The reality of Filipino players...

Here’s what happened last November 7, 2007 during the Metro 75 Tournament. Because of the Beyonce concert, the Metro 75 turn-out was less than normal. The Metro had to overlay the pot to meet the guaranteed amount. The tournament started with 4 tables with several seats for late entries.

My first table had approximately 7 players. I was always average or little below average stack. Each time I would raise, I would advertise. I would always advertise premium hands. AKo, AJs, and the like.

All late entry seats were removed after the 4th level. The field collapsed from 4 tables to 2 tables. In my table there were 9 players. There was a need to advertise again as there are some unknown players. First hand, I raised 4 times the big blind, no one called, I showed KK. A few hands after, I raised and got 1 caller in a later position. Flop was all diamonds, check, bet, call. Turn was an Ace, check, check. River was I think another Ace or another diamond, check, bet, fold. I advertised JJ no diamond. A few hands after, I raised, no callers, advertised AA. This table was tight as hell. We saw probably 2-3 flops in 2 levels.

Scenario
Metro 75 Tournament (Php 75,000 guaranteed)
Blind level: level 6 100/400/800
2 tables left
Buy-in: Php 2,200
Hours of play: Almost 2 hours
Sobriety level: 2nd beer
Chip count: Approximately Php 8,000
Position: Small blind
Hole Cards: 44

So, UTG folds, folds, calls, folds, folds, calls, button folds, then it's my turn. There was the big blind who hasn't acted, 2 callers then me. I put first caller in the A9s range. Possibly even 55 or 66. I put the second caller in a worse hand. Probably A5s or A8o, something in that range. I could push for them to add around 7,000 more to their committed Php 800. My stack was big enough to hurt anyone who called. So I pushed all-in. Big blind folded, first caller folded, second caller (last to act) thinks. Then he calls. He was stacked around Php 13,000, a decent stack to play with even if he folded.

He probably put me on a weak hand. Which to a certain extent was true because I only had a 13% chance of winning but the bet was strong and if my reads were true, they really didn't have good enough pot odds to call my all-in bet. Even if they had AA which I'm sure of, they didn't they didn't have pot odds to call all-in. The problem is, he was holding K8s. His read was correct but he doesn't hold freakin' cards. No one in their right mind would call an overbet with K8s.

But... as I will never be able to change the way another person plays, I will just focus on what I can do to improve my game.

Lesson 4: Never think that other players think the same way you do.

Players nowadays play too much cash games. There are not too many tournaments here and half of the tournaments' structure focus on luck more than skill. Probably the most common thought is that pre-flop, any hole cards have the potential to be the nuts. I know that that's wrong especially on a tournament but people think differently and I have to adjust and play smarter.

Thing is, the more I think about that hand, I just tilt. I'll just end it here.