My rather short Monday at The Hoy

My first foray into "The Hoy" was interesting, if considerably shorter than I expected. We had twenty-one players, so started with three seven-handed tables. Our table had Joanne1111 AWOL, so we were really six-handed from the start. And then Columbo777 pushed a bit too hard on the second hand with a 9-high straight only to be outdone by Iggy's ten-high straight. Iggy finished the job on the very next hand. So, there we were, three hands into it, one elimination, and effectively playing five-handed already.

Despite Columbo777's little flare-up, play was rather tight through the first level. Squeaky, scary-for-a-blogger-tournament tight. I was seated to Joanne's right, so several times I got to steal her blind as it folded to me.

I was doing okay. Between stealing the blinds a few times and taking one small-ish pot, I was up to 1650 when we hit level two. Then, about halfway through the second level, I get KQs in MP. It folds to me. Mind you, we're still effectively five-handed because Joanne still hasn't shown up. So I make it 3BB to go, just hoping to take the blinds. Iggy calls from the button.

The flop comes K73, two clubs. I figure I have to be ahead here. No way he called with 73, and I have to think 33 unlikely as well. 77 is a possibility, but given the situation I would have expected a bump before the flop to see where he stood. Same with any K hand that has me beat. I bet slightly less than the pot and again Iggy just calls.

The turn is the 9c. The nine is inconsequential, but that makes the third club. I check with the full intention of coming back over the top if Iggy bets. He does bet, but a lot more than I expected. 700 into a 585 pot. I can't see him doing this with the flush. I suppose 99 is a possibility, but, again, we go back to my expectation that he would have re-raised me before the flop. I still think my check-raise plan is a go, but now that Iggy's bet so much I have only two options -- fold or push. I push, he calls, and turns over AKo. The river is an 8 and I'm gone.

I mentioned in a previous post my lack of confidence in the way I play hands such as Iggy had. If I had played AKo that way, sure as hell Iggy would have had two little clubs or JT or been screwing around with 73o. So I almost always play the big but vulnerable hands strong, just hoping to take down more than the blinds. And I miss out on opportunities such as this. I suppose the fact that he'd already doubled up gave him a bit more latitude to take the chance.

Anyway, that was my Monday at The Hoy.


Don't forget the WWdN tonight at 20:30 EDT at PokerStars. Password is monkey.