An Ever Changing Game

I watched the FTOPS main event for much of the evening last night and watched Lucko and Poker Gnome make a good run by making it into the money. Iak did well but was eliminated about 300 spots from the cash. The interesting thing I note from the event was the amount of post flop play. There wasn’t any for the most part as it was raise and fold action with many re-steals happening. There was much bad play from many of the players and some very good play from some. It was really a question of guts at the end as short stack tried to stay alive and big stacks played the bully as the final table got near. When the bubble finally burst I figured there would be a couple of quick eliminations coming from the short stacks but to my surprise the field evened out and the players jockeyed for position. This was the point that I could no longer stay awake so I went to bed. I have no idea how it ended.

I looked back on my run from Saturday night and realized I did have some luck along the way. I pushed with JJ and got called by AK. The flop showed a K but a J on the river kept me alive. This was short of the money but propelled me to a higher level. I also had a number of coin flips go my way at critical times against smaller stacks. These instances help the chip stack grow and keep you advancing toward the end.

In addition to the 4th place finish, I cashed in 3 other MTTs along the way. In each case I made lay downs of strong hands based on the betting patterns I faced. I’ve really begun to understand that TPTK isn’t always good. I’ve also made some adjustments to my game that includes giving value to my opponent in situations that may induce a call. This sets up the same play when I’ve missed the flop and turn but feel I can take it on the river. Many players will lay down a good hand if you give them a really good value late in a hand after calling there earlier bets. They smell a trap and get away from the hand. I’m finding this useful later in the tourneys when they are trying to gain a bigger payday by lasting longer. The key is having a good read on the player.

That’s it for now other then I’ve had 11 hours of sleep since 9 pm last Thursday. Jet lag is killing and I have meeting each of the next two nights. I will be playing the Mookie on Wednesday though.