Poker Itch Scratched at Hard Rock Casino

I was sitting around after I got out of class on Wednesday night, and I had nothing to do. I watched a WPT re-run that was won by Daniel Negreaneu, and I really didn't feel like playing poker online much, but I wanted to play in a live game. Being that the only places around here to play poker Derby Lane and Seminole Hard Rock Casino all have things about them I don't like, I really felt like I had no options, but I was really tired of playing online and decided to head to Seminole Hard Rock Casino.

I get there, and I really didn't feel like playing Limit Hold'em or Omaha, so I signed up for one of their $40 satellites to their $240 buy-in tournaments on Sundays. I think playing more live games will be the next level in making my game rise to the next level, because I need to get used to being at the table with people I don't know and reading them while being the life of the table. So I end up waiting about 25 minutes, and then I get called to the table.

I sit down and basically the format is like this, you get 1000 chips and you have to beat 9 other people to win the buy-in, this is the perfect format for me because I play in single table sit n go's all day long. I look at the people at the table to start trying to figure out what I am up against, and I will say this I don't think I am better than anyone else, but I felt confident as I got settled in. One guy was on the phone talking to his friend in Vegas and relaying the information to another friend at our table, another guy had just been eliminated in 9th place from another satellite table and he had signed up for two tables just in case he lost the first one early (which he did). The other players didn't look like they could even calculate pot odds, there was one player who was a little bit younger than me and he looked like he may be the most competition for me.

I start out playing tight for the first few hands to see what the texture of the table is going to be, by the 3rd hand we had lost one player and I hadn't even played a hand yet. Then the guy talking on the phone was in the big blind and everyone folded except 1 guy, the dealer couldn't ask the guy if he wanted to raise because he was standing up, so the dealer dealt the flop, it came J 3 3, the guy in the big blind looked at his cards and bet 100, the young guy raised to 550, then the guy on the phone said you have a 3 don't you bastard, he put him all in and flipped over Pocket Queens, the young guy flipped over K3, then the guy that was on the phone started bitching at the dealer that he never got an option to raise because he would have raised with the Queens, he was eliminated.

Anyway, I was dealt K 10 off suit and was quickly raised by the young guy, the extra satellite guy called him and the flop came Q 6 K, the young guy checked and the other guy bet 300, the young guy raised to 600, and the other guy folded and showed A 6 the young guy showed A Q, I was glad they showed I was able to gather much needed Intel about both players. So I am dealt 10 9 off suit in the Big Blind, there are 4 callers including the small blind the flop comes, 10 10 7, the small blind checks, I check (decided to slow play my 10's) and everyone else checks, the next card is a J, I was hoping for a face card to get some action, the small blind folds(checking is free?), I check again I get a bet of 100 then the young guys calls the 100, then the dealer button bets 200, I raise to 400 everyone goes away except the guy on the button, he just calls. The river card comes and it's an 8, I bet 400 hoping for a call he thinks about it for a long time, then he calls and flips over K J, I show my 10's and take the pot he says "Nice Hand". I basically doubled up on that pot which was a good sign.

My cards started getting hot, I was dealt pocket Aces 3 hands later, and I was one position behind the dealer button, I promptly raised to $225, one guy who had limped got pissed off and said "fine all-in", everyone else folded, I asked him for a chip count it was $575 total I put in the additional amount and flip over my Aces he gets up and leaves without seeing the flop he had A 6 off suit, and he didn't catch anything to beat me.

Several other people get knocked out now we are down to 3 handed poker, which is by far my worst point in tournaments, when it's 3 handed I just don't make good decisions, I was second in chips so I felt confident. I made several mistakes in the fact that I didn't defend my blinds and I just gave away the small blind without seeing a flop, who knows what type of hand they had, I was trying to force the smaller stack to push all-in against the other guy, and he did the other guy thought about it for a long time and folded he showed an Ace, and the smaller stack laughed as he flipped over 9 10 off suit. So the next hand I was the big blind and I had 7 8, the big stack called, and the flop came Q 8 K, he checked and I figured he didn't have a K or a Q because he had been playing really tight, so I decided to check with was a big mistake, the next card was a 9 he checked and I immediately went all in for my last 2000 chips. He agonized over calling for a while, then he decided to call and he had a freaking 9, I didn't catch a 7 or an 8 and I was elminated in 3rd.

Overall I am pleased with my play, I think I was the best player at that table, but my passiveness when things were short handed caused me to lose as I see it I made several mistakes:

1. I didn't bet the 8 strong on that last hand and I gave him a free card.
2. I did not defend my blinds, and I gave away way to many free chips.
3. I did not raise from the big blind position enough to push out potential draws.

I will correct these mistakes in the future, I am happy that I know what I am doing wrong it's just a matter of working hard to correct the problems. But I think there is a bigger part of my game that's missing I just haven't put my finger on it yet.