On Reflection: Three Wasn't a Mistake

I shoved pocket threes on the button over a cutoff open in a $100 Bounty Builder.

He had 21 BB. I had 25. The blinds were short. There was a big chip leader elsewhere, and a short stack still in. I knew — intuitively — it was a strong spot to apply pressure. I didn’t hesitate.

And he woke up with tens.

It’s easy to look at that and feel like I punted. To wonder if I should’ve preserved my second-place stack and waited for a better spot.

But on reflection — I wouldn’t change a thing.

This wasn’t a reckless play. It was a deeply informed one. In bounty tournaments, the structure rewards aggression. It rewards pressure. It rewards the courage to go for it when the dynamics are right.

And the dynamics were perfect.

He opens wide in the cutoff. I cover him. There’s ICM pressure. There’s fold equity. I’m likely to either take the pot down uncontested, or get called by hands like Ace-Queen or Ace-King and flip for a bounty and a huge stack.

And if I do get called by the top of his range? Like tens?

That’s just variance.

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What’s really important is this:

I didn’t hesitate. It was intuitive. And I’ve learned to lean into that more and more.

That instinct — that clarity under pressure — is something I’ve earned. It wasn’t noise. It wasn’t tilt. It was a clear signal rising out of hundreds of hours of experience.

And even though I lost the hand, I walked away proud.

Because I played to win. And I trusted myself.

That’s the long game.

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