A Bad Beat and a Bad Decision – $1500 6-Handed Day 2

My plan on Day 2 was to come out playing tight, since we would likely lose half of the remaining 100 players by the first break. Players tend to do silly things at the beginning of Day 2s, as they’ve had all night to think about what to do when they come in the next day.

Well, after the first two hands saw the big blind get a walk, I realized my table was playing rather snug. There were no flops and no three-bets for the first few orbits, so I decided to open up a bit.

Second to act, I raised 2.5x with Ks7s and an older gentleman named Rick called on the button (older is a relative term; it’s not uncommon for me to be the oldest player at the table). I c-bet the 998 rainbow flop, and Rick called behind. However, he gave away some valuable information as he put his chips in the pot. It was more of a classic/generic tell than a player-specific tell, but it was there nonetheless. His range at this point was Ax hands (including A9 & A, straight draw hands (67/JT), and baby pairs. If he were younger, I would include air for a float, but that just didn’t seem likely. The amount of time he took to call on the flop led me to believe he didn’t have a drawing hand

The offsuit 6 on the turn gave me an open-ended straight draw, and my opponent gave me an opportunity to win a decent sized pot. After I bet 6k into the 12k pot, he tanked for a while and then declared a raise. He made it another 20k on top, leaving himself just about 45k behind. His stack size aided in my decision to move allin, and it didn’t hurt that I had outs if he decided to get stubborn. This was my first big move of the tournament, but I felt confident after he gave away the same tell as he was putting chips in on the flop. I was especially encouraged when he didn’t snap call, he tanked for a bit before saying, “I wonder which one of has the bigger pocket pair…” then tossed his hand into the muck.

Everything was smooth sailing from there for me, as I had position on the most experienced short-handed player at the table, Carman Cavella. I could tell Carman was comfortable with the six-handed format as he was showing the right amount of aggression in the right spots. After he busted Rick, a younger red-haired player with a large stack filled the 2 seat.

I had cruised up to 175k with the blinds at 600-1200 when this critical hand went down. We were five-handed and I opened UTG with Ad5d, our red-haired friend flatted on the button, and Carman called in the big blind. I flopped gin when the board came down Td6d4d. Carman checked, I bet 7k, and Seat 2 made it 30k to go. I considered my options and decided my best line against the range of hands he’s raising with would be an all-in. If he had a real hand, I didn’t want another diamond to roll off scaring him away. Also, if he had something like JT with the Jd, he might put me on AK/AQ with the Ad and make a big call. When he snap-called I figured to see a lower flush, instead he turned over a set of 6s, and he started yelling at the dealer to pair the board. The dealer obliged with a T on the river.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t really get my feet back underneath me after that. Instead of having around 300k and the chip lead with 50 players left, I went totally card dead. I spewed some more chips as every time I opened was getting three-bet or shoved on by a medium stack. I ended up making a number of mistakes down the stretch, including a critical one that opened myself up to being blown out of a pot by Carman, in much the same way I had blown Rick out with the K7 earlier.

I was extremely happy when Doug Lee sat down at the table, as I knew he would gladly distribute his chips around the table. After he lost a big race, I doubled him up when he shoved for about 8bbs and I called in the big blind with Q7 (it was borderline, but the tilt factor combined with antes led to the call). While a Q beats a random hand, it trailed his AK and couldn’t catch up. However, a few hands later I opened with KT and he shoved I was getting the correct odds to call. He again had me in a 60/40 with AJ, but I was able to outrun him this time when I turned a straight on the Q9xJ board.

I was able to be a little more active and won a pot against Seat 2 with AQ on a Q high flop. Two hands later, I opened UTG with 66 to 6k (1200-2400-300). Since I had opened a few hands in the last couple of orbits, I was expecting a 3bet sooner or later. Seat 2 made it just under 30k to go on the button, and I was forced with a critical decision. I had another 80k on top of his 30k for 110k total. But, instead of taking my time and thinking everything through, all I thought about was the surface of the situation. I was sitting on the fence with a 50/50 decision on shoving or folding. Unfortunately I never weighed the fact that I would still have 40bbs if I folded, and could wait for a better spot.

Then, all of a sudden, my stupid mouth betrayed me and said, “I’m allin.” This was dumb on a number of levels. In case you can’t tell by now, I’m not big on preflop moves (except for a certain TV hand), preferring to make decisions in position after the flop. My opponent beat me into the pot with KK and I was busto in 43rd place.

All in all, I am very happy with my play. I was definitely not in the right frame of mind after the bad beat, spewing valuable chips. But, up to that point, there’s very little I would change. I love these short-handed events because play is deeper for longer, and I’m at my best after the flop thanks to my live cash game experience. I’m now 2/3 in six-handed with a 19th and 43rd place finish. I was busted by a 6%er in the first one, but I could’ve recovered from this bad beat and finished higher had I got my head screwed on straight a little sooner.

Today, I’ll get another shot as the $2500 six-handed event kicks off at noon.

Go to: Jeremiah Smith