Throw away on tilt

Poker Strategy Hand Review
1

I’m up toward the top end of the leaderboard about halfway through an MTT, and threw everything away.

Here’s where it started.

I’d been up as much as 15,000 chips and #1 on the leaderboard, and dropped down to around 4-6 or so, with 11K chips. I bought the pot preflop with AA from the BB, no on wanting my action when I bet the pot. This puts me on tilt, I feel cheated out of a bigger pot. I don’t really mind, but I was hoping to get a call here. I should be happy but I’m not.
https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/482372857

JTs in the SB, vs the BB, 44K flop, I have to fold.
https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/482373050

K9o, I flop two pair, 9AK. My opponent shoves, I call, he has KJ and rivers a Jack to suck out and takes about half my stack with him.
https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/482373289

Now I’m telling myself these things happen, and it can’t be helped.

J8s, flops 4 to a flush, can’t make the flush, I get beat by 88 on a smallish pot.
https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/482373494

Q7s, KAK flop, I’m three to the flush, and last to act in the hand, I weakly try to bluff the pot, am called, beaten by A6o.
https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/482373766

84o, I fold. Now down to 4000 chips.
86o, I fold again.

Q7s, I shove, no one calls, I steal the blinds.
https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/482374458

AA on the button. The previous hand set me up to shove and get called this time, since shoving 2x in a row makes it look suspiciously like you’re trying to get away with something. No one has cards they want to play, so it checks around to me, and it’s just me and the SB. He’s short-stacked, and I want all his chips. I raise up 2BB, and get called. Flop is 8QK, he only has 1000 chips left in his stack, and if we’re going to go all in it doesn’t matter, we’re going to a showdown, so I don’t care about slow playing and getting beat. He has J9, Turns a Ten for a straight, and is all in. I river an Ace for trip Aces, and am beat. Now down to 3000 chips.
https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/482374604

37o, I announce to the table that I’m about to shove 37o and ask someone to call. 77 calls, I’m out and done.
https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/482374845

Now, I absolutely should not have done that on the last hand. Maybe if I had 200 chips left, sure, give up, walk it off, and go find another game. But with 3000 chips left, I had a healthy enough stack that I could have recovered and came back. The bad beats got to me, and I didn’t want to play anymore. But now I’m just more angry at myself for throwing away my game. I need to grow up.

1 Like
2

You did fine until the last hand, but then again you might have won with 7 3. A pair of 7s was the worst possible hand to call you, as you would have needed to make trip 3 or an inside straight to have a chance. If you make 2 pair, you are dead in the water.

Something similar happened to me last week, as I went from a stack of over 20,000 to a stack of 2500 by playing recklessly, but then I trebled up and got back to over 20,000 a few hands later and made the final table. I don’t always do well on final tables, because by the time it has got to the final table, I usually have other things I need to do or need to go to bed for an early start in the morning, so I take unnecessary chances when I could in many cases fold my way deeper into the money without any risk.

Bad luck with the K 9 rivering, but then again that is the problem with playing K 9–the hand does have inside straight possibilities, but you will never have the nut straight, and you are at the mercy of AK, KK, KQ, KJ, and KT, and split a pot with K 9. That is K 9 for you. When you flop two pairs, sometimes bad things happen to good people.

Not getting called with AA is a bummer, but you should show your cards, as it then sets you up for shoving with 7 3 and not getting called, which is much more satisfying.

3

Telling them I’m shoving 73 is begging to be called, unless of course I’m lying. Sure, I might have won with that hand, but it was not likely. Losing the second AA hand bothered me more than not getting called with AA the first time. With the K9 hand, I thought that I might be ahead of AX, but I do lose on 2 pair more often than I win with it, and less often than I win with 1 pair. But when you flop it and there’s no pair on the board, more often than not you’re in a good situation.

I really didn’t want to continue the tournament. I need to re-establish my emotional control if I’m going to play my A game.

4

Wise words that I tell myself from time to time. Thinkin’ of havin’ 'em tattooed on my wrist, where I can see 'em when I need 'em!! lol

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