It’s always fun when you flop or turn a big hand and your opponent has no idea what he’s getting himself into. It’s like recreational crab fishing, at least what I’ve heard of it, where you have bait at the end of a small, light string and you have to carefully pull the crab in without the crab letting go with his claws. You have to make sure the crab is fully committed until he gets to shore and is in your bucket.

It’s fun… except when you are the crab.

That’s basically what happened last night in my daily Full Tilt Poker no limit hold’em freeroll tournament. I was on a great roll and was 107/324 with $14,295 and then 29/297 with $27,545. Things were looking goood, until…

(Really, I should have been more cautious on the turn considering what he called me on after the flop and I definitely should have folded after he re-raised my bet on the turn)

Full Tilt Poker Game #8382691602: $100 Freeroll (63670061), Table 42 – 150/300 Ante 25 – No Limit Hold’em – 1:31:40 ET – 2008/10/07
Seat 1: nutsssbr (8,515)
Seat 2: 59Hecker (16,433), is sitting out
Seat 3: MartinMoore (4,672)
Seat 4: Rivvaa (11,702)
Seat 5: candyken (72,170)
Seat 6: ThePaperClip (34,868)
Seat 7: Toghet (210), is sitting out
Seat 8: girish133 (30,495)
Seat 9: zdennka (11,438)
nutsssbr antes 25
59Hecker antes 25
MartinMoore antes 25
Rivvaa antes 25
candyken antes 25
ThePaperClip antes 25
Toghet antes 25
girish133 antes 25
zdennka antes 25
Rivvaa posts the small blind of 150
candyken posts the big blind of 300
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to girish133 [Jc Jd]
ThePaperClip folds
Toghet folds
girish133 raises to 1,275
zdennka folds
nutsssbr folds
59Hecker folds
MartinMoore folds
Rivvaa folds
candyken calls 975
*** FLOP *** [3d 4h 5h]
candyken checks
girish133 bets 2,925
candyken calls 2,925
*** TURN *** [3d 4h 5h] [7d]
candyken checks
girish133 bets 8,775
candyken raises to 17,550
girish133 calls 8,775
*** RIVER *** [3d 4h 5h 7d] [Jh]
candyken bets 50,395, and is all in
girish133 calls 8,720, and is all in
Uncalled bet of 41,675 returned to candyken
*** SHOW DOWN ***
candyken shows [5c 6s] a straight, Seven high
girish133 mucks
candyken wins the pot (61,315) with a straight, Seven high
girish133 stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 61,315 | Rake 0
Board: [3d 4h 5h 7d Jh]
Seat 1: nutsssbr folded before the Flop
Seat 2: 59Hecker folded before the Flop
Seat 3: MartinMoore (button) folded before the Flop
Seat 4: Rivvaa (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 5: candyken (big blind) showed [5c 6s] and won (61,315) with a straight, Seven high
Seat 6: ThePaperClip folded before the Flop
Seat 7: Toghet folded before the Flop
Seat 8: girish133 mucked [Jc Jd] – three of a kind, Jacks
Seat 9: zdennka folded before the Flop

So I played two tournaments this weekend and felt like either one could have been the one. I’ve made an adjustment to my earlier stated strategy in that I decided not to take many risks in the early stages of the tournament. They just don’t pay off.

I still play a lot of hands in the early game while the blinds are small and I’m still learning how to capitalize on big hands. When my hand seems overwhelmingly stronger than an opponent’s hand, it is very difficult to get as much from them as I can.

On Friday, I ended up in 56th place. On Sunday, I ended up in 205th place.

Here’s a brief recap of Friday’s tournament. Basically, I had an average to low stack throughout and fought tooth and nail until the end. It was quite fun trying to stay alive. Normally I hate being in that position, but I think it was a good learning experience on being patient even when backed into a corner.

198/387 $7,235
209/355 $6,440
205/313 $6,715
179/266 $8,040
178/223 $6,790
137/212 $10,740
136/180 $10,660
135/165 $9,010
115/143 $10,210
65/139 $24,120 (won this with AJ top pair vs QJ all in)
73/108 $18,495
60/95 $24,995
62/77 $14,295
54/69 $17,095
56/59 $5,845 (blinds were very large so I went all in on KQ)
56

On Sunday, I got ahead in chips but lost on what I thought were reasonable hands. Perhaps if someone wants to comment on them to let me know how you think I should have played them differently.

145/461 $11,025
77/346 $17,230
145/219 $10,134 (lost several thousand after betting the pot after the river with KK55 and lost to 10-A straight)
(Then lost the remainder of my stack AAQQ to a flush draw on the river)
205

Here’s the two big losing hands from Sunday.

Full Tilt Poker Game #8368935845: $100 Freeroll (63559025), Table 9 – 200/400 Ante 50 – No Limit Hold’em – 1:39:09 ET – 2008/10/06
Seat 1: gleidsonds (59,852)
Seat 2: splash it (59,033)
Seat 3: Brian50 (24,851)
Seat 4: girish133 (15,140)
Seat 5: mvpmike1973 (4,520)
Seat 6: radishes (26,356)
Seat 7: kjfootball5 (5,128)
Seat 8: foxynana (13,000)
Seat 9: trum1172 (8,897)
gleidsonds antes 50
splash it antes 50
Brian50 antes 50
girish133 antes 50
mvpmike1973 antes 50
radishes antes 50
kjfootball5 antes 50
foxynana antes 50
trum1172 antes 50
Brian50 posts the small blind of 200
girish133 posts the big blind of 400
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to girish133 [5h Kc]
mvpmike1973 folds
radishes folds
kjfootball5 calls 400
foxynana calls 400
trum1172 has 15 seconds left to act
trum1172 folds
gleidsonds calls 400
splash it calls 400
Brian50 folds
girish133 checks
*** FLOP *** [Jh 5c 3s]
girish133 checks
kjfootball5 checks
foxynana checks
gleidsonds checks
splash it checks
*** TURN *** [Jh 5c 3s] [Th]
girish133 has 15 seconds left to act
girish133 bets 400
kjfootball5 calls 400
foxynana calls 400
gleidsonds calls 400
splash it calls 400
*** RIVER *** [Jh 5c 3s Th] [Kd]
girish133 has 15 seconds left to act
girish133 bets 4,650
kjfootball5 calls 4,278, and is all in
foxynana folds
gleidsonds calls 4,650
splash it folds
*** SHOW DOWN ***
girish133 shows [5h Kc] two pair, Kings and Fives
gleidsonds mucks
girish133 wins the side pot (744) with two pair, Kings and Fives
kjfootball5 shows [Qd Ah] a straight, Ace high
kjfootball5 wins the main pot (17,484) with a straight, Ace high
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 18,228 Main pot 17,484. Side pot 744. | Rake 0
Board: [Jh 5c 3s Th Kd]
Seat 1: gleidsonds mucked [9d Kh] – a pair of Kings
Seat 2: splash it (button) folded on the River
Seat 3: Brian50 (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 4: girish133 (big blind) showed [5h Kc] and won (744) with two pair, Kings and Fives
Seat 5: mvpmike1973 folded before the Flop
Seat 6: radishes folded before the Flop
Seat 7: kjfootball5 showed [Qd Ah] and won (17,484) with
Seat 8: foxynana folded on the River
Seat 9: trum1172 folded before the Flop

Full Tilt Poker Game #8368991278: $100 Freeroll (63559025), Table 9 – 200/400 Ante 50 – No Limit Hold’em – 1:45:25 ET – 2008/10/06
Seat 1: gleidsonds (52,552)
Seat 2: splash it (60,783)
Seat 3: Brian50 (14,804)
Seat 4: girish133 (10,584)
Seat 5: ufo-research (9,716)
Seat 6: radishes (24,906)
Seat 7: kjfootball5 (16,684)
Seat 8: JimJen (40,736)
Seat 9: trum1172 (24,564)
gleidsonds antes 50
splash it antes 50
Brian50 antes 50
girish133 antes 50
ufo-research antes 50
radishes antes 50
kjfootball5 antes 50
trum1172 antes 50
trum1172 posts the small blind of 200
gleidsonds posts the big blind of 400
The button is in seat #7
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to girish133 [Qh As]
splash it folds
Brian50 has 15 seconds left to act
Brian50 calls 400
girish133 calls 400
ufo-research folds
radishes raises to 1,600
kjfootball5 folds
trum1172 folds
gleidsonds folds
Brian50 calls 1,200
girish133 calls 1,200
*** FLOP *** [Qc 7c Ac]
Brian50 has 15 seconds left to act
Brian50 bets 2,800
girish133 raises to 8,934, and is all in
radishes folds
Brian50 calls 6,134
girish133 shows [Qh As]
Brian50 shows [Tc Ad]
*** TURN *** [Qc 7c Ac] [8s]
*** RIVER *** [Qc 7c Ac 8s] [2c]
girish133 shows two pair, Aces and Queens
Brian50 shows a flush, Ace high
Brian50 wins the pot (23,668) with a flush, Ace high
girish133 stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 23,668 | Rake 0
Board: [Qc 7c Ac 8s 2c]
Seat 1: gleidsonds (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 2: splash it folded before the Flop
Seat 3: Brian50 showed [Tc Ad] and won (23,668) with a flush, Ace high
Seat 4: girish133 showed [Qh As] and lost with two pair, Aces and Queens
Seat 5: ufo-research folded before the Flop
Seat 6: radishes folded on the Flop
Seat 7: kjfootball5 (button) folded before the Flop
Seat 8: JimJen is sitting out
Seat 9: trum1172 (small blind) folded before the Flop

At least playing large freeroll tournaments will give me some practice in the event I ever do enter a real tournament. But what a place to start, competing against 2699 other players for 1 of the top 27 spots, just for a few bucks.

How am I supposed to approach this?

Here’s my basic strategy:

1. In the beginning take some risks, but don’t be wreckless. The reason is that you need to build your stack up to be able compete in the later hands as everyone else is growing their stack. There is a very fine line between risky and wreckless and I’m still trying to find it. Fortunately, there is no money involved so I can experiment. Playing cautious may get me further in the tournament on average, but I will be up against a wall (of chips) later on.
2. Once I have respectable stack, continue to see a lot of flops but play cautiously. Don’t commit your entire stack unless absolutely certain and play pot odds. It’s at this point I begin to become restless and a bit impatient. It is very hard to hold back when I’ve been playing for an hour or two and the end isn’t in sight.
3. I’ll talk about the end game when I get there…

Here’s an example of a freeroll tournament I just played in.

• Got some good hands and good beats to bring me to 27th of about 1100 with approximately $12,000.
• Continued to slowly grow my stack, but apparently at a slower pace than the rest of the players: 42nd of 788 with $13,965; then 77th of 535 with $15,005.
• Made a couple bad calls, but also got some bad beats on the river, bringing me to: 155th of 438 with $9,885; and then 180th of 293 with $7,765.
• Raised pre-flop with Ace Jack Offsuit. Flopped 2 pair. Went all in. Lost it to 3 Kings on the river. Finished in 255th.

This is going to be tough.