15K guarantee tournament

Full Tilt Poker Game #17290099878: $15,000 KO Guarantee (129483152), Table 73 - 15/30 - No Limit Hold'em - 23:15:48 ET - 2010/01/02
Seat 1: JustLikeGus (3,855)
Seat 2: ffcowboy76 (3,100)
Seat 3: fatman72 (3,280)
Seat 4: dfcm (2,765)
Seat 5: BusterAZ (2,895)
Seat 6: buckIman (2,760)
JustLikeGus posts the small blind of 15
ffcowboy76 posts the big blind of 30
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to ffcowboy76 [Kc Kh]
fatman72 folds
dfcm folds
BusterAZ raises to 90
buckIman folds
JustLikeGus folds
ffcowboy76 calls 60 - I ranged him as having A5+, KJ+
*** FLOP *** [8s 5s As]
ffcowboy76 checks
BusterAZ has 15 seconds left to act - His long thinking was a concern
BusterAZ checks
*** TURN *** [8s 5s As] [3s]
ffcowboy76 checks - I had no intention of calling any bet from this point on
BusterAZ checks
*** RIVER *** [8s 5s As 3s] [3h]
ffcowboy76 checks
BusterAZ checks
*** SHOW DOWN ***
BusterAZ shows [4d Ad] two pair, Aces and Threes
ffcowboy76 mucks
BusterAZ wins the pot (195) with two pair, Aces and Threes
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 195 | Rake 0
Board: [8s 5s As 3s 3h]

Based on his range and his long time down on the flop I had no intention of calling any bets post turn. Because of the range I assigned him I didn't see any need to "waste chips" seeing where I was at. When he thought hard on the flop, I removed the KJ+ from the list and included any spade in his range. The turn brought a fourth spade and pretty much sealed the fate of my hand. I'm 99% sure he was waiting for me to hang myself with an ill timed bet.

This is a great example of how ranging an opponent can help save you ALOT of chips. Consider how many of his ranged hands beat you and act accordingly.

I love this post, it is such a good point. I've been doing very well at the .5/.10 and .10/.25 ring games at Absolute Poker using this same strategy. It has helped me stay very disciplined and fold some huge hands that could have stacked me during some sessions. As it is, my original $10 is at $233 and climbing. Not always easy to lay down monster hands but sometimes it is the right play.

ok I'm no where in that level of play ..im still in freerolls and low level Sngs that have way too many bluffers in them...
I like when i get a table of players that you can play good poker with like this.
I play so much in low levels ...when i do come across a game playing real poker...it takes me a while to adjust.
so what is your formula for putting players on hands preflop....just a guess or do u have a table of hands in low to high and have them broken down in ranges of type players?

Great laydown cowboy, its hard but the correct play.Now why didn't I lay mine down yesterday in the big lil trney?Cause I had him on crap and he called almost all his chips preflop with 8 10 os, gotta love poker.Anyways good read cowboy.

Easy and sensible play. Nice!

Nice laydown because you saved chips.
I dont get why you smooth called here with KK. you range him from a A5+, then why did you let him see a cheap flop and catch up.. I see you were out of postion. I would of popped it to at least 200....90 from you and 90 from him and 15 from the small blind... 195......so I would of made it 200 to go costing him, to call 140 with A4......I dont see him making that call.

explain your smooth call, A trap play?

Seeing as I've play about 10 tournaments since this hand, I'm not 100% sure of why I just smooth called the preflop raise. I've made a change in what aids I use while playing. I've quit use PT during games as I feel I spend too much time worring about the stats and not enough time on the player himself. I'm pretty sure I didn't reraise because I felt he either wouldn't fold or that I would get reraised and faced a tougher decision. Either way, it probably wasn't the best play.

On a side note, I've played better the last few days WITHOUT any aids than I have with the aids. I still import the data to see if there is anything I'm missing.