Any two will do

It's amazing the starting hands poker players enter pots with. Last night (Monday) I was playing in a cheap buyin Sniper tournament on Ultimate Bet. Sniper is their term for a bounty tournament where some portion of your entry fee ($1.00 in this case) goes to the bounty pool and whoever knocks you out gets your dollar. Of course, when you knock a player out, you get theirs.

We started with 295 donkeys runners and I had advanced to the final table. When there were four of us left, the antes were T400 and the blinds were T2000/4000. The big stack had T198,360, I had T113,775, and the two other stacks (the two blinds) were T101,125 and T29,240. Shorty was in trouble, but the rest of us had plenty of play left.

I was first to act and peeked at my hole cards to see: ♥Q ♥7. Four-handed that is good enough to play, so I limped in (mistake #1, raise or get out) for T4000, big stack limped, SB completed and BB checked. There was T17,600 in the pot and the whole family saw a flop.

♥9 ♦6 ♥6 came down on the board. The blinds both checked. I have a flush draw so I bet T6000 (probably mistake #2, it was meant as a defensive bet, but why not put out more chips out there and try to win it now?). Big stack called and the blinds both folded.

The next card was sweet: ♥K giving me my flush. I now bet T8000 (too small). The picture I was painting was I had something, but was making a chicken bet because of the three hearts and I was afraid of the flush (mistake #3, because I made such a small bet, I had no idea where I was in the hand). B. S. called.

The river was the ♠A. I now bet T12000 into the T62,600 pot (if my arithmetic is correct) and B. S. basically moved all in.

I know I should fold, but B.S. had been so aggressive I decided he was overplaying an ace and called (mistake #4, four strikes and you're out). He turned over ♦9 ♠6! He had flopped a full house !

I should have folded (given the way I had played it). My stack was still strong enough that I could still win. Sure, I can whine about B. S. playing 96 off, but I have no one to blame but myself. My biggest mistake was betting so small that I never really knew where I stood in the hand.

Another lesson learned.

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Hand #54216729-58 at sniper940pm-Final (No Limit tournament Hold'em)
Started at 10/Jun/08 01:43:34

Memphis-Mojo is at seat 2 with 113,775.
robcano is at seat 4 with 198,360.
kygambler34 is at seat 5 with 101,125.
300lefty800 is at seat 9 with 29,240.
The button is at seat 2.

Memphis-Mojo posts ante (400).
robcano posts ante (400).
kygambler34 posts ante (400).
300lefty800 posts ante (400).
kygambler34 posts the small blind of 2000.
300lefty800 posts the big blind of 4000.

Memphis-Mojo: Qh 7h
robcano: -- --
kygambler34: -- --
300lefty800: -- --

Pre-flop:
Memphis-Mojo calls. robcano calls. kygambler34
calls. 300lefty800 checks.
Flop (board: 6d 9h 6h):
kygambler34 checks. 300lefty800 checks.
Memphis-Mojo bets 6000. robcano calls. kygambler34
folds. 300lefty800 folds.
Turn (board: 6d 9h 6h Kh):
Memphis-Mojo bets 8000. robcano calls.
River (board: 6d 9h 6h Kh As):
Memphis-Mojo bets 12000. robcano raises to 81600.
Memphis-Mojo goes all-in for 95375. robcano calls.

Tournament all-in showdown -- players show:

Memphis-Mojo shows Qh 7h.
robcano shows 9d 6s.
Showdown:
Memphis-Mojo has Qh 7h 9h 6h Kh: flush, king high.
robcano has 9d 6s 6d 9h 6h: full house, sixes full of nines.

Hand #54216729-58 Summary:
No rake is taken for this hand.
robcano wins 236350 with full house, sixes full of nines.
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