Protecting the rock is the big goal
I grew up watching and playing a ton of sports. Baseball, basketball, football ... even a bout of ultimate frisbee in my University of Michigan days (# GoBlue). I’ve found a consistent theme in all of these sports that applies to poker, and had I remembered it sooner, I might have not knocked myself out of my last major tournament.
Protect the rock. It’s a reminder that fancy, overaggressive play can cost you possession. The ball is your stack. Protect your stack.
At this summer’s $1,600-buy-in NoLimit Hold’em Championship at the Wynn Las Vegas, I was coasting along, with a few good players and one East Coast cash game professional at my table. EC ( East Coast) raised to 425 from early position, and I made it 1,100 from the cutoff with red aces. EC called.
The flop came 9h 7h 4d, and EC checked, then called my bet of 1,200.
The turn brought the 6h, and after EC checked, I had to decide whether I should bet. I first considered the hand range of my opponent. A pair seemed most likely. I thought a set would be likely to bet, considering the potential for straights or a flush on the river.
If I was wrong and my opponent was stronger than I believed, my flush outs could both save me and earn me a larger pot. I also thought about how much I would regret it if I checked, let a six-to-10- outer drop and lost to a straight or a set on the river. These were legitimate considerations, but my error was making my decision here, at this point, while there were other factors to be weighed.
Had I considered that my opponent easily could have checked a set to me on the turn if he gave me credit for a strong hand, I might not have bet. Had I considered that getting check-raised to 6,500 would cost me 30 percent of my remaining stack, I might not have bet. Had I considered how difficult finding a fold on the river would be ... well, you know.
Unfortunately, I made those considerations too late. I bet 2,100 on the turn, and was raised to 6,500. I called. The river paired the board with the 4c, and to my opponent’s credit, he tanked for a full minute before shoving in his chips. By not considering earlier that a set could have check-raised me, I somehow convinced myself during that minute that I was ahead. I put my opponent on hands that I could beat.
I was wrong. My opponent had a set, which became a full house when the river card paired the board. It happens in poker, but the key is to patch the leak. My leak was not remembering to protect the rock.
Had that thought arrived earlier, it could have protected me from being wrong — particularly when I chose to bet the turn. The reminder was this: If the cost of being wrong is too much to bear, it’s not worth an attempt to gather value on a good-but-not-great hand, such as aces on a scary board. Had I protected the rock, all I would have lost was a value river bet from my opponent.
Noted. Processed. On to the next one.