Quit While You Are Ahead

Returned to the Gutshot for the Saturday night £100+10, a game I have not managed any level of success at so far. I was feeling good about my game and hoped tonight would be my first cash at this game.

JJ (2nd place finisher in the Amsterdam Classic) had put a bounty of £250 on his head for the evening and maybe that had drawn in the massive crowd of 130 runners that led to tables being set up in the next door bar.

I won the first hand of the night when I rivered a baby 3 high flush on a board that was linped into and checked to the river that gave another player (the eventual table luckbox) a straight. Off to a good start thought I.

With no cards and an aggressive raiser 2 to my right I didn't find many opportunities to play pots in position so when I finally made a move against what I thought to be a pot steal from the big blind I was well below average.

I had limped for 300 behind another 4 players with KQ of hearts when the BB raised it up to 1250 to go. He had about 3000 left and I really thought it was a steal and decided to go for the re-steal putting him just about all in.

He thought for a second before calling and showing TT. At least I was racing.

A K on the flop put me in front and I made a timely double up to get me back above average stack.

A bit later I raised to 2.5*BB from late position with 77 into the BB of a short stack that had shown a willingness to get his chips in. I was hoping that he was going to push all in and I would be able to get my chips in racing. Sure enough he pushed I called and he showed AT and never improved.

Sevens were to be my downfall after a further run of random unsuited unconnected junk and no pairs I found myself back down to m=6 in late position to the table big stacks BB.

This guy had - apart from the first hand when his straight got beaten by my flush - won every hand he had played, hit every draw and won ever race from both sides of the flip. He had a monstrous stack and I was about to give him another 7,500.

I guess technically I should have just pushed but I raised about 1/4 of my stack. He re-raised and I re-re-raised all in. Seeing as I was committed to playing the pot from the outset I should have pushed, not that he was going to lay down AK. He hit a king and I was off to the cash tables.

Sitting down to the cash with £30 I got the instant hit I needed. First hand JJ that made Jacks full, and got paid. Followed bu a motley collection of flushes, straights and 2 pair that had me up to £180 within 15 hands.

This was where I should have just got up and gone home. But the table was live, I was hitting cards and importantly I was having fun. So I stayed.

What followed was 5 hours of brutal swings that saw me down to £25, then back up to £160 then back down to £50. By this time it was 2:30am and the table was dying and I wasnt feeling too confident about getting my stake back up.

Then I get AA in the small blind.
The usual full table limp for £1 followed by a pot bet on the button.
I re-pot, he re-pots and I am all in.
He turns over QQ and doesn't improve and I am back up to £120.

A couple more small pots see me up to £130 and time to go home. I really think I should have quit at the very least when I was up to £160 and possibly after I hit £180. Still for £130 it left me down £10 on the night including the tournament buy in.

Live and learn.

Profit -£10
running total = +£1095