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Staying focused in a tournament can sometimes be a difficult chore. I usually have very good concentration and stay attentive to the task at hand. However, sometimes I falter and towards the end of the day. During a recent trip to Atlantic City, I found myself in a $120 tournament at The Tropicana with 88 other hopefuls.

Mid way through the tournament, I had Top Pair-Top Kicker on a Q86 rainbow flop. The guy to my immediate right bets. I would like to find out where I am, so I raise.

He pauses, and says, “One of us is going home”, then he pushes all-in.

I ask the dealer for a count because I want to see his reaction to my possible call. The guy flips over his cards and shows 66 (trips). I say “Good hand”, and muck my cards. He thought that I had called. I think to myself, “Thank you for not being focused.”

As fate would have it, later in that exact same tournament, I was in the BB. The blinds were T1000/T2000 with a T200 ante. I had T19,000 chips with 3 limpers. I peek down at:

I check my option.

Pot: T10,000

flop:

I see a flush draw and check without thinking. My plan is to check-raise all-in. The next guy bets T15,000. Seat 2 seat thinks and thinks. I show my hand to Donna. At that time I realize that I am open-ended on top of the flush draw. Shoot - I wish I had taken my time before I checked. If I had realized that I was open-ended as well as having a flush draw, I would have pushed all-in to begin with. Seat 2 finally goes all-in. The SB folds, and I have to push all my chips in. Seat 8 calls. We have a 3-way all-in.

seat 8 shows:

for the flopped straight.

Seat 2 shows

for 2 pair

I show my open-end straight + flush draw.

Turn:

River:

I lose to a full house. Had I had pushed all-in on the flop, Seat 8 surely would have either called, or even more likely, would have come over the top. Seat 2 might have got away from his 2-pair. I cost my self the pot and my tourney life by not being focused. What goes around, comes around.

If that were not enough, later that night, I was playing in a 2/5 nl cash game at Ballys with a $1000 buy-in. There were 4 players at the table who were very loose and pretty bad. Around 3am, I get involved in this hand:

There are 6 callers to me in the bb. I have:

This is the kind of hand that I like to play in the BB.

Pot: $70

The flop brings:

Wow! I flop the nuts with a backup flush draw and a gutshot straight-flush draw! I check to let somebody else lead out. Seat 8 (bad player) checks. Seat 10 (a good player) then goes all-in for $250. Everybody folds to me and I call. The dealer says, “Flip them up.”

I oblige and seat 10 shows

At that point, I realize that seat 8 (who was a real bad and loose player) was still in the hand. He meekly folds his cards while I realize that he was going to call. If I had paid attention, I would have won another $1000.

Bottom line: You MUST pay attention at all times. If you are tired and are having trouble staying focused, perhaps it is time to walk away from the table for awhile.

People like to take the path of least resistance, especially when money is involved. In poker, this translates to a person checking a draw. Afterall, why risk additional money on a hand that may or may not materialize? The answer is simple: Deception.

Some books say to bet your draws, some say to check and take a free card. Both strategies have legitimate reasoning behind them. Personally, I take a lot of mental notes when I play, and use my image to my advantage. Normally, I have a tight image. This means that people respect me when I bet, and think that I usually have the goods. If I bet, there is a reason. I like to play that image for awhile, then use it to my advantage. Consider this example from a 1/3 NL game where I felted my opponent (I will refrain from comments until after the hand is over):

I am in a mid position with:

There was a limper in an EP, so I limped, and so did six other people. There were 7 people who saw the flop.

Pot: $21

It is checked to me, I bet $20. Everybody folds except the guy to my immediate right, who calls. We are heads up.

Pot: $61

The turn is:

The guy to my right checks, I bet out $40. He raises to $115 ($75 more). I smooth call

River:

He bets $60.

I push all-in for $240. He is in agony, but finally calls. I show the nuts, and he shows pocket 66 for the bottom set on the flop.

The analysis on this hand is pretty straight-forward.

From a mid-position, I limped with a drawing hand. I flopped the nut-flush draw. Most people would check-call in this spot. However, check-calling is usually interpreted as a draw (which is more times than not - correct). The people at this table were smart enough to think about pot odds. They will all try to put you on a hand as well. This is where you must think on multiple levels. My thought process goes like this:

If I check and call, then my opponents will put me on a draw - probably the flush draw. If it hits, then I have less chance to get paid off.

If I bet, then people will give me less credit for the flush draw. If the flush hits, then I have a better chance of getting paid off. On times where I do bet, if I bet a little bit, people might see that as a “pot-sweetener” bet, and be less likely to pay me off with my flush. If I make a pot-sized bet, then they will think that I am trying to push out the flush-draws, and it is unlikely that they will put me on the flush if it hits.

These situations are where you have to put yourself in your opponents shoes and look at YOUR actions and how they come across. You should use these actions to manipulate the situation. I decided to make a strong pot-sized bet for deception - hoping to give the illusion that I was afraid of the flush draw. The turn gave me the flush.

My opponent checks to me, so I lead out again, but with a smaller bet - about 2/3 the size of the pot. I immediately get raised. What does this mean? The opponent probably had something on the flop - 2 pair, a set, or perhaps a flush-draw himself. The only 2-pair I can put him on is 86. A set of 8s or 6s are a reality, as is the flush draw. I have the nuts at the moment. The question is, do I raise right now and let the cat out of the bag, or do I play coy and smooth call? Raising big would let him know that I have the flush. He has about $200 more behind him, which I want to get into the pot. I doubt he would put it in at this point, so I just smooth call to make it look like I am afraid of the flush possibility.

The river is inconsequential. He leads out with a rather small bet of $60. A normal raise would be $180. Since I only have $240 total, an all-in push is correct. However, there is another reason why this push is even better. People will sometimes bluff all-in when they miss their draw. I push all-in and he goes into the tank. He even says, “I think you had a huge draw and missed it”. After about a minute, he calls, and I causally flip over the nuts. He shakes his head and says, “That was a very good smooth call on the turn. That is what committed me to the hand.”

The bottom line is that people will try to put you on a hand by your bets. While this is normally a good strategy, a smart player will use the situation to his or her advantage to manipulate the situation.

One of the things that separate good players from average players is the ability to fold strong hands when they know that they are beat. One great example is a player’s ability to fold pocket Queens preflop.

I have discussed this situation with many people. The players who I respect as decent players all say that they have never folded QQ preflop, but COULD if the situation warranted. Some people are on the other side of the fence - they I think I am nuts for even thinking about folding QQ preflop. If the situation dictates, I think it is an easy fold. Here is one example where I folded pocket Queens preflop.

Location: Harrah’s - Atlantic City

Game: 5/10 NL Cash Game

Buy-in: Min $500, Max $1000

My stack: $1800

General Observations: I was at Harrah’s to play in the WSOP Circuit Event. As people busted out of the tournament, they came to the poker room to play cash games. The level of play at the table was pretty good - to the tune where I only felt average, but not really outclassed. The play was fairly aggressive. There were preflop raises more times than not. Usually 2-4 people saw each flop.

On this particular hand, UTG makes a raise to $50, which has been the standard for this table. It was folded to me in the cutoff position. I look down at:

There are a few problems here. First, the raise came from the player who was UTG. Theoretically, he should have a pretty strong hand. I would hate to raise, only to isolate myself against a better hand. He could have AA, KK, AK, AQ, or JJ. I am really only happy against one of these four hands. Second, if I reraise, I still have three players behind me to act - namely the button and the two blinds. The button has been playing pretty tight, so I think he will fold unless he has a hand. If the button did pick up a hand, then I will have to play the rest of the hand out of position against him (and the button was a pretty strong player). All in all, I decide that I should see a flop and try to outmaneuver UTG post-flop. Unless an Ace or King hits, my plan is to raise whatever his bet is. I make the $50 call.

The button makes the call as well. This REALLY throws a monkey wrench into my plans. A very tight-solid player calling on the button. A positional call here is very well within his bag of tricks, but for $50, I have not seen him play a drawing hand - even in position. I have to give him credit for a fairly strong hand.

The Small Blind folds. I totally expect the Big Blind to call here because he does have 3:1 pot odds. Playing QQ against 4 players is not exactly my idea of fun. To my surprise, the Big Blinds makes it $340 to go.

Now, I am REALLY puzzled. Why would he not just simply make the call? If he does, then he is up against four players. I cannot imagine that he would make that play with something like TT or AK. I really think he is trying to either win the pot right here or protect a larger pair. The question is which is he trying to do?

UTG folds.

I sat there pondering my options. Calling here is pointless. If a rag flop comes, the Big Blind will lead out for all his chips, thus prolonging the decision.  Would I put my whole stack in the center with one pair after the flop?  Very doubtful. Should I push or fold? Usually, a second raise means Aces or Kings. In this case, the first raise was from UTG and then a second raise from a blind (which was strong, but not entirely an overbet). Also, I have to worry about the tight-solid player behind me. After much debating, I figure I must be against AA, KK, or AK. I really am not thrilled about any of them.

I show the pocket Queens to the player to my right and say, “I cannot see how I have the best hand here”, and I muck the Queens. He audibly gasped and asked how I could fold. He said that if he had that hand, all his chips would have been in the center. I replied that there are Aces or Kings out there. Best case scenario, I am against AK and would be a coinflip - but I did not want to wager $1800 on a coinflip right now.

The button thinks for a minute, then pushes all-in for $1000. The BB pauses, thinks, and says, “This is a terrible call, but there is too much money in the pot, so I call”.

The flop comes:

and I get a sinking feeling in my stomach. I did not get any comfort from the turn when I saw:

The river was:

The Button shows:

The BB says, “I am sorry, I got really lucky” and turns over:

for a set.

In this hand, I had the correct analysis - I was right about the Kings being out there. I never put the BB on pocket 88 though. After the hand, the BB said that he thought he could get pocket QQ to fold- to which I said, “You did - I had them”.

As the cruel poker gods usually demonstrate, I would have won a $4200 pot ($1000 from the Button, $1600 from my stack, and another $1600 from the BB) - however, it would have been a major suck-out. Looking at the overall hand, I had two outs against the pocket KK. This is NOT a bet I want to take on. I am good with my preflop fold of QQ here - and it was the right play.

A friend convinced me to play in a tournament the other week. This tournament was the “big one”. This place has weekly $60 tournaments, but the last Monday of every month, there is a $100 tournament. The “big one” attracted 15-20 players, and according to my friend, the skill level was pretty good. I have confidence in my ability, and I like to see how I compare to the competition, so off we went. I picked up my friend and we carpooled to the event.

We arrived and I was introduced to the people who run the tournament. They seemed nice enough. I paid my entry fee and soon the cards were in the air. This week, the “big one” attracted fifteen people. The first four places were paid with first getting $580 and fourth getting $172. Overall, this is pretty good, as 25% of the field was getting paid.

I was seated at table 2 seat 3. The first three levels lasted 30 minutes and we started with T9000 in chips. I played very carefully and of course, I scrutinized the competition like I always do. I quickly noticed that they were not really all that good. Nobody was totally lost, but I would classify my table as between loose-passive and tight-passive. There was no aggression at the table. Passive tables are a dream come true. It is relatively easy to figure out where you are at passive tables.

I found myself getting either trash hands or extremely good hands. I only had a couple of marginal hands like suited connectors. It was a roller coaster ride because I would win a large pot, then within a few hands, I would lose a large pot. I fluctuated between T5000 and T15,000 for quite awhile. After about 2 hours of playing, five people had busted out, and we had the final table. I do not know if this was considered good, seeing that 2/3 of the field made the final table. Regardless, I was there with about T12,000 chips.

At the final table, I had to size up some new players. There was definitely more aggression at this table, so I had to proceed with a little more caution. A lot of poker players forget to adjust to the new table texture when they are moved - but I try not to make that mistake. My first test came with blinds at 500/1000 with a 100 ante. A tight player in Mid Position raised to T3000. There was one caller. I look down at:

Big slick had been my demise this evening. I literally had it 6 times and I lost 5 of them (the one time I did not lose, I made a continuation bet on the flop and the enemy folded). I did not like Big Slick this evening. Nonetheless, I had to push. I had T9000 and pushed it all into the center. The original raiser called as did the guy in mid position. The flop came:

Cool - I flopped top pair + top kicker.

I do not remember what the turn and river were, but I know that my hand held up and I raked in a pot of about T29,000. Woo Hoo!

A short time later, I was up to T38,000 when this hand happened.

Blinds: 1000/2000 + 300 Ante

Players: 7 left, top 4 are paid

I am on the button

UTG calles T2000, as does a guy in Mid Position. I have:

I have the big blind, UTG, and the guy in Mid Position all covered. The Small Blind and I have similar stacks. UTG is a loose cannon. He will play anything. The guy in MP is a weak-tight player. I think the correct play here is to raise to drive out the blinds and try to get heads-up. Since there are two limpers, the raise needs to be at least T10,000 (three times the big blind + T2000 for each caller). This is a significant portion of my stack. I probably have the other two guys beat. If they have a hand the beats ATs, they would have raised. I am confident I can outplay them on the flop, so I elect to just call. The small blind folds and the Big Blind (my friend) checks his option.

The flop comes:

My friend in the Big Blinds pushes all-in for T8000. UTG calls and Mid position folds. This is an interesting problem. UTG has another T5000 behind him after the T8000 call. My first instinct was to call, but calling is usually the worst option you can make. So, should I fold or raise? My thought process was like this:

The pot now has about T27,000 (T11,000 preflop and T16,000 more after the all-in and call). It costs T8000 call. I have 9 outs to make the flush. But what the heck is he betting on with a flop like that, and more importantly, what the heck is UTG calling with? Certainly that flop should NOT have hit somebody UTG. If UTG has an overpair, wouldn’t he have pushed all-in on the flop? The only thing that makes sense is a smaller flush draw, or a pair + straight draw (64, 54, or 43). I am also unsure what the BB has. He would certainly push all-in with any pair on a board like this. If the BB happened to flop the straight, then he cannot possibly improve anymore (except for the remote possibility of a straight-flush), so I have 9 outs twice to beat him. He might also have a hand like a pair + a straight draw. In the case of the pair + straight draw, I have 6 additional outs. If I hit an Ace or a Ten, I have a winner as well. In the best case scenario, I have 15 outs, and in the worst case, I have 9. I am getting 3:1 on a 4:1 draw to hit on the next card, and 2:1 to hit by the river. If I miss the flush on the turn, and UTG goes all in for his remaining T5000, there would be T40,000 in the pot. I would be getting 8:1 odds on a 4:1 draw. So, as I see it, the chips are going in regardless. If I could possibly get UTG to fold, then I could save myself T5000 if I miss my draw and I lose the hand. Calling is way to weak in this situation. I push all-in and I hear a few gasps from the table. There is now T45,000 in the pot and UTG is getting 9:1 odds for anything he has. He MUST call, but to my surprise, he folds (a huge mistake on his part). This is exactly what I was hoping for! The BB shows:

For middle pair and a gutshot straight. I am in better shape than I thought. I have 15 outs. The turn is:

which completed my flush and sealed the win.

Most people would have only called in the spot with the nut flush draw. By analyzing the situation correctly, I was able to save myself a possible T5000 if my draw missed. Some people might argue that I could have eliminated two people by calling. Yes, this is true, but by having UTG fold, he left himself in a bad situation - with only T5000 chips and the tournament short-stack. I had over T50,000 in chips and it was only a matter of time until this guy busted out.