Had an interesting situation occur tonight at a live tournament. I say it's interesting because of how it affected my thinking.
Now let me safe face a bit here by saying that since I switched back to tournaments in preparation for the WSOP, I've been playing really well. I've had deep runs and a few final tables online over the last couple of weeks. Having said that, I made a bad call in a big pot tonight and it was due to two reasons:
1. I had lost a big pot early (but with right reads and the right play - he just happened to catch 2pr on the river). I was cool, and then I won a big pot and then got KK the very next hand. I was facing a raise and when I 3bet it, a guy in the blinds called and so did the original raiser. So now I'm in a big pot again and I guess my emotions got high, hoping I would win a big pot and scared of getting sucked out on. BLEH...what's with the "hoping" and emotion based thinking?
2. I was blinded by a monotone flop - The flop comes T7J all diamonds and I have no diamond. It checks to me and I bet 1525 into 2100. The bb folds and the other player calls saying "well I have to call because of the 25". At this point, my range narrowed squarely on him having a J or a diamond. All I saw was the flush/flush draw and a "coordinated board", but at this point I got so caught up in being scared of losing the pot that all I could think about was the diamonds. I failed to start calling out in my mind all the specific hand combinations he could have. The turn is the 9s. He checks and I tank. For some reason he seems a little relaxed and talkative to the others around him and I pick up on it, but I don't really study him. Not that live tells are the nuts, but it can be a factor in a hand like this. After thinking for a while, I check behind. He had less than a pot sized bet left (3,800) and I weighed the pros and cons of giving a diamond draw a free card. Could he have an 8? Maybe, but I would think he bets the turn with a low straight. There are also random 2 pair combos that are pot controlling. But I still kept thinking about all those diamonds. The river was a blank 3 and he insta-shoved. I deliberated for a bit, but kept thinking he missed his draw. I didn't even consider that he could have a straight or even possibly flopped a flush. I mean I was worried about straight type hands, but I never put him on specific hand ranges. Alas, I called and he showed KQ with the Kd. Once he got there he played it well and it all makes sense. He checked and looked comfortable because he was only worried about me having the Ad. He had the nuts with a nuttish re-draw. Could he have had a missed draw? Maybe some % of the time, but probably not the 30% or so I needed. This was also the second orbit at the table and I have no reads on how this guy plays. And I didn't really even look at pot odds and the likelyhood of being ahead or behind. Had I come to an unemotional and logical conclusion, I would be fine. But I narrowed his range to a missed draw and couldn't let go of it.
3. Another possible reason I made the call was because of an energy drink I had. Huh? An energy drink? Yes. Usually if I have one it helps me stay focused, but sometimes it jacks up my heart rate and makes me feel a little anxious. Throughout this hand, I never felt emotionally detached so I could make logical decisions. When I'm emotionally detached, my breathing slows, my muscles relax and my heart rate drops. In this case, my heart rate had been elevated from the previous big hand but I wasn't able to bring it down. I'm not saying this was an excuse for making the call, but it did have an effect.
Anyway, I'm over it now. Just played a couple of 45 and 90 man tournaments on Tilt and took 2nd in one of them. I brushed it off and moved on.
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