I win but...

[t1riel]

OK. I recently won a live tournament at my poker league for the first time. (Sad, I know but most of the players at my league are loose cannons.) So, I get 9000 points. Just this week, my league announced that whoever wins a live tournament (we call them sessions) gets an ebtry to a private $500 freeroll at Noble poker. So, the victory was extra sweet but it seemed like an empty victory. Why? I'll show you my recent hand analysis to explain. These are selected hands but they were all within the last 10 minutes of a tournament.

Hand #1 Blinds 500/1,000
Me 6,000 (Button)
Player #1 23,000 (SB)
Player #2 17,000 (BB)

I get dealt . I go all in. Small Blind calls after thinking about it for a while. Big Blind folds. Small Blind has . My aces hold up.

Hand #2 Blinds 1,000/2,000

Me 20,000 (Big Blind)
Player #1 11,000 (Button)
Player #2 14,000 (Small Blind)

Butoon goes all in. Player #2 calls. I fold . Player #2 wins.

Hand #3 2,000/4,000
Me 19,000 (Small Blind)
Player #1 25,000 (Big Blind)

I'm dealt . I raise to 10,000. Player #1 folds.

Hand #4 2,000/4,000

Me 24,000 (Big Blind)
Player #1 (Small Blind) 21,000

Player #1 goes all in. I'm dealt . I call. Player #1 has . I win the tournament.


What's my point? I happen to have great starting hands. SO Iw on on luck, not skill. So, the victory wasn't as great as I wanted it to be. I was lucky, not because I'm a (supposedly) skilled poker player. Well, maybe my luck will carry over onto the freeroll in a couple of weeks.

 

[Dorkus Malorkus]

You're playing HU with 5-6BB stacks - it's pretty much a given that the luckiest player is going to win.

 

[gord962]

Here's my two cents:

Skill will get you at the final table, luck will win you the tournament.

In your case, as Chris already mentioned, luck was even more of a factor since the blinds a big portion of your chip stack.

 

[Jack Daniels]

One other factor here too...just having good cards isn't enough. You still need to be able to play them (and more importantly play your opponent). That is where the skill comes in. The biggest donks in the world get AA, KK, and QQ too. But that doesn't make them good players. Capitalizing on your good hands that you were lucky enough to get is the skill.

 

[RiverNoHelp]

T, I look at it this way.. Far too often we spend the large amount of the tournament folding(at least good players do!)..It's so few and far in between that we are able to pick up premium hands that it's just a good feeling to see them hold up.. I wouldn't worry too much about winning because you believe you were lucky enough to get decent cards near the end.. In my opinion a Win is a Win and that's the only bottom line that I worry about..Enjoy your victory and the fact that you were able to survive to make it heads up and eventually win the tournament..

 

[Tammy]

So, was it just luck that got you all the way through the tournament? I would imagine it took at least some skill to get to the final table...don't be so harsh on yourself.

 

[Stick66]

Dude, don't look a gift horse in the mouth. You may have had good hands but you played them correctly. I've had good hands and lost because I didn't play correctly.

Hand #1: He didn't have to call you. Or you could have been a bonehead and slowplayed and got drawn out by a flush or something.

Hand #2: You went from 1st to 2nd. No luck here.

Hand #3: Good raise! Less of one could have got him drawing.

Hand #4: Your Jacks could have been beaten by a flush, etc. Or he could have had AA, KK, or QQ.

After all the bad beats we all get, you need to enjoy the victories. As shown above, plenty could have gone wrong here. We all crave this kind of "luck". Now, enjoy it! "That's poker" always has 2 sides. Your skill is what puts you on the good side more often.

 

[Bombjack]

It doesn't sound like you were that lucky - getting 2 good hands in 10 mins isn't that unusual. Only lucky that your opponents are bad enough to call an all-in with JT or go all-in with 62, which makes you the better player and deserving to win.

K9 isn't a great hand but it's probably better than his, so good play on this one.

 

[Four Dogs]

Tim? Where do you play?

 

[shinedown.45]

OK. I recently won a live tournament at my poker league for the first time. (Sad, I know but most of the players at my league are loose cannons.) So, I get 9000 points. Just this week, my league announced that whoever wins a live tournament (we call them sessions) gets an ebtry to a private $500 freeroll at Noble poker. So, the victory was extra sweet but it seemed like an empty victory. Why? I'll show you my recent hand analysis to explain. These are selected hands but they were all within the last 10 minutes of a tournament.

Hand #1 Blinds 500/1,000
Me 6,000 (Button)
Player #1 23,000 (SB)
Player #2 17,000 (BB)

I get dealt . I go all in. Small Blind calls after thinking about it for a while. Big Blind folds. Small Blind has . My aces hold up.

Hand #2 Blinds 1,000/2,000

Me 20,000 (Big Blind)
Player #1 11,000 (Button)
Player #2 14,000 (Small Blind)

Butoon goes all in. Player #2 calls. I fold . Player #2 wins.

Hand #3 2,000/4,000
Me 19,000 (Small Blind)
Player #1 25,000 (Big Blind)

I'm dealt . I raise to 10,000. Player #1 folds.

Hand #4 2,000/4,000

Me 24,000 (Big Blind)
Player #1 (Small Blind) 21,000

Player #1 goes all in. I'm dealt . I call. Player #1 has . I win the tournament.


What's my point? I happen to have great starting hands. SO Iw on on luck, not skill. So, the victory wasn't as great as I wanted it to be. I was lucky, not because I'm a (supposedly) skilled poker player. Well, maybe my luck will carry over onto the freeroll in a couple of weeks.

You say it was all luck that you won and no skill on the final table, but I see that in hand 3 you had K-9os, not the greatest hand, but yet you made a large bet which takes some skill in knowing your opponents,to me that takes some skill.
congrats on the win and good luck in the freeroll.

 

[Kenzie 96]

T1, next time we play in the same game try this experiment. Any time you get dealt pockets that are in group 1 through 3 fold. Play any other hands you want. At the end of the game no matter how you finish you will have the satisfaction of knowing you got by on skill & hopefully I will have your money. Just to be on the safe side you probably should fold if you flop anything above middle pair.

 

[t1riel]

Tim? Where do you play?

Bridgewater, MA.

 

[Four Dogs]

Ah. Too far south.