One Mistake is all it takes!

I am glad to see May go, it was a baaaaaaaaaaddddddd month. However, it sounds like a few others had a crappy month as well. So I guess it could always be worse.


It seems like every tournament I played was the same thing. Start off decent and then one little mistake would either wipe me out or start me on the road to ruin. So I ask you the question, Have you ever played a totally mistake free tourney?

Sure there have been times when maybe you played mostly mistake free or maybe your mistake didn't get caught but I doubt if anyone can ever say the played a mistake free tourney.

OK so I am cruising along in Al's Rvierchasers event last night, I am catching some cards and then I am dealt AA UTG, So I make a 2.5 BB bet and get called by one of the blinds, flop comes 96x rainbow and the blind fires a 3/4 pot sized bet. HMM .... did this guy hit a set, nah If he hit a set he would check and let me bet so I min raise back to feign a weak steal attempt and please when he calls. The turn is another blank and he checks so here I firmly feel that I am ahead, now here is where I want to set the trap, I check as well to firmly entrench that my weak raise was just that. River is another blank and blind fires about 1/3 pot bet, so I wait just a bit and push hoping that I have sold the AK charade and right on Que I am called by JJ and sitting numero uno.

The very next hand I am moved to a new table and that is where the wheels came off the wagon. Maybe two hands at the new table I dealt A9 suited in the BB and a MP player pushes all in for about 350 chips, the button smooth calls and SB folds and I make the mistake of putting a squeeze on the Button. The Button started the hand with about 2600, I have around 5900 so I push to trap the dead money and low behold the button calls and flips up AK. Very well played sir. I don't know if he planned it that way but it definitely worked out as he doubled I am now at 3200 chips, from there I just ran into one thing after another, my raises were re-raised all in, and then this hand came up. I get AK in the SB was folded to me I smooth call BB checks, the flop comes K7x I lead out BB calls, turn is a blank I check wanting to induce a bluff if he does have the K or even the 7, the BB fires pot sized I check raise enough to put him in and boom he insta calls with K7. NI HAND SIR. I don't think I did anything wrong and don't think there was anything I could do because the BB would have called a raise preflop at least I would have.

Now I am down to about 1100 and a about 9 hands later I am dealt AK yet again UTG I raise to 300, the button re raises and the SB goes All In. So what do you do? I can fold but I am at an M of less than 8 or I can make my stand here and have a chance to triple up. I just don't give either of them credit for either AA or KK and besides if I call it is likely the button might fold. So I call and the button does fold and I am happy to be in a race with 1010 but soon on the rail as I blank out.

All in all I don't feel real bad about the way I played except for the squeeze play. This was my one mistake since I didn't need to play a big pot in that spot. Looking back I don't believe I would have respected a squeeze by a big stack in BB either and I should have either called or even better just folded and let them fight it out and preserved my chips. Guess I didn't use good judgement and it cost me.
Ted Forrest made a profound statement in the Full Tilt Tournament Guide. The statement was it is easy to get a big stack but it is extremely difficult to keep one. Too bad I read that after the tourney.