Horrible Horrible Misplay

It's been an interesting day's play. I'm slightly up and have generally played quite well and typically got rivered for a large pot. However I have one hand which has really annoyed me because I'm honestly not sure if I could play it any worse at all. I was weak, indecisive and generally pathetic which are not words I commonly associate with my game. See below for full details of how and why I misplayed it so badly

***** Hand History for Game 6135917787 *****
$1,000 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Monday, July 09, 14:18:55 ET 2007
Table Table 125404 (No DP) (Real Money)
Seat 9 is the button
Total number of players : 9
Seat 1: panperrett ( $1,000 USD )
Seat 2: maitokossu ( $995 USD )
Seat 3: oxionoixo ( $944 USD )
Seat 4: TiltyMonkey ( $978 USD )
Seat 5: athorn10 ( $1,010 USD )
Seat 6: roberto26333 ( $985 USD )
Seat 7: luongoisgoot ( $985 USD )
Seat 9: Helena86 ( $1,080.48 USD )
Seat 10: Gitte26 ( $1,791.34 USD )
Gitte26 posts small blind [$5 USD].
panperrett posts big blind [$10 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to TiltyMonkey [ Qc Qd ]
maitokossu folds.
oxionoixo folds.
TiltyMonkey raises [$40 USD]
athorn10 folds.
roberto26333 folds.
luongoisgoot calls [$40 USD]
Helena86 calls [$40 USD]
Gitte26 folds.
panperrett folds.
** Dealing Flop ** [ 9d, 4s, 7h ]
TiltyMonkey bets [$80 USD]
luongoisgoot folds.
Helena86 raises [$160 USD]
TiltyMonkey calls [$80 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 6h ]
TiltyMonkey checks.
Helena86 bets [$210 USD]
TiltyMonkey calls [$210 USD]
** Dealing River ** [ 5s ]
TiltyMonkey checks.
Helena86 checks.
TiltyMonkey shows [ Qc, Qd ]a pair of Queens.
Helena86 doesn't show [ Qs, Ah ]high card Ace.
TiltyMonkey wins $872 USD from the main pot with a pair of Queens.


Right, first impressions which you may have is that I have actually won the pot so how can I have misplayed it. This was actually my largest pot of the session whilst also being the worst I can play. I raise preflop with QQ and get 2 callers. Flop comes low and rainbow so I fire a conservative $80 at it. I am reraised by someone with position to $160 and decide to make the call and see what it feels like on the turn. So far I have no problem with my play as I'm giving myself every chance to get away and giving away nothing about my hand. The turn is the 6h which puts a flush draw and a potential straight on board, 8,10 has me crushed now as does a set. I check and see a bet of $210 which is undersized for the pot which is either showing supreme strength or weakness. Whatever my position at this point there are really only two options, raise all in or fold, the call is pathetic, allowing me to be bluffed on the river if an A,K or virtually any card in the deck comes. But needless to say the call is what I opt for despite the fact I am pretty sure I'm ahead, I should really go with my instincts as they are usually right and everything was screaming push at me! Luckily the river comes with a scare card and the player decided to abandon the bluff and let me have the pot. If he had bet the river strongly I have to fold, words cannot describe how poorly I played this hand and I'm quite disappointed with my lack of aggression as I turned into a calling station. There are lots of occasions where a check call is the right play but this just wasn;'t one of them. I would prefer it if I fold to the reraise on the flop at least that involves making a decision (albeit a wrong one). It's not that often that I play this badly but it really bothers me when I do!

Steve


July Profit $1,783 (wow, look at me go)