Analysis of Failure - Holdem Tournament

It had to happen. I couldn't just go on winning forever, so I expected this was coming. Last night my poker career came back to earth. I played two tournaments and came in 7th in both of them. Seventh! I was really surprised by these results when up til now I had been, I suppose, successful. Maybe I was running into players who knew less than I did or maybe I played well. As I have reviewed my previous successes, I still believe that I did indeed play well, most of the time. As I disected the successful games and tournaments I found that it really comes down to playing solid poker on each given hand. The reason for previous success, I believe, was that I stayed true to my "starting requirements", really did not try to bluff anyone, and as a result played very few hands. The hands I did choose to play, I played aggressively when the flop supported it. So what happened last night? Let's take a look.

I chose to play in two tournaments last night, first a $5 NL single table tournament, and next a $10 version of the same thing. After losing the first, I wondered whether the players at the $5 version were different than the $10 version and was curious if I would fair better at a higher level. Short answer - "no". What I have done after each tournament or ring game is to review my game play and determine what I did correctly and what mistakes I made. I found dumb mistakes even in some of the past winning sessions. So let's begin with the first $5 game and see what hands I chose to play and see if I could have played better.

The following is a list of the hands I chose to get involved with and what happened at each street.

Hand	Hole Cards	Chip Cnt	Action	Flop	Result	Analysis of Play	Corrective Action
1	2h 3s	800	FOLD				NONE
2	2s 5h	785	called 5 in SB	Jd, Ts, Jh	Check, Check, Fold	Correct	Called in SB - ok - no corrective action
3	2d 8c		FOLD				NONE
4	5s Th		FOLD				NONE
5	Kh 6h		FOLD				NONE
6	2s 9h		FOLD				NONE
7	Ks Kh	770	Raised 5x BB preflop	NONE	All Folded	Too Aggressive? Can't scare everyone. Just make standard raise and hope for no aces.	Adjust raises to 2-3x BB. I am looking to get some participation. Use standard raise.
8	9h Qc		FOLD				NONE
9	2h Qd		FOLD				NONE
10	Ts Kh		Called 5 in SB, Bet out 15 Post Flop	5h, Kd, Js	WON 195	Just OK. OK to play since discounted. Top pair warrants a bet to win this pot	NONE - correct to go after this pot. But we wary of heavy resistance - go to check call mode if necessary.
11	3d 9s		FOLD				NONE
12	9s Qc		FOLD				NONE
13	9c 9s	885	Raised 60, called Reraise	6d, 7h, 2d	LOST by Folding to Reraise post flop	Had TOP PAIR, should have pushed? But early in tournament. Should have gone over the top on his bet post flop	Tough Hand to play: but in this case I should not play so weak - espcially if I have position.
14	Kh 5d		FOLD				NONE
15	9s Js		FOLD				NONE
16	8h Tc		FOLD				NONE
17	Jh 5c		FOLD				NONE
18	Qc 5d		FOLD				NONE
19	7c 3h		FOLD				NONE
20	Ad 9c		FOLD				Pay cheap to See the flop??? But could get into trouble
21	2c Ts		FOLD				NONE
22	Ac 2c		FOLD				Only good if flop the WHEEL
23	Qs Kc		FOLD				NONE
24	5h 6h		FOLD				NONE
25	Qh 9s	690	Raised to 100, folded after opponent bet out on flop	9c, Jc, Kd	LOST by folding Bottom Pair against ONE player	All folded except ONE GUY, I raised pre-flop and called. He BET OUT post flop. Two OVER CARDS on flop made me think I could be easily beat if he pressed me. I could have gone OTT and laid down if I got resistance.	Low pair and gut-shot straight draw - Lonnie would play this I think. One opponent but with 2 over cards I think this was a correct move. Draws are DEATH in tournament poker.
26	Jh 8h		FOLD				NONE
27	5h 5d		FOLD				NONE
28	Jh Tc		FOLD				NONE
29	Kc Ad		Raised to 100	NONE	WON 175	OK	Normal Acceptable Play (in position - especially if many folders in front)
30	9c 7s		FOLD				NONE
31	4s 6d		FOLD				NONE
32	6c 7s	590	Bet Out 100 Post Flop	6h, Kh, 3s	WON 400	OK, but a bit desperate. Really should not have played this hand, but table looked WEAK with many folding and ONE opponent left.	OK. Took a stab at this with MIDDLE PAIR and me in BB. Opponent CHECKED to me - so I took it. (mild aggression)
33	5h Qc		FOLD				NONE
34	5s 2d		FOLD				NONE
35	3d 7c		FOLD				NONE
36	Tc 8h		FOLD				NONE
37	Qs 3h		FOLD				NONE
38	7c Qd		FOLD				NONE
39	Kh 4h		FOLD				NONE
40	3h 8d		FOLD				NONE
41	8h 8s	590	ALL-IN 590	Qd, Ah, Ks	GONE	ALL-IN preflop and was a GOOD FAVORITE. Not a BAD PLAY. Opponent only had A7 but took the risk and it PAID OFF for him. Maybe I should not have gone ALL-IN, but I did not to be contested. I think this was a GOOD PLAY.	Blinds at 100/200 with me at 590. One opponent in and 2 left to call - Decent chance to take the blinds. Race situation this late considering blinds and my stack - acceptable play. Early this would be INCORRECT I think.


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