When the cat's away, the mice will play poker

The wife and kid are out at the canal for a long labor day weekend, but I've got stuff to do on Saturday at 12:15 AM (work), 5:30 AM (airport pick up) and 1:00 PM (work again), so I won't be out there for a few days. So while the cat's away... I've been in two tournaments in the last two days, and have done better each time. I've identified two major hole in my tournament play:

1) I tend to go to the races pre-flop instead of playing tight and letting a hand go. While racing is often the right thing to do in a cash game, when the pot odds are right, it's rarely the best move in tournament play.

2) Post flop, I've been known to overvalue top pair/top kicker (TPTK, as the kids say on the street these days)

So yesterday afternoon, at my department's picnic, we're doing a charity hold 'em tournament for hurricane relief. We start with about 16 players, and blinds go up every five minutes (!). I'm playing tight, tight, tight, winning a grand total of one pot with pocket queens when the flop is all rags.

With six players left, I've got a stack of about 3x the big blind and there a huge stack sitting to my right. I'm under the gun with TT. I call, three players fold, and Nathan, on the small blind, pushes his stack all in. He's got just a little more than I do. The big stack thinks about it, hesitates, then tosses a few big chips in the stack to call him. I call him as well. Nathan's got me dead to rights with pocket aces. The big stack shows 8♣ 4♣. Naturally, no tens or aces hit, but the big stack gets an 8 on the flop and a 4 on the turn. Sigh.

So last night, I play the Happy Days midnight tournament (losing both BJ match plays, by the way), and I'm playing tight. With about 20 players left, I'm dealt 33 at UTG+1, and I fold them without even thinking about it (they'd have hit a set on the river; I wouldn't have stayed in that long). More tight play, and we're down to 14 players, blinds at $1000/$2000, and I'm dealt AQo in the big blind. I've got $5500 in chips left.

There's two callers, including the small blind, and the flop comes Q9Q. I check, intending to check-raise if anyone bets small. The next player checks, and the small blind comes in for $2000. I push my $3500 all in. The other player folds, and the small blind calls, showing KTo, for an inside straight draw. The turn's a harmless 4, but the jack falls on the river, and I go home, somewhere around 12th out of 42 players.

I only got involved in a handful of hands, and had the discipline to fold when I missed the flop. Limping with A9s on the button? Fold when the flop misses. QJo? Not even playable. I'm very happy with my play last night. I think I'll try again tonight and see if I can get into the cheese.