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Most of the times the cards in your hand are nothing without the cards on the board. So a good flop can make you comfortably watch other players going to lose against you.

I had a flop like this last Saturday when I played with real money. After getting knocked out of the day’s freeroll tournament, I tried my luck on some money tables. A few days before I’ve lost 0.50 cents of the money I’ve gathered from the tournaments before ($14 in total).

After a buy-in for 80 cents, I made a few bad calls and lost almost 40 cents in 15 minutes. And my luck wasn’t going to turn it seemed. Whenever I had some good cards, I quickly needed to fold my cards after getting re-raised all the time for about 15 to 20 cents, mostly by the same guy. I didn’t panic, as I know my cards would come soon. With only 20 cents left I had to play sometime. So with KQ suited I called his raise and won with 2 pairs. He was playing J5o??? After this other people started to see this guy was constantly bluffing and only winning 1 out of 10. This was my luck for one of the next hands. With 60 cents in play, I got A9 suited on the dealer button. 2 players called, the bluffer raised to 10 cents, I called to see the flop and the blinds called also, the 2 initial callers folded.
Flop: AA9, a Full House from for me . But if somebody has the fourth ace with K, Q, J or 10 and he pairs his kicker, I’m busted.
Being on the dealer button, I received a birds-eye view of what the others where up to. The blinds checked and the bluffer raised to 10 cents. Not revealing the pot is almost mine, I turned on slowplay mode and just made the call a few seconds before they would have folded automatically. He certainly didn’t think I had an Ace. Th small blind also made the call, the big blind folded. The turn was 4, so maybe one of them was playing 2 3 and received a straight draw, only needing the 5?
Small blind checked. Bluffer raised to 25 cents. Now I started to think he had a high pocket pair in his hand, maybe KK or QQ. But with my Full House, I’m beating this easily. The only thing I was a bit scared of was the small blind player, but the odds to draw against a better hands where very little. I was thinking about raising to get a head-to-head situation, but maybe the small blind would fold, losing me 25 cents extra in the pot. So I just called after some time, letting him think I could have got the 9 or needed one more card. The small blind folded, so it didn’t matter if I made the raise or not.
River draw was a Jack. The bluffer made a small bet of 4 cents which made me certain I have won the pot. But instead of calling or raising quickly I still slow played my hand. And just before folding time I went all-in. If he called I would win more money. If he folds, he doesn’t get to see my cards and probably would be wondering what my hand was. He certainly didn’t expect the raise as he started thinking about calling or not. After 10 seconds he made the call, saw that he’d lost and mucked his cards. All the other players on the table where congratulating me on how I played him. Could he have learned a lesson today? I doubt it, but it was a nice win for me. Not only I regained the 50 cent I’ve lost earlier, but I actually made some extra money.

Today I played for real also and won another extra dollar. First I won a big pot with three of a kind 10’s. And later I played 23 suited on the big blind. Flop turns 2 3 Q. I check, 1 player raises to 20 cents. With 2 pair already and him not expecting he would be playing against 23, I called. He only had 45 cents left in play after this. With an 8 on the turn, my only worry was he didn’t paired his other card, as he probably already paired his queen. So I made a small bet of 4 cents and he re-raised me to 10. Time to start getting though! I re-raised him to 20, letting him think I could be bluffing or have a Queen also with a high kicker. He called and the river was a Jack. He could have got his straight completed or 2 pair like me, I didn’t know exactly at that time. I made a bet for 6 cents which he re-raised to 12 cents.
Still not certain what he could have (2 pair beats me as I had the lowest 2 pair, or does he have AQ or KQ, one pair with an high kicker and I’d win), I re-raised him, actually hoping he would fold. Instead he called, but I won as he showed his AQ, all thx to a great flop!

Yesterday I finished on the 39th spot. I played very well and kept on climbing in the leader board. I made the right calls when I needed and folded when I had to. Before we’ve entered the first break I was sitting on the 19th place with about 9000 Chips. The leader had around 21000 chips.
After the break with 10 3 K after the flop, I slowplayed my pocket 10’s to trap 2 other players into an all in. With the highest stack of the table and with a minor chance of drawing against a straight, I checked. The first player raised to 600 to get quickly re-raised to 1200 by the 2nd player. I waited almost till the last before just making the call. So did the 1st player. With a 7 diamonds on the turn, only a 3rd diamond or a King could beat me on the river.
Again I checked very quickly. As expected the next player made a raise to 1800, letting us know he had the King or a high pocket pair. The 2nd player who re-raised him the first time just made the call now, so it was my turn to act. Should I just make the call or re-raise? Because I didn’t want them to know I had very good cards, I just made the call, which was a big risk if somebody was playing the flush, three of a kind Kings or only needs one more car to make it a Full House or a straight.
The river was an Ace of clubs, which was very good for me if none of the two other players had Queen Jack in their hands.
My turn to act now, no more slowplaying. I made a value bet, hoping to get re-raised. And my dream came true. The 2nd player went all in trying to scare me. 3rd player called his all in. This made me a bit scared, but I had to make the call. So I called and I’d won the pot of about 18000 chips.

For the next 40 minutes I kept on winning and winning making me play with about 26000 chips. Then I made one bad call and it taught me a lesson to be carefully when you’re playing against the blinds.

Ask yourself this: “What cards do you fold when you’re the big blind and nobody raises?” or “Do you make the call on the small blind if nobody raised?”.

My answer to Question one: None. Answer to question two: yes.
Even if I have bad hands, I’ll check or make the call. This is a small amount to pay to see the flop and maybe making your cards the best on the table.
That’s what happened to me yesterday. With QK in my hands and in early position, I just called (I should have make a raise here) 3 other players also made the call, including the small and big blind.
Flop paired my Queen with 10 2 Q. I made a raise, knowing I should have done this on the pre-flop. Everybody folds except the small blind, he raised me to an all in. I knew he had to have good cards to beat me with my Queens and King as kicker. Maybe I should have folded, but I thought he was bluffing. I called and showed my top pair. He showed me two pair, 2’s and 10’s.
Another Queen or a King saves me, but none of those cards showed up, kicking me out of the tournament on the 39th place, only 12 places away from my 5th money finish.

I know he would never play 10 2 if he wasn’t the small blind, but I can’t blame him as I would have done the same. It’s my own fault, I should have made the raise before the flop, then he probably would have folded and I could still be playing for the cash.

The first time I ended in the money I just missed the final table, but now I made it 2 days in a row!!!
Yesterday I made my best finish ever with an 8th place and today I even broke that by just missing the top 3. I finished on the 4th place after losing an all in with QK to pocket 9’s.

From the start till the end I played within the first 100 players. After 3 rounds I raised on the big blind with AQs. 1 player called. Flop (10 A 6) paired my Ace with a high kicker. I raised again for a small amount to see what he would do. He re-raised me to an all in. With my cards I had to call, so I did. He showed an Ace as I expected, but I was in the lead because he only had a 3 as second card. As long he didn’t pair that 3, I would win. Turn and river draw 4 9, and I doubled up, putting me on the 9th place.

Later I knocked out another player with my pocket Queens to do the same with KK about 20 rounds later. In the meanwhile I kept winning smaller pots.
I made a very good all in call against pocket Jacks with QK suited.  Flop paired my Queen and the turn sealed my win with another pair of King’s.
A few minutes after the first break I won my biggest pot (5825 chips) of the tournament so far with my pocket Aces against pocket Queens.  After this I had to fold almost every hand and was losing blinds and hands I played like never seen before for about 1 hour. With only 33 players left in the game and me standing on the last spot, I didn’t had much time to act.
I had 2495 chips left and the big blind which costs me 1200 chips. I told myself to go all in after the last small blind with a good hand, but it didn’t happen, not even on the big blind now.
It also wasn’t worth waiting for going all in on the small blind, as it will only cost other players about 295 chips extra, so they probably all made the call. So it was no or never.
One player called, and a second player Raised to 5000, so I made the call with, you won’t believe it, J4o in my hands. The other player also called the raise, so I was pretty sure I’m out of the tourney.
The flop draws 775. Player one checks, player two raises again with an all in. Player one folds, so my chance of winning the pot increased a bit. Although I still didn’t believe I have the smallest chance of winning it.
The other player showed me his pocket 2’s, which gave me some hope. If I would make a pair I’d win, as long he doesn’t make’s trips. The turn gave 2 pair on the board with another 5 and I was in the lead now with the highest kicker! So I’m hoping nothing higher than a jack turns op to make it a slit pot or a 2 giving him the Full House. I had lots of outs now. River was a 6 and I tripled my chips in one hand and was back in the game for another few rounds.

But still I had to do something to make sure I would end up in the money. This time it took at least 30 to 40 minutes before we reached only 28 players left. Only 1 more knock-out to end up in the money.
And I made sure of it this happened
With JK suited I went all in on the pre-flop to get called by pocket 10’s.
Flop immediately made me a pair of Jack’s and I was leading. So everything but a 10 was fine by me for the turn, and the river. The 1à didn’t show up and I climbed up to the 15th place with only 27 players left now. Again in the money!!!

For the next 30 minutes I kept on climbing to the top 10 to reach the final table as number 8. At the final table I managed to claim the first place after 3 hands I’d won with slowplaying 2 pairs against higher ranked players. This place I kept for about 20 minutes till I lost a big pot on the river back on the 6th place.  Then other players started to make mistakes and suddenly I was with the last 5 players of the tournament.

With QK suited I called the chip leader’s all in together with another player. This would be one gigantic pot if I could win it. My QKs against AKo and pocket 9’s from the chip leader.
I was in trouble, only a Queen or hearts could save me. Flop draw 2 10 6 and J J on the turn and the river. The pocket 9’s won the pot of 332000 chips. Putting him in the lead even more.
I finished on the 4th place because my winning percentage was higher than the 3rd player, he could only win with a K for the highest pair or a J for the straight. I could win with a Q, a K for the highest pair or a 9 or Ace for the straight.

I had a good tournament and was pretty happy with my 2nd final table in 2 days. I’m wondering when I would end up in the final three now and when I would win my first tournament.

For the money part, I’ve added $7 to my wallet with this 4th place, making it $14 after 4 money finishes.

After just missing the final table 2 weeks back with my first in the money finish, I made it to the final table today and breaking my best finish till now. Who would have known this after the poor start I made today.

I had to fold hand after hand and the few hands I was playing I lost. After 20 hands or so my chip count went down from 1500 to 880. I had to do something pretty soon. Then I got pocket Queens and sat in late position. My mind was up for a big raise to get into a head-to-head situation which makes my Queens stronger than playing 4 players. But before it was my turn a loose player went all in for 2700 chips. Everybody started folding and it was up to me. Call or not? Could it be possible that he had AA, KK or AK? I made the call and I got my head-to-head situation I wanted. My QQ against A6o. I’m in the lead as long there’s no A drawn. Flop was 8 10 8, which was also good for me for a Full House draw. Turn was a K and only an A could beat me now. River sealed my win with a 9 and I was back in business.

After this I started winning some small pot’s and doubled up my chips again. Then I got very lucky not thrown out of the tournament. With QJo in my hands I re-raised a 280 raise with an all-in after the flop 6 8 J gave me a pair of Jacks. Everybody folds except the player who raised the first time. He called me and shows 2 pair with 6 and 8. I was in trouble, another jack or Queen saves me. Turn gave me a 4 which gave another 3 extra outs if it paired on the board. And the river paired this 4, letting me win with the higher set of the two pairs (JJ). I got very lucky here and apologized to the other player for his bad beat.  After a few more hands I made up to him not pushing him all in when I got 4 of a kind with 7. He immediately thanked me for this as he had the Full House with the Aces and Sevens and would have called anything I’ve raised.

My second lucky shot I got on the same table with A9s in my hands in late position. On my turn I raised to 640. 1 player called and the flop paired my Ace (3 5 A). I re-raised to 1200 and got called. Turn paired the board, also giving me 2 two pairs. My opponent raised, I re-raised and got re-raised to an all-in. I called hoping he didn’t have a 2 and a 4 in his hands, giving him the straight. He showed AK suited and was in the lead with the higher kicker, damn. Only a 3, an Ace (split pot) or a 9 could save me. River gave me the win with the 9 and the two higher pairs. I was in the top 20 now.

From this hand on I kept winning, only losing small amounts and steadily climbed higher into the top 10.
After only 27 players were left, they started going all in again as they ended up in the money anyhow. My goal was to reach the final table now. I played around the 3rd for about 40 minutes and then it happened. The table layout changed, to a picture with audience around the table.  I’ve made it!!!
9 Players left. I managed to knock out the first player at this table leaving us with eight. After some bad calls I got 27o (deuce seven) in my hands, the worst hands you can get in poker, but I took the risk and started a bluff. With the small blind/big blind being 1500/3000 I raised to 9000 to see what my opponents would do. Only the Big Blind called my raise. Flop draw: 4 5 7, I had the highest pair on the board right know. BB checked, I raised again with 9000 to get re-raised to 27000. But because he doubted a bit before re-raising I immediately re-raised him to 45000. Now he started to think about my hand, what would I have? He called and the turn draw an 8 and I had a small chance for a straight draw now. BB checked again and I went all in, another 70000 chips on the table. Before I started this bluff I told myself to let the others see my deuce seven. BB called and the pot total was 253000, the biggest pot I’ve played so far. I got the chance to show my deuce seven and he showed 89o giving him a top pair. If the river wasn’t a 2 or a 7 I was out. A 3 turned up and I finished on the 8th place.
My opponent won the tournament about 30 minutes later.

What a tournament it was, a bad start, 2 really lucky shots and overall really good playing. I was pretty happy over today’s tournament and the $3 I’ve earned
When will I end up in the Top 3?

With the weekend passing by I didn’t had the time to make my short tournament of the day review.
So here’s a quick re-cap of the last tourney’s I’ve played.
After finishing in the money for the 2nd time last Wednesday, I made the statement that I’m not happy with al place outside the Top 100.

Could it be the poker god heard me and is punishing me now? Closest I got was the 214th place yesterday. Saturday I’ve ended on the 287th place and today I finished 491st! (WTF!!!)

True I was a bit unlucky today with playing the highest pair on the board against pocket 3’s and a 3 on table, but still I should have stopped myself for going all in. With the signs I got I was thinking he was playing the 9 and hoping for a second pair, but that was not the case.

Yesterday I played very well after making some stupid calls at the start. About 90 minutes later, it’s game over. I lost with 2 pair against a Full House. I made a significant raise on the pre-flop to get called by one player.  Flop gave my KJ a pair with another K and a second pair with 8’s on the board. Again I raised, this time half the pot value. Got called pretty quick, so I started thinking he’s on A8 or K8 giving him trips. Turn was a 3, I raised 1/4th of the pot to see what he would do. He called again. But because he didn’t re-raised I was pretty certain he didn’t had the third eight. But a split pot was more in my thoughts at that time. River showed another 3 and I tried to bluff him with an all in. He called and showed me his 3 and a 9 as pocket hands and he called my pre-flop raise with these cards??? Sometimes I wonder if people know what cards are going to be drawn. In this case he had nothing until the turn, not even a high card where he could win with if both of us had nothing.
Ok, this can be a tactic also, playing bad cards, but calling a big raise is pretty self destructing. I bet he didn’t last long after he finished my tournament.

Saturday I finished 287th, but did always had to make a comeback. After winning a hand, I lost one and so on.
Just before the first break I had K10 suited and raised the big blind. 4 Players in the game. With the flop giving me 2 pairs I went all in, a big risk, but a calculated one. 1 player called and showed 89 suited clubs. With 2 clubs on the table a flush was coming up. Turn was a spade, but river gave him the King high flush and I’m out. Nice call he made, nothing to comment about.

No for the real money games.

Saturday I played 40 minutes on one table, making 45 cents profit. After getting bad cards for about 10 minutes and losing blinds I switched tables and made a bit profit again, but then I lost 2 times with Three of a kind against a flush. Bye bye profit and I’m in the red for 29 cents.

Today after my tournament loss I played only 5 games for real money and the first hand I could play I received pocket jacks on the big blind. Player next to me raised to 8 cents. 2 players called and I re-raised to 20 cents, to push some players away. They all called. Flop gave me trips and I raised 12 cent to get re-raised to an all in of 13 cents. Of course I called with my trips. He showed pocket 3’s, so I was sure I would win. What an entry to this table .

The 4 hands after I lost a bit, but I made up my 29 cents and made 30 cents profit in total.