Hand 1: Slow play No.1
Peter raised on the button making it 600 to go, blinds 100-200. I have KK and smooth called, the BB folds. Flop comes 678 rainbow, I check, Peter checks. Turn Q, I check, Peter best 1000. Now, I decide to try and extract some chips from Peter and just call and raise a further 1000 to keep him in, Peter calls the 1000 making 5400 in the pot. I think he may have a Queen or maybe a straight draw. When the river comes another Q I suspect he was on a draw (maybe A9) and has missed, so I check, as a better hand can only call me if I bet. Peter bets out 2000, and I call him immediately with my KK, he turns over QT, he had made runner runner Q. Peter told me that I should have re-raised 3000 or gone all in on the turn, and he would have passed. He also says if he had missed his 9, T, or Q (his 9 outs) he would not have paid me a penny more, even with top pair. I understand where is he coming from, as I gave him pot odds of 4.4-1 on a 5-1 shot and the implied odds make it a reasonable call, but I wanted him in so I took the risk. This pot really damaged me and put me back down to 3000 chips, and I felt I had been unlucky.
Hand 2: Slow play No. 2
I managed to build my way back to 6000 chips, again without having to show down a hand, playing aggressively and stealing chips. This included moving in on with 4 spades on the board with no spade in my hand after my opponent had tried to steal on the river, moving in with on a flush draw and moving in with KJ off suit on a QQA flop (he passed his Ace). I still felt I was feeling the table well and my timing was getting back in line. However, when I picked up K9 off suit on the SB and the BB put in a raise of 800. I decied to call the raise, as I had played with this guy and know I could move him off a hand if he missed the flop, so I called. The flop came Ks 9c 2d, I have flopped top 2 pair. I check, he checks, turn 3s, I check again, and he still checks. I am praying for an ace to hit and a seemingly harmless 8s comes on the river. I looks like I cannot get paid much so I bet 500 into a 2000 pot looking like I am on a total steal, hoping that he could have something, he re-raises me 3000. What the hell is going on, has he been slow playing me with a set? Surely he could not runner runnered a flush? I decide to just call rather then move in and he turns over AsQs, he has hit the miracle backdoor flush, and I gave him the all the free cards to do it. I slow playing works, you are a hero, if not, you look an absolute XXXX, at least I just called instead of moving in.
Hand 3:
Those 2 hands have crippled me and I am felling rough. I am down to 2000 chips with 100-200 blind and 25 antes, and I move all-in on the young lady that said she was going to knock me out. I hope she has A2 - A6. She turns over 77, which is actually worse than her having KK or QQ for me! Never mind I thought, I get 5 cards to hit and Ace (30% chance), first card out, the case 7,making her trips! Out 100th out of 360 players.
Chubby and CK supported me all day today, and we have just finished a mini 3-way tournament in my room for 25 pound a person. I hit a straight flush, trips 5 times, the nut flush, 4 other flushes, 3 straights and 2 full houses. I had the best run off cards for the last 2 weeks, every slow play worked, and all my draws hit. Typical.
I only have the $3000 NL, the $1000 Buy-In NL and the $10K Main event left to play. I've done by best in all the events so far, learnt a hell of a lot, and been able to get a benchmark of what my poker play is like compared world-class players. The fact that I believe (and said in my previous journal entry) there is a gulf between myself and some of these players is a very positive thing as it gives me something to aspire to. If I came to the WSOP and my conclusion was that only luck separated us, what would be the point of continuing playing? I'm very pleased that coming here has convinced me that poker is ultimately a game of skill, timing, perception and thought deduction. This conculsion is backed up by Phil Ivey's gold bracelet yesterday in the Omaha, Look at the list of winners this year so far, most of them are considered the best players in the world. The hands I have described to you have been the big pots I have played, I have not selectively left out the pots where I have outdrawn people. The simple analysis of my play so far is that I have made ill-timed semi-bluffs when I am not at least 50% sure my opponents will pass, and I have not hit. Coupled with this bad timing, I have not had the run of the cards over the last 2 weeks, but overall, my results correlate directly to my ability in comparison the other players, and I need at least 18 months of table experience to compete. This is what I came here to do, watch, learn, and adjust, and you must pay for your lessons in this life. I know one day I will look back at this journal and cringe at some of the plays I have made, but that's the great thing about poker, as I said in one of very first posts, if you are willing to put up the entry fees, you can play at the highest level. Again, I really appreciate the comments about my journal, I have had 4 people who I have never met come up to today and said that they have read it and really enjoyed it, which really makes me feel better after the last couple of weeks.
