Poker Forum > General Discussion

Was this bad play?

(1/8) > >>

CrizzyConnor:
I"ll give you some background on myself first of all. I"m pretty new to poker. I only started playing after coincidently being in Las Vegas at the time of the World Series Main Event this summer and ended a couple of my nights there watching re-runs of the 2004 and 2005 World Series on ESPN. I got home watched a lot more poker, searched the net read up on poker then took the plunge and started playing online.

Now I wouldn"t consider myself a great player at all, I lost around £450 in my first 3 months trying to learn the game. I put in A LOT of hours though and was hooked, addicted even, still am. Anyway around September I started throwing together a few results and went on a streak of easily coming 1st or 2nd in $10 & $20 SNGs, then i"d move up a step and lose it all or put it stupidly into MTT"s. Anyway I"ve still got the -£450ish hanging over my head but I just chalk that down to experience and maybe one day I"ll win it back.

Anyway onto the matter at hand. Now bear in mind, I don"t profess to be a great player whilst reading. I"m asking because I can"t see what I did wrong:

Last night I was playing in a $10 buy in MTT with around 1500 runners. Now I played what I think was the best poker in my life, was winning a lot of pots without showdown and only had one time where I got lucky and was told I "sucked out" - I put someone who was low in chips all in when I had an open ended straight draw with turn and river still to come, I hit.

So I was deep into the tournament with about 160ish runners left and I cant recall for sure but I think the blinds were 400 & 800. So the small blind only had around $1000 left and had to go all in. There was one caller directly before me (he and I where the big stacks at the table with around the mid-20Ks in chips) who just called the big blind...

I was dealt  kc  tc and I raised the bet to 2400
the button folded and small blind (as I thought) went all in. BB folded and went back to the guy directly before me who called my raise.

The flop comes with all low cards. I was thinking to myself that the side pot was bigger than the main pot so if I forced the guy beside me to fold I would claim that even though I hadn"t hit and be up in chips. So I bet two thirds the pot and like I thought he folded. Cards were shown and the small blind had missed too. We both missed the whole board and I won the main pot and side pot with King high.

Then I was given abuse and called a donkey by the guy I made fold. The abuse really got to me and I know I shouldn"t have let it but it affected my play and I ended up going out in around 100th place. I kept thinking over and questioning if what I did was bad play or not.

Now in my mind I was thinking for sure I had lost when the flop came but was going to take a shot at stealing the side pot and I in my mind thought this was good play, to gain chips without cards. I would"ve folded if he raised me or called then bet the next round. I was just taking a stab at it and thought I was playing well.

Sorry for the length of this monster but it"s been really bothering me ever since and made me really angry. It threw my game and my anger saw me going from being in the top 15 stacks out of 160 players (and in my mind a good chance to win it) to going out around 100th place. I still think what I done was the correct thing. I just hope some of you might"ve made it down this far and could offer me some of your opinions.

Was my play wrong and if so, why? Or was I just up against a sore loser?

lukybugur:
Your play was not a bad one but it does address a variation of an unwritten rule of Poker Etiquette that your abuser obviously believes strongly in.

Many will say that, with one player with his tournament life on the line, unless you have a bet-worthy holding at any time (top pair even), it should be checked down. Many ignore and disagree with this though and see the pot in the same way as you - worthy of stealing! Ultimately, you"re in it to win it and you should not feel bad for the play you made. Your big mistake here was allowing "feeling bad" afterwards to ruin your game!

It"s not necessarily the play I would have made and it"s not something I"d tell you is right or wrong as I witness both happening so often. It tends to be against aggressive beginners and in the lower stakes games that this happens most. And it has to be expected ...

cem211:
This is and has always been a tough subject, but is, I believe, one everyone must resolve for themselves.

I think that in this particular situation you made the correct play simply because of the size of the side pot. As the side pot was of such a size that you were going to be profitable by simply winning it and not necessarily the main pot.

The Abuser is of the belief that you jeopardised knocking a player out simply for your own gain, but he obviously wasn"t holding much either and would presumably have hit on the turn or river. However, this isn"t a "dead pot" and as such I would not passivly check it down and leave my self open to the second oponent catching on fourth or fifth street.

As it happens, you won both pots and the all in player was eliminated, so the Abuser hasnt got much of a gripe other than he got outplayed. Other people may disagree with me and this is only my opinion, but one I"ll stick by if it means that my chipstack will increase.

nosey-p:
First of all there is no right or wrong way of playing poker just opinions. Personally I would not be in the pot in the first place. MTT is all about survival, entering a pot when the chip leader as already entered, with a medium hand is a no no for me unless you have a premium hand (AA, KK, AK, AQs). However after the flop you played it write, you need to see if he had the goods, but like I said I would not have been in the pot in the first place.

Early on in MTT I turn the chat box off so I don't get distracted or put on tilt. I turn it back on in the later stages as normally the players that are left or more understanding of the game.
     
Wayne

HaworthBantam:

--- Quote from: lukybugur on December 28, 2007, 09:15:05 AM ---
Your play was not a bad one but it does address a variation of an unwritten rule of Poker Etiquette that your abuser obviously believes strongly in.

Many will say that, with one player with his tournament life on the line, unless you have a bet-worthy holding at any time (top pair even), it should be checked down. Many ignore and disagree with this though and see the pot in the same way as you - worthy of stealing! Ultimately, you"re in it to win it and you should not feel bad for the play you made. Your big mistake here was allowing "feeling bad" afterwards to ruin your game!

--- End quote ---


I too am a player who tends to follow this unwritten rule, tending to also conveniently forget the ethics that could easily be called into question when colluding in this way with another player.

At the stage of the game, however, that you found yourself at, I would say that there was nothing wrong with your play - even with my dodgy ethics !

I only see this kind of play being advantageous at the later stages of a tournament when the money jumps are significant.


--- Quote from: lukybugur on December 28, 2007, 09:15:05 AM ---
Your big mistake here was allowing "feeling bad" afterwards to ruin your game!

--- End quote ---


Spot on Neil.

When you sit down at a table, leave emotion at the door. The player dishing out the abuse should also remember this.

Just my 2p worth.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page