saved by the dry pot bluff...getting lucky.

[troutsmart 0]

I'm playing a live tournament sponsored by a business in which there is a prize pool of $2200. 140 entries. 14 players left and I'm short stacked after loosing a big pot that could easily qualify as another post. Not into bad beat stories, so I'll spare you the details. We'll just say it was one of those 1 in 1000 beats. Anyway, I'm short stacked with T500c. I'm in MP. Big blind is 100. UTG raises to 300. He plays a lot of pots, often aggresive pre-flop, but passive post flop. UTG +1 calls. He is the chip leader and isn't folding at this point in the tournament. It's folded to me and I look down at A :club:T . This might be the best hand I'll get before the blinds and I assume I have the two players beat, which is hard to believe holding AT, but I feel pretty good about my chances, so I put my 500 in. Everyone folds to the big blind, who has just come to the table. He has an above average chip stack. He puts a chip on his cards, and decides to raise, making it 1000 straight which is about 20% of his stack. UTG is really frustrated, yet calls, andUTG +1 calls without hesitation. The flop comes 8 8 6 . Big blind checks, as does UTG, as does UTG +1. Turn is the 7 . While I'm thinking I might have a little hope, the big blind checks, and UTG bets 1000. UTG +1 raises it to 2500. Big Blind pushes all-in for around 4000, and I stand-up, and look at the prize breakdown to see what I get for 14th. UTG can't believe it and finally mucks his hand. UTG +1 calls the 1500 extra. I'm putting the blind on AA, KK, QQ and UTG +1 on a flush draw, but wouldn't be surprised if he has a made hand. I say, "all right guys, flip 'em up, let's see how dead I am." Neither wants to flip over their hands though. The dealer puts the river out there, a 4 . I pick up my hand and declare my ace high, kind of sarcastically thinking it's worthless. With a final board of 8 8 6 7 4 , they both shake their heads and the big blinds sheepishly shows J T for a jack high. UTG +1 shows K Q for King high. I'm flabbergasted that my AT is good as I scoop in my now 2000+ in chips, having quadroupled up. I look up at the big blind who's talking about all his outs, which in actuality were only the J for the win. As I scan over to UTG +1, who doesn't really care that I won the main pot, because he now has 5500 more chips than he started the hand with, having won the side pot with K high. Then I notice UTG who is obviously very upset, and I don't need to ask, because I realize he would have won the entire pot. It is then that UTG +1 asks him, "So, what did you have? Would you have won?" UTG says, "I had ....... QQ ......" He then proceeds to explain rather rudely the concept of the dry pot bluff. Neither the big blind, who was collecting 14th place prize money, nor UTG +1 thought they were in the wrong. UTG thought I was the luckiest ...... in the world, and I couldn't agree more. Frankly, I was surprised the UTG had QQ, but felt he was telling the truth. Everybody told him he was stupid for the way he played the hand, which I also silently agreed with. Just calling preflop with QQ was bad, not betting the flop was bad, folding was questionable, though when you've been reraised twice after betting out, QQ might not look so good. Anyway you cut it, I was a lucky guy. This wouldn't have meant much if I didn't end up winning a few key pots later and end up heads up with UTG +1, a 2-1 chip dog. I got even with him in chip when he went on tilt after I checked the river in postition having a K 9 with a board of Q 7 6 9 5 . He had 8 9 for the straight flush. I didn't tell him, but I didn't actually check because I put him on a monster like a straight flush or the A . I checked because I had misread my hand which I don't do very often. I don't like looking back at my cards and in my head I thought I had the K . A mental mistake actually saved me, but he didn't know that. He simply went on tilt after that talking about his luck, saying "who checks a king high flush?" I simply told him that he could have easily had the ace . I finally got him all-in holding top two pair and him drawing dead. So, I went from a very small 14th place cash out to a $1000 win all because I got lucky when two guys decided to dry pot bluff their draws. What is the luckiest you've been in a tourney?

[bourbenz 0]

hadd pocket aces busted in a multi table tourney left me with 25 in chips and after an unbelievable number of double ups came in 3rd. probably my luckiest yet.

[poguemahone68 0]

140 players down to 14 and the big blind was only 100? Never seen that before, must have been extremely long rounds or something, huh?I got lucky in a 95 person live limit tourney where we were down to 14 as well and the big blind was at 2000. I had 3000 and was UTG + 1 and hadn't seen a face card in what seemed like hours. I looked down at K :spade:9 and moved all-in. 4 more callers including the BB, one of whom went all-in as well with a little over 3000. Flop came 9QJ rainbow and chips started flying unitl there were 2 more people all-in. Turn was an A and another guy goes all-in and gets called by the chip leader. Now there are 4 of us all-in and I'm putting on my jacket. We all flip over our cards and there's KK (the guy who went all-in with me pre-flop), AT, QJ, JT and my K9. I was beat at that point by every single hand, but they weren't as strong as I thought by all that betting! The river was a miracle 9 and I just couldn't believe it as the dealer was pushing the 15000 main pot my way. 2 more knocked out and 1 more at the other table and now we're down to 11, final table and money is 9.The very next hand I'm UTG and I look down at A 2 and I call the 2000 (bad I know, but I was still rushing and counting my chips, so I wasn't thinking clearly). A really tight player after me raises to 4 grand and then a guy goes all-in for 5300 and it gets folded to me. I look at the tight guy and he's staring at my chips and licking his chops, so I call time and think about not wanting to start losing all th0se miracle chips, but I damn near called, I just had one of those "feelings". I was sure it was just residue from the previous pot, so I folded. They turned over their cards, AA (tighty) and QQ (all-in), so I'm glad I got rid of the ole' acey deucey. The flop came down 345, yeah, the wheel for me, and then 9 7. Oh well, I still made the right decision to lay down a hand I should have never entered UTG in the first place.We lost 1 and the other table did too. WoooHooo, final table!We moved to the other table and I survey the chip counts and I'm 5th. I started getting decent hands and started to play aggressive and moved up to 38000 fairly quickly, taking a couple of guys out along the way.When we got down to 5, the blinds were 3000/6000. I was in the small blind and it was folded to me and I had KJ, so I put the BB all-in who had a little over 8000. He called and turned over 74, spiked a 7 on the flop and I didn't improve. Anyway, a couple more hands like that and I was out 4th, but at least I went out swinging.I was just happy to have made it that far thanks to that miracle 9. It's cool to get lucky at the right moment, cause it doesn't happen all the time that's for sure.BTW Troutsmart, I lived in Provo in the 80's, man that was a weird town! lol

[troutsmart 0]

140 players down to 14 and the big blind was only 100? Never seen that before, must have been extremely long rounds or something, huh? That isn't a typo. I didn't inform you that this was one of the most interresting tournament structures that I've seen. Everybody started with T100 and the blinds were $1/2. It stayed at that level for over 1hr.30m., during which you were allowed to rebuy up at T150. Well, this option created lots of chaotic hands early on with people going all in on garbage so they could rebuy. To give you an example, on the very first hand, a guy tripled up holding middle pair. After that first level was over, there was a huge divide in chips. With around 30,000 in total about20 players had probably 75% or more of the chips, of which group I belonged, with around T1400. The remaining players had very small stacks in comparison. At that point, they raised the blinds to $2/4 where they were for 45 minutes. At that point, they changed out the chips and we played with only $10 chips and $20 chips. Yes, that is right, we jumped after that 45 minutes to 10/20 blinds! Needless to say, the field diminished very rapidly leaving a few tables. What was left were mainly big stacks. We went to 30/60 next and after that changed out the chips, replacing them with $50 and $100. Which is when the hand I described occured. After winning the hand, I'd say I had an average stack in relation to the chips, but was probably 3rd in chips on my table. This is due to the fact that UTG +1 had over 1/3 the chips in play. Crazy structure for sure. We were about 4 1/2 hours in when we were 14 handed. When I got heads up, I had around T10,000 and the blinds were 200/400.I asked why the stucture was such and they said it was because of the amount of people, which I didn't quite understand. This wasn't the worst structure I've seen though, not even close. I'll start a thread about tourney stuctures to describe the worst structure I've seen. It would be interesting to see some stories about crazy structures.BTW Troutsmart, I lived in Provo in the 80's, man that was a weird town! lolLol. Provo definitely takes some getting use to. I cannot imagine living here if I wasn't raise here or part of the dominate culture. I love it though, and would have a hard time leaving. I need my rivers to flyfish and powder to ski through.

[Nacho 0]

I was at a casino here in Florida, had 10 9 , i was BB and it got all the way around to me so i saw a free flop. Came out 10 9 8 rainbow. One guy bet, then a call, i raise w/ my top 2, intial bettor calls, and a 3rd call. Turn comes J...I start to cry inside w/ 4 to the straight on the board. The first guy to bet bets small, next guy folds, and for some reason, I have "the feeling", so I call. How miraculous was it that another 9 hit on the river giving me the house...The poor guy bet huge, why I'm not sure, so I raise him..and he calls cuz he "has to see it"...he shows the Q 7, so he had both low and high straight. Maybe he thought the 6 card straight was good?

[troutsmart 0]

hadd pocket aces busted in a multi table tourney left me with 25 in chips and after an unbelievable number of double ups came in 3rd. probably my luckiest yet.I learned my lesson not to discount the guy with just a few chips left. Too often it seems those few chips have lots of babies and next thing you know you have a civilization of chips attacking you.

[yeffy 0]

One problem trout. This wasn't a bluff at a "dry" side pot. After the preflop action the side pot was the same size as the main pot. A dry pot bluff is when two players call an all-in and there is no side pot yet and one bluffs to win a $0 side pot. That is the single worst move in tournament poker. In this case the guy bluffing wasnt so bad since there was a significant side pot being played and it wasnt like it was a final table where your getting knocked out made a huge difference.Congrats on your win.

[Play2day 0]

I took a bad beat holding KhQc with a board of Kc Qd 2d. The only other player that was close to me in chips moved in after I bet out about 100 in chips. I called and he showed AcAh. Lost when the board paired dueces on the river.I was down to 50 in chips...with the buy-in being 100 and very late in the tournament. I moved in the next hand with Jc4c and was called by the same person who took the monster pot off me the hand before with KK. I was ready to leave and put by coat on until the flop came J 4 10 and I went on to win the pot, double up and take first place!...almost 1000 dollars cause of how lucky I got with J4 . I was able to triple up with AK when I moved all-in and was called by two people both holding AQ!

[poguemahone68 0]

That isn't a typo.  I didn't inform you that this was one of  the most interresting tournament structures  that I've seen.  Everybody started with T100 and the blinds were $1/2.  It stayed at that level for over 1hr.30m., during which you were allowed to rebuy up at T150.  Lol.  Provo definitely takes some getting use to.  I cannot imagine living here if I wasn't raise here or part of the dominate culture.  I love it though, and would have a hard time leaving.  I need my rivers to flyfish and powder to ski through.

Thanks fr clarifying that troutsmart. I was thinking either you were completely full of it or the tourney had a structure that most of us don't get the benefit of playing. I didn't mean to dis on your area, but provo was like a little stepford town to me back then, I was in my teens and had been born and raised in California. I remember it being beautiful though, snow covered mountains all around you in the winter, best skiing I've ever had!

[troutsmart 0]

One problem trout. This wasn't a bluff at a "dry" side pot. After the preflop action the side pot was the same size as the main pot. A dry pot bluff is when two players call an all-in and there is no side pot yet and one bluffs to win a $0 side pot. That is the single worst move in tournament poker. In this case the guy bluffing wasnt so bad since there was a significant side pot being played and it wasnt like it was a final table where your getting knocked out made a huge difference. I appeciate you pointing that out as you are correct. You accurately describe a dry pot bluff. This was exactly what the arguement was over after the pot when UTG claimed that their bets were wrong without made hands. Bottom line was that I got lucky that a guy laid down QQ leaving me to win with A high and probably one of the largest pots of the evening was won with K high. Had the two checked, or UTG played his hand correctly, I would have cashed at 14th, and UTG probably finishes higher than his 10th place finish, not to mention where the BB would have finished, though my guess is he was bound to exit soon based on his play of this hand. The major benefactors were myself, who was enormously lucky in my opinion, and UTG +1, who picked up a very nice pot with K high. I stayed out of the arguement having been the "lucky guy" and not wanting to ruffle any feathers by taking a side, as I could have taken either. Congrats on your win.Thank you very much. Lucky. After reading my post, I hope I didn't give the impression that I was tooting my own horn. My intentions were not such, but merely to suggest how a few poor plays by players can result in a player winning a tournament, when they should have been on the rail.

[Guest]

Almost every tournament I've done well in, I've had to make at least one huge comeback. I think this is pretty common. Last night I won the UB 6am $10, with what I think was a pretty lucky streak of cards overall. ~4-5 AA, 5-6 KK, 4-5 QQ, ~10-12 AK/Q + .. these figures are just guesses, over the 3 1/2 hr tourney.

[troutsmart 0]

Almost every tournament I've done well in, I've had to make at least one huge comeback.Thinking back over any wins I have and top finishes, I cannot discount an element of luck. The wins I've had have mainly come from behind. Several times when we've been three handed, I've been the guy looking for that one hand. I think i've been fortunate in this area in that when I've picked up a solid hand, they've held up for the most part. Not always, but I'd say I'm running better than odds. Funny as it sounds, I don't really mind being short stacked as the other players tend to count you out and there is a large psychological edge gained when they start to watch you double up a couple of times. You can really put someone off balance as they feel they are losing control. Don't get me wrong, give me the most chips and I'll take it, but I kind of like the challenge of getting back into it after a bad beat.

[troutsmart 0]

I didn't mean to dis on your area, but provo was like a little stepford town to me back then, I was in my teens and had been born and raised in California. I remember it being beautiful though, snow covered mountains all around you in the winter, best skiing I've ever had!I didn't take any offense whatsoever. I laughed at the comparison of Provo and Stepford, as I can definitely see that. By the way, I love California. Hard to top it for weather, mountains, beaches, and culture. I always enjoy my vacations and eagerly anticipate my next trip to the beach.