Sucking does not hurt

So I made the final table of a $5 tourney. I had been up to 100K but I took a bad beat, but remained viable. With short stacks, no need to take too many risks but it's not my style to fold my way up the ladder. After all, I'm trying to win.

So I pick up AT.

TEXAS_HOLDEM, NO_LIMIT, T4-55942675-164
played at "Elmira" for USD TC from 2007-12-13 23:16 until 2007-12-13 23:17
Seat 2: Dr Zen ($64,376 in chips)
Seat 5: BunyipBlue ($12,520 in chips)
Seat 7: ckoilecon88 ($175,659 in chips)
Seat 8: dondimorin ($9,709 in chips)
Seat 9: ATorben ($14,002 in chips)
Seat 10: Woltas1 ($176,734 in chips)
ANTES/BLINDS
ATorben posts blind ($2,000), Woltas1 posts blind ($4,000).

PRE-FLOP
Dr Zen bets $9,000, BunyipBlue folds, ckoilecon88 folds, dondimorin folds, ATorben folds, Woltas1 calls $5,000.

I make a raise on the small side. I think this guy will call most raises though if he has what he considers viable cards.


FLOP [board cards:6S7H,TS ]

So I hit the flop, but there are tons of draws there, so I bet pot:

Woltas1 checks, Dr Zen bets $20,000, Woltas1 bets $40,000


I am never folding here. I have put in 29K of my 64K stack and I have TPTK. If he has got lucky, oh well, but I will not fold this.

And if I'm not folding, I'm pushing.

Dr Zen bets $35,376 and is all-in, Woltas1 calls $15,376.

Unbelievably, he shows Qh9h. He has the odds to call the push, but WTF was that raise? Is he really clueless enough not to realise that I won't fold anything I bet here for a minraise? My bet potcommitted me. He has seen me call a push with hands that must puzzle a level one player (because they don't understand that you must call when the odds favour you, given that what we are doing is making bets).

He doesn't even have a flush draw.

But you know what's going to happen, don't you?

TURN [board cards:6S7H,TS6D ]

Wait for it...

RIVER [board cards:6S7H,TS6D8H ]


Yep, there it is. His play postflop is atrocious. I can forgive the call preflop. He can count on my having a hand that beats him preflop but I offered him decent odds, I suppose. That's my mistake in this hand. I needed to raise a bit more, because with a hand such as AT, I probably prefer to win the blinds.

But on the flop, he has no excuses. I have bet the pot, and this is an easy fold for him. I *could* have two spades, but even if I do, I probably have an ace or king, and I'm beating him. But he should expect me to show top pair or better, because I have betted the pot and committed myself. I am clearly going to put all my money in here. He cannot raise me off my hand, no matter what I have. I will never fold here. If I didn't like my hand enough to call a raise, I would have checked behind, or perhaps made a smaller bet. I might even have pushed a spade draw. (I say "I" but I mean "his opponent".)

This guy will lose money over his career. It's little consolation for me that that is true but I suppose that I should take some from having again put my money in really good. (We all know that hands you lose are more salient than ones you win, and I would hardly remember it had I won that one and gone on to win.) And at least I made a final table. I'm not going so badly if I make FTs.