All hands shown actually took place. To limit your experience, use the following search words--
BAD BEAT: when Lady Luck wasn't there for me.
GOOD BEAT: when Lady Luck was on my side.
DEFINITION: examples that define a poker term.
BAD PLAY: an error made during a hand.
LAYDOWN: folding a possibly beaten hand.
QUIZ: test yourself
A simple example of a continuation bet in position. The bluff works because of my opponents position and his low chip count. My tight image combined with my position also adds to the story I'm telling.
Playing marginally good hands in early position can get you in trouble. Other than having to make tough decisions the whole way through, your opponents can also catch or already have great hands that could get you in trouble.
I had been watching my opponent and noticed he was making some bad plays. When we got into a hand together, my hunch was that he didn't have an ace in this hand. Most players check when they flop trips so when he bet out, I thought the best he could have was an eight. But then I began to worry when he fired out again on the turn. I went with my read and called. I also decided that no matter what hit the river, I would call. Sometimes, you have to go with your gut and make the decision you think is right.
I think I made a bad check on the turn. I should have been more aggressive and put my opponent to the test. I just worried that if he had a weak flush, my bet would be meaningless since he would simply call me. However, I think I allowed him to get his flush and I had to lay down my straight.
I like mixing it up and I don't think a raise on the button with suited connectors is a bad thing as long as you don't do it that often. My mistake was on the turn when my opponent bet a dollar into the pot. At the time, I was feeling a little frustrated because my pocket aces were cracked a few hands earlier. I was playing timid, fearful of losing my stack. What I should have done was raise on the turn and make my opponent risk his stack to make his flush. Instead, I ended up letting him draw to a flush that I wrongly hoped would give me the best hand.
I had one of those feelings that I was in trouble with this hand. With another player acting behind me, and a bet from early position, I figured I was likely behind and folded.
Even though I had this player dominated, I got the short-end of the stick. A better play is to come into the pot with a raise. Perhaps the player would have folded. However, if you decide to limp, understand that you could go down with a random hand.
I thought I'd change things up and slow play on the small blind. I now think it's not a good idea to slow play out of position pre-flop. If you decide to do it, be ready to fold even top pair when your opponent bets aggressively. Remember, limped pots are dangerous because anyone could have anything.
I didn't think my opponent had a flush draw, but even if he did, I figured I still had some outs. Besides, he was all-in anyway and there really wasn't that much left to call. Although the bet on the turn looks like a bluff, he actually had a straight-flush draw, so I don't blame him for moving-in. At that point, he had a 1 in 3 chance of winning.
I'm beginning to think that my brother may be right about big stacks getting lucky against smaller stacks. I couldn't ask for much more and I still ended up with a bad beat.
At first, I thought I made a decent play moving all-in and taking a risk with a coin-flip. However, since the tournament was a sit and go that paid the top four players, I think I made a mistake. I should have just raised instead of moving all-in since the blinds weren't so large that I needed to move-in. I could have simply raised three times the big blind and still have over 4,000 chips if I folded.
On the other hand, had I won the hand, I would have been strongly in first place and been in the money. Had I won, I probably would not have regretted my decision.
