MATTHEW ROBINSON

Weblog: Giving insight into online poker

Next time I’m going to be much harder to beat

LAST week I wrote about how to approach bounty tournaments.

I emphasised that taking chances to knock one of us out wouldbe key because of the monetary reward. Well, it seemed to work. I went out in 11th after getting my money in good with K-10. I was called by a player holding K-2 off suit - a bad call in almost every tournament except a bounty.

Thefact he had me well covered also made his call an instant one. A deuce proceeded to hit the flop and I was left praying for a miracle 10 but, like snow on Christmas Day, it never came.

I won't try to pretend that I didn't ride my luck to even get
an above-average stack, because I did, winning a huge pot all-in
with A-4 suited when short stacked, hitting a flush on the
river.

My new and improved stack didn't last long. In a three-way
pot I had to fold J-10 on a board of JJ25 with 3 clubs after being
the initial bettor, as it became apparent I was miles behind.

Steve Dennis, my Racing Post colleague had me truly beaten
holding Q-J, but the club on the turn and the subsequent
sequence of bet, raise, re-raise pretty much confirmed my hand
was no good.

However, it turned out that Steve's hand was also in trouble,
as his Q-J was now behind to a made flush. All that changed on the river when another club fell giving Steve the queen-high flush, scooping a massive pot.

The tournament was a real roller-coaster, which eventually
saw the bounty players' chances of winning derailed. Next time, I'll hopefully prove to be a much tougher scalp to claim.