Sunday, January 18, 2009

V: A Bridge Too Far

Starting balance: $239.25

Well, my little rush came crashing to an end. Tried two more SNGs last night, neither of which went well.

First, a $5 NLHE, 9 seated. I raise 4xBB with KQos and get reraised by the shortstack. The guy is loose and I am figuring him for a steal, so I call. He shows JJ, which is not great but not horrible, except the flop makes it a set of J's and I am left with a shade under 400 chips. Oops. I am busted out shortly thereafter when my TT get cracked by AK.

Rather than heeding the cues that Fate was giving me, I sign up for a $10 NLHE SNG, also nine seated. One lesson learned is that, despite my earlier claims, perhaps 5xBB is an overraise; I got AA one off UTG, raised 5XBB (only to 100, as blinds were still at 10/20) and they all folded to a man. I couldn't figure out that game how to get paid with good cards, which I was getting for a change. Finally, I get busted out calling an all-in with KQc on a 2-club flop (again, with a hefty pre-flop raise); his play earlier made me pretty sure that I had the better hand, and indeed he shows 52c. No club comes, however, but a 2 does, and that's me on the rail.

Time to breathe deep, regroup, and work the low-stakes SNG while I still have a bankroll to work with.

Ending balance: $222.75

1 comment:

  1. That last hand is just brutal. You had him so dominated.

    But with regards to the AA, I will either small-raise (3x BB?) or just call in early position. Reason being, you actually WANT callers (but not more than 1 or 2).

    With the call, I am hoping someone raises, and then I will either come over-the-top or bet aggressively post-flop. At that point the AA is virtually invisible, so it can make for a big payday...as long as there aren't a bunch of callers! (In which case I may have screwed myself, and have to be prepared to let the hand go if other players are aggressive post-flop).

    With a hand like AA, I would rather take the 70% chance of winning a lot than the 95% chance of stealing the blinds (and getting nothing else). I tend to save the big raises for something like a A-J or 10-10. But that's just moi.

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