Decisions, Decisions!

Last night I got my hand caught in the cookie jar! While playing in the Virgin River Casino's (Mesquite, Nevada) Monday night Texas Hold'em limit tournament, I decided to steal the blinds from my button position with a Jack-seven offsuit. It was late in the tournament (only two spots away from the final table), so I figured Skalansky's gap concept applied in this situation as I shoved my $18,000 stack all-in. The small blind, with about $26,000 in chips called. Gulp! I knew I was sunk! Sheepishly I turned over my nothing hand against his King-eight offsuit. In a race, I Rivered a Jack, won the pot and doubled up, giving me the tournament chip lead. The caller got knocked out of the tournament on the very next hand by pocket deuces after he put his remaining chips in the pot. He went from chip leader to railbird in two hands.

My blind-stealing tactic was questionable in this situation. I gambled when two spots away from guaranteed money. In retrospect, I question my judgement. I'm even more perplexed by the small blind's mega-call (He was the chip leader) with such a poor holding. With the amount of chips in front of him, he was certain to make the final table without doing anything else. Some players will defend a blind as if it's sacred. In this case, he committed a major mistake. Poker tournaments often spin on a single decision and the luck of the draw. We can't determine our draws, but we sure can decide when to play or not to play a hand. Winners and losers are separated by the fine line of their decisions. Make better choices and win more often!

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