Poker tip #1

I am, if anything, a break-even poker player. I realize that I have much to learn when it comes to poker. My game is nowhere near the level of bloggers like Focault, and so I do not even attempt to dole out poker advice. But this one time I will deign to give a little words of wisdom: Don't talk smack if you don't have game to back it up.

Today I jumped on FTP to play a little poker. Due to the amount of free time, I decided to play a heads up sit-n-go. Things didn't start out so well when on the third hand I made a bad call

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, 10+0.50 Tournament, 10/20 Blinds (2 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

The Russian (SB) (t1560)
Hero (Button) (t1440)

Hero's M: 48.00

Preflop: Hero is Button with 3, K
Hero bets t60, The Russian calls t40

Flop: (t120) 6, 2, K (2 players)
The Russian checks, Hero checks

Turn: (t120) 7 (2 players)
The Russian bets t100, Hero calls t100

River: (t320) 9 (2 players)
The Russian bets t333, Hero calls t333

Total pot: t986

Results:
Hero had 3, K (one pair, Kings).
The Russian had 4, Q (flush, King high).
Outcome: The Russian won t986

Tried to get a little tricky with my top pair and paid the price when I didn't thing about the possible crubs (this guy must read the BWoP).

After that, the guy starts calling me every variation on donkey (donkey, super donk, donk etc.) whenever I made a laydown to a big bet. Maybe he was bluffing, but I never had a hand to look him up. Twice I battled back from a short stack to take the chip lead only to be whittled down again. All the while, suffering his little jabs.

Never giving up, I just continued to pick my spots until this hand came up.

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, 10+0.50 Tournament, 20/40 Blinds (2 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

The Russian (Button) (t1807)
Hero (SB) (t1193)

Hero's M: 19.88

Preflop: Hero is SB with 10, K
The Russian bets t120, Hero calls t80

Flop: (t240) 2, J, Q (2 players)
Hero checks, The Russian bets t160, Hero calls t160

Turn: (t560) 9 (2 players)
Hero checks, The Russian bets t333, Hero raises to t666, The Russian raises to t1527 (All-In), Hero calls t247 (All-In)

River: (t2386) 5 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: t2386

Results:
The Russian had Q, 10 (one pair, Queens).
Hero had 10, K (straight, King high).
Outcome: Hero won t2386

And then suddenly all the needling stopped. Not a peep out of him for the rest of the match. I couldn't help myself and had to throw one little jab in there and wrote "how to you say "donkey" in Russian?"

After realizing that this guy was weak sauce I just decided to sit back and wait for him to make a misstep, which didn't take long:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, 10+0.50 Tournament, 25/50 Blinds (2 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

The Russian (Button) (t774)
Hero (SB) (t2226)

Hero's M: 29.68

Preflop: Hero is SB with 8, 9
The Russian bets t150, Hero calls t100

Flop: (t300) 9, 6, 7 (2 players)
Hero checks, The Russian bets t624 (All-In), Hero calls t624

Turn: (t1548) 5 (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: (t1548) 4 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: t1548

Results:
The Russian had K, A (high card, Ace).
Hero had 8, 9 (straight, nine high).
Outcome: Hero won t1548