I felt great about my chances going into the final event of 2006, for a few reasons: (1) I'd won this event before, in 2004; (2) we started with $30,000 in chips; and (3) I had just come off an important 27th-place finish in my last event at Foxwoods. My confidence was at an all-time high, and I couldn't wait for this tournament.
Early on, the only real threat at my table was Ted Forrest. Otherwise, it was a mix of average players, some of whom have had limited success, and a few novice players. Generally, when you are faced with a table composition like this one, it only makes sense to be cautious against the one threat at your table and look to pummel the other players. That's generally my approach with Ted, anyway, as he is a very dangerous player.
The following hand is an illustration of what should go through your mind when you are facing off against another dangerous player: With the blinds at $100-$200, Ted limped in from first position. That could mean literally anything. Ted is willing to play lots of hands and is a big proponent of mixing up his play. Two other players limped in, as well, so I called with the 5
2
from the cutoff position. Both blinds also called.
It's important to note that this was pretty early in the tournament, and I was playing uncharacteristically conservative poker up to that point, mostly due to a lack of hands, but my opponents didn't know that. I was actually playing up the fact that I was playing tighter than normal, despite that not being entirely true.
So, the flop came 10
2
2
. The blinds checked to Ted, who bet $700. Once again, that could mean a lot of things. Narrowing down Ted's holdings is difficult, because of his sometimes chaotic approach. He could have a 10, 7-7, an overpair, a flush draw, pocket tens, or even a hand like Q-J as a stone-cold bluff.
The limpers folded, and when it got to me, I decided the best option was to call and see if one of the blinds called or check-raised. If one of them did, I knew that it would be likely that I wasn't the only one with trips, and if that were true, my 5 kicker could mean trouble.
Both blinds folded, so I was pretty certain that my hand was good against Ted, although he could easily have A-2 suited or 10-10. That might seem a little paranoid to some of you, but when you play deep-stack poker, you need to make sure that you have a monster hand before deciding to play a big pot.
The turn card was an innocent 4
. I actually expected Ted to check unless he deemed that I had a flush draw or had flopped a monster hand. He bet $1,800, and that had me a little worried. While I'd be giving him a free ride if he had a flush draw, it seemed like the safest choice in this situation to just call.
The river brought the 8
, another irrelevant card. Now, I fully expected Ted to check, and if he did, I still wasn't sure if I was going to make the river bet. To my surprise, Ted bet $2,500. At this point, it appeared to me that he was value-betting an overpair, maybe after setting a trap with A-A or K-K preflop. If I raised him, I doubt that he would make the call, since he is an excellent player; against a more inexperienced player, maybe, but not Ted.
I called his river bet, and Ted just shook his head, saying, "You got it," as he sent his cards to the muck. As it turns out, I made the maximum on the hand by showing weakness and allowing Ted an opportunity to attempt a bluff on the river. Yes, it's true that if he did have a flush draw, I risked giving him a free card, but that's often better than playing a big pot with a marginal hand. Trip deuces isn't exactly marginal in the traditional sense, but in this particular situation, it was.
If Ted had had the A-2 or 10-10, I believe he would have played it just the way that he did, betting all the way in hope of being raised. One way to simplify the game for yourself is to avoid situations in which you raise, and are put in a real quandary if your opponent reraises. Suppose that instead of calling $1,800 on the turn, I made it $6,000? Then, Ted moved all in for an additional $24,000. What would you do with your trips? The safe play is to fold, but there is always the possibility that you've been bluffed off the best hand.
By playing it the way that I did, I never really allowed myself to get bluffed off the best hand, and in the meantime, I gave Ted some extra rope with which to hang himself for $2,500 more on the river.
While this may seem like a pretty simple hand, there are lots of lessons to be learned. I did nothing spectacular; call, call, call is hardly sexy, but that's the point. Playing good poker is more about solid fundamentals than fancy plays.
Starting with $30,000 on day one and playing five one-and-a-half-hour levels, I set a loose goal for the end of the day of $80,000. Sitting at $71,850 to end day one, I was right around where I wanted to be as I headed into day two.
Read Daniel's blog or play poker with him online at www.fullcontactpoker.com.
