Re-raise Fold (cash)

LAYDOWN

When I face a re-raise with a marginal hand, I almost always fold. However, this hand is an example why it's not always a correct play.

Two Hands to Make a Loss (cash)

BAD BEAT

In the first hand, I was actually a 40% dog on the flop even though I had the best hand at the moment. However, I became a 57% favorite on the turn, but the river was not good to me.

The second hand was just bad luck. There was no way I was folding on the flop. I began wondering if I should have just moved-in pre-flop when I saw my opponent's hand.

Made Flush on Turn, Lost Flush on River

BAD BEAT/GOOD BEAT

I was a 45% dog on the flop, but definitely getting pretty good odds for a call. I decided to push it in on the flop to get heads-up and then made a flush on the turn. I was an 84% favorite on the turn but Lady Luck wasn't nice to me on the river.

Slowplay Death (tourney)

BAD BEAT

Looking back on it, I should have check-raised on the flop. However, I wanted to milk as much money out of the pot since it was just a limped pot. I took my chances and ended up losing the whole thing because the cards my opponents needed came through for them.

Folding Kings (cash)

LAYDOWN

It's usually very hard for me to let go of kings against just one player, but when I'm facing multiple players and one of them raises, it's not as hard. I had a feeling the raiser had a big hand, so it wasn't too difficult to let go of my kings. Besides, the pot wasn't that large so even if I made a mistake, I wouldn't feel so bad.

Domination River Frustration (tourney)

BAD BEAT

Another big stack beat on the river. He was a 14% underdog and part of that percentage is a possible tie. Why always the big stack that gives out these beats?

Your Raise Gets Re-raised (tourney)

QUIZ

You're already in the money, but second and first place sure pays out a lot nicer than third. You flop top pair and check-raise. The button re-raises you. What do you do?

Re-raise, Call or Fold? (tourney)

QUIZ

You are battling to get into the money. Four places are paid and there are five players still left. You call a raise while you are on the button. A pair of jacks flop along with a four. You are heads-up and the pre-flop raiser bets pot which is about half your stack. He has more chips than you do. What do you do?



Here's what I did:



My feeling was that my opponent would not make a small raise if he had a better pocket pair than I did. Although I was a little worried about him having a jack, I doubted he would bet. Most players slow-play flopped sets. I felt the only hand that he could actually have that could beat me were pocket tens. I didn't think he had pocket fours since he would slow-play that as well. Rather than just calling, I decided to push it all-in since I didn't have enough chips left to fold on the turn or river anyway. Did you make the correct play?

Best Hand Finishes First (tourney)

GOOD BEAT

These hands had me ahead pre-flop, but the flops weren't very good for me. Still, they managed to squeak out a win in the end.

Ups, Downs and Middles (tourney)

BAD BEAT/GOOD BEAT/LAYDOWN

These hands are all from the same tournament. It shows you just how manic a tourney can be. You'll have ups and downs and laydowns, but as long as your last hand is an up, you'll be fine.

I Crack Aces With a Pair of Twos (tourney)

GOOD BEAT

This hand catapulted me into the money and helped me finish in the top 25. Interestingly, I was just a 20% dog against these two players.

Bubble Bust (tourney)

BAD BEAT

Although the case jack got me on this hand as an 80% favorite on the flop and turn, it didn't feel so bad because it could have gone much worse. Had I just called the all-in bet rather than moving all-in, I may have gotten the big stack to fold on the flop. If that had happened, I would have lost against the other short-stack and may have been the bubble boy. Instead, I lost the hand, but beat-out the other short-stack since I had more chips pre-flop.

Suck Out Straight on the River (tourney)

BAD BEAT

I decided to move all-in with JTs since the blinds were getting very large and I felt I needed to gamble. I knew that anyone who called would have a better hand than me, but I thought the gamble was worth it. And even though I was an 82% favorite on the turn, and even though I improved my hand on the river, my opponent improved even more besting me with a straight.

Tricky Turn Bet (cash)

BAD BEAT

I suspected my opponent was on a draw or hit a low pair. My check on the turn was to confuse him into thinking I didn't have anything. Instead, he confused me by betting. I was a little worried he could have a straight since he limped in. I had a feeling I was in trouble on the river but I couldn't fold and his bet was just right.

Heads-up Runner Runner Beat (tourney)

BAD BEAT

In this tourney, I had a lot of luck picking up big pocket pairs like kings and aces and flopping sets. It didn't seem too hard to get heads-up. In this final hand, I didn't realize I flopped two pair and just thought I lost on the river. I also didn't realize I was a 96% favorite on the flop.

Aces Cracked But Loss Minimized (tourney)

BAD BEAT

My opponent flopped two pair, but either because of the texture of the board or because he was planning a check-raise, he checked called the flop and checked all the way to the river. I wanted to bet on the river but felt there was enough in the pot to just check it down. Also, I felt that my opponent would not call a bet on the river if he had a strong hand. Instead, he would probably raise me. Finally, even though I didn't think he was on a draw, the board was dangerous enough to induce me to check.

In the end I got my revenge when I picked-up another pair of aces against the same opponent. But winning is never easy as my opponent flopped a nut flush draw.

Not Just Two Outs (tourney)

BAD BEAT

I thought my opponent had only two outs when he called against my pair of kings. However, he also had a backdoor flush possibility which increased his chances of winning on the turn to 13%. He didn't need the flush though because he turned a set when one of his jacks came up. The frustrating thing is that winning this hand would have helped me survive when I made the final table. Instead, I came in 9th.

Was Bottom Pair Good Enough? (tourney)

BLUFF

I don't know what my opponent had, but this move felt like a bluff to me. I thought his bet on the turn with about 25% of his chips meant he had at least 2nd pair, but he could have had a flush draw or bottom pair or even a pair in the hole. Whatever the case may be, this hand turned the match around and gave me enough of a lead to gamble and get lucky on the last hand.

Super Rush (tourney)

GOOD BEAT

When you're lucky, you're lucky. It's easy to win a tourney when you're this lucky and these hands show just how lucky I was, although the last hand probably symbolizes it best.

Big Stack Domination (tourney)

GOOD BEAT

More often than not, I see big stacks giving bad beats to players with smaller stacks. They can have almost anything and deal a blow that makes you scratch your head. So when I won this hand, I was shocked. I was dominated and up against the big stack, so how could I win? Well, I realized later that I had the worst hand as a 2-to-1 underdog. It's supposed to be set-up the other way and that's why I probably won.