To Play Or Not To Play?

Four places from reaching the final table of the Oasis, Sunday no-limit Texas hold'em tournament, my hole cards revealed As10d. I was under the gun and faced with the decision to bet or fold. If I bet and lost, I'd be out of the tournament and the money. If I folded, the forthcoming blinds would leave me with a very short stack of chips. Two other players with short stacks were seated at my table. I chose to fold, remembering Skalansky's words not to gamble in this situation with a slight edge. I was in the survival mode. I estimated that the lowest spot at the final table would pay around $300 if they elected to chop (which is normal in this tournament). The flop turned up an Ad10h!! The rest of the board was unhelpful and the hand was won by pocket 3's. Evil game!! Both of my blinds revealed weak hands, so I folded. Another short stack was eliminated, so I was one step closer to my goal. During the next few hands, another short stack was knocked out, leaving me with a couple of chips and 11 players remaining.

I was on my last gasp! I would be blinded out the very next hand. My hole cards revealed QsJd, so I moved all-in. The chip leader called, and for some strange reason, another large stack moved all-in and the chip leader called again. The board didn't improve my hand and the initial raiser was quelched. We were both eliminated on the bubble and tied for 10th. It's hard to swallow losing one spot from a final table, especially after fighting through 50 people in a competetive tournament. When I re-capped my play, I concluded that the A/10 fold and one other fold were weak plays. In a tournament "To play or not to play" is always a question at a certain phase of the contest. This decision, as in my case, often differentates winning and losing!

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