Lessons learned

The PCS Season 3 Championship was a learning experience - my 12th place finish was disappointing. I learned from Tim the value of isolating weaker players and bluffing at tight players regularly, even at low blind levels. "Every chip I get is one less that somebody else has." He ended up finishing second, even though he started with the 14th amount of chips.

There was a key hand, fairly early, where the Little Poker Voice told me, "Raise. See what he does when you put pressure on him." I hadn't played with Hacksaw in any of the previous tourneys. When he and I were in the same tourney, one of us busted out early, never playing at the same table. I learned later that he's a loose, bluffing player. That info would've helped me, and perhaps reigned in some of his aggression had I checkraised him and gotten him to fold the following hand.

I found pocket 9's UTG at a table of 8, with the blinds at $.50/$1. Somehow, I didn't like the idea of being reraised, so I limped in. Hacksaw raised to $4, and I was the only caller. Flop is A55, rainbow. I check, he bets $8, I fold. That was a pot-sized bet, but it made an alarm go off. It's a large bet at a safe flop, if he's got an ace-good kicker. I'd bet half that, holding AK.

But I folded, thinking "Don't I have to give him credit for having some sort of decent hand?" and "Damn, a checkraise would cost me 1/4 of my stack right now, and I'd hate to be wrong this early."

What a wimp. I need to ratchet up the aggression a little bit in places. I remember how well the check-raise bluff worked against super-aggressive Gabe. I need to assess my opponent better and strike back hard.

I can't take the tourney as a total loss. I did get aggressive in smart spots, even though the cards fell against me. And Jesus was in all three hands, screwing me up.

First notable hand, I had JJ in the BB, with Jesus UTG and Dallion in the SB. Jesus means well, but he's new to holdem. His inexperience is his biggest strength - people don't know how to read him, and he plays unpredictably. Dallion is loose, wild, and will make moves and steal blinds.

So after Jesus limps in, Dallion raised the $.50/$1 blinds to $4. I bumped it back to $9, eliciting a "You're gonna raise ME? Oh, I'm gonna play this hand". AND JESUS CALLED. I thought I had the best hand, as I'm pretty sure short-stacked Jesus would've pushed all-in with a better pocket pair than JJ. Does Jesus have ace-big, as he normally hates to fold?

Flop is K73. Ok, one overcard, and Dallion checked to me. My mistake here was checking. Truthfully, I feared AK or KQ from Jesus, but I really thought the flop missed Dallion. It turns out I was half right. In retrospect, Jesus would more likely limp with a suited connector or low pocket pair UTG. He would definitely raise AK there, and probably raise KQs.

Everyone checks. ("Damn damn damn. A healthy bet there, and the pot is mine. Wimp.")

Turn is an 8. Dallion bets $10, and I bump it to $20. Jesus folds. Dallion grabs his junk, shouts "Fuck it, time for some big balls. All-in" for his remaining $18. I'm priced into a call, and he flips over... 88. I gave the man a free card, and he came back from the dead with it. And he gave me so much credit, he thought I could possibly have a set of kings. How's that for table image? I'm sneaky with my monsters.

That cut my stack in half, to $45 or so. Then I got tight and my cards got crummy. Next big hand was 99 in the SB, and Dallion decides not to try to steal from the button, and it's the battle of the blinds. Me versus Jesus. I raise, Jesus reraises, and I go into the tank. I really think my Wayne Gretzy is best here, and I have Jesus covered, but just barely. I go all-in, and Jesus calls me with AKo.

The flop loves Jesus, two pair. Heck, I need a nine whether he has one pair or two. No luck, and I'm crippled. $6.75 with the blinds at $2/$4. Jesus was surprised I pushed with my nines. I'm not - I seem to love the coinflips where I've got the pair.

Next hand almost triples me up when my A5 offsuit spikes an ace. In the BB with $15.50, I wake up to two red kings. Awesome. Jesus limps in for $4, as does Dallion. (Did I play anybody else in this tourney? Oh that's right, everybody else was tight like prom night.)

Here's my debate. I see limpers, and I see money on the table, and I want doze chips. I decided (a little too quickly) not to get cute with my kings, and pushed all-in. They both called, and instantly I think "Sweet, $46 and I'm back in business."

However, they start talking about agreeing to check it to the river, which I think is poor sportsmanship. If you want to do that without the discussion, fine. PCS Director states that it's not against the rules. And really, even if it were, they're still gonna do it. Can't make them bet if they don't want to. So I lump it. And the flop is Q75, all hearts. Oooh. Overpair, second-best flush draw. Sure enough, they check all the way. Turn was a blank, and that king-nemesis shows up on the river... a black ace.

FUCK. I don't even need to see the cards. Dallion shows pocket 9's, and Jesus shows AJo. On the river, Dallion had two outs (nines), and Jesus had two outs (ace but not hearts).

There's always next season. I've played with just about everybody now - let's see how I adapt the knowledge in Season 4.