Sink Or Swim

At the moment, it looks like at least the ship that is my tournament Challenge has stopped the slow roll to capsized. I'm still quite stung by the big slide I took, but at least the results over the last few days have given me the confidence to know that I haven't completely lost my mind.

After a little study and reference, I see that I am making many poor betting decisions, frequently underbetting when I do bet. My hand selection is still decent (note I don't say it's "good", because I've made some dumb moves when they weren't necessary), but when I don't pay as much attention to position as I should be, I pay the price frequently. With T800 and the blind structure of the Party Sit and Go, you just can't afford to make those stupid little mistakes. Early on, if you make the wrong decision, and if you've been betting like you should, you'll find yourself below T600, and that basically means you're no longer going to get respect. While this is a Good Thing if you end up with a monster hand, this is rarely the case. A steal attempt when you're a short stack rarely works since people see the blood in the water and are inclined to call, or worse, bully you around. So, you're resigned to wait in the wings and hope that enough folks go away before the blinds get to 50/100 that your all-in gets 1 or fewer callers. Rough indeed.

Of course, a 3BB raise in the first level has you putting out T45. Most $10+$1 level drones don't have the brainpower to realize this as a 3BB raise, but rather as a T45 raise (and thus, clearly to them, a weak raise).

I have noticed that, as of late, the $10+$1 sit and goes are very, VERY tight. Frequently there will be 7 people left when we get to the 50/100 blind area. Today, I was in one where there was 7 people left at the 150/300 level. Unreal. I actually figured I was dead late in this tourney. I get A6o in the small blind. Button throws out the obligatory 2xBB steal-raise and I call it. BB, the short stack, calls, and the flop comes with a 6 and two over cards (I'm at work, can't check for sure). Something like 69K. Anyway, button throws out a min bet. I call it, BB shoves. I'm contemplating my move when button goes over the top all-in. He's got a pretty healthy stack, and I'm down to my last T145. I sigh a quiet "fuck it" and shove with my pair of 6's. BB had A8o and Button had something like QJo. Remarkably, the turn and river miss everyone and I triple up! Better lucky then good, I guess.

Okay, so for today the results were:

$10+$1 - 3rd - +$9
$10+$1 - 4th - -$11
$10+$1 - 2nd - +$19

Total = +$17

A positive number is indeed good. The 2nd place finish was ultra-frustrating, as I had the other guy covered almost 6 to 1 in chips. What's worse, he was playing really passive, but I picked the wrong time to make a move on him and he clobbered me with a big pocket pair that made us even. A drought of cards and it was all over but the crying. Oh well.