Hella Hold'em

Hey all, Randy here. Thought I would take over shellmuth's blog for a moment, and chat about a little poker. The title of this posting came from a good friend of mine the other night at a poker tourney I was playing in. (he was first out lol) I've been thinking about that line for the past couple days, can't get it outta my head actually. The reason being is I don't know if I agree. Yes, we have all mucked 7-2 off suit preflop for the flop to come 7-7-2; yes we have all folded our middle pairs to a high card bluffer. (maybe some haven't) But do those hands determine our poker tourney life? I don't think so. I believe that you have to make sure to get as much into the pot when you have the best of it. Playing 7-2 off suit in any position at anytime (except in an unraised big blind situation, and even then I don't know) is not the best of it. I am no expert in any shape or form but of that I am at least certain.

Now, we all know ring games and touneys are two different games, and in tourneys it is all about survival. However, I still hold on to the fact I'm not gonna risk on something I don't feel is a good advantage to me. Was my friend trying to say play looser in tourneys? I don't know - he was out first lol. Or was he trying to say after you get called down you realize that your pocket pair, your two over cards, your flush draw, your straight draw, hell even your 7-2 offsuit you thought were so powerful could possibly be beaten? And that we muck those hands we thought we had a lock on instead of paying off the set of dueces the somebody played out of position when they were raised and re-raised? Maybe. That makes more sense to me.

Either way it is why we play this game, why we love this game. All the intangibles. That's why not one book or one way is better than another. Was there a tell? Do you think the raiser is bluffing or trying to steal? Should I slow play my set? Should I fold my pocket rockets to a flush and a straight draw on board? Should I allow no free cards? Should I limp should I fold? etc. Yes and no, sure, and I don't know. Any two cards can win, and every situation is different...to me the true beauty of this game.

Is our poker life determined on the hands we muck or play? To me it's both. I'd rather get blinded out knowing I had played the best I could with what I was dealt. Although I do not think I have played my best yet, I try to get better with every tourney, with every hand. So I can walk away winning or losing knowing "I could not have played any better" as Phil Hellmuth said as he got eliminated from the WSOP. Hopefully, someday I and you all will be there. Good Luck everybody and Happy New Year.

OK, I am not done blabbering aimlessly yet......to steal a quote from "Confessions of a Winning Poker Player" by Jack King, a line that was used in Rounders, "Few players recall big pots they have won, strange as it seems, but every player can remember with remarkable accuracy the outstanding bad beats of his career." Well if anyone wants to post a horrible bad beat please respond to this post.....I'll give you my classic one. I'm Big blind, first hand of a sit and go online. Dealt A-A. Raised in early position, reraised by the button, I re-raise the button. First raiser folds, button goes all-in. (I hate being all in in the first hand, but what am I supposed to do muck aces? lol) So I have him for K-K which he has as I find out when I call.....flop comes down K-K-8, and my A-A looks like 7-2 off. Did I play the hand wrong? Nope.....and I would have played it the same way again. However, I almost threw my computer out the window. Until next time, take care.