Quote Originally Posted by HopsnBarley28 View Post
This is the hard part, isn't it? Stepping back and taking note of when the mistake is ALL yours and not the other guy's. I have to work on my end game - I don't relax my range as the table gets smaller while the blinds are getting bigger, so without some hard-core luck to get top 3. That, and all the things mentioned above as well. Reckon I need a lot of work.
Exactly why I started the thread. When your in the beginning stages of learning tournament poker....at least for me, I've noticed that you can't always recognize what you did was a mistake (You might have won a big pot with 9/10 offsuit after you called a gigantic preflop raise........obviously it's stupid to do that but when your super new you might not even realize it's a dumbass move simply because you won the pot).

I only busted out once today without making a mistake......It was the first hand of my first buyin tournament at SWC.....15 players, 10 chip buyin.....First hand I get Ace 4 suited......Flop comes out A 4 9........the ace and 4 of diamonds on the board.....I throw out a slightly bigger than pot raise. 1 guy calls....I put him on a flush draw. Turn comes out, it's an insignificant club......I bet like 3/4ths of the pot. He shoves on me. I'm confident he doesn't have a set and he's trying to buy it with a flush draw. I call.....boom, diamond on river and I'm the first one out. He only had 89 of diamonds on top of that

I don't regret those decisions. I made a good bet on the flop that any reasonable guy on a flush draw would have folded to or maybe a good loose player might call once to see the turn. The pot was pretty big on the turn and there's no way you were just calling. He knew I had to have had a big hand and he shoved anyway....I was right on my read. I was over a 75-80% favorite on the turn. I can't help it that a donk made a mathematically incorrect move. That's poker for you. I'd make the same move again in that situation.

I'm just glad I know that wasn't a mistake. Knowing what is or is not a mistake isn't easy for a noob to discern. The more I play, the more leaks I discover in my game that I haven't realized before. I'd like to read as many subtle weaknesses you guys have noticed in your own play as possible. It might lead me to discover something I haven't noticed about myself.