Back on the horse

So I got back on my horse after that bad day, my first really big loss playing the fiver sitngos, and things went better. Now, I'm still not sure whether I just ran better or played better, but since then I've won back everything I lost and added some more winnings.

Yesterday I signed up to a limit tourney by mistake. I play limit okay, but I find in an SNG you need a bit of luck. The same principles apply, so far as I know. You play ultratight early and maintain a decent stack for when you do get involved. Unfortunately, I became quite shortstacked by getting involved in a hand where I figured to be best but was sucked out on; fortunately, I got it all in with KT, a dog of a hand, but paired the T and was tripled up. You're always a chance when you're playing people who are loose and stupid. My luck didn't hold heads up, where my opponent threebet 93 and flopped twopair against my big cards, and then threebet T6, paired the 6 and I didn't improve, again with a decent hand. But second is okay. I won a game at Stars at practically the same time, so I was feeling good about things just then, and I scraped into third in one of those ultratight games in which seven players get to 200-chip blinds. I do okay in those games, but they're not my favourite. When the strategy I use was invented/discovered, players were much looser, and you used to be able, apparently, to fold for three levels and watch half the table knock itself out. The golden days! That rarely happens, even at PokerRoom, which has more than its share of true fishtards.

Having said that, I was treated in one game today to a spectacular display of donkitude. I doubled up early with KK, raising and getting a caller in the small blind. The flop came king high with two diamonds. Tard bet and I raised. He pushed, and I fully expected to see a flush draw and have my cowboys cracked yet again (they are running second to the biatches as the hand I hate most, now that I mostly play AQ very slowly). Nope. He had K7 for top pair and the backdoor straight draw, which for once did not come in. I hardly played a pot until we reached t150, still with six players in. The way it had been going was that a guy would raise and all fold, rarely playing pots. Then, suddenly, a mania struck the players, and they indulged themselves in loose play, knocking each other out chasing draws, playing weak top pairs (I found myself doubled up by a guy with a gutshot draw!). I was able more or less to sit back and wait for them to finish each other off, and then outclass the last man standing heads up. Which I did. There's a type heads up who's easy to play: raises with good hands, limps moderate ones, folds trash; bets when he has something, checks when he doesn't, checkraises big hands. If you're that predictable, you're going to be minced heads up by someone who's this side of clueless. Which I barely am, so I minced him.

Straight after that, I played a nice game, chipping up where possible, not taking too many chances. On the bubble, shortstacked but not massively so, I picked up 88 in the small blind. A player who had been raising a tremendous amount raised once more, fairly small. I pushed over the top. I figure that at worst I'm going to have a race, but likely he will give up. I'm not passing the hand anyway, and calling leaves me in a tough spot if any OC comes on the flop. I could consider stopngoing it, and sometimes I'd make that play, but I figured that because he had me covered by maybe 900 chips, he has an easy fold with most of his range. But these guys cannot lay down an ace. He called with A3 and didn't improve. I knocked him out two hands later when he completed the small blind and I checked with KQ. I could and probably should have pushed, but the flop comes JT8 and he pushes. I call quickly with my openender and overcards. He has paired the eight and he was quite upset when an ace fell on the turn.

I make it to heads up and get lucky when I run 88 into AA but flop the set. The other guy then pushes or folds every hand, mostly the former. I don't like this play heads up. I don't know technically whether it's good or bad, but it seems to me that you allow the bigstack to pick his hand and beat you. I suppose you figure to chip up a bit though and can slow down when nearer even. I picked ATs to call him with and MHIG. I'm going to have to think about what is best in that spot. He's not pushing any two, but he has a very wide range. Probably, I should be calling with anything that beats his range. I think in that spot I'm probably a bit tight, but I reckon I'm about 80/20 against that strategy, which is better than I am overall.