The Usual Business

Well, the last week has proved a frustrating one. I played in three or four Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo Tournaments and cashed in precisely zero, including a bust-out on the bubble just last night. I played a few satellites for Party’s new Sunday Million Tournament; final tabled a couple, but again, ended up with nothing.

I just haven’t been on the ball lately. I’ve made some errors that have probably cost me money finishes (of course, poker is a game where you can be rewarded by your errors – massive errors of judgement combined with a ridiculous luck can reap heady rewards). But anyway, I’ve been making the sort of errors that provide a hearty kick to the groin, and nothing more.

I played in a live freeroll tournament for a trip to Vegas. My sights were firmly set on the WSOP (of course) should I have been lucky enough to win. Again, I was not focussed. I found it difficult to concentrate on my table the way I normally do, and found myself in the dark a lot as to where my opponents were in a hand. Admittedly, I did not hit any hands the entire tournament. I had three pocket pairs during the 5 hours I played (7s, 9s and Ts). But, even given this, I think I could have made a better run had I been sufficiently focused.

Anyway, after a player found it impossible to fold to me with A3 on a board of AQJT9, I doubled up (holding a K - this was the one hand I did hit during the course of the day's play) and managed to grind my way to the final two tables. The blinds were a ridiculous 4000/8000 and my meagre stack of 19000 was obviously going to have to acquire some reinforcements post-haste. With 15 people left I found T9s in early position and pushed.

Some context: after reading a few articles by some noted online players about short stack play, I’ve come to the conclusion that pushing with small and medium suited connectors is not a bad short-stacked play. The reasoning being that – should you be called – it will more than likely be by two big cards. Which means, at the least, your hand will not be dominated. This is one of the many reasons I prefer suited connectors over such horror hands as Ace-rag or King-rag.

So I pushed with T9s and was called by the chip leader, who was holding AK (the chip leader who, by the way, got there by getting back-to-back Pocket Aces a few hands earlier and being paid off both times). Obviously I don’t want a call here – but I am not terribly unhappy with being called by a hand like that in a spot such as this. My hand is 41% here or slightly better than a 3 to 2 dog. I’m pushing 19000 to win 31000 more (the caller’s 19000 + 12000 in blinds) or 1.6 – 1 on my money. Which – according to my possibly incorrect calculations - makes this a marginal to good situation for me in the long term. Anyway – he called and I lost the hand. But that isn’t really the point. The point is that the push was right, and in this context a push with the T9s was significantly better than going in with an A4 or K8.

Anyway, it appears that still not going to Vegas as yet. I have another second-stage WSOP Freeroll on Sunday. I’ll report on my groin-smacking there in due course.