Nines, Suck...

10/24/08

Nines, Suck...

On the heels of a successful past couple of days of poker,
Yesterday, I went back to Caesar's to play some some cash
and enter their 7pm NLHE tournament.

Today was not a good day in my poker life. Things could
have been worse. I could have been shot in the poker room,
but today, that did not happen to happen, lol...I had to
settle for losing some of the capital.

I started at a $1/3 No Limit Holdem table and cashed in
for $300.00. I play for approximately 2 uneventful hours,
where I lost about half of my starting stack. Most of it
went in the pot, when I doubled up another guy when we
both hit three Sevens on the board and I had a lower
kicker. He had paired his kicker on the river. Why did
I play Nine/Seven of Spades? Well, I was on the dealer
button after 2 other players limped in. The hand could
be a good hand when it hits the board pretty hard. The
flop was dealt out with two Sevens and a Jack. The small
blind and big blind players checked. The middle position
player bet out $10.00 bucks into a $15.00.00 pot. The
cutoff player folded, I called and the other players
behind me folded. The turn card came an Ace. There
was no flush draw and a harmless straight draw with the
Ace and Jack on the board. The middle position player
then bet out $35.00 bucks (he had about $65.00 bucks left
behind). I put him on a two pair of Jacks and Sevens.
I really didn't think he could have the other Seven.
I reraised him all in and he immediately called. He
flipped up Queen/Seven OS - damn, he did have the other
Seven. The river paired his Queen for a full house.

Again, why did I play that cooler hand....?

I played a little bit longer and entered the 7 pm NLHE
tournament. The buy in was for $200.00 bucks and had
similar blind structures to the other Caesar's poker
tournaments. You started off with $6,000.00 in chips.

Early in the tournament, I picked up pocket Aces (both
red). The dealer button player raised the bet to
$175.00 (blinds were still $25/50). The small blind
folded and looked down at my cards. I reraised him to
$500.00 total. The dealer button player just smooth
called. The pot now held $1,025.00, before the flop.
The dealer dealt out a Jack of Spades, Nine of Spades
and an Eight of Diamonds. I thought to myself, "did he
flop a set of Jacks?"...I bet out $1,000.00 and he then
reraised me another $1,000.00. The turn came a Five
of Hearts. I checked, I was sure he made a set of Jacks.
The dealer button player went all in and I went into the
tank. I had about $3,400.00 left in chips and he had me
covered. If I call and lose, I will be out of the
tournament after ten minutes. I just decided to fold in
that spot, as I still had chips left. I even folded my
hand faceup and tossed them to the dealer. The dealer
button player said, "Good fold, I had a set". He didn't
show it, but I had a hankering that he had me beat.
It was too early in the tournament to go all in with a
pair of Aces and not the "nuts".

During the $400/800 blind level, I found myself with
pocket Tens on the dealer button. There were 2 limpers
in front of me including the small and big blind players.
I told myself now or never and pushed all in with $4,700.00
in chips. The small and big blind players immediately
folded. The UTG player who limped had me outstacked and
asked for my chip count. He took out some chips and
just called. The player two spots to my right folded
and I was heads up with the UTG player. I asked him if
I ran into Aces, he said no, and he tabled Ace/Jack OS.
Man, if he was gonna play that, why didn't he raise. I was
probably gonna go all in anyway. Anyway, I called out
for a Ten to be flopped out and I got my wish when the
dealer dealt out Ten of Hearts, 8 of Diamonds and Queen
of Hearts. Dang, need to fade four Kings now. Luckily
the dealer dealt a Queen of Clubs to give me a full house.
The UTG Player was drawing dead. The river was dealt an
Eight of Clubs. Wow, I usually don't win those races, lol.
But that's what I always say - I've put beats on other
players as well.

I was able to survive until the blind level of $600/1,200.
I had been grinding all tournament long and had about
$6,800.00 in chips at the time. There was also an
additional $100.00 ante from each player in the pot.
The pot was laying $2,800.00 in chips before any betting.
There were two limpers in before me, where I was sitting
two seats from the button with Ace/Nine OS. I felt that
these limpers were probably coming in with some marginal
hands and would fold to a significant raise. Having the
Ace in my hand, I figured that no one else would have one
in their hand. I decided to push all in and hope for the
best. The cutoff seat folded and the dealer button player
went all in over the top of me. I said, "What did I run
into?". The dealer button player said, "The biggest hand",
which he shouldn't have done, as there were 4 other players
to act behind him. Dang, I thought he must have Aces.
Sure enough the other 4 players folded and we were heads up.
I tabled my hand, then the dealer button player put his
hand up on the table, which was of course pocket Aces.
The flop ran out Eight of Clubs, Seven of Clubs and Eight
of Spades. I need runner, runner Nines, or straight cards
to come out. The turn card was a Three of Diamonds, which
sealed my loss. The river card was an uneventful Jack of
Diamonds.

I should have really put more thought into the hand before
pushing. The fact that there were two limpers ahead of me,
should have given me a sign that there were players that
may call a raise. They might have limped in with a big
hand and were hoping for a raise from another player. I
forgot my other rule of going all in with at least Ace/King
or a made hand (a good pair). Or at least a suited
connector that could play against a high pair or high
Ace hand. Well, it can be a learning process at times.

Well, at least I got to put 5.5 hours toward the freeroll.
I was thinking of playing more, but just didn't not have
the desire to grind out more poker that day.

I will not play any hand with a Nine in it, unless it is
a pair of Nines. Nines, suck...lol...