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DEAR CLONIE,
My friend and I are interested in your opinion on a situation that
occurred a couple of weeks ago. We were playing in a $40 rebuy tournament,
with an agreement to share five percent if either of us finished
in the money. We both made the final table, and then this
situation arose.
It was a ten-person table and the hand went as follows: I was in the
big blind with $8k posted. Fold, fold, fold, all-in $16k, fold, fold, fold,
button (my friend) all-in $14k, small blind fold. I call with A-K for only
$8k more with $28k left in my stack. It turned out that the first all-in
had J-J, my friend had Q-Q, and I caught a king on the flop and ultimately
won the hand, eliminating both players. I went on to finish for a
$600 payout.
My question is this: Did I statistically play the hand correctly? Is it
ever right to fold for personal reasons, hoping my friend would also finish
in the $$$, or did I overvalue my hand and simply get lucky?
I felt even worse because the $600 I did win was the result of a fiveway
chop since it was getting late; so if I had not made the call, my
friend might have been part of the chop as well. Please let us know
your opinion.
Thanks, Teresa, Dallas, TX
P.S. I did give my friend the 5% plus and extra $50 and bought
dinner later.
DEAR TERESA,
Your situation brings up a very interesting point that has been the
subject of a recent controversy in the poker world. When two or more
players in a tournament exchange percentages of each other, or one
player backs another player, this situation has the possibility
of occurring.
In a tournament, if you play your hand any differently against a
friend than you would against any other opponent, then you are, in
effect, cheating. This is a form of collusion, and collusion is illegal in
tournament play. If you had chosen to fold your hand in this spot,
nobody would have ever known why you had done so and you would
have never been caught, but ethically you would have done wrong.
Looking at your situation, I think your call was automatic. It was not
much more for you to make the call, and you were getting great pot
odds, had a very strong hand with the possibility of knocking out two
opponents; and if you lost, it would not have crippled you. All of those
factors add up to a call, and the fact that your friend was in the hand
should not have factored into the decision at all. Your decision to give
your friend more than the original agreement was very generous and
should have gone a long way toward salvaging that relationship.
Interestingly enough, I had this same type of situation arise when
my boyfriend and I were both at the same table at a tournament this
year at the Bicycle Casino. There were 28 players left; 28th place paid
zero and 27th place paid $5,200. I ended up knocking out my boyfriend
on the bubble in 28th place because I was ethically forced to play the
hand due to our comparative chip stacks. It makes for a very unpleasant
situation to say the least, but I have such a respect for the game of
poker that I would not want to be in a position where I knew I had not
make the ethically correct decision, whether or not anybody knew I had
done so. You made correct decision, too; so congratulations!
– CLONIE
DEAR CLONIE,
Hey beautiful! I play in a tournament every Sunday here in
Minnesota. I read and read and read books (and Bluff magazine) by all
the top pros and use all the guidelines that the pros have suggested for
tournament play. However, there are so many maniacs and calling
stations within the tournament each week (usually 20 maniacs to every
five “good” players), it makes it impossible to semi-bluff or bluff, play
position, and play a fundamentally sound game (though I do). Sure, I
play pretty tight in the first stages, loosening up a bit in the second, and
so on, usually making the final table. The problem is, by the time I get
there, I’m so short-stacked that these maniacs, calling stations and
blinds eat me alive. Once the maniac gets a chip lead, I feel as if it’s
impossible to play anything but tight, because I know I will get called.
How would you combat these maniacs when you just aren’t getting
the cards? Also, can you really keep playing fundamental poker against
people who don’t have a clue about the game (position, hand ranking,
odds, raising...)? I guess I have won my fair share of tournaments (even
floating through to second without raking a pot), but my ego wants to
win them all, and I really can’t stand it when those fish suck out to beat
me and think they’re the world’s best player. They just don’t deserve
to win!
Sincerely, Ddubyah P.S. Have you published a book yet?
DEAR DDUBYAH,
Maniacs and calling stations seem to be the norm in this new world
of poker. That is one of the reasons poker is so good today, and so profitable!
First of all, I had to take note of your comment, “…usually making
the final table.” If you are truly usually making the final table, then
there is very little that needs to be changed about your game. You
didn’t say how many players there are in these tournaments, but
making final tables is what tournament poker is all about!
In many games there is no need to bluff, semi bluff, or do anything
but play strong hands strongly and fold a lot. It sounds like that is what
you are doing and that is definitely the correct strategy against maniacs
and calling stations. All I can say to you is keep on doing what you are
doing; don’t let your ego get the best of you. When maniacs suck out on
you to win the tournament at the end, congratulate them and make sure
they come back the next week. They will lose all that prize money, plus
much more over the long run, while you will continue to be a consistent
winner. You say that you have won your fair share of these tournaments.
What else can you ask for? Keep up the great work and maybe I’ll see
you at a final table of a major event some day soon!
By the way, I do have a book coming out soon. Look for it on shelves
this fall.
– CLONIE
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