An AUSsome Experience

Back in December I had the vague notion that I wanted to go to Australia. I knew almost nothing about the continent, but the idea of traveling there held enough mystique for me that I decided to spend two weeks of my life trying to win a trip down under via Full Tilt Poker. On my first try, I played a $500 supersatellite. I finished third, and only one player got a trip. On my second try, I played a $300 supersatellite and busted out early. On my third try, I played a $1,000 supersatellite and won the trip.

I tried to cram in as much Australia knowledge as I could as I prepared for a 12-night stay in Melbourne. The Australian Open would be in full swing (no pun intended) in that very city, so I knew that I'd be catching some tennis. I was also told that I couldn't go to Australia without seeing Sydney, the host of the 2000 Olympic Games and home to the famous Sydney Opera House. I saw Sydney, and loved that the amazing modern architecture sat right beside the towering trees and fruit bats of the Royal Botanic Gardens, a wonderful contrast. I also learned that Australia has penguins. Who knew? I saw these warm-weather penguins in their natural habitat - remembering which burrows they lived in, knowing which children to feed, traveling in packs under the cover of darkness to escape predators. I'm not usually much of a nature person, but I was really impressed by these little guys.

But wait, this is a poker column, isn't it? I almost forgot to mention that I played in the Aussie Millions while I was in Melbourne. This marvelously run tournament gave us 200 big blinds to start, with 90-minute levels and a very gradual escalation in limits. I didn't feel short-stacked until I had made it to day three and lost half of my starting stack in the first level!

There were a few key hands in this tournament for me, not the least of which came when I opened with the 4 3 from early position, got called by the A Q, and got all of my money in on a board of 8 4 4 A. Thankfully, my opponent failed to improve on the river, and I think he's still cursing me for opening with 4 high.

But I want to discuss a different hand. Very late on day one, a tight and straightforward player had just won a big pot. As he stacked his chips from this score, he looked down at his next hand and opened for four times the big blind from early position. I was mortally certain that this player had a hand. I gave him a range of something like tens or better or A-K. Everyone folded to me in the small blind and I looked down at two queens, a hand that I'm usually delighted to see. I wasn't quite as delighted in this case, as I had only 52 percent equity against the range I'd assigned to my opponent. (I of course didn't calculate this figure at the table, but I had a rough idea that I was probably about even money.) I didn't think I'd get called by jacks or tens if I reraised, so I decided to just call the early-position player's raise. The tough, loose-aggressive player in the big blind came along for the ride, and we took the flop threehanded.

The flop came K-J-7 rainbow and I checked, obviously with the intention of folding to a bet from the early-position player. After all, pocket tens were the only hand in his entire distribution that I could now beat. Surprisingly, everyone checked. The action seemed to signify that the early-position player had precisely two tens, or a set of kings or jacks that he'd decided to slow-play.

The turn brought a low card that also made a backdoor-flush draw. I checked again, looking for more information. I got wonderfully good information when the big blind bet out half the pot and the early-position player folded. The big blind could've had almost any two cards, but I didn't imagine that he would call me with a worse hand if I check-raised him, so I decided to call.

The river was a total blank. I checked again, and once more, the big blind made a half-pot bet. I thought through the following points quickly: (1) If the big blind was value-betting, my hand was a loser. (2) The river bet narrowed his range far more than the turn bet did. (3) I was getting 3-1 on my money, so I needed to have the best hand more than 25 percent of the time to show a profit. (4) My opponent was loose-aggressive.

I counted out the chips while I contemplated my action, and as I did so, my opponent moved his cards out from under his protector, and then moved them forward as if he were about to table his hand. That sealed the deal. When an amateur player makes this move, he's often excited about turning over his hand, and actually has something legitimate. When a more experienced player does it, the interpretation can go either way. Here, however, the big blind's move to table his hand seemed to be a desperate attempt to make me fold by using a reverse tell - a response to my counting out chips for a call. I threw the chips into the pot, and my opponent mucked his hand. The early-position player asked to see my cards (as inexperienced players will often do), and he breathed a sigh of relief when I showed them, as he claimed that he had folded pocket tens.

There are several lessons to be learned from this little hand, but here are the two main themes: First, you don't have to be aggressive all the time; sometimes passive play is far more effective. If I'd been more aggressive at any point in this hand, I would've won less money. More specifically, if I'd bet the flop to "find out where I was at," I likely would've picked up the pot when I had the best hand and lost an additional bet when I didn't. Sometimes your opponent will tell you "where you're at" for free. On the river, I made more money by inducing a bluff than by of value-betting. This strategy will almost always be the right one with medium-strength holdings out of position. Second, take your time, and get all of the information you can before making a decision. I probably would've called the river bet in this hand regardless, but it certainly helped that I took my time and made a read that cemented my earlier analysis.

I ended up finishing the tournament 67th out of 780 for a small cash. Maybe one day I'll get back down there and actually win millions in the Aussie Millions.

Matt Matros is the author of The Making of a Poker Player, which is available online at www.CardPlayer.com.