Back...
I almost went to rehab. Rehab being the sunday pool party at the hard rock. Lots of stories to tell but no time right now to tell them.
Slept all day yesterday after traveling overnight and being incapable of sleeping on planes with my 6'9 225 chiseled granite frame. Woke up today and headed to the new tournament at Harrahs. Not a bad deal.
I discovered after the first round everyone, perhaps used to the old 1 rebuy, was tight at my table, I had to change gears. Course knowing you have to play loose and getting a steady diet of 8-2, Q-2 (seems to be the two hands I've most been getting the last six months) are hard to do. Still, I bought a couple of flops with a preflop raises and large continuation bets when my opponents betrayed their hands when I had crap. The few hands the dealer dealt me I'd get beat to the pot with raises, reraises, and big calls. Laid down AJ to AK. Laid down pair of JJs after a board of 1075 brought a 10 on the turn. Lady called me preflop, and a big bet postflop. She showed me pocket 7s when I check-folded. So can't say I was making any bad plays. Still, a frustrating tournament.
The hand that knocked me out was AK one off the button with (50-200-400) me having 1600 left. Folded around. I pushed. Lunchbox to my left raises on the button. Small blind calls for the rest of his chips (got me outchipped). I show the guys to my right AK and assure them I'm already beat. Dealer figures out the pots, and tells everybody to turn them over. I show AK, small blind shows 10s, dipshit holds em tight. Flop is dealt. Table is telling him to turn them over. He's looking at his hand with disappointment (K hit the flop). Guys to my right say, "You got 'em." I'm suspicious. Table urges him to turn over his hand again. He pump fakes and dealer throws out a brick. Finally the chorus wins also the hand was over and he shows his rockets.
I went from thinking I was beat, to hoping he had queens, back to thinking I was beat (with his bad acting job) to just disappointed when I was beat. Funny thing is, that guy couldn't even slowroll right. He's just being a dick.
Correct slowroll (imo--not that any slowroll is the right play but the one I can understand when somebody else does it): you are playing a guy that is stressing you all day. He's just being a dick to the table and catching lucky cards. You trap him or make a sweet call when his money gets into the pot. Because he's a dick when he shows... you hesistate and reveal the nuts. What's the difference? A. Opponent is a dick (I just got to that table--no way for him to know if I am a dick). B. You outplayed the guy (not that you got aces when two small stacks got AK and 1010 so you did nothing but catch your 2oosomething to one hand). Slowrolling when you don't outplay somebody is just revealing they got unlucky. "Oooh, variance beat you... Look at these pretty cards..." Course lunchbox didn't even play them right.
I get aces with a short stack already all in, and I'm on the button. I'm hoping to get action from one of the blinds. I'll take the best hand in the deck and smooth call. That situation you'll win 50% of the possible outcomes--you are player A, all-in is player B, somebody calls you player C (neither of the blinds had worrisome chips, even more reason to smooth call and he'd probably been fine with both of them calling but for D to call he's got to have a couple of specific hands): so you finish first (1) ABC and (2) ACB (you win full value). You finish 2nd (3) BAC (you still win value), you finish 2nd CAB (4) or 3rd (5,6) you lose at most all of player C's chips (still can get away from the hand post flop, turn and river so not necessarily all). Still, your hand strength makes situation 1,2, and 3 far more likely than 3,4, or 5 so it's much more than 50%. You play your aces to get paid off (preaching to the choir here) so trying to isolate me is just dumb. I could argue the small blind call with a hand like 10s is pretty dumb too (wasn't getting close enough to 4 to 1 make up for the good chance one of us has an overpair) but he didn't slow roll me.
So in conclusion, I get slowrolled by a guy who not only got lucky to get Aces but was too dumb to play them right in his situation. If somebody thinks an isolation bet in that situation is the correct play to induce a call from the blinds (making them think you have what a big Ace or medium pair to small pair) is a good play, I totally disagree. You are far more likely to get called by bad hands by smoothcalling instead of raising (here you are tipping off your hand is at least good enough you want to protect it). This play, might induce a specific hand like 10, 10 to call but it eliminates far more hands which have to fold to your possible lower holdings. So he merely got lucky the dude got 10s AND that he overplayed them.
Slept all day yesterday after traveling overnight and being incapable of sleeping on planes with my 6'9 225 chiseled granite frame. Woke up today and headed to the new tournament at Harrahs. Not a bad deal.
I discovered after the first round everyone, perhaps used to the old 1 rebuy, was tight at my table, I had to change gears. Course knowing you have to play loose and getting a steady diet of 8-2, Q-2 (seems to be the two hands I've most been getting the last six months) are hard to do. Still, I bought a couple of flops with a preflop raises and large continuation bets when my opponents betrayed their hands when I had crap. The few hands the dealer dealt me I'd get beat to the pot with raises, reraises, and big calls. Laid down AJ to AK. Laid down pair of JJs after a board of 1075 brought a 10 on the turn. Lady called me preflop, and a big bet postflop. She showed me pocket 7s when I check-folded. So can't say I was making any bad plays. Still, a frustrating tournament.
The hand that knocked me out was AK one off the button with (50-200-400) me having 1600 left. Folded around. I pushed. Lunchbox to my left raises on the button. Small blind calls for the rest of his chips (got me outchipped). I show the guys to my right AK and assure them I'm already beat. Dealer figures out the pots, and tells everybody to turn them over. I show AK, small blind shows 10s, dipshit holds em tight. Flop is dealt. Table is telling him to turn them over. He's looking at his hand with disappointment (K hit the flop). Guys to my right say, "You got 'em." I'm suspicious. Table urges him to turn over his hand again. He pump fakes and dealer throws out a brick. Finally the chorus wins also the hand was over and he shows his rockets.
I went from thinking I was beat, to hoping he had queens, back to thinking I was beat (with his bad acting job) to just disappointed when I was beat. Funny thing is, that guy couldn't even slowroll right. He's just being a dick.
Correct slowroll (imo--not that any slowroll is the right play but the one I can understand when somebody else does it): you are playing a guy that is stressing you all day. He's just being a dick to the table and catching lucky cards. You trap him or make a sweet call when his money gets into the pot. Because he's a dick when he shows... you hesistate and reveal the nuts. What's the difference? A. Opponent is a dick (I just got to that table--no way for him to know if I am a dick). B. You outplayed the guy (not that you got aces when two small stacks got AK and 1010 so you did nothing but catch your 2oosomething to one hand). Slowrolling when you don't outplay somebody is just revealing they got unlucky. "Oooh, variance beat you... Look at these pretty cards..." Course lunchbox didn't even play them right.
I get aces with a short stack already all in, and I'm on the button. I'm hoping to get action from one of the blinds. I'll take the best hand in the deck and smooth call. That situation you'll win 50% of the possible outcomes--you are player A, all-in is player B, somebody calls you player C (neither of the blinds had worrisome chips, even more reason to smooth call and he'd probably been fine with both of them calling but for D to call he's got to have a couple of specific hands): so you finish first (1) ABC and (2) ACB (you win full value). You finish 2nd (3) BAC (you still win value), you finish 2nd CAB (4) or 3rd (5,6) you lose at most all of player C's chips (still can get away from the hand post flop, turn and river so not necessarily all). Still, your hand strength makes situation 1,2, and 3 far more likely than 3,4, or 5 so it's much more than 50%. You play your aces to get paid off (preaching to the choir here) so trying to isolate me is just dumb. I could argue the small blind call with a hand like 10s is pretty dumb too (wasn't getting close enough to 4 to 1 make up for the good chance one of us has an overpair) but he didn't slow roll me.
So in conclusion, I get slowrolled by a guy who not only got lucky to get Aces but was too dumb to play them right in his situation. If somebody thinks an isolation bet in that situation is the correct play to induce a call from the blinds (making them think you have what a big Ace or medium pair to small pair) is a good play, I totally disagree. You are far more likely to get called by bad hands by smoothcalling instead of raising (here you are tipping off your hand is at least good enough you want to protect it). This play, might induce a specific hand like 10, 10 to call but it eliminates far more hands which have to fold to your possible lower holdings. So he merely got lucky the dude got 10s AND that he overplayed them.
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