I've really got to stop doing this. Only recently have I been on the PKR forum going on about how rubbish the shortstack strategy is and there I was, at The Empire this evening sitting there with a piddly stack, doing exactly what I said was no good!
Anyway, as I mentioned in my last post, I was a bit cross with the online poker thing tonight as I STILL have yet to receive a rakeback payment. As such, I trundled off into town on the bus to visit my old haunts. I popped into The Fox first but with the list at 4 players long for a cash game, no one budging from their seat, no sign of a new table opening AND with the temperature of the room being quite warm, I left for The Empire. Straight away I got a seat and plonked down a scared looking £135; rubbish. I donked off around £50 fairly quickly and it was clear I'd picked up a loose passive table image early doors. Shortly after I got dealt QQ and used my image well to get paid an ok amount and to get my stack back up to £140. Shortly after this came the key hand:
Key Hand
Mr Confident Loosie Goosie Man raises £16 from early position. (He's done this a fair few times so...whatever.) Mr Tightpants in middle-position who's never played a single hand flat calls. In the cut-off I look down at 10 10. Ok, this has to be a classic raise or fold situation right? With Mr CLGM raising a very high percentage of the time and Mr Tightpants ONLY calling, and not raising, I figure my 10 10 is strong against their AJ-AK or their 22-99 range and I DEFINITELY aint calling to set-mine or for them to go and outdraw me. I really don't wanna fold my 10 10 either while on a shortstack so with £35 in the pot and surely some fold equity flying around I chucked in my entire £140!
Get this! Mr Big Blind Shortstack puts in his entire £60 (that's ok but might make a call more likely from the other villains), Mr CLGM thinks for a bit before calling my £140 (not good), and Mr Tightpants, after thinking for an age, decides to make the call as well (wtf)! Hmm, heads-up would have been all right but a 4-way pot was really not what I wanted. The flop comes A x x and I'm pretty sure that's gonna send me home. They check. The turn comes a seven. They check. The river comes a seven. They check. Mr BBS shows 66, Mr CLGM announces two pair but doesn't show, Mr Tightpants flips over AK for the winning hand (two pair; aces and sevens ) and scoops in a large pot in the region of £500. I calmly put my cards face down in the muck and take my leave. £135 down.
In retrospect, I have mixed feelings about how I played the hand. A £50 or £60 raise (instead of an all-in) may have been the better move as it may have signified a stronger hand and may even have got people to fold. (Although this is unlikely as I was playing many hands - and it is The Empire after all.) In this case, if I still had the three callers I would have been able to get away from the hand when the ace fell and saved myself 80 or 90 quid. (A daft concilation is that I would still have lost even if I held JJ, QQ or KK.) Still, whatever the correct play, I think that playing with this type of stack just puts me in a reckless gambling mood which is really not a state I want to be in. But at least it is has taught me a few lessons:
Lesson 1: Avoid playing live poker with a stack less than 50% of the maximum and aim to go for as close to a 100% stack as possible. Never gamble because of shortstack restrictions ever again.
Lesson 2: Think carefully before playing live poker in mid-week. Players tend to be stronger and plenty of sleep to be fresh for work the next day is absolutely vital.
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