Change the Game

I was ready for some poker tonight. I was sitting between two aggressive players and I knew that tonight was not going to be easy. I wanted to play aggressive as well and try to get the pot before we went to the turn and the river. I was going to be satisfied playing small ball. Bring in chips slowly and not go crazy by playing a lot of chips at one time. This table was very active tonight.

Right off the bat everyone was getting good cards. The first hand contained 3 pocket pairs and one of them went all in. Two hands later I was dealt Pocket Q's and again two others were dealt pairs as well. I ended up laying down the Q's. One of the players went all in again. It was too early to fight for the pot. I would have lost to pocket Aces if I would have played the hand. The one hand that did take me for a few of my chips was the hand I got pocket 10's. I led out with a raise and was called. The flop came out AQQ. Two pair at this time and I figured he didn't have an Ace. I led out with another raise and was called. Was he trapping me? Did he have the Ace? He wasn't playing that way. The Turn card was a Q. Now I have a Full House. I must have the best hand. I raised again wanting to extract some more chips. He called me and the River was a card that didn't help anyone. When we finished betting on the River we turned the cards over and I had the Full house and he turned over the Q for 4 of a kind. I was stunned to say the least. This meant that I would have to go conservative or push the action and try to get back into the game.

I did win a couple of hands to stay in the tournament and continued to play semi aggressive. I needed chips to keep up with the blinds now. The tournament started with 25 players and I ended up placing 18th. Not a good showing by any means but I did try changing to being aggressive and it just didn't work this time. AB was playing tonight as well. He was unable to play his normal style as well.

It will be interesting to talk with him tomorrow and see what his take was on the table. I did play one hand wrong. I knew I did it when the cards were turned up and finding out the person beat me on the river. I was betting on the flop, turn, and I checked on the river and allowed the person to catch a card on the river to beat me. I have to continue to bet when I know I have the best hand and try to get the player to fold. I didn't do that and I lost the hand.

What did I learn tonight? Maybe aggressive isn't the style that fits me. I am not aggressive in life so maybe conservative is better for me. I can wait till I get to the final table. I just need to be myself and play within myself. Next week I will go back to a conservative style of play. I tend to do better with that. Don't tell anyone. Aggressive out and Conservative in.