An Unbelievable Comeback and a Blunder

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kardmania

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137 runners for $500 entry tournament at Horseshoe. $21k for first place. 18 spots paid. No real money til top 5 or so.

Get verrrry short with about 60 left. M down to about 3, Shoving with 75 suited, 22 etc. -- all the premium stuff. Finally shove with KJ suited in cutoff, BB wakes up with AA. I barely have him covered. I lose, my chip count down to...drumroll...900 chips. We are playing blinds of 600-1200. I cannot even cover the Big Blind. With a starting stack of 15,000 per player, there are 2,055,000 chips in play and I have 900... That would be .044% of the chips in play...1/25th of 1 percent. About the same chance as Mark Mangino saying "screw the porterhouse, just give me the salad."

900 chips. (700 after ante) one limper, I move my chips with 33 (any two, wouldn't have mattered) I make Quad 3's. 700 x 4 = 2800 plus antes = 4600

M is still 1.3. Shove very next hand with Q4 suited. All muck to BB who is pretty much priced in with T9. My hand holds up. 4400 x 2 = 8800 plus antes and SB = 11200

M is now approaching playability. (3.1) pass a couple of hands til I am in SB. Button opens for a raise to 3000. I shove with KQ knowing that the guy doesn't have to have a hand there, he kinda does...calls me with A7 offsuit. I am 43-57 dog, thats OK. Flop is QT3. Good, Turn Ace, not so good, River Jack: board QT3AJ. Rather dramatic...a "one card" straight with the King...I win. Takes me to about 23,000.

That's how you get back into a tournament. NEVER GIVE UP AND BE WILLING TO GAMBLE.

Got my stack up to 60,000 with about 35 left. Button shoves for 20,000 I have AA (first and only time all day -- never KK either) in SB he has Th9h. Flop not so good. ALL HEARTS. I go from 77-23 favorite to 3-97 dog. no miracles. Lose 1/3 my stack with AA...overrated piece of crap hand.

The blunder: I have built back to 60,000. (M = 7.4) Blinds 1500-3000. Under the Gun old guy (has me covered by a little) opens for 9100. I have JJ in mid-position. What to do, what to do. Fold is too weak. I could raise standard (25,000 or so) or just shove. Given his bet sizing I think AA not really likely, but with old dudes you can never dismiss it. AK seems most likely or perhaps some midpair that doesn't want to get called. I elect to smooth call and reassess after the flop. Planning to just fold if Ace or King comes and he leads.

Flop is QQT and he checks. A little suspicious, but not inconsistent with the profile of some old dude with AK. I check. Turn is an 8, now giving me a gut-shot straight draw in addition to the Jack outs. He now leads for 10,000 which strikes me as a scared bet. Without really thinking it thru, I move all-in representing a Queen. He snap calls me with AQ, I dont hit my 6-outer on the River and I am out just short of the money.

Hand Analysis: As it turns out, I think if I raise or shove pre-flop, he mucks AQ and I win. At least, he should. When two Q's hit the flop, I tend to discount him having a Queen, if it had been just one Q, I would have played it much softer. Prob call one bet then fold. If I really put him on a middle pair, the Ten OR the Eight could have filled him up. At this point the only hands in his range that I can beat are AK and 99. If he DOES happen to have KK or AA I think he makes crying call and beats me anyway. My shove is simply awful here. I can just call to slow him down. After all, now I am representing a Queen or a boat. Or, I can min-raise to 20,000 and fold if he three-bets, secure in the knowledge that JJ can't get the cheese.

Lesson Learned: Sometimes, not always, but sometimes, you can find out what you need to know with a regular old raise instead of a shove. I could have blown 21,900 on the hand, but I could still be sitting there. After all, I only need 900 to be dangerous.
 
W

WiZZiM

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Nice one, i had a friend have a similar comeback, left with 15 chips in a HU NLHE match he came back and won it.. the old saying "A chip and a chair" is a true one... :D
 
T

The_Pup

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Love the comeback story, as Wizz says 'a chip and a chair' - an adage that is often forgotten. It reminds me of the best comeback I have seen (from the other side of the table). Online heads up SnG. The second hand I get KK and before the flop with are both all in, the villain shows AA. I get trips and win all their stack bar 20chips, 1BB. The next hand plays itself and the villain doubles to 40; the next hand I get something like AT and they double again with 74 type junk, 80; I fold the next couple of hands assuming they're calling ATC; then my JJ gets busted by 44. Before I know what is happening we are back to level chips and I have lost six all ins with by far and away the best hand. After ten minutes of normal play we are all in again, I've got KK again and blow me if he doesn't show AA, which holds up. I die a deeply ironic poker death.

So, the strategy advice here is: always remember, you haven't won/lost until the fat lady sings.
 
spiderman637

spiderman637

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Wow that was a magic comeback, happened to me ones. And have heard that once in a while everyone has such experience...
And speaking about the blunder, its really a big blunder. u already know that...
I can never ever go allin at that point...
It was quite clear by the way he played that he was limping...
Cause if he have not had Q and have had AK, he would have placed a min bet to scare you post flop...
But he didnot, that was a signal u had to catch...
And again post river bet BY HIM when river was JUST an ordinary card like 8. That was a still clear indication that he had Q for sure...
 
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