Poker Kiwi

www.pkr.com – If my latest tournament showed me anything, it is that even when you are dangerously low on chips, you should never give up, and that there is always a chance while you remain in a tournament. With the blinds at 200/400 in my Wednesday night live tournament, I had slipped right back to 1,400 chips and was looking like being one of the first few players out. After biding my time as long as I could, I found pocket kings with the big blind about to go through me on the following hand.

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The hand stood up to triple my stack, and after getting creative with a (Q,9) suited, in the small blind a few hands later, I was lucky to double up against a (K,J) who decided to call, after I hit the queen and nine on the flop. I should have perhaps heeded this as a warning.

After only an hour and a halfs play, I had managed to expand my 1,400 chips into a comfortable stack of 28,500, and was looking good for a top three finish with five players left.

Unfortunately however, a lapse in concentration saw me slide back to 20,000, and as a foolish reflex reaction, I pushed all in from the button to try and pick up the blinds with (J,10) suited. This is a prime example of how sitting back and composing yourself after taking a hit can be important. I didn’t have to attempt this dangerous move, and although hindsight knows everything, it was poor play with two players behind me to act. I can certainly say I was unfortunate to see the big blind wake up with pocket aces, but I freely admit that I brought it on myself.

So the lesson to be learned is that, if you manage to come back from being down to a few chips, try to disengage yourself from the mindset of making dangerous plays to pick up chips, once you have got a comfortable stack. More importantly, I feel you should always sit back and reassess your position for a few hands, after you have taken a hit.

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