Ace King Offsuit
I’m really writing this for my own purposes, but thought somebody else out there might enjoy reading. By typing out my thoughts it helps me to think through a problem, to help me learn. I have become very interested in, and enjoy poker quite a lot. I also want to improve my game, so I would like to use this blog to document some of the interesting hands I’ve played – in order to learn from them. Any advice is greatly appreciated!
So here goes. I play a weekly poker tournament at The Caribbean casino – usually Sundays, but this Sunday I played at a Ladies tournament at Tulalip. I didn’t get to a paying position, but my best friend and I had a really great time. Monday morning, with a day off, I decided to play the 11:00am tournament at The Caribbean in Kirkland, WA. They host a No-Limit tournament every day at 11:00am.
I had been reading the book “Super System” by Doyle Brunson, and I realize that one of my weaknesses is not being aggressive. I think possibly I had been playing limit ($3-$6) poker for too long. Anyway, during the Ladies tournament, and of course the tournament this morning, I worked on finding the right timing to be aggressive. As is often the case with me, I will usually go a little overboard while trying to learn a new technique, and then come back to a more reasonable middle ground.
So I was in middle position, third hand of the tournament at my table. I was dealt Ace of Spades, King of Clubs. The blinds were $25, $50, and everybody folded before me. I came in with a raise for $300. Everybody else folded except the one person to the right of the dealer button, who hesitated for more than a couple of seconds, and finally called. He looked to me like he thought he was making a mistake, but called anyway. In retrospect (I can’t remember actually thinking this) I think I may have put him on a small pair or maybe suited connectors.
The flop came 2 of diamonds, 3 of diamonds, 4 of diamonds. The action was on me. I was first to act and felt that I needed to show strength – I needed to be aggressive in order to take this pot. I had a straight draw, but decided to bluff having a flush or even a straight flush draw with either the Ace of diamonds or the five of diamonds.
My opponent called me – so fast, I think he may have called before I even finished saying “I’m all-in.” I knew immediately I was beat. He turned over Queen of diamonds, King of diamonds.
I was beat even before the turn and river.
So after thinking about this hand, here is my analysis:
- In my peripheral vision, I believe my opponent was looking right at me, watching me bet – I don’t remember him ever looking at his cards even once. In retrospect, he was clearly happy about the flop and I didn’t even try and read him. I was so focused on trying to show strength that I didn’t even try to watch him. It’s good to show strength, but so much more effective when your opponent shows signs of weakness. I have to remember to watch my opponent and make a decision that is influenced by any signs my opponent is providing.
- The flush crossed my mind but only briefly. I hadn’t given it enough consideration – ESPECIALLY considering that a straight flush was on the board! I was definitely trying to represent a straight flush, but my opponent didn’t believe me.
- I was out of position – I could have gained more information by checking to him and watching him react. He would have bet out into me and then I could have used that information to decide what to do.
The turn was a 6 of clubs, and the flop was the Ace of clubs.
My choices were:
- Check to my opponent and watch him carefully.
- Bet into him for a smaller amount, like $300, and watch him carefully. If he raises me I could fold my hand right then and there. If he just calls, I might have taken his call as a sign of weakness and lost even more money.
- What if, based on information from Phil Hellmuth, I went all-in pre-flop? My opponent might have folded. He was very hesitant in calling my $300 bet. It was early in the tournament, and I was a little hesitant to put all my chips in the pot pre-flop – although in retrospect that is probably an even better play than to to attempt a terrible bluff after the flop.
I’m inclined to say that the best I could have done would have been to check to him – but I’m a little torn – betting into him would have caused me to lose more money, but probably gained more information. I can only assume that he would have bet into me had I checked, and THEN – I would need to be smart enough to know to fold. I highly doubt I could have bluffed him out of the pot – the only thing that could have beat him was an Ace of diamonds, and then I would have needed another diamond to hit on he turn or the river.
A part of the reason for such overly aggressive behavior has to do with two things – one, I’ve been reading some books that talk about being aggressive. Two, in the tournament yesterday, I was rewarded several times for such aggressive behavior, and selectively ignored the fact that I was seriously out on a limb several times. During one hand, I was again in early position, and looked down at a pair of Jacks. I was down to $2000 (we started with $10000 at the beginning of the tournament) and felt I needed to do something now or suffer a slow death. I went all-in and one person called me with pocket 7s. On the flop another 7 came, giving her a set and I thought I was done. The river gave me another Jack and I doubled up. I couldn’t believe my eyes when that happened – it was an amazingly lucky river card.
Today, what I had not remembered were the painful plays when, for instance, I went all-in with pocket Kings after the flop came King, Ace, 9. I was called by my opponent who showed pocket Aces. The whole table groaned. Again, I hadn’t watched my opponent at all – I hadn’t watched to try and see whether she liked the flop or not. I don’t believe that was an entirely reckless play – (except for not paying attention to my opponent) – in that case, both my opponent and I had limped in pre-flop. We were both slow-playing each other, trying to trap the other opponent. I thought I had trapped her, when I had actually walked right into the trap myself. 
So – what lessons can I take away from this? I need to temper my aggressiveness with information gained from my opponents. I need to keep from making any decisions until I get as much information from them as I can, including:
- How do my opponents appear? Happy? Hopeful? Fearful? Tentative? Thoughtful? Are they trying to put on an act that I can see through? Are they studying their cards, or are they studying me?
- Based on the above information, can I make any decisions about what cards my opponent is likely to hold?
- What do my opponents think I have? Do I think they care?
- Position is important! These hands have tended to happen when I’m in bad position.
- Bluff with discretion. If I come in bluffing with a significant bet or raise, do so only after I’ve considered everything, and have a very strong feeling that my opponent will fold.
Here’s the thing – I’m very new to poker, but love playing. So if you’ve read this and are thinking, “Geez – what a newbie!” you’re right. But I want to improve my game. When I’m on my game and I am paying attention to my opponents, I’m usually right about what they hold. That observation skill isn’t that difficult for me – and when I’m not involved in a hand I am able to figure out fairly accurately what people are holding, and who will win the pot – usually after the flop. So I think if I can use that skill, and apply lessons I’ve learned from my mistakes, I’ll get significantly better. I also feel it is important to make mistakes like this in order to learn from them.
After I wrote this post, I went back and reconsidered the idea of going all-in pre-flop. I’m not sure I would have had the guts to do that with Ace King offsuit, but based on reactions from everybody at the table, I think it would have stolen the blinds. In retrospect, I think the that may have been the correct decision based on the information I had gained pre-flop. Still, I was out of position – so had I been in late position it would have been a much easier decision to make.
