Kat's Tourney, Slowing Down and Having Lunch With a Pro

Tournament #15387473, Katitude's Poker Night
Password: martini
Date: Friday, March 30
Where: Full Tilt Poker
Time: 9:00 EST
Buyin: $10+ $1
Game: NLHE

You must play this on Friday if you have a chance. From what I hear, Kat is having a birthday on that day so I’m sure it will be a good time.

Yesterday JJ posted about slow playing during sections of a HORSE tourney to get by a section, such as stud, to reduce your –ev during that orbit. I thought about this a little bit and like to throw my thoughts out there.

Now one of the context that he was using was to wait out a shorter stack so that they will be all-in near the money bubble. This type of thing happens all the time and though it slows the game down I think that it would be stupid for a short stack to ignore the use of the time bank. But when the bubble breaks I think the shorty should return to normal playing standards until the next bubble line. This is frustrating but a good strategy for the bubble dwellers.

Another idea that was brought up was slowing down in HORSE when there is a game that you don’t play or understand well. Actually, if you don’t understand the game then you shouldn’t be playing but what if you are deep in a tourney and near a final table. Is it ok to slow down during limit hold’em because you are a great stud player? Well it could be a +ev action. If you reduce the number of hands you see at a game you don’t play well then it has to improve your chances. Now I don’t agree with letting your time bank run out but I think it is OK to give each hand a thoughtful look. Even if I have no intention of playing a hand I think it’s ok to take 5 or 10 seconds to make a decision.

There are drawbacks to taking longer. The blinds start to increase to a level that playing the game becomes more luck then skill. A good player wants more hands to be played while the novice wants to push any small edge for all of there chips. Hell the novice just wants to push because they know they can’t beat the better player. So slow playing a weaker game may be a negative depending how far in the tourney you stand. Playing a game like stud hard can win uncontested pots and build your stack. And the average skill level of a hold’em player is higher then the average stud player. Increasing your play at the least skilled games is a positive if you have any skills at all.

So I guess I think it’s ok to slow down at times but learning the games that you struggle with is a better option.



Yesterday I went to my buddy’s restaurant for lunch. This nothing new because I’m over there a couple of times a week. Anyway, the extremely tall guy walks in and I’m thinking he looks familiar. After a few minutes I realize it is former Cubs pitcher Dave Otto. He is currently doing a show on tv so I’m sure I recognized his face but what made me sure was his voice. Cool stuff. He has been coming there for a long time and my buddy, a Cubs fan, never realized it.

I didn’t call attention to the fact because most of these guys, though friendly, are out having lunch with friends and don’t want to be disturbed. I mean, if you were having lunch with a buddy and A-Rod came up and interrupted your meal you’d be pissed.

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I played the $26 token frenzy last night and lucked my way into a token. At one point the blinds were climbing and I looked at my 1K chip stack and I pushed with 107. I had not played a hand in forever and was just trying to steal the blinds. I get called by the button who held 44 but I win the race when I hit a 4 flush. One play starts to give me crap for the move but I don't see the point. How good is 44 in this situation. For the most part the only hands that he is clearly ahead is 22 and 33. It just so happened that my coin flip came in. The best part was this move gave my opponents the chance to pay me off with my good hands. Later I catch AK and get called down by K10 and when I caught AA and re-raised a big stack he pushed with K10 and I doubled again. At one point I had Gcox25 at my table and I saw Buddydank and Garth in the field.

I played a couple of MTTs but didn't do well. I went out in the middle of the field in HORSE and RAZZ and made the decision to play one more NLH tourney. I was completely card dead but kept my stack near starting level with some steals. With the blinds getting to the 100/200 level I get AQ in the BB and push over the top of a cutoff raise. He insta calls with KJ for 1/3 of his stack and hits a jack to send me home.

I played one sng after that and cashed to end the evening at even.

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I'm working on a post about focus that I hope will be ready tomorrow so stayed tuned.