Online tournaments

I've really been enjoying the rebuy tournaments on UltimateBet. Most have been $1 or $3 buy-ins, because I don't really feel like rebuying 5 times for a $10 tournament; but for $1 or $3 I have no problem rebuying 5-10 times. My goal is to double up or better before the rebuy period is over. I try to get all-in with a decent hand and have often tripled or even quadrupled up on a single hand. When the rebuy period is over, there is a lot of play because the stacks are so deep.

The last stupid play I made was a few weeks ago, where I busted out 13 out of 313, with a good shot at winning several hundred dollars. I had been in several pots head up against a particular opponent, who would make really weak bets on the flop, I would jam, and he would fold. On my bustout hand, I called in the small blind with 43o, he checked, the flop was harmless and he made another tiny bet, so I pushed all-in, knowing he always folded in this spot, plus the pot was about the size of my stack since the antes and blinds were big. He insta-called with two pair. He set the trap very well, and I should've known better since he was in the big blind and could have anything. Instead, I could've jammed before the flop, or just folded that hand.

Since then I've been playing pretty tight and that's been working well. It's amazing how important it is to win the pot when the antes and blinds are big. The pot can easily be 1/2 your stack-size before the flop, so you want to win it, but it's hard to win because even if you push all-in, your opponents are getting good odds to call.

I re-read Erick Lindgren's book, and although I'm not great at small ball, I've been making more min-raises preflop. I really have to push myself to make a continuation bet on scary flops that I completely miss, but it's amazing how often your opponent will fold there. The min-raise is nice because most players will fold to any raise, you keep the pot small so that it's harder for them to call on the flop, and you lose less money when you're beat.

I've had about the usual number of bad beats, such as when I had AA vs AQ and the flop came QQx. But I've won some lucky hands too, so I would say my luck has been good. All of my recent bustouts have been bad luck, being forced all-in with a short stack, or needing to call because I'm getting such good odds. I can live with that...it's better than busting out doing something stupid. My best recent finish was 17 out of 500+.

- schneid