the math is staggering.

I was exhausted tonight after 2 nights in a row without sleep, plus I had some alcohol in me. I shouldn't have been playing at all, but I logged into a $20 6-man just to get to bed time. I took a bad beat to knock my stack down and ended up out in 4th, but the nature of the beat that I took did not register in my hazy mind until I checked it out post-game.

Full Tilt Poker, $20 + $2 NL Hold'em Sit n' Go, 15/30 Blinds, 5 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter
SB: 3,045
Hero (BB): 1,680
UTG: 1,485
CO: 1,455
BTN: 1,335

Pre-Flop: (45) 9 9 dealt to Hero (BB)
UTG raises to 60, CO folds, BTN calls 60, SB calls 45, Hero calls 30
Call the minraise in a multiway pot with 99. Reraising might also be fine here, but we're in the first blind level, no need to build a big pot yet.

Flop: (240) 9 7 2 (4 Players)
Top set, yay. I decide to bet into the multiway pot - lots of poor players at the table, plus several draws. One player comes along.

SB checks, Hero bets 120, UTG folds, BTN calls 120, SB folds

Turn: (480) 8 (2 Players)
Hero bets 315, BTN calls 315
Bet again, get called again.


River: (1,110) 5 (2 Players)
Hero bets 555, BTN calls 555
Bet half pot, get called. I want to get called. Only a 6 beats me.


Results: 2,220 Pot
Hero showed 9 9 (three of a kind, Nines) and LOST (-1,050 NET)
BTN showed 6 6 (a straight, Nine high) and WON 2,220 (+1,170 NET)

Holy crap.

Player's call on the turn is not terrible - he has an open ended draw by then. But his call in the flop is brutal - what does he think he's ahead of here? Ace high, maybe, I suppose.

For the record, I was a 97% favorite after the flop with my set of nines over a pair of sixes. He needed runner-runner for the straight or two running sixes, and that's what he got.

Once again, Holy crap.

The worst part of playing SNGs is that I'll never see this player again. At least in my weekly cash game, I have identified the players who will routinely give me money and can target them. This guy gets to whack me in the head and then disappear into the ether, never to be seen again.