Starting BR: $225
Ending BR: $257

I do spell check. Live with it.

A few tough beats and some lost coin flips is all it took to knock my profit down to $32 on the day. Some memorable times were had, such as me pushing all in with Ron Stanley-like accuracy with jack high against a slow played AA. I raised him with JACK HIGH! JACK HIGH!!

Anyway, here's the first hand I came across that I thought was worth talking about.

*********** # 4 **************
PokerStars Game #1374332581: Tournament #6196368, Hold'em No Limit - Level IV (50/100) - 2005/03/18 - 00:35:20 (ET)
Table '6196368 1' Seat #5 is the button
Seat 2: chopper333 (8420 in chips)
Seat 3: gostars56 (895 in chips)
Seat 4: BleedBlue44 (5360 in chips)
Seat 5: Chet_Gustoph (2490 in chips)
Seat 6: stanhoose (360 in chips)
Seat 7: kevpimp5 (480 in chips)
Seat 8: VDUB311 (4365 in chips)
Seat 9: rewc530 (4630 in chips)
stanhoose: posts small blind 50
kevpimp5: posts big blind 100

Sitting at second in chips, I've got 3 people that I don't really want to get involved with. But I do anyway.

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BleedBlue44 [Kc Kd]
VDUB311: folds
rewc530: raises 200 to 300
chopper333: folds
gostars56: folds

I get KK in late position, and face a raise from a slightly smaller stack. There are a few options from this point on. Calling is very weak, in my opinion, because I'm just giving hands like AJo a free look at the flop. I favor reraising. Cue 'vegas and the f'ing mirage' mentality.

BleedBlue44: raises 1300 to 1600
stanhoose said, "sick"
Chet_Gustoph: folds
stanhoose: calls 310 and is all-in
kevpimp5: calls 380 and is all-in
rewc530: raises 3030 to 4630 and is all-in

I overbet the hand because people are just as likely to pay you off at the $5 level with trash no matter what amount you bet.

There are a number of things running through my mind at this point. One, what have I gotten myself into? Two, I've got kings and three people in for all their money against me, why am I regretting it?

If I call, I have a great chance of having the best hand going in with two or more people having aces and drawing to 2 outs. Calling was very attractive initially to me because I had been pushing a lot of pots (as usual) and figured they would eventually take a stand. rewc could be trying to freeroll at eliminating the other two people in the hand with something like JJ, TT, or AQ. The thing that convinced me I wasn't up against aces was that he raised going in and didn't limp-push.

I also have a few good reasons to fold. For one, I have to call 3000 more and risk most of my tournament on one hand. Yes, I'm making money on that call if he's got AK or a smaller pair but how much easier is it to just sit and wait for the button to steal blinds 3 or more times in a row? I'm up against someone who could easily wreck my position if he were to hold aces.

BleedBlue44: calls 3030
*** FLOP *** [Qd 7d 7h]
*** TURN *** [Qd 7d 7h] [8d]
BleedBlue44 said, "****"

I settle on a call. You can see my reaction when I receive the grim news. In the end, I ignored my instincts and went for it. I figure in the long run, I make serious money picking off the slightly shorter stack in this situation when he has JJ or QQ. My hat's off to him for this play... he sucked me in completely.

*** RIVER *** [Qd 7d 7h 8d] [3d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
rewc530: shows [Ad Ah] (a flush, Ace high)
BleedBlue44: shows [Kc Kd] (a flush, King high)
rewc530 collected 8300 from side pot-2
kevpimp5: shows [4c 4d] (a flush, Queen high)
rewc530 collected 360 from side pot-1
stanhoose: shows [Tc Ks] (a pair of Sevens)
rewc530 collected 1440 from main pot


*shrugs* I survived and squeaked into the money, if I remember rightly. This reminds me of a line from Paul Phillips, " I ran into Ivey! What can you do."

PokerStars Game #1374887820: Tournament #6199728, Hold'em No Limit - Level IV (50/100) - 2005/03/18 - 03:11:36 (ET)
Table '6199728 1' Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: peteypirana (3449 in chips)
Seat 2: BleedBlue44 (1615 in chips)
Seat 3: hubble (1110 in chips)
Seat 5: aguilarpaul (3340 in chips)
Seat 7: AcidRain310 (3986 in chips)
BleedBlue44: posts small blind 50
hubble: posts big blind 100
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BleedBlue44 [4c 7c]
aguilarpaul: calls 100
AcidRain310: calls 100
peteypirana: calls 100
BleedBlue44: calls 50
hubble: checks

I get to see a cheap flop with sooooted cards.

*** FLOP *** [9c Kh Ac]
BleedBlue44: checks
hubble: checks
aguilarpaul: checks

I check to a very scary board. Obviously, I'm hoping it gets checked around, but hey...

AcidRain310: bets 100
peteypirana: folds
BleedBlue44: calls 100

Guy in late position bets out 100. It's a fairly easy call for me because the pot is laying me 6:1.

hubble: folds
aguilarpaul: raises 400 to 500

Oops. A check-raise in middle position.

AcidRain310: folds
BleedBlue44: calls 400

The bettor folds, and I call. The ace of clubs is on board, so I'm fairly sure that he's not getting cute with a king high flush draw. It's possible that he has KcQc, but I can't be scared of the monster under my bed. It's 400 to me and the pot is 1200, giving me exactly 3:1 on my call.

*** TURN *** [9c Kh Ac] [Ks]
BleedBlue44: checks
aguilarpaul: checks

Terrible card for me. Good thing he not only knows how to slow play, but fears it, too.

*** RIVER *** [9c Kh Ac Ks] [Jc]
BleedBlue44: bets 1015 and is all-in
aguilarpaul: calls 1015
*** SHOW DOWN ***
BleedBlue44: shows [4c 7c] (a flush, Ace high)
aguilarpaul: shows [9s As] (two pair, Aces and Kings)
BleedBlue44 collected 3630 from pot

The reason I posted this hand is because it demonstrates a very key part of my philosophy in these SNGs. I catch my flush and he pays me off with a very misguided call on the end. He gave me odds the entire way because of his slow play on the flop.

I think the most important thing anyone aspiring to do well at tournaments should know is that slow play is seldom rewarded and often punished. I can think of three or four hands in the last two days where someone flopped a monster, let me turn something stupid like a gutshot straight, then paid me off. There are certainly circumstances where you can let an overly aggressive player hang themselves, but the majority of the time, I see lesser players try to slow play sets against tight players. Do they think they're going to shift personalities this hand just because you turned your two ducks into a flock?

Don't try to be like Matt Damon. A large majority of the time, people you use slow play against will:
1) Pay you off anyway if you bet strongly (like AA vs KK, for example)
2) Draw out on you (a flopped two pair vs my 9T gutshot straight draw that got there for free)

Why not eliminate #2 from the equation and cut the slow play from your game?

Good post Strategy,

I usually only play cash games but I find you post very interesting and helpful also.

I find that I usually don't slowplay anything when I'm in late position or very rarely I find myself slowplaying trips from early/blind positions. At the local casino I play at, people will often pay you off no matter how you play your set anyways. So I completly agree with you that eliminating the #2 option of them drawing out on you is the best way to go. If they want to draw, make them pay for it right??? hehe

Thanks for the kind words. I get the feeling that in both live and online poker, the "serious" players who have read books and generally know to play tight poker are more inclined to slow play. It seems like maybe something people pick up from Rounders... that if you check, and they bet, you'll look as good as Johnny Chan.

Because of the way I fastplay a LOT of hands, I run into slow play pretty often. Gee, he checked it the instant the card hit, I wonder if it helped him. Oh boy, he raised my bet of 40 to 240... hmm... I can only imagine how strong his hand is...

As with a lot of things in poker, there's a time and a place for slow play. Just not usually in $5-$20 NLHE sit and gos.

I think for me, Running into slow-plays aren't have much of a problem because usually people have to have very good hand inorder to check/raise if I'm very aggressive throughout the hand.

I think following Brunson's way of thinking would be very helpful here also. If I keep pushing and picking up small pot after small pot. Soon enough I will accumulate enough chips to play a basic freeroll on the big pots that people slowplay on me right? Often enough, if I am betting with nothing at the time, it's an easy fold. If I have a marginal hand, it will depend if the opponent pushing back has been frustrated with me or what not. If I have a fairly strong hand, then I'll be inclined to make them play for all their chips.

I find that being the aggressor at the table, people will usually give you credit if they have little or nothing, but on hands that they should raise w/, they usually call only. It's only when they check/raise you, you need to look out for.

Anyways... I think we agree on the issue and I just want to expand my thoughts a little bit.

Simply put, people will give you credit in the lower levels unless 1) they're not good enough to lay a hand down period, or 2) you've given them a good reason not to. I always watch to see who calls big bets down to the showdown and can't beat a pair of aces.

Brunson's strategy is great. I'm perfectly fine with getting my money in with a 60-40 disadvantage if it doesn't jeopardize my position. I don't like getting involved when someone has been slow playing, but most of the time I've got enough chips committed by the time that I find out to make folding a mistake. If it's postflop and I've got no pair or draw, it's easy to let it go. You pretty much hit the nail on the head, though. The first sign of aggression from a typical player is your sign to get out of dodge.

Being the aggressor has one very nice positive to it. I've found that people will simply fold their small blind to me if it's passed around to them. They know I'm going to challenge them, and they don't really want to risk it unless they've got a great hand.

I have a little strategy I've worked out for dealing with other aggressive players like me. I am quite the jerk at the table. I pick fights and start grudges with them, because more often than not, they'll steam and make a misstep. Rarely do I say anything unless provoked verbally, but by the 3rd or 4th time I'm all in when they're in the big blind, they get the message. Don't mess with my table.

Anyway, I'm heading back off to work, but when I get off tonight I'm going to write an entire day's report on a heads up match, and heads up in general.

I completely agree that slowplaying is asking for trouble. Keep in mind I play the lowest limits on Stars, mainly Limit Hold 'Em, occasionally dabbling in Pot Limit Omaha. In the former, people will usually pay you off if you fastplay, and/or chase their draws way too far even if you fastplay. The latter, if you've never played it, is a game about having the nuts (Or a draw to the nuts), and so if I flop (Or turn) a monster, it's basically an automatic pot-size bet to protect my hand, force out the draws (Or try to), etc.

In a No Limit Hold 'Em environment, I tend to fastplay everything--raise for the same amount whether I have aces or 52o preflop, bet the flop regardless of whether I hit it or not, and so on. I will only slowplay if two conditions are met:
1. I've flopped an absolute monster, preferably the nuts
2. The board is ABSOLUTELY safe from draws
An example would be holding AQ and having an AA7 rainbow flop. No flush draws, no straight draws, and I'm likely paying off the two hands that beat me (AK, 77) regardless of my slowplaying it or not.

But besides that, I like to be the aggressor when at all possible.

I lack the testicular fortitude to play PLO. For some reason, I just don't like all the possibilities. PLO/8 doesn't bother me so much... which seems pretty illogical, doesn't it?

I dunno, I guess if Ted Lawson can do it, I can too.

That is a little weird. I tried PLO8, and quickly came to the conclusion that I lack the patience to become a winning player even at microlimits.

PLO, though, I think I have enough of a basic grasp on...I don't even try to win small pots, I basically sit at the $.01/$.02 tables and wait for a huge hand to try and double up on.