Monday, August 20, 2007
Chinese Poker
I've recently started playing Chinese poker before and after my regular home game. While there is more of a luck factor in this game, skillful play can beat a novice player. We normally play the variety with a 2-7 lowball hand in the middle. Chinese poker is more of a relaxing form of poker as there is no bluffing involved. You are just trying to play your hand as best as possible knowing what your opponents like to do with their hands. If you play a lot of poker, I recommend trying a few hands of Chinese for variety.
Sunday, August 5, 2007
A triple draw mistake
I recently played in a 2-7 triple draw tournament. I wanted to capitalize on my good finish earlier in the year as I knew there would be a lot of bad play early on. And indeed there was. It seemed like every hand would be at least 4 way with at least 2 players drawing two cards on every draw. I played tight early and stole a couple of pots against aggressive opponents who would miss their draw after the third draw. I won two pots with pairs and never had to show it down. I then went on a horrible streak when I would make good hands (8-6 or better) and ran into a player who kept drawing two cards and hitting the nuts. This happened three times. After that, i was a bit short stacked. I managed to win a pot with an 8-5 low to keep afloat. I then picked up the fourth nut (7-6-5-4-2) and got good action on it.
After my table broke, I was moved to the table with the chip leader. Still short stacked, I managed to double up with third nut low against the chip leader's 8 low. I now had enough chips to feel comfortable. I proceeded to have a run of paint cards that would have been great for draw high poker, but I was folding a lot of hands. I finally got dealt a pat 8-5 low and slow played it and got an extra bet out of my opponent. I then picked up a couple more small pots. We were finally down to 7 players and at the final table. I lost one pot early after I bet a 9-8 lo after the second draw and got check raised. I folded that one. I was starting to get marginally short stacked. I knew I had to find a hand and go with it soon.
Action was folded to me on the button. I usually don't always raise on the button in triple draw as that play is very obvious to a good player. However, I looked at A-J-8-6-4 and decided stealing the blinds was worth it at this point in the tournament. I raised. The small blind made it 3 bets. The big blind folded. I called. I thought about why the small blind made it 3 bets. Was he trying to keep this pot heads up and shut out the big blind? Did he think I was on a total steal with absolutely nothing? My opponent drew two cards. I obviously did the same. I now knew that he started with 3 wheel cards. I drew a Q and a 3. My opponent checked. I improved my hand so I bet. With the pot this big, I didn't think he would fold. He didn't and then drew two more cards. I took one off and picked up a 7. I now had a good, but vulnerable hand: 8-7-6-4-3. My opponent led out and bet.
Why would he lead out after drawing two when I drew one? If he checks, I'm almost certain to bet there as I was down to two big bets. Did he really hit two perfect cards? I'm guessing he has a one card draw to a 7. I have a made hand so I decided to raise and get all in. He called. Then he stood pat. This totally confused me as I was almost certain he was going to draw since I could tell that he didn't like my raise after the second draw. Now I'm in a very tough spot. Did I make a wrong read? Did he hit two perfects to make a or a smooth 8 and lead out with it? If he made a 7 or 8, my hand is no good. If he has a 7, I'm practically drawing dead. Even if I hit a 2, I only have 4th nut. If he has an 8, I'm still in bad shape as I'm still drawing to the 2 if I throw away the 8, or drawing to a 2 or a 5 if I throw away the 7. If I hit an 8-6 low, it might not be good either. I'm really in a tough spot. I decided to go with my read that I was beat. I threw away the 8. As soon as I did that my opponent said, "I think you just broke the winner." I was crushed. My read was wrong. He turned over 10-8-7-5-2. At least I had a few outs to stay alive. I drew a jack and it was over.
My mistake was not considering how much worse my hand could get if I drew. Sure, I was going with the read, but nobody is ever perfect in their reads. After raising all in with my 8-7-6, I should have been content with it. If I'm beat, I'm beat. What is even more frustrating is that this mistake is all on me. I didn't get sucked out on or have a bad run of cards. I simply made the wrong decision and it cost me. If I win that pot, I'm up to 2nd or 3rd in chips and have a good chance to win it all. While I haven't played too many triple draw tournaments, I shouldn't have made that mistake.
After my table broke, I was moved to the table with the chip leader. Still short stacked, I managed to double up with third nut low against the chip leader's 8 low. I now had enough chips to feel comfortable. I proceeded to have a run of paint cards that would have been great for draw high poker, but I was folding a lot of hands. I finally got dealt a pat 8-5 low and slow played it and got an extra bet out of my opponent. I then picked up a couple more small pots. We were finally down to 7 players and at the final table. I lost one pot early after I bet a 9-8 lo after the second draw and got check raised. I folded that one. I was starting to get marginally short stacked. I knew I had to find a hand and go with it soon.
Action was folded to me on the button. I usually don't always raise on the button in triple draw as that play is very obvious to a good player. However, I looked at A-J-8-6-4 and decided stealing the blinds was worth it at this point in the tournament. I raised. The small blind made it 3 bets. The big blind folded. I called. I thought about why the small blind made it 3 bets. Was he trying to keep this pot heads up and shut out the big blind? Did he think I was on a total steal with absolutely nothing? My opponent drew two cards. I obviously did the same. I now knew that he started with 3 wheel cards. I drew a Q and a 3. My opponent checked. I improved my hand so I bet. With the pot this big, I didn't think he would fold. He didn't and then drew two more cards. I took one off and picked up a 7. I now had a good, but vulnerable hand: 8-7-6-4-3. My opponent led out and bet.
Why would he lead out after drawing two when I drew one? If he checks, I'm almost certain to bet there as I was down to two big bets. Did he really hit two perfect cards? I'm guessing he has a one card draw to a 7. I have a made hand so I decided to raise and get all in. He called. Then he stood pat. This totally confused me as I was almost certain he was going to draw since I could tell that he didn't like my raise after the second draw. Now I'm in a very tough spot. Did I make a wrong read? Did he hit two perfects to make a or a smooth 8 and lead out with it? If he made a 7 or 8, my hand is no good. If he has a 7, I'm practically drawing dead. Even if I hit a 2, I only have 4th nut. If he has an 8, I'm still in bad shape as I'm still drawing to the 2 if I throw away the 8, or drawing to a 2 or a 5 if I throw away the 7. If I hit an 8-6 low, it might not be good either. I'm really in a tough spot. I decided to go with my read that I was beat. I threw away the 8. As soon as I did that my opponent said, "I think you just broke the winner." I was crushed. My read was wrong. He turned over 10-8-7-5-2. At least I had a few outs to stay alive. I drew a jack and it was over.
My mistake was not considering how much worse my hand could get if I drew. Sure, I was going with the read, but nobody is ever perfect in their reads. After raising all in with my 8-7-6, I should have been content with it. If I'm beat, I'm beat. What is even more frustrating is that this mistake is all on me. I didn't get sucked out on or have a bad run of cards. I simply made the wrong decision and it cost me. If I win that pot, I'm up to 2nd or 3rd in chips and have a good chance to win it all. While I haven't played too many triple draw tournaments, I shouldn't have made that mistake.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
