Drawing hands....

[Dave B]

I played a brick and mortar satalite for a $100K tournament yesterday and think that I played well, but came up short.

1st hand 4 players all in 2 w/ pocket aces, 1 w/ KJ suited and 1 w/ 89 suited. The 89s won on a straight-note that this was a rebuy tourney.

For me, here is what happened...$1500 to start w/, I went all in on a 3 way hand early and buily up a nice stack of $6000-8000 in the 1st 3 rounds. Rounds 4-6 I received NOTHING for cards and just waited things out, picking off weak blinds when I can to stay even. Start of the 7th round and blinds were $500 and $1000. Dealt Kc 2c on the big blind. Flop comes Qc 6c 7s. So I have 13 outs w/ the clubs and the Ks.

4 others went all in for anywhere from 2000-6000, I had already called a $1000 raise (probably shouldnt have). So the pot was over $13K and I needed to put in $3K to call. I did, didnt get my K or club and was down to $3000. Pair of Qs w/ a A kicker won over another pair of Qs and a failed straight draw.

Interesting hand to close me out, I won a small pot, lost my big and went all in for $3000 on my small w/ 7s and only the big left to call. She did call w/ A 10. Flop comes 10 10 8. OUCH! Things look bad, 7 on the turn....LIFE! A on the river so bigger boat. So I had the best hand pre flop, behind post flop, ahead at the turn and loose the hand. Oh well.

So here is my question, I have been playing lots of single table NL tournaments but I am still a relative rookie at tournament play. One of my "unofficial subject to change at any time" rules is to not bet a high percentage of my chips if I still need to draw to make my hand. Even w/ pot odds in my favor, the risk just isnt worth it. Especially for a satalite where it doesnt matter who finishes 1-20 as long as you make the top 20.

Should I have waited for a better hand to play and let go of the $2000 that I had invested or try for the flush????

[StanSmith]

I think your rule against risking a large percentage of your chips on a draw is sound. Especially with four others in the pot, since your draw was only for a solid hand, not the nuts.

Martin