I've made some dumb plays that have cost me tournaments, but I feel that for the situation, it was the right play to make. There were several tournaments in which I just could not buy a hand, or win a hand. But it seemed like the very next tournament, I just couldn't miss a hand.
In the last 25 tournaments, I have cashed in 14 of them. I won 5 times and took second 6 times. That's an overall ROI of just over 60%. Not too bad. The best thing about these tournaments, is that it really showed me some leaks in my game. I'm by no means the best player. However, I try to learn something new every time I play. Whether it's not protecting my hand against draws, or not playing position well. The biggest lesson I learned is to not overvalue a marginal hand. There were a couple of tournaments, where I was the initial raiser. Somebody would come over the top of me and I would push back with a marginal hand. I'm not saying that I'll fold to a re-raise, but there were situations where it was obvious that I didn't have the best hand and still called.
Of course during these tournaments, I ran into some really horrible players. I showed you one of them in a previous post and even showed you his data. Well, here's the king of them all. He is the front runner for my DOY (donkey of the year) award. Just to give you a sample hand. I was in the big blind with Q6 off. Early position player limps and a late position player limps, as well as the DOY in the small blind. I know that a raise would probably win it for me before the flop, but I know that I can definitely out play them on the flop. So I decide to check it down. 
Sure enough I hit gin. The flop comes Q-9-6 rainbow. The small blind checks, and if you've been reading my blog, you know that I am a very aggressive player. At the same time, I love to play small ball and try to get maximum value for my hands. Especially because at the lower limits, players are more apt to make big mistakes and call with very weak hands. If you bet too much, you will drive them out of the pot. If you bet too little, you are giving them the right odds to call with their draws. However, if you control the pot odds and make calling a mistake (pot odds wise) then you are getting the best of it. There's 240 in the pot, so I bet out 170. The turn brings a J of hearts. There's now 580 in the pot. He checks, and I fire 400 into the pot. Now he check-raises all-in. I go into the tank for a minute. He has me covered, but I know he's bluffing. It's still early in the tournament, and I would have chips to play if he hit a miracle inside straight. However, in a tournament, you can't just fold every time someone puts pressure on you. I thought about the risk versus reward ratio and it was just too high. If I double up with the blinds small, it would give me more leverage to out play the table. Long story short, I called and he showed down J8 off. He pushed with one card to come WITH AN INSIDE STRAIGHT DRAW. The river was a 10 and I was gone. Sometimes, that's all you can do. Get your money in with the best of it. I had him drawing to 4-10's and 2-J's. He was about 12% in the hand.
Sure enough I hit gin. The flop comes Q-9-6 rainbow. The small blind checks, and if you've been reading my blog, you know that I am a very aggressive player. At the same time, I love to play small ball and try to get maximum value for my hands. Especially because at the lower limits, players are more apt to make big mistakes and call with very weak hands. If you bet too much, you will drive them out of the pot. If you bet too little, you are giving them the right odds to call with their draws. However, if you control the pot odds and make calling a mistake (pot odds wise) then you are getting the best of it. There's 240 in the pot, so I bet out 170. The turn brings a J of hearts. There's now 580 in the pot. He checks, and I fire 400 into the pot. Now he check-raises all-in. I go into the tank for a minute. He has me covered, but I know he's bluffing. It's still early in the tournament, and I would have chips to play if he hit a miracle inside straight. However, in a tournament, you can't just fold every time someone puts pressure on you. I thought about the risk versus reward ratio and it was just too high. If I double up with the blinds small, it would give me more leverage to out play the table. Long story short, I called and he showed down J8 off. He pushed with one card to come WITH AN INSIDE STRAIGHT DRAW. The river was a 10 and I was gone. Sometimes, that's all you can do. Get your money in with the best of it. I had him drawing to 4-10's and 2-J's. He was about 12% in the hand.If you can find someone worse, let me know. :)
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