Costa Rica Unlimited - Part II

I played in five evening no-limit hold'em poker tournaments at the Linda Johnson Celebrity Challenge at Casinos Europa in San José, Costa Rica. During the day, my wife, our two "teenage" kids (actually, ages 12 and 10), and I toured beautiful Costa Rica.

Highest on our list of touring hits was swimming in the volcano-heated hot springs, waterfall, and pool at the Tabacon Resort at the Arenal Volcano (one of five active volcanoes in Costa Rica). Next was the boat ride on the Sarapiqui River, where we saw crocodiles, monkeys, iguanas, and birds, and then the "canopy tour," where we swung through the rain forest trees on pulleys, wires, and ropes.

Also, the "butterfly tour" (Costa Rica exports many unique butterflies to museums all over the world) and the Britt Coffee tour (my wife bought 15 pounds of coffee) were great. We also used a lot of film at the BioPark, zoos, and central market. Our only regret was that we twice were unable to take the tram (cable car) tour through the rain forest, because the road had been washed out by the rain.

Overall, our kids, who have been all over Europe, to Morocco, to the Nile, and on Greek Island cruises, said they liked Costa Rica the best of all. Mom and I agree that Costa Rica is right up there with the best of vacation places – and you can drink the water.

In the last issue, I discussed my three "final" hands in the first three tournaments I played – noting that you learn more when you lose than when you win.

In the fourth $10 buy-in tournament, I employed the same strategy that I used in the first three tournaments and made the big three-for-two add-on at the end of the rebuy period (when the serious action starts). And as was the case the three previous nights, I quickly attained a good competitive position and was among the chip leaders at my table.

With about $2,300 in chips and the blinds at $100-$200, I was in early position and made it $500 to go with an A-K. I got one rather loose caller and the big blind defended. The flop came K-8-4. I bet $500 and the rather loose caller pushed in his stack, which was slightly larger than mine. The big blind folded. What should I do with my remaining $1,300?

I scoped him out for a while (noting nothing significant), and decided to fold (coward that I am) – assuming that he had flopped a set. He proudly showed me a K-8 suited!

About a half-hour later, I was up to about $3,100 in chips. In my $400 big blind, I picked up A K. A new, rather flamboyant player at our table with roughly the same amount of chips as me made it $800 to go. Everyone folded around to me. What should I do with my remaining $2,700?

There were several possibilities, and folding was not one of them. I considered just calling and seeing the flop, but then I would be acting first. I could raise to $1,600 or slightly more, but then more than half of my chips would be in the pot.

Since I was highly likely to have a better hand than he had (unless he had pocket aces or kings), I decided to push in my remaining $2,700 and let him figure out what to do. With pocket tens and about $2,500 in chips, he called – which was questionable, since he rated to be no better than a coin toss, but it could be much worse (it was possible that I had pocket jacks or better). According to Mike Caro's Poker Probe, he would win this confrontation 54 percent of the time, but would win only about 18 percent of the time vs. a higher pocket pair.

The dealer dealt out five low cards, so I lost. It's amazing how quickly you can bite the dust in no-limit. Obviously, just calling would have worked better. But, for example, note what happened in the previous situation above. A-K can be a very treacherous holding in no-limit hold'em. I think there is a lot to be said for playing it "fast and furious."

Ironically, on the second hand that I played in the $500 buy-in championship event the next day, I picked up the same A K. "Tahoe" Andrew, a very good player, made it $100 to go. Believe it or not, he also had pocket tens! Again, I pushed in my stack, $500. Tahoe looked at me and said, "A bit early?" and folded – which is the proper play.

Once again, I was off to a good start. I was at a lively table, which is usually good. However, I was getting a bit frustrated, because I was dealt pocket eights and nines several times but had to fold before the flop when a big raise was made in front of me. These hands are good when you raise before the flop and get the vig from everyone folding, but they are poor for all-in calls, especially against more than one player.

So, I watched the other players blaze away and self-destruct. Finally, in my $800 big blind, I held a Q-9, and one middle-position player and the small blind called. The flop came J-10-4 offsuit and the small blind checked. I had about $2,400 remaining, and there was $2,400 in the pot. What would you do?

Since I had been playing quite tight, I thought that an all-in bet here would have a good chance of folding the caller and the small blind, who had already checked. Unfortunately, the caller held a J-10 suited and called my bet, and I didn't hit my open-end straight draw. Oh well, better luck next year! Maybe you don't always learn more when you lose.