The danger of slow playing

Getting too greedy

The hand illustrated below is the ultimate example of the dangers getting greedy and slow playing a monster flop.

It's early on in a Pokerstars Sit 'n Go and, from middle position, I catch pocket 9's. A standard 3xBB raise sees only 1 caller. Now, the odds of hitting a set, on the flop, from any starting pocket pair is about 7/1 (you will make a set, on the flop, one out of every 8 times you are dealt a pocket pair) - so when the flop comes A-8-9 rainbow I'm rubbing my hands and thinking, "How can I maximize this?"

I check the flop and my opponent leads out with a $200 bet. I hesitate, then call. At this stage I definitely put him on and Ace, probably with a 10 or J kicker. The turn brings another 8, and at this stage I'm slightly worried - if he's got A-8 then he's filled up his boat, bigger than mine.

Again, I check and he puts out the same $200 bet, so I'm still confident he has only Aces-up. The river is an absolute killer card; another Ace. Now, any rag ace in his hand is beating me.
Of course, he pushes the rest of his chips in and I'm facing a call for my tournament life.

I've still got $780 behind and could easily have mucked, put it down to experience - every fibre of me is telling me to fold. I had put him on the Ace early in the hand and was now 100% sure I was beat. I activated the time bank and mulled it over as best I could, and managed to convince myself that he may have been playing an 8 (something like K-8, suited) and was staking his life on 8's full of Aces; which I could beat - so I made the call.

Sure enough, A-10 (suited, of course) and my tournament was over, before it had really begun.
It's a sick way to get beat, but after reviewing the hand I know I shouldn't have been so greedy and re-raised the turn, with the board paired he could have put me on the 9's, or an 8 and laid down his pair.

The best pro's always analyse their hands afterwards and try to learn something from them. The truth of the matter is that I let my opponent catch me up. I was ahead all the way to the River - and should never have let it get there. I re-raise on the flop and the turn would have netted a nice profit and put me in a decent position to win. Lesson learned.