POTD #323 In A Mystery Bounty I Play Mysteriously

A slowplay, followed by a fast play

Today’s hand comes from Event #3 in Triton Cyprus 2023. I did not play Event #2 because I had final tabled Event #1, and by the time I busted, registration was closed. I figured that this would give me an easy psychological excuse for why I punted in today’s hand: I was still amped up from the final table and immediately went to register the next tournament and was not focused. Except it turns out that I busted Event #1 the day before Event #3 started. I also busted Event #1 relatively early in the evening, so I can’t even say I did not get a good night’s sleep. There was also no financial stress as I began my trip with a nice, lucrative score and was in the black.

There is no one reason that is directly responsible for me punting in this hand. Sometimes you just don’t execute, but sometimes you are fatigued and don’t realize it. Sleep deprivation and fatigue will lead to decreased mental function, and unless you are measuring your cognition, you might not even notice that you are not operating at full capacity. I did not think I was still amped up from the FT, I got a decent night’s sleep, and I was not under immense financial stress, yet I still punted in a pretty simple spot. Maybe it was just the wear and tear of a long grind; maybe it’s just that you can’t always be perfect. Poker is hard and always making good decisions is hard, even if you are rested and ready to play.

Triton Poker Cyprus 2023 Event #3 $30,000 Mystery Bounty ($15,000+15,000)
(1.5k/3k/3k) (SB/BB/BBA) 200k Starting Stack. Bounties not in play. Reg is open.

Paul Phua (59k/20bbs) makes it 6.5k HJ, it folds to Morten Klein (93.5k/31bbs) SB and he calls, I (273k/91bbs) calls K♥️T♦️.

Flop (22.5k) K♠️K♣️4♣️: Morten checks, I check, Paul bet 5k, Morten calls, I call.

Turn (37.5k) 5♥️: Morten checks, I bet 20k, Paul calls, Morten shoves 82k total, I call, Paul calls 47.5k total.

Morten has 4♠️4♦️, Paul has Q♥️Q♦️ and Morten wins on a brick river.