I hereby invite you all to slap me!

... so I'm playing a SnG. I'm doign great. I'm being consistent in my timings, I'm entering pots I shoudl be in and not betting into mayhem. I'm chip leader.

I have two great moments.

1) two clubs on the flop. I've hit with 2 pair. I put in 250 chips. Other guy calls so damn fast he clearly is desparate to see another club. He does. His speed was a clear tell. I like that. (I was right - he tried to slow play check me so I just checked back and saw his hand).

2) I hold Ace hearts and junk unsuited. Flop is 3 hearts. Guy tries to slow play his 2 hole hearts. Big mistake if you don't have the nuts :-) Turn is a heart. He pushes - I win :-)

Now the ultra cock up. I'm doing great. The last two players are so tight - at one stage the previous 4th player shoves all in with 750 odd chips and one of them folds, and SHOWS JQ suited. He had about 3 or 4k chips, and the pusher had been going all-in every other hand. Tight as hell!

I get AJ off, raise 600, he pushes all in 7k. I call....... duh! mr tight, tighter than a tight rope walkers ring piece. And I call. Of course he had AA.

Want to buy discipline please.....

lol, we all make mistakes. I think I saw Phil Ivey say once that he has never played a perferct session and makes at least one mistake every time. Keeping the mind focused for a long period isn't that easy, especially when you enter a comfort zone of having a large amount of chips.

I did a similiar thing the other day in a SnG. I was playing solid poker, winning pots, staying out of trouble. There were 5 of us left and of the 13,500 chips in play, I had 6,000 of them. The others were fairly evenly spread amongst the other 4 who ranged from 1,500 - 2,000 chips. At this point I should have just cruised into the money but my mindset changed. When I looked back at this SnG I realised my playing style definitely changed when I had such a big chip lead. I started raising with marginal hands, chasing straights and flushes without getting pot odds. Trying to bully other players when I had nothing. Suddenly, there were 4 of us left and I was the short-stack!! I literally threw away my chips and I couldn't recover. I went out in 4th and just missed the money. I was both amazed at what I'd done and also angry with myself for doing it.

The main thing is to identify where you went wrong and learn from it

yup! - easily done. I just get a bit dissapointed in myself. I learn new things, become better, then do something daft. Still - it seems a pattern I can't break, but at least I'm moving forward :-)

Played a SNG on FT immediately after and had 4.5k chips within 10 minutes. Then did something really daft. Someone gently bet 200 a time on a board with 3 hearts. I was chasing a straight holding JJ. I totally forgot about the flush, and by the time we'd got to the river I'd put 1000 in. Silly boy!

Getting better tho! and still thorughly enjoying it!

Had a nasty sting in Cake as well today. I had TPTK and knew 100% I was in the lead. Some guy chased very big raises all the way to the river and hit broadway. Can't do much about fish. Ahh well lol

On the SnGs, easiest way Ive found to avoid making a dumb mistake...play multiple at one time. Since youre just really playing a SnG to make top 3 since winning $ isnt much more than 3rd, and consistent 3rds will pay off, playing multiple will force you to play more solid. I have always cashed better when playing multiple then one at a time.

And we could talk all day about fish on Cake. Twice this week I have had my allins called my a guy with bottom pair gutshot, with me having either an overpair or 2 pair. It hit once, costing me $400. But, won me $200 on the one that missed, and I know they will miss many more than they will hit.

Sounds interesting Boro.... May look at trying that

I just played the most singularly boring SNG ever on Cake. Uber tight. And then,... The chip leader would bet pot on every single hand, and if she didn't someone would always go all-in proflop. Great if you hit AA Ak etc, but otherwise, mind numbing! cretins - wish they bugger off to the local bingo hall :-) (as it was uber tight, no one ever called the all-ins, and if they did - they both had AK - you have no idea how much I prayed for a runner runner flush for one of them! :-)