Patience is a Virtue (or How I Mucked into a Good Cash in Razz)

***Warning - LONG ASS POST***

OK - I did not win a seat into the $322 buy-in Razz tourney tonight. I played in a $26 buy-in satellite earlier in the afternoon to try and get in. There were 25 players, and I was 3rd in chips coming to the final table (but very far behind 1st and 2nd). The top 4 paid, with 1st getting the $322 seat (and 2nd getting $138, 3rd $83, and 4th $55). Since my last post, I had run into some really bad hands playing other tourneys/cash games. So I was down a little for the day coming into this tourney. I really wanted to cash just so that I would be not down very much for the day.

It was a shaky final table for me to start with. The very first hand I have a deuce showing with a K4 buried. Dude with a 7 calls my completion. The whole intention is to take this down on 4th or 5th when he catches bad. Unfortunately, I catch a K and he catches a Q. I know that if I bet I get called, so I check and he checks. I then pair my deuce as well, ensuring the best hand I can make is a K lo. The other guy catches a 5 and bets into me. I release the hand. Not a great start. Down to 3650.

I fold 6 straight hands on 3rd after that (2 of which I was the bring-in). We lost a player in the meantime, so now we are 7-handed, and 3 away from the money. Then this hand came up:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2105901

There is some history behind this hand. On a previous table, I had tangled (as did many others) with this guy many times. He was notorious for calling with high cards showing when people completed, whether he was the only one left in the pot or not. And then he would proceed to catch perfect cards while you would catch paint and then pair up cards, making it impossible to stay in hands. Luckily, I knew when to get out of the way, while others chased him down to the end, and he would miracuously have made his hand on 6th, and sometimes even improved it even more on 7th. It was gross. So I knew that if the cards came just right, I could nail this guy. And boy did I ever. You may say I was lucky to catch my card on 7th because he made a 6th on 7th. The way I see it, I had my 6 on 6th (not as good as his), so I don't feel too bad about rivering the wheel when he rivered a 6. We both got lucky, but I was already there, and had him in a good spot going to the river. I will say that I am impressed that he actually gave me credit for possibly having him beat with a better 6 and just calling the river bet. His 6 was very well disguised, and he could have easily put me on a much worse hand that I was bluffing with. But it felt good to drag a pot. Up to 6100.

A few hands later, this came up:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2105957

Two hands prior to this I got involved by calling my nemesis on the wheel hand above when he was all-in on 3rd for about 650. Another player also called. I caught bad, and he caught good and bet into me and the dry sidepot. Like an idiot, I called and gave him a sidepot to shoot for. When I bricked on 5th, I folded this time, but not before I lost about 20% of my stack on the hand. Then this hand came up, and I get caught up in trying to eliminate a player, and go to far, this time losing another 35% or so of my stack. Now I am the short stack at the table with 6 players left. The limits are starting to get higher, and I am in deep shit.

I get all the way down to 1535 with the limits at 500/1000 with a 100 ante and a 150 bring-in. Luckily, I catch a break and collect the antes and bring-in on the second hand of this level (the first level after the 2nd break). I then proceed to catch crap hand after crap hand, and considering I only had 2185 to start this run, you cannot have too many hands like that before you are anted out of the tourney. But I knew if I played these hands, I would get bounced, because no one was going to fold to me unless everyone had face cards and I had a baby. So in succession, here are the next _ hands I had that I folded on 3rd:

J7[7] (with a 2,3, and 5 showing)
JT[5] (with a complete ahead of me from a 7)
Q2[3] (with a complete ahead of me from the chip leader)

I am going to stop for a second right here. I think this was where I cashed. I could have easily shipped in my chips here with 2 babies in the hole. I know I am getting called no matter what by at least the chip leader. Problem was that there were still two others to act behind me - an Ace and a 7. If I raise, and I get called by one of those two, I am pretty sure I will be up against 2 opponents, holding a Q in my hand, and at least one of them with 3 good cards, and possibly both. I decide to wait and take my chances with a better hand, and if something does not come soon then I push with ATC (any 3 cards).

K8[4] (first to act with a 2,5 and 7 left to act)
TQ[3] (chip leader with a 2 completes ahead of me)
47[9] (normally, this is the spot; except I am the bring in, and I am up against an A,2,3,6 and 8 with a complete ahead of me)

Now I am down to 1435. It is now time to rock. Luckily, the next hand affords me the opportunity to do just that:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2106061

Once I put the first chips in, there was no turning back no matter what I caught. It just so happens that I get called by the only player at the table with less chips than me (after getting involved with speculative hands in the 6 hands I just showed you above) and the chip leder. I hit good on the river, and somehow come out of that hand with over double my stack going in and down a player. Back up to 3741.

Then I rely on patience again. I proceed to fold 17 hands in a row on 3rd.

[Jh 3c] [6c]
[5c Tc] [Kc]
[3c Qc] [8h]
[Qc 7d] [Td]
[4s Jh] [3c]
[Qd Ks] [7h]
[6c 3c] [9c]
[6c Kd] [4h]
[3c 4d] [Jc]
[6h Jd] [Qc]
[Kd 3h] [9h]
[4h 8d] [6h] - this one may look funny. Here is the link for that hand: http://www.pokerhand.org/?2106603 I am short stacked and have an 8-6. The up-cards for the rest of the table were: A,2,3,J. I don't know why, but something did not feel right about this one. The Ace belonged to the other short stack, and I was trying to out live that stack to cash. As you can see, as what usually happens when I have good cards, is that I was supposed to have gotten the T on 4th street. I would probably be out of the tourney if I stayed in here. Sometimes it is all about your gut reaction and not what would normally be a clear-cut decision. Anyway, the folding continued.

[Jc 4s] [Qd]
[Kc 5h] [Tc]
[4h Qs] [6h] (with an A,2,5 up top)
[Kh Qd] [7c]
[7s Td] [Js]

You just have to remember that the chip leaders were so up in points that I would never be able to bluff a hand. And as you can see, in 15 of these 17 hands, I had at least one broadway card (and sometimes 2). I already explained my rationale for the one of the other two hands, and the only other hand had a 9 in it, and it was my up card. I know at some point I probably should have thrown caution to the wind and gone for it. But I truly believe that I would have been trying to suck out, as I very much did not have the best hand in just about everyone of these situations, and there was another stack at the table that was below or near my level in just about all of these hands. They were playing erratically enough that I thought they would flame themselves out during this stretch. Turns out they were a lot luckier than I was at catching hands during this 17 hands stretch, and no one busted the bubble.

So I decide to make my move:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?2106712

Why here and not the last time I had 3 cards to an 8? Look at the up cards for everyone else. Only one good card showing. I knew I had a very good shot at either taking this down (if the Ace had two face cards buried), or at least being heads-up to try and double. That is exactly what happened. It was not pretty in the end, but the hand held up. I am right back where I started, plus now I have built a reputation that I am tight. I fold the next 4 hands, and within that stretch one of the short stacks busts, and my patience pays off and I cash.

Now, cashing is nice. But I wanted the seat. So play continues. Two hands later this hand occurs:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?2106745

I am the short stack again, and with the limits as high as they are now, every hand is pretty much an all-in hand once you complete. Unless you catch horrible and give up on 4th, you are committing yourself to show the hand down if you catch good on 5th. That is exactly what happened here. I had decided, especially since I was in the money, that I was going with this hand no matter what I caught. And I did, and it paid off. Again, it was not pretty, but it got the job done. Now I have some chips, and I am not a big pushover anymore. I am thinking how do I get in contention to win.

Two hands later the chip leader picks off another one, and we are 3-handed. 3 hands later the chip leader picks off the other short stack. So it is heads-up time. I am severely short-stacked. I have just under 9K and he has just under 29K. I did not give up, but this hand came up after several hands of back and forth:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?2106783

First time I had been impatient in quite some time, and you see where it got me. Granted, it was not like he had a great hand either, and I had to make a move eventually if I wanted a chance to win. I took it, and it bit me. Oh well. A few hands later I was out, and 2nd place prize money was mine.

Why this long story? Well - you really have to be patient to do good in tournaments. Blind aggression or giving up because you think you have no other choice but to try and suck out to survive are usually recipes for disaster. Smart patience - learning to read situations, and know when it does not make sense to get mixed up in a multi-way pot when you are short stacked, are essential to making it deep. I hope this little trail down my path on this tourney helps some of you when you find yourself in certain situations. Don't always make the obvious, by-the-book play. Think what you move might cause in terms of reactions, analyze that against what is best to grow your stack, and then proceed accordingly on a hand-by-hand basis.

Steak