Pay me on the river

I first used this blog post title on January 18, 2013; here's an excerpt of what I had to say:

The more I play poker, the more I realize the importance of getting your opponents to believe they have you beat. That's the best way to get paid off. It's clear that the longer someone stays in a hand, the more reluctant they'll be to throw it away. The less you bet in the early stages of a hand, the more likely that players will stay in it. The stronger your hand is, the more important it is that you don't bet it big early on. This whole philosophy can be summed up in five words: "Pay me on the river".

Last night, I got paid on the river on a hand where I flopped a nut flush. I was dealt an ace of hearts and another heart, and the flop was all hearts. I didn't bet it on the flop, and I didn't bet it on the turn. On the river, an opponent bet, I raised, he called, and I raked in a nice enough pot to set me up well for making the money. I did :-)

style flavor buy_in entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE    45000 50000       6     319   84    53   100000

delta: $50,000
MTT NLHE balance: $8,870,668
2020 balance: $1,848,343
balance: $63,656,353