don't ever go off script. EVER

Sometimes I go and play a hand differently "for variety and mixing up your play" and it seems to burn me every time. Add to that the fact that I botched my play on just about every street, and you have the recipe for a nice chunk out of your stack.

Full Tilt Poker, $20 + $2 NL Hold'em Sit n' Go, 15/30 Blinds, 9 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

(3rd hand of tourney, stacks all near 1500)

Pre-Flop: (45) A Q dealt to Hero (UTG)
Hero calls 30, 2 folds, MP1 calls 30, MP2 calls 30, 2 folds, SB calls 15, BB checks

I limp with AQo under the gun. If one of the bad players raises me, I might come over the top, otherwise, I'm content to see a cheap flop.

Flop: (150) 4 9 6 (5 Players)
SB checks, BB checks, Hero checks, MP1 bets 30, MP2 calls 30, SB folds, BB calls 30, Hero calls 30

Nothin doing, but when a beginning player bets the minimum and two players call, I (almost?) have odds to draw to 2 overcards. I call.

Turn: (270) Q (4 Players)
BB checks, Hero bets 180, 2 folds, BB raises to 360, Hero calls 180
Hey, I hit my queen. I bet and get minraised. I call, thinking he might have JQ/QK.

River: (990) J (2 Players)
BB checks, Hero bets 495, BB calls 495
After the check, I decide I have the best hand and bet for value. He calls.

Results: 1,980 Pot
BB showed 4 9 (two pair, Nines and Fours) and WON 1,980 (+1,065 NET)
Hero showed A Q (a pair of Queens) and LOST (-915 NET)
Oh lookie, the big blind had crappy cards in an unraised pot and hit 2 pair. How nice. Couldn't see that coming, could I?

Let's review the whole hand.

Preflop: Limp with AQ - BAD. You don't fold out the crap and have no idea where you stand.

Flop: call minbet with overcards and 7-1 odds. Not terrible, but note that the As is not a good out for me as it completes a flush, so really just 5 live outs. Fold is probably the best bet, and certainly would have saved me a zillion chips this time.

Turn: call minraise. By the "fundamental theorem", a mistake (I put money in the pot when way behind based on the cards he held), and a decent range analysis is impossible because this is the big blind in an unraised pot - he can have any two cards.

River: Horrible. Check the river with one pair, numbnuts, especially after you've been raised.

Good gravy, I botched this hand up good.

I ended up first out of this tourney when 5 people limped to my big blind, and I shoved with a pair of eights and just under 10 BB left. One of the limpers called with aces. Why didn't he get punished for "mixing up his play"?

Oof.