Keep up the good work.

I would say my general style of play is definately more Harrington-esk than Hanson-ish. I don’t know if I set out that way on purpose, or if I just morphed that direction having lost too many tournaments by calling too many pots simply because the odds dictated it.

So for me, I probably wouldn’t have even limped here, because flopping something like a straight flush draw is only going to get me into trouble.

A few years ago I really improved my game when I started to understand the importance of recognizing strength and weakness in the other players. It seems whenever I ignore it, that’s when I lose. So I have been placing more faith in my decisions based on that, and have been considering pot odds less important. (I should point out that I play mostly on-line SnGs, and my style may not be as impactful in multis or cash games)

So… If I do want to limp with my 6-4s from the cut off with the idea of seeing a cheap flop, having seen no real strength in front of me, I really don’t have any issues with that, even with my usually tight style. Problem is when the botton raises 5xBB behind you. Could he be trying to steal from the limpers? Absolutely, but I’m usually going to need something better than small suited rags to challenge, especially when he gets a call from the blind. You have to know in that situation, your hand is the worst out of the three.

So, if you call, you do so knowing you need to get very lucky. I just don’t think that’s good poker so early in a tourney.

The pre-flop raise was your chance to get away from the hand. Once you see the flop, you again ignore the strength of the other players AND decide to risk your tourney on a draw.

The odds you gave for winning the hand were based on the actual hands held by your opponents, but it would be very realistic to think the button had an over pair and the blind has your spades covered. In that case, you would still be going in with the worst hand and wouldn’t have much more than the four fives to help you (or runner runner for small two pair or trips that avoid the flush no less, which still may not be good enough here).

Pushing post-flop may have been a good decision if you read your opponents weak, but I don’t like the call.

- Anonymous King

BTW – Slb signed his last comment on my site Annonymous King.. hmm..

Far be it from me to criticize anyone’s play (barring the extremely bad variety), but open it up to discussion, and I might just jump in.

I’m all for creativity, especially at affordable levels or loose games. If nothing else, I find going all donkey in a cheap SnG to be stress-relieving, and it even occasionally opens up a few possibilities that might not be found playing a standard tight-aggressive game. Heck, if everyone played the same, it’d be boring and easy.

After all this, I have no doubt you’ll knock me out of the WWdN tonight with 46s.

Let me also say that my response about playing Anonymous King heads up is just plain silly. It’s the stock answer for any tilting donkey, so I’m even embarassed that I typed it. I’ll still play him heads-up though.

Now, I’ve always sucked at statistical math, but I think your pot odds post-flop were around 2.56:1, or around 39.06%. Your odds of winning were 42.3%, so that’s a whopping 3.24% difference. So yes, you were mathematically correct to make the call. That 0.55% difference between you and pocket 9s is miniscule as well.

Bear in mind, I could be completely and utterly wrong here. Like I said, I suck at stats. So correct me if I’m wrong.

But you can’t ignore the non-mathematical input of the tournament being on the line 45-60 minutes in a 3-5hr tournament. Is a 3.24% odds difference and being a 0.55% favourite worth it? In short, do you feel lucky? Well, do ya?

As Dre has correctly pointed out, most of the opposition is from the Harrington school. It’s a damn good school too. But isn’t there room for creativity? Certainly, this hand was misplayed. The BIG mistake overall was the timing in reference to the tournament. I can admit that. Hell, that’s why I posted it.

But I still am shocked that the majority of people do not respond to the fact that I was ahead on the flop, albeit on a draw, but ahead nonetheless. My call was mathematically correct. Should I have been there in the first place? Eh, maybe not. Was my postflop call groundless? Definitely not. It was grounded in the idea that my draws made the hand worth it, given the pot odds. I defy anyone to argue that (albeit very specific) point.

But, the point of these You Decide posts is to foster discussion, throw around ideas and see what people think, so I don’t mind any criticism. It’s how you critique that I might take exception with, but I don’t block those comments either. ‘Cause my balls are fucking huge!

Finally, let me add this. I would LOVE to play Anonymous King heads up, mostly because my honor hath been challenged. So, if you aren’t a panty-waist, bring it.

MG