The other day I was one of 277 players to enter a $1 multi-tournament. I entered chiefly for the practice - the prize package was an entry into another multi and some change for other places (13th would have paid $1.04). Within a couple of hands I could tell the texture of play was different from previous multis in which I'd participated. It seemed somewhat devoid of the reckless play you normally see in the early stages of a low or free buy-in tourney. In fact, players were busting out at a slower rate than I'm used to seeing in these types of tourneys. That's not to say it didn't have some players who suffered from FPS (Fancy Play Syndrome).
One in particular was a character at my table who was aggressive and, it was ultimately revealed, reckless. To top it off, he also possessed a foolishly arrogant and childish attitude. He attempted to pass himself off a a superior player and wasn't above criticizing other players, as well. Eleven hands into the game, I received a pair of pocket queens and a few players limped in before me, including Mr. Expert. I raised it up somewhere between 3 - 4 times the big blinds. I believe one of the limpers called and then Mr. Expert pushed all in. I thought for about 2.5 seconds and then called, the others in the hand folded. Another queen came on the board and I took the pot leaving Mr. Expert with about 102 chips. Then the following conversation ensued:
Mr. Expert: terrible call
Mr. Expert: i represented aces
AntMaudie: You have to be joking
Mr. Expert: its tough playing against mediocre players
Nauticard: lol
Mr. Expert: i am used to players who would make that laydown
Mr. Expert: queens...unbelievable
Mr. Expert: what a disgrace
Nauticard: Ant, that was a bad call....?
Mr. Expert bluffed all-in with a four and, I believe, a two. He went on to make an impressive comeback with some legitimate hands and all-in steals, and luck, espousing his superiority in the chat box. What he said nibbled away at me, though, just enough to irritate me like a mild rash. I rethought my call on his all-in and concluded that I would make that call every time given the information I had going into the hand. There was no raise pre-flop, therefore when he pushed, I put him on big over cards or a medium pocket pair. I felt I had the best hand preflop and made my decision accordingly. His push did not tell me he had Aces. If he'd intended to bluff the pot and wanted to represent Aces, he shouldn't have limped pre-flop, n'est pas?
Our table broke up a little before the break and I decided to dog him. I found the table to where he had gone and watched it while I played. Like clockwork he attempted the same maneuver and made the same comments when it didn't work. He then became derisive and made some insulting comments regarding the size of a certain male body part and insulted the person's wife. I watched, gleefully as he was busted out and I typed in his table's chat window "Ciao, baby!" - I know, tacky, but I couldn't resist. Oh dear. He found me at my table and insulted the size of certain of my female body parts, which, to me, really wasn't an insult. He told the table to be aware of me... I said nary a word. I just continued to play some good poker.
I made it past the first break and eventually built my stack into five figures. A first for me. I upped the aggression factor and made some well-timed steals. It didn't hurt to be getting some good cards, too. My post-flop play was better - fairly straitfoward. I avoided FPS for the most part, but if I sensed any weakness, I exploited it and that got me some good pots.
Then we were down to two tables. I tried not to get ahead of myself by entertaining thoughts like, "This could be it, I might have a real chance here." Instead I concentrated on each hand. The blinds were beginning to take their toll and I was at the bottom tier of the chip leaders. I felt I needed to gain some in order to make it to the final table. I didn't want to squeak in - I wanted to get there with a good margin, if I could.
I made a move when I was dealt pocket fours. I came in with a raise and was re-raised by a guy to my left. I called. The flop brought a pair of sixes, I bet and he raised. Well, I was committed, like it or not. I pushed all-in and he called. He had kings and I didn't receive a miracle four and was out in eighteenth place.
Hindsight: I should have respected his re-raise pre-flop which was telling me he had a big pocket pair. If I'd folded my fours pre-flop, I would have remained in a good position to improve my chip standing. Instead, I overplayed the hand due to over eagerness and misplaced aggression. Now some of you may be thinking, why, if this hand were to played over again given this analysis, why would I respect this guy's re-raise and not Mr. Expert's re-raise all-in? Well, if I'd have had pocket fours in the hand against Mr. Expert. I would have folded pre-flop. And if I'd have had pocket queens in the last hand, I would probably have played it exactly as I did, maybe even pushing all-in preflop. Additionally, the pocket kings didn't limp in, he re-raised my raise pre-flop - a whole different set of information than in the first hand. I maintain I made no mistake in the first hand, based on the circumstances of the hand and I made a big mistake on the second hand for all the reasons stated.
Talk amongst yourselves.
Post script: Bad Maudie, bad bad girl... had good long session at 2/4 today. Played a 5+1 Limit tourney, went out early, played a 20+1 Sit-n-go went out on the bubble... went back to 2/4 to get my buy-ins back and dropped $93 - most of it to a maniac who called all my re-raises and caps all the way to the river to spike her miracle flush card....The good news is I've managed to save a bundle on my car insurance with Geico...
