Am I a Donkey

I really love playing poker. I don't consider myself very good at it yet though. I have been playing for a couple years now almost all online free sites. I really wanted to gain a comfort level before playing with my own money. I did play small stakes on pay sites prior to black friday but I feel I have come a long way since then. I do realize there is a huge difference between playing with real money vs fake money.

Last weekend I finally took the big plunge. I played in two seperate live tournaments at the Santa Fe. The first one I did ok, I finished 10th out of 40. I was the chip leader until the blinds got real big and I took two bad beats in a row.

The second one was only 20 people, all old white guys, and everyone knew everyone except me. I was card dead for 2.5 hours, no pairs , no high cards, nothing. I was getting down to under 5k left and the blinds were 600/1200. I had Ace, 5 of hearts and I was the small blind. Everyone folded to me so I called the big blind. The flop came 2 hearts and nothing. The bb bet several thousand and I figured do or die so I went all in. He showed pocket queens and when he saw what I had he wasn't too concerned. The river came up with the 5th heart and I beat him with the nut flush.

He started cussin and swearin and bitchin about that G.D. river and just acted like I was a total donkey. I said sorry but I didn't have much choice and left it alone.

So was that a donkey play on my part?

No. The way I see it, it might not have been a good play in a regular game, but it was a good play for that situation in a tournament style game.

I think you did the right thing on giving a small explanation and letting it go. The reality is that you played unpredictably, and he didn't like it. Awww. Next.

Thanks Mosca, those were my thoughts going into the hand. This isn't how I would play in a cash game but in this tournament at this point in time my back is against the wall.

Wait a sec....

Pre-flop you called your small blind discount, and he slow played his big pair, and he's claiming YOU are the donkey?

If he had raised pre-flop, THEN I can see his point, although I wouldn't blame you for calling then either.

But by letting you see the flop cheap, and giving you the big draw that you had, he's the donkey.

Thlf,

In a word. No.

However I think your decision to just call preflop was the questionable play. I think a raise is a much better bet with any ace, your good more times than your bad against a random hand, Ok he had QQ this time, but you nail him 80-90% of the time.
I tend to play a tight aggressive style these days and its working better than my old nit style.
If the big blind is checking with QQ he is the donkey. If he had re-raised you, its an easy fold.

I always raise if I am the first person to show interest in a pot, and I re-raise about 75% of the time if someone else has raised before me and I still want to play. The cards have little or no effect on my action. If I am first in, I am raising with JT or AA or 22. If I am playing after a raise I am re-raising with similar hand ranges. This way I give no info away about the strength of my hand. This means 25% of the time I will flat call with AA or A5 (or any other hand) if I feel the need to get involved in the pot. I randomly determine the 25% by looking at the suit on my first card, if its a heart I just call, anything else I am raising.

As for blinding down, you need to work on this. There should never really be a reason to blind yourself out. Use your tight image if you have been card dead to steal some pots, do it from the button or cut off so you dont get caught by someone with a monster in late position, and if you get caught stealing, make it look like a tough fold, or almost call. By almost call I mean count out the chips, ask the dealer to spread the pot, ask the other player how many chips he/she has. Make him/her think they are lucky that you folded this time, they will be less likely to try and bluff you later.

Try making moves against players with medium chip stacks rather than short stacks and people who you can barely see behind their chips. These people are more likely to call light.

Next time someone behaves like this, ask them what cards they wanted you to have. He was happy to see A5 on the flop, he cant bitch if it bites him on the ass. You could of flopped all sorts of hands if he didnt re-raise preflop. I would then try and get into as many pots as possible with this player.

Tilting the old white guys is half the fun. Well done.

Thanks DJ I really thought he played it wrong when I saw what he had.

Wiz of Eng.
I know at this point I am very tight and these are things I have to learn. Keep in mind this was my second time live ever. I do play much more aggressive on line free but so does everyone else so it's tough to learn. I am going to keep going back probably once a week to continue learning and try to get better. It only costs me $50 for this tournament and it is run everyday so it won't be too costly of lessons.

Don't say anything in those situations. Just give the sign that you want people to think is your 'tell'. A half smile, pulling the brim of your cap down, twirling your golden locks of naturally curly hair, etc. Then next time, when you do have a powerhouse hand, you flash your 'tell' and they'll think you're bluffing.

I played in a tournament at the Imperial Palace where one guy's 'tell' was to actually tell everyone that he was bluffing.

I wish I had a poker room nearby that I could play one tournament a week like that. Sigh. Instead, I play in a poker league, several nights each week.



Do a Google search for poker leagues in your area.

Some are better than others. It's a great way to learn, and ask questions. To keep things legal, they can't charge to participate, just ask you to patronize the venue.

Although you can't win money, you'll be spending far less than $50...

Quote: DJTeddyBear

I wish I had a poker room nearby that I could play one tournament a week like that. Sigh. Instead, I play in a poker league, several nights each week.



Do a Google search for poker leagues in your area.

Some are better than others. It's a great way to learn, and ask questions. To keep things legal, they can't charge to participate, just ask you to patronize the venue.

Although you can't win money, you'll be spending far less than $50...

I looked into the poker league's around here and the drawbacks are: too far from my house, I am in the Northwest, and usually only play on weeknights 6pm or later. I don't like going out on week nights, and I work very early in the morning so definitely not out late on a week night. The casino's I can find tournaments usually any day of the week, and both evenings and afternoons. Believe me it is a lot cheaper for me to go sit in at a tournament for $50 than to actually sit at a casino for the same amount of time and play VP.