Saturday, June 10, 2006

Bad blinds steal push

I went bust on a bad play in a three table sit n' go.

It was a three table tournament. There were around 11 people left. Not quite the final table. It was two tables with 5-6 people each. That made it tough because the blinds were coming around fast.

I was playing OK I think, at least not wasting chips. I didn't have much cards to work with. I was in last place with just under 7 BB left. I had been in push/fold mode for a while due to my short stack. I'd been all preflop in a few times and nobody had called yet.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t200 (5 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from http://www.flopturnriver.com

MP (t3435)
Button (t3565)
SB (t3580)
halpgr (t1375)
UTG (t1460)

Preflop: halpgr is BB with 6h, 5d.
3 folds,
SB completes,
halpgr raises to t1375,
SB calls t1175.

--> Opponent limped into the BB. I tried to steal by moving all in with a garbage hand 65. He paused for a moment then called.

Flop: (t2750) [Kc 4h Ad] (2 players)

Turn: (t2750) [Kc 4h Ad] [2c] (2 players)

River: (t2750) [Kc 4h Ad 2c] [Kh] (2 players)

Final Pot: t2750

Showdown:
halpgr has 6h 5d (one pair, kings).
SB has 7s Ac (two pair, aces and kings).
Outcome: SB wins t2750.

He made a good call with A7, and won the hand easily.

I should have just checked to see the flop for free and only pushed if the flop was favorable.

I think this was a bad spot to push all in preflop. With still about 7 BB left, I could wait to push better hands like any Ace, a pocket pair, or two face cards. I think the blinds steal push is a valid play, but I should have waited until I was down to 3-4 BB to try it.

I've now gone bust on bad plays in 2 of the 3 low stakes sng. I wasn't likely to finish in the money anyway on either of the sng where I messed up. Still I have to play better to be successful at sng.

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