More HORSE Goodness

So yesterday, on a whim, I signed up at the last minute for a $20+2 HORSE tournament with 96 people playing. I instantly regretted it because I've been avoiding tournaments because they are such a long run thing and I can get a more immeadiate return on my money by playing ring games or SnGs.

I proceeded to play flawlessly until I busted out in 4th for $168. Well, not quite flawlessly. This one guy who placed in 2nd, hit a gutshot in 7 card stud on the river and I paid him off with Kings and 8s. I felt that I was beat with a hidden straight or flush (his board was non-threatening), but I was getting 11-1 and couldn't lay it down. I lost my chip lead that hand with 14 people left.

I make it to the final table with about the same number of chips (good for 5th) and I played perfectly. I made the steals when I should have and played my hands well. As the idiots knocked themselves out, I managed to get up to the 20K mark (good for 1/7 of the chips and 3rd place with 4 left) when in 3/6K Holden, I raised on the button with A8o, got reraised and I called. Flop came blanks and I folded. I lost 9K out of 20 there and my inexperiance playing short stack and short handed limit holdem came through. I just couldn't pick a spot. I made some bad folds until I got down to 6.3K with half of that in the BB. I was determined to go with this as I had the math on my side, but UTG raised and the SB (same idiot who rivered a gutshot) called and I had 92o. I took up all of my time trying to estimate my equity in the hand and I figured that I was probably around 9% against 2 players, or at least 8-1.

I folded and I can't figure out if it was the right move. It was one of the rare situations in poker that I hadn't ever come up against yet. The next hand I had 34o (a much better hand IMO than 92o), got 3-way action against the same 2 people and missed a straight draw to bust out.

Overall I was very happy with my final table play and with the way the chip count was at the beginning of the final table, I really can't complain about a 4th. The play was just so terrible that a guy with a lot of chips knocked himself out and the swings in the chipstacks of other players were wild. If I had gotten a hold of a few more chips (or hit on that A8o flop), then I probably could have won it. All of the decent players were knocked out by the time we had gotten 4 handed and I just need to get something going. However, I did make all of the right steals and all of the right folds to keep me in contention. I don't think I ever played those Stud games as well as a short stack than as I did at that table.

Overall it was rewarding and it's nice to final table the 2nd tournament I played in August.

Thanks to all of my buddies who railed me!