Murmuc the Muppet

This is the story about a player I played against in a $1 tourney named Murmuc... these series of hands are pretty much the proof i need to see that i am unavoidably unlucky at this game, bar the first hand which was an obvious mistake on my part but i will explain my thinking after... here is the first hand i was involved with Murmuc in...

PokerStars Game #34639963546: Tournament #207758224, $1.00+$0.20 USD Hold'em No Limit - Level I (10/20) - 2009/10/29 3:23:49 ET
Table '207758224 1' 9-max Seat #8 is the button
Seat 1: georgie070 (2180 in chips)
Seat 2: tntrn (1490 in chips)
Seat 3: ShaneWard88 (1380 in chips)
Seat 4: yuka17 (1360 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 5: KizzOurAcez (1420 in chips)
Seat 6: evalettner (1220 in chips)
Seat 7: murmuc (2370 in chips)
Seat 8: Bearenda (2080 in chips)
georgie070: posts small blind 10
tntrn: posts big blind 20
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to ShaneWard88 [Qc Qd]
ShaneWard88: raises 80 to 100
yuka17: folds
KizzOurAcez: folds
evalettner: folds
murmuc: calls 100
Bearenda: folds
yuka17 has returned
georgie070: raises 200 to 300
tntrn: folds
ShaneWard88: calls 200
murmuc: raises 200 to 500
georgie070: raises 1680 to 2180 and is all-in
ShaneWard88: folds
murmuc: calls 1680
*** FLOP *** [8c 5d 4s]
ShaneWard88 said, "wow"
*** TURN *** [8c 5d 4s] [7c]
*** RIVER *** [8c 5d 4s 7c] [5h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
georgie070: shows [Ah Kh] (a pair of Fives)
murmuc: shows [7h 2s] (two pair, Sevens and Fives)
murmuc collected 4680 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 4680 | Rake 0
Board [8c 5d 4s 7c 5h]
Seat 1: georgie070 (small blind) showed [Ah Kh] and lost with a pair of Fives
Seat 2: tntrn (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 3: ShaneWard88 folded before Flop
Seat 4: yuka17 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: KizzOurAcez folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: evalettner folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: murmuc showed [7h 2s] and won (4680) with two pair, Sevens and Fives
Seat 8: Bearenda (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)

So as you can see I believe Murmuc is lacking a basic understanding of poker... or didn't care about the $1 and was just goofing around... at the time i assumed he was just being silly so I held back my opinions...

In relation to my fold, I'm not sure that folding queens here is absolutely terrible... I hadn't played against these players long enough to put them in a category of player so i assumed they were generally solid (as I assume most players are when I don't know their playing style)...We were still in the first blind level and I had an M of 46 so there was no need for me to get into a position were i could lose all my chips so early in the tournament... with these factors in mind I had to look at the actual play that had unfolded... I raised from UTG 5x the BB, in my eyes this displays a lot of strength... I was then flat called from Murmuc and re raised from the SB... at this point my range that i had the other two players on was still relatively wide... Murmuc only flat called meaning that he could be playing suited connectors/small pairs... the SB's raise does indicate more strength and i actually put them on a high A and most probably AK... so my plan is to flat call and see if any over cards flop and proceed with caution from there... when the action got back around to Murmuc he min re raises... now this to me so early in the tournament against a raise and a re rais and a call just screams AA, i have seen this move many times when playing the micro limits so I really didnt feel comfortable with my QQ any more and after the SB pushes all in i believe that at best i am a 55 to 45 percent favourite against only one of my opponents... and the likelyhood someone would play JJ like this in the SB is arguable... i still have an M of 36 if i fold so i choose to fold...

In retrospect I should have taken into the account that its a micro limit table where players believe that K 10os is the nuts... I also should know that the blinds are increasing at a rapid rate and my M of 36 will severely decrease in only a few more hands... and finally that its only $1, it may not seem much after talking about it but i only have about $45 in my bankroll so i need to make every tourney count...

So whether my fold was a muppet play or not I was surprized to say the least when Murmuc showed 72os... but happy that i had a good read on the SB... I didnt say anything but inside i was steaming, here i was folding QQ thinking I was so much better than these muppets just to get it thrown in my face that im trying to dam hard...

The next hand in question came about 4 hands later and i was up against Murmuc again... when i was dealt this i was tilting a bit still so that explains my uncautios play...

PokerStars Game #34640019636: Tournament #207758224, $1.00+$0.20 USD Hold'em No Limit - Level II (15/30) - 2009/10/29 3:27:53 ET
Table '207758224 1' 9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 2: tntrn (1920 in chips)
Seat 3: ShaneWard88 (1070 in chips)
Seat 4: yuka17 (1330 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 5: KizzOurAcez (1720 in chips)
Seat 6: evalettner (2010 in chips)
Seat 7: murmuc (3490 in chips)
Seat 8: Bearenda (1960 in chips)
evalettner: posts small blind 15
murmuc: posts big blind 30
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to ShaneWard88 [Jd Ah]
Bearenda: folds
tntrn: folds
ShaneWard88: raises 90 to 120
yuka17: folds
KizzOurAcez: calls 120
evalettner: folds
murmuc: raises 330 to 450
ShaneWard88: raises 620 to 1070 and is all-in
KizzOurAcez: folds
murmuc: calls 620
*** FLOP *** [6h 9s 3d]
*** TURN *** [6h 9s 3d] [6s]
*** RIVER *** [6h 9s 3d 6s] [Kh]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
murmuc: shows [Jc Kc] (two pair, Kings and Sixes)
ShaneWard88: shows [Jd Ah] (a pair of Sixes)
murmuc collected 2275 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2275 | Rake 0
Board [6h 9s 3d 6s Kh]
Seat 2: tntrn folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: ShaneWard88 showed [Jd Ah] and lost with a pair of Sixes
Seat 4: yuka17 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: KizzOurAcez (button) folded before Flop
Seat 6: evalettner (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 7: murmuc (big blind) showed [Jc Kc] and won (2275) with two pair, Kings and Sixes
Seat 8: Bearenda folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Now my pre flop raise was pretty standard with AJos and i started the hand well... when Murmuc made a re raise it just brought back memories of his weak raise with 72os and i instantly pushed all in... this is absolutely an incorrect play... my usual style is to flat call and see a flop because i believe i am better than alot of players at these limits at knowing where i stand after the flop and i can outplay them from there... if i had of taken this approach i may have been able to win the hand instead of just tilting and pushing in... after Murmuc insta called and i saw his KJc i was already berating myself for tilting, even tho i knew i had him dominated i was saying to myself "here comes a king" when the turn didnt bring it i had a spark of hope that the maths might actually work... but no the old faithful river brings my tourney to a premature end once again...

Before i exited i wrote in the chat "nh sir well played"... i don't really like chatting and i rarely take out my frusterations in the chat box but when i do i take this approach, i sarcastically compliment my opponents bad play... this serves two purposes... if anybody at the table is paying attention they will realise i am being sarcastic and get some amusement out of it... and also that the muppet usually wont realise that they made a bad play and it was all "luck", they will then believe this is the way to play and the other 9 times out of 10 that this situation arises i will win all their money...

After i left i began writing this... I had to return to the tournament table to get the hand info, in doing so i realized that Murmuc was no longer in the tournament... i grabbed the hand info on the hand he lost... this happend two hands after i was eliminated...

PokerStars Game #34640076817: Tournament #207758224, $1.00+$0.20 USD Hold'em No Limit - Level II (15/30) - 2009/10/29 3:32:04 ET
Table '207758224 1' 9-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 2: tntrn (3870 in chips)
Seat 4: yuka17 (1285 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 5: KizzOurAcez (3440 in chips)
Seat 6: evalettner (1455 in chips)
Seat 7: murmuc (1745 in chips)
Seat 8: Bearenda (1705 in chips)
murmuc: posts small blind 15
Bearenda: posts big blind 30
*** HOLE CARDS ***
tntrn: folds
yuka17: folds
KizzOurAcez: calls 30
evalettner: calls 30
murmuc: calls 15
Bearenda: checks
*** FLOP *** [Ks 8h 5h]
murmuc: checks
Bearenda: checks
KizzOurAcez: bets 90
evalettner: calls 90
murmuc: raises 210 to 300
Bearenda: folds
KizzOurAcez: raises 3110 to 3410 and is all-in
evalettner: folds
murmuc: calls 1415 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (1695) returned to KizzOurAcez
*** TURN *** [Ks 8h 5h] [8d]
*** RIVER *** [Ks 8h 5h 8d] [Kd]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
murmuc: shows [5s Jh] (two pair, Kings and Eights)
KizzOurAcez: shows [As Kc] (a full house, Kings full of Eights)
KizzOurAcez collected 3640 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 3640 | Rake 0
Board [Ks 8h 5h 8d Kd]
Seat 2: tntrn folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: yuka17 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: KizzOurAcez showed [As Kc] and won (3640) with a full house, Kings full of Eights
Seat 6: evalettner (button) folded on the Flop
Seat 7: murmuc (small blind) showed [5s Jh] and lost with two pair, Kings and Eights
Seat 8: Bearenda (big blind) folded on the Flop

This is one of my biggest problems with losing to muppets... they take all my money on a bad play and then lose it to someone else with another bad play... its like cant you just lose when maths says you should? or at least take my money and realize you now have plenty of chips and don't have to be an idiot anymore? but no they insist on playing like a muppet and just losing all my chips that i deserve... i have noticed that when i get knocked out of a tourney early its rarely to a player who has a chance of winning (these players wont play large pots early even with premier hands just to avoid large swings)...

I realize that i post alot of bad beats and muppet plays and the glaring contradiction i mentioned in a previous post is always in my mind... and i will start posting tourneys that i win and places were my hand holds up against an underdog hand... I do realise that when a bad beat happens it stands out in my mind as opposed to when my hand holds up... but its a bit ridiculous when i can say "here comes a King" when he only has two outs and have it hit... what are the odds of that? The second i find a hand were i am an underdog and i draw out against a better hand i will post it... i cant actually remember that happening and i dont have any in my hand history storage but ill keep my eyes open...

signing off

Shane