Hello,

I'm not a regular here but from time to time i come on this forum and find very useful content to read, so thanks everyone!

Now, lets go back to me

It all started by spinning the 0.65 spin&go into 3.30 mm ticket and then winning a 3.30 satellite to the main event.
Oh boy, was i excited!!
I was dreaming about wining the event but I knew my poker skills are not that good and that the chances are like winning a lottery.

So fast forward to the event.
I started great, until the first break i got dealt AA 3 times and AK-A10 like 4-5 times.
Lost 2 out of 3 times with aces in multi way pots but i managed to lose the minimum.
The first break comes and i have something like 14k which is nice(starting stack 10k).


Untill next break i managed to double up with kings
I was really paying attention to the whole table and every hand so i knew player8 is capable of shoving with a worse hand in that spot and the table was really loooose. I didn't worry about the UTG raise because he was aggressive, but still, was that a bad play?
Now when i look at it i think it was terrible...because we were 70bb deep...



So fast forward a little bit and this hand comes.
My tough process was that this board hits his range better and if he didn't connect on the flop he would give up after my cbet.
I really didn't like the turn card because now he could have a flush draw, he could have completed his straight so i check back because i was scared he could c/r me.
Now the river card completes his flushes and he checked...and again i can't bet...right? what if he is trapping, what if he c/r, can i call?
I was frustrated, got the aces for the fourth time and still can't win a massive pot.
Was it a good play? could i do anything better? extract any more value?



Fast forward again a little bit...i tried to win some dead money in right spots but a combination of bad luck and bad play brought me down to 40k,
but it was still a great spot to be in.
Here comes the game changing hand where i have to be honest with myself and say that i'm still a bad player and have to learn a lot more because i had no idea what was going on here...

This hand was played against the same player as the last hand(AA) and as you saw this player likes to limp into me.
Even now when i watch the replay i don't know what to think...

First, i think the raise was too much, something like 2450 would be better. Why did i raise so much, don't know, i guess i just wanted to take the pot down.
Second, is a raise even a good play??
Now when i look at it A8s should crush his limp range? am i right? so why not just call and see the flop?
Flop comes, top pair, i'm confident i have the best hand and cbet on the smaller side..why not let the weaker hands invest into the pot, right?
Then i realized it is a dangerous board but it was too late, he raised me exactly double my bet and i knew something was wrong.
I think he knew that i had a Ace there and he still wants me to invest in the pot, so he should be the really strong here.
Made straight, 2 pairs, and trips.
But i had to call and see the turn.
Turn comes and he fires again, 8k into 20k. I guess now was the time to give up. But i didn't. I called. Why, i don't know, i guess i was thinking he could have some bluffs and if i call he will give up on the river.
What a idiotic call, i risked ~25% of my stack just for a hope he will check the river. Ofc he barrels the river and now i fold.
What would you do in that spot? fold turn?

After that, few hands later i get QQ UTG and shove 20bb deep still furious about the last hand. UTG2 calls and i knew im done, the micro million dream is over. He shows KK and wins the pot.
Guess this shove was ok?


Maaaan, fffck me...i wanted to write a simple post and it turned to be an essay, sorry about that. Hope someone will be kind enough to go trough my hands and write down what was wrong.
And of course any advice to step up my game is appreciated!

Thanks!!

Where is the hand and where is the question

I'm sorry if its not by the rules of this forum but i posted the hands as a hyper link on the blue words. If necessary i will change that.
Hands:
KK , AA , A8
i want to know what was wrong and how would you play them.

On the AA hand i would always bet river. The guy has checked to you 3x after limping. The check on turn is t e right play because if he bets river you can call and pick off a bluff or lose less when he has it.

The A8 hand I would lean towards him bluffing. If I was in his spot I would think you had decent pockets (large preflop raise followed by small bet w/ ace on flop. He raised to see where you were at and you played it weak the rest of the way. He knows you can't call with those.so he keeps betting.

I have to agree with you, definitely missed some value there.
Thanks for pointing that out.



Does the river bet matter? he could have put me all in with a 25k bet but instead he bets 18k...what does he want to say with that? That he really wants me to see it as a value bet? and so it's very likely a bluff?

Based on charts or whatever if you get it heads up you can shove any pocket pair for 20+ BB pre so shoving queens is fine. Of course you will get called by Kings or Aces, but you have fold equity here too. Sucks that he had it though