I played in Stars last FPP event to get into the WSOP 10k NL event. Buy in was 6k frequent player points and there were just over 400 players. Top 3 get paid trip and entry to WSOP.
I was feeling lucky when I sat down. About 5 hands into I get the bullets in EP. I know how to play this one I call the 20 chip blind and wait for the raise to come. Two positions behind me a player makes the raise I was waiting for. I come over the top all in, he quickly calls with kings. No king to be seen and I double up right off the bat...smoking start!
I make my first marginal play not too long after. Raise 4x the BB with 67s, money is deep and I get 5 callers. Flop has the 5 and 4 of my suit so I have the flush draw and the straight draw. I bet out too small, about 150 into a 400 pot and get 1 caller, turn is a blank and I check it. Caller bets big and I lay it down. Bleh, bad hand I know.
Then marginal play #2. I am in the BB with ATs couple of limpers and the button makes it 4x the big blind. I didn't fear a reraise from the limpers and I had a decent stack for a change so I call along with the 2 original limpers. ATo I would have folded, but it was sooooted so I played it. Flop comes 3,9,T with one of my suit. Normally I am happy with TPTK and a backdoor flush draw, but my instinct said I might be in trouble here. I check to the raiser with the intention of check raising if the perflop raiser makes a "I'm scared" size bet. He makes a modest bet and I check raise him as planned.
Does anyone else check raise for information? This is something I started doing when there was a LP raise and I flop top pair. Basically I want to find out on the flop if I am ahead or not. I figure that if I bet out a raise could mean anything. Most players follow up a preflop raise with a raise on the flop so I don't know much about his hand if I bet and get raised. Much fewer players will reraise a check raiser without an overpair or better though.
As it was in this hand, the limpers fold and I get reraised. I wanted to either win the pot right there or lay my hand down when he came over me big. Trouble is he didn't come over me big. He made a minimal reraise so I had the odds to call. I figured he had a good pair, kings or queens. Unfortunately, I catch and ace on the turn making top two pair. I push in he calls with poket tens. Damn, major hit to the stack. I am now short stacked.
Few hands later I am in the BB with AK. Button makes a standard raise and the SB who barely has me covered goes all in. I smell weakness and call. I'm right the SB has AQ, I am golden until the queen lands on the turn, then I am busted.
Basically I overplayed my hands and paid the price. Oh well...next time.
This is something I used to do too, until I read in Cloutier´s book that one shouldn´t play a hand just because it is suited if it would be a fold if it´s not.
I analyzed my hands I have played because they were suited like AT, AJ, KJ, KQ. boy, these were real trouble hands that cost me quite some money.
problem I had that most of the time, I had a pair and a flush draw and I chased, believing that if I didn´t hit, a good pair would be enough.
I stopped doing it and my results have become better with fewer swings.
