♠ Wednesday, March 24, 2004
The Damned Bubble!
Since several people were sweating me, I'd better do a quick post of how the qualifier tourney I just was in, ended up going.
First of all, I did really well. If this were a $10+1 cash tournament I'd have won somewhere around $80. But it wasn't, it was a qualifier; and of the 399 contestants only 6 won seats into next month's Million Dollar Tournament on PartyPoker.
At about the point where people started going to bed, I had a stack of around T$25,000, right about average, with 16 or 18 people left. I don't remember what I did to get me to T$38,000, but I was there for a while, too. But I made two mistakes, and they cost me a win.
In the first mistake, I had A7o in the big blind (T$1000). It folded around to the small blind, who made it T$5000. I wasn't sure what he had, but it smelled to me like a steal, and so I made it T$15,000. He went all-in then, and since he had me covered I would have to have gone all-in to call. I folded. After the fact, I think I probably shouldn't have reraised, but called his bet and taken a flop. Who knows what he would have done after the flop; that's a different topic. However, if I did go for the resteal, I should have been prepared to go all-in. He may not have had a damned thing. On the other hand, he might have had 44 or something which I had a legitimate shot against. In any case, I was pot-committed, and at that point, I should have called.
In the second mistake, a few hands later, I was down to T$13,000 or T$15,000 after the first mistake, one of the game's shorter stacks, and the blinds have just gone to T$1000/T$2000. A player one or two seats off the big blind goes all-in, or nearly so. I fold AJo, planning to "pick my spot." Yes, I would have liked to open all-in with my hand, but truly this was the best shot I had at doubling up, and I should have called. Folding just let me go around a few more hands, until I went all-in with Q9o. A♥Q♥ called, and I was dominated and out of the tournament.
Freaking thirteenth! I played well, got good cards, and I don't manage a finish any better, as far as payout, than I would have if I'd gone out first.
