My general mentality about poker is "keep betting" when I get involved in a hand. That's an oversimplification, but my generation of players generally shares that mentality, and we've separated ourselves from the older generation of players by taking aggression to the next level. But there are also moments when you have to dial back the aggression, even when you have a strong hand.

The Playground Poker Club in Montreal hosted last month's PartyPoker WPT Canadian Spring Championship, a $3,300 tournament with three starting days. The event allowed for re-entry if you were eliminated before play finished on Day 1. I had intended to play the first day, Day 1A, but I went to an NHL playoff game the night before, and after enjoying too many Molsons, I thought it best to wait an extra day. So I played Day 1B instead, and for the first few hours of play I mostly folded, losing the few pots I entered.

During the fourth level the blinds were 100-200 with a 25 ante, and I had around 21,000 chips left from the 30,000 we started with. My opponent in this hand was on my immediate right with 45,000 chips: a Canadian in his early 30s who had been fairly aggressive and active but by no means crazy. I had three-bet him once before, but he had folded preflop.


The flop came Ad Jh 6c, and when my opponent checked, I bet 1,500. He thought for a moment, then raised to 3,900.


Which was exactly what happened. I called his check-raise, and when the turn brought the 7s, my opponent bet 5,500, and I called.


Instead, I was busted and had to pass up a night on the town with my friends so that I could re-enter and play again in the morning. Such are the consequences of relentless aggression.
