Sit and Go 2

$10+$1 9 man Sit and Go

Sometimes there is just nothing you can do, below is a transcript detailing the key hands in one of my recent losses.

Hand 1:

Blinds: 25/50
Players: 8
Seat: Big Blind
Chips: 1,510
Hand: 88

It's folded around to the button who raises to 150, he's a loosish player and is probably holding something like JT suited. Surprisingly the small blind re-raises to 450 and now I've got a decision to make - has the small blind made the same read as me or does he actually have a strong hand AK? or a bigger pocket pair?
I decide to lay my hand down. I can't just call the 450 and see a flop as that would be a third of my stack and it's likely there will be atleast one overcard on the flop. My only options are to re-raise all in to a raise and a re-raise with only 88; this isn't a play I'm willing to make against a tight player this early on in the tournament when it's likely to be a coinflip.


Hand 2:

Blinds: 25/50
Players: 8
Seat: 4th
Chips: 1,510
Hand: 99

The three players infront of me fold and I raise to 150. The short stack with only 510 chips on the button calls and the two blinds fold, now I'm going to the flop out of position but with a strong hand and against a small stack.

The Flop - 683

This is a good flop for me, with a pot of 375 I don't want to scare him away with a large bet and I don't want to give away a free card so I make a small bet of 100 in the hope that he will move all in with average holdings. As planned the button moves in for 260 more and I make the call. He flips over 85 and the turn and river fall 4 and T.


Hand 3:

Blinds: 40/80
Players:7
Seat: Big Blind
Chips: 2,170
Hand: AQ

A tight player in middle position doubles the blind and the action is folded to me, I only call because I don't want to build a pot with
AQ out of position.

The Flop - 3Q6

This is a great flop for me. I disguise my hand strength by checking. The enemy makes a pot sized bet of 360 and I just flat call.

The Turn - 2

This card doesn't change anyrthing and I check again, this time the tight player moves all in for 1,295 which is just over the size of the pot. I know he isn't bluffing, which leaves me thinking he has a set of 6's or AA/KK - I just can't see him playing so fast with anything else. The decision isn't an easy one and against most players at this level I'd make the call but this time I'm sure I'm beaten and lay the hand down to dodge a bullet that would see pretty much every player at this level busted out. Consequently, on the very next hand a player tried to push me off another pot with a bluff but gave up when I called his raise on the flop and I managed to regain nearly all of my losses.

Hand 4:

Blinds: 50/100
Players:7
Seat: 3rd
Chips: 2,495
Hand: KQ 

In middle position I double the blind to 200 and get called by the big blind with 2,530 chips. The past couple of hands I'd been doing the same thing and then taking the pot down with a continuation  bet on the flop, I'm not too concerned about seeing a flop in this position as I know my opponent has been playing tight.

The Flop - K2K

It goes without saying that this is a good flop for me. My opponent checks and I bet 200 in to the pot of 450, I get flat called.

The Turn - 9

I've now got a flush draw to go with my trips. I know that the call on the flop could have just been to keep me honest and my opponent could be holding a small pair like 44 or a hand like AT. The action is checked to me again and this time I also check in an attempt to verify my opponents belief that I'm weak in order to squeeze some more chips out of him.

The River - A

A nice card for me on the river giving me the highest flush, the only hand that can beat me now is a full house. If my opponent was holding an A he probably thinks his hand is good now as well which means I should be able to get some more of his chips in the pot. The action is checked to me again and I bet 400 in to the pot of 850 expecting to get called by a small pocket pair or a pair of A's.

I'm raised to 900. This doesn't feel right, the only hand he'd raise with here is a full house. With a pair of A's or small pocket pair he would either call or fold. I had tried to trick him in to thinking I had a weak hand on the turn so now he might be raising to try and steal the pot with a bluff. I can either call or move all-in. I'm really not sure where I'm at so I just call and he flips over K9 for a full house. Sometimes there is just nothing you can do - on the bright side I'm still in the tournament with 1,195 chips which is more than most people would be able to say after that hand.


Hand 5:

Blinds: 60/120
Players:7
Seat: Cut-off
Chips: 865
Hand: KJ

I'm in a really bad spot here and KJ isn't a bad hand to get my chips in with at this stage. Unfortunately a tight player with 1,210 chips raises to 360 infront of me, this is a large percentage of his chips and indicates that he's willing to get all in with his hand. He has played tight and I respect his raise by folding my hand. He gets called and ends up all-in on the flop. The raiser that I folded to had KQ and his caller had AQ, I would have been crushed but managed to make a good lay down even this short stacked.

Conclusion:

I ended up pushing with 55 and getting called by 88, I'd rather go out like this than pushing with KJ and getting called by KQ and AQ. Sometimes there just isn't anything you can do - I think I made some really good decisions during this tournament but still didn't make the money. That's the nature of poker.