Did I misapply it?
Brick-and-mortar NLH Tourney ($120 buy in)
200+ players (three hours in about 60 players left)
1st - $8,000
2nd - $4,000
3rd - $2,000 etc. (18 places pay down to $180)
The ante/blinds have just jumped from 100/300-600 to 100/500-1,000. (go up every 20 min). I've been moved to a new table (8K in chips--in the three seat) where they have only seen me play premium hands and win the occaisional coinflip. In 20 minutes I have increased my stack to around 30K.
Ante/blinds increase to 200/800-1,600. I am the table chip leader (2nd table chip leader has about 18K (in the nine seat and seems resigned to just wait things out---overall avg. stack ~17K). The other players range from 3K to 8K and the table definitely has the feel of "Preflop Poker Time."
I decide to depart from the traditional approach and change gears to "prime the pump" instead. I'm two off the BB and look down to find AK. Now I know if someone goes all-in preflop I'm gonna call, so if I'm already prepared to put those chips in the pot, why not strike first and send a message?
I do just that and slide my 30K into the center. Folds around the table and I pick up the antes/blinds (4,400). The very next hand I'm UTG and pick up QQ. Again, I am prepared to call a preflop all-in but want to avoid a situation I've seen in the past...where there are multiple stacks pushing at the same time...once again, I decide to strike first and pound home my message to the table.
Folds around to the eight seat who sighs and says, "Now someone's got to stop this," and folds. Ah, my message has been well received.
Seat nine (18K) looks at his cards and his first instinct is to muck but hesistates and looks at his cards again. For the next 3+ minutes he goes into the tank. I put him on something like ATs or JJ or TT. Based on his past play and his body language he would have already been in with AA, KK, AK. So I know I'm good and even better than a coinflip. He's spoken in the past about how much he hates JJ, TT, and coinflip situations. I figure it is a matter of time before he folds. (No one calls a clock and have never put a clock on a player...would this be a time to do so and apply more "pressure"?)
Finally, he decides to call and the rest fold. Showdown time. I turn over my Queens and he looks sick. "Wow, I didn't put you on that good a hand." He sheepishly turns over AJs. Seat ten says, "I folded an ace."
If I win this pot, I'll be the overwhelming chip leader and have complete control of my table.
You all know what is coming. The flop came rags (no straight or flush draws) and one of the two remaining aces made a cameo appearance on the turn. Yes, I know I was superaggressive and yes, I know he got lucky. But any thoughts on the psychology of strike first with overwhelming force? (Hoyt Corkins uses this play but seems to overuse/misuse it.)
Again, I know all the "safe" plays but with the structure increasing so fast (and certain levels skipped), I wanted to maximize my chip stack (ironic, I know, considering the outcome) to have such an advantage, whereby to make the final table and dominate.