1) Mike Caro was in town giving a free seminar. (Will review it at a later date.) As a number of players from our poker club were going, I suggested a tournament on the cheap, got the momentum, and then needed a space. Another club member offered to host, and called the stakes and rules. At that point, the stakes and rules put this play out of my league, beyond the ouch point where I can laugh off a loss. No, I didn't blow the rent, but I blew enough to feel bad about it. Gotta know your price limits, and know enough to not even get in the game. I'm sure I played out of a sense of ownership of the event, but I had no business in that room as a newcomer. Nice bunch of folks, but I can't subsidize them at this particular tax rate.
IIKTWIKN: I will not organize an event over which I do not have control, lest I get into a similar situation again. I will stick to events in which I can lose only a finite amount of money in an evening, as opposed to events in which there are unlimited rebuys. I'm a little too compulsive to walk away, and if the game hadn't ended at midnight, I might have learned painful lesson 4. As it was I lost my first stack in the first hour, exercised self restraint by not playing for an hour, and then promptly re-bought and made the same costly mistake again.
2) First buy-in, I'm doing okay, bullying a few blinds and flops, and not going to the showdown, marginally ahead in chips. I pull big slick on the small blind, and everybody limps in to me. I raise 2.5BB, and only one player stays. I miss the flop 100%, but I end up playing it out to the bitter end because I'm chasing that pot which was 'rightfully mine'. (Well played, F.)
IIKTWIKN: It was a good play to raise the field with Big Slick and weed out the pack. Once I missed the flop, I was in denial of reality, and was telling myself that even though I was bluffing, my adversary was certainly bluffing too. I had to be willing to acknowledge that my nice play was a failure once I missed the flop and one player stayed in. I was given enough rope and hung myself.
3) Second buy-in, I'm marginally ahead again, one small showdown and a few bullied pots. I limp-in with big slick, as if I'm going to trap somebody. I pair kings on a nothing board, and I get pulled into another all-in situation, which I again cannot back away from. This player limped in on a 6,9 suited and flopped a straight draw, and I believe he made it on the turn (C?) . Pure nuts and I'm blind to the idea because the board tells me that 6,9 is the nuts, and I can't possibly put a guy on 6,9, but he was towards the button, so I can see his point. (Well played, C.)
IIKTWIKN: I limped in with Big Slick, which is statistically decent in a small crowd, but a much better favorite if I weed out more of the hands wiht a pre-flop raise and settle for a smaller pot. As it was, I felt that I 'deserved' the win, and was in denial of reality again. Reality control is a big issue at this time.
In truth, I had room to fold on both of my all-ins, and could have licked my wounds and bullied some more pots and waited for nuttier hands. My big weakness at this time appears to be all-in fever when I don't have the nuts. That's a pretty big weakness to have. Also, what did Brunson say about losing a big pot or winning a small pot with Big Slick...?
