Sage Advice

Friday night was an interesting night for me.  I decided to play some $3-$6 limit poker at the card room near my home.  Almost immediately I get a seat at table #2, seat 7.  Sitting across from me next to the dealer is somebody I’ve played with quite a bit – and have a lot of respect for.  She’s a solid player who, when she shows her hand, has something good.  The very first time I played at the Caribbean tournament, on a Sunday morning more than a year ago, I was dealt pocket Queens.  I raised to $300, and she called.  The flop was a bunch of small cards – I felt comfortable, so I bet into her and she called me again.  I put her on a straight draw – and when the turn came, and it didn’t appear to help her, I decided to go all-in.  She called me and showed two Aces.  I was out the very first hand of my very first live tournament!  I walked away knowing that I had a lot to learn!

Since then, I’ve played with this person several times – and learned a lot from her.  So Friday night was kind of a strange night.  I’ve been reading more of “Super System” and trying to apply the lessons in that book.  When I mentioned this to my friend across the table from me, the guy next to me told me that the “books” are no good at a $3-$6 game.  In spite of that, my friend (let’s call her “D”) told me to keep reading – that the information is good, and that there are also books about low-limit poker.

It was an interesting night – but the hand that came up which was the most interesting to me was this:

I was dealt Queen , Jack offsuit and I was in late position – one seat to the right of the button.  I can’t remember if I raised or not – I think I just called, limping in pre-flop.  The board comes Ace, Ten, and something else.  “D” who was in early position bets out and I called.  At this point there were only 3 of us in the pot:  the “books don’t matter” guy, and my friend “D.”

The turn was a Queen – no possible flush at this point, so the queen made me feel marginally better, but still vulnerable to the Ace.  “D” bets out – I’m nervous – she usually has something good.  “Books” calls – he had been a calling station all night – he must not have read about that in the books.    As I mentioned, I’m nervous of “D’s” hand, but for $6 I decide to see the river.

The river gives me two pair, with a Jack.  Now here’s where it gets interesting.  I didn’t think that “D” had a King which would have made an Ace high straight.  I figured (hoped) she had an Ace.  “Books” called (again!) and I state “I sucked out on the river – I raise.”  Both “D” and “Books” fold, and I show my hand.  (BIG MISTAKE)

“D” looks at me in shock and says “You didn’t have the King???”  It turns out, “D” had 3 of a kind, and my bet (and announcement that I sucked out on the river) caused her to fold the winning hand.  I ended up taking down a fairly nice sized pot – and I apologized profusely to “D.”  Other people at the table said that they thought I didn’t even see the straight on the board – I did, but based on everything I saw, I didn’t really think they had it.  I honestly believed that two pair was the best hand when I bet.  Of course saying that after the fact is kind of hard to prove – and honestly I may be kidding myself anyway.

So today – Saturday morning, I show up at The Caribbean and buy in for the morning tournament.  “D” is there, and she asked me to take a walk with her – that she was hoping I would be there because she wanted to talk to me.  What happened next was really great.  She wanted to take me aside as one older woman to a  younger woman, and she told me, basically, that I needed to pay attention to my table image.  It was great advice, from somebody I respect.  She said that I had played that hand with Queen Jack great – that I had caused her to fold the winning hand – but I ruined my table image by both showing the hand after, as well as apologizing for it.  She talked about table image – that she tries hard to maintain a table image of somebody who plays solid poker – even to the point of revealing great laydowns – which buy her some leeway later on.  And after she said what she had to say, she said that I had the makings of a great poker player – that if I could get past this issue, it would help to improve my game and my table image tremendously.

I was honored to have had that talk with her – she’s a great person, so today when I played in the live $3-$6 game, I just imagined that she was looking over my shoulder, watching me play.  It made it easy to play strong hands, and really play the best poker I know how to play at this point in my life.

Oh – I made it to the final table in the tournament, but not to a paying position.  Here’s the thing – I lost the tournament, but I knew that I had played solid poker, and it felt great.