Not Thinking

Since I'm not going to be getting any readers who aren't family or very close friends unless I make it pretty big in poker, the purpose of this blog is really to help me get better by having to write out my thought processes for hands. The hope is that by doing so, I'll be able to see and fix weaknesses in my game. If I see the error in a particular line of thought, the idea is that I'll find and fix it.

The problem for me is that sometimes there is no line of thought.

Poker Stars, $5 + $0.50 NL Hold'em Tournament, 50/100 Blinds, 9 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

UTG: 13,170
UTG+1: 5,900
UTG+2: 5,345
MP1: 3,625
MP2: 4,585
CO: 3,125
BTN: 3,825
Hero (SB): 4,820
BB: 7,850
Pre-Flop: (150) Q A dealt to Hero (SB)
2 folds, UTG+2 raises to 300, 3 folds, BTN calls 300, Hero calls 250, BB calls 200

Flop: (1,200) 5 3 Q (4 Players)
Hero checks, BB checks, UTG+2 bets 400, BTN raises to 800, Hero raises to 4,520 and is All-In, 2 folds, BTN calls 2,725 and is All-In

Turn: (8,650) J (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
River: (8,650) K (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
Results: 8,650 Pot

BTN showed 3 3 (three of a kind, Threes) and WON 8,650 (+4,825 NET)
Hero showed Q A (a pair of Queens) and LOST (-3,825 NET)


There are several problems with this hand. The first is that I only have TPTK on a very dry board and I'm willing to shove 45 BB's with no expectation of getting called by weaker hands.

The second has to do with the particular villain in the hand. I had already developed a read on him through roughly thirty hands or so of him at the table. That read was that he never raised anything other than the minimum, and whenever he did min-raise, he had the goods. For example, I watched someone lead into three times for 150 (very bad in itself) at 25/50 post flop, and he minraised each time. At showdown, it turned out he flopped bottom set. He had repeated this style of play 3 or 4 times he was involved in hands.

So with that read, I have to assume he has a pretty big hand here. The problem is that this is such a dry board, which should lead me to the conclusion that he has a set (I doubt he calls pre with Q5/Q3/53). He could reasonably have an overpair or AQ as well. But no matter what, he isn't folding, and I'm never good here. If I had used any thinking at all in my decision making process, I fold pretty fast here after him min-raises. But sometimes I don't think at all. And it's something I need to fix. Fast.