When not to play Q3 offsuit

I've never had the confidence to write about my poker playing before. Any success I have had I have put down to luck and my opponents being fairly poor but I think I'm ready to start saying something

My level is either $5 or $10 mtts on Betfair Poker. I have occasionally moved up to $20 mtt and faired ok but I have yet to win a tournament at that level. So far I have played just one $40 tourney but was a little out of my depth.

The main problem with thse Mtt's is the length of time they take. On average 3-4hrs if you reach the final table. I really enjoy playing. Love bluffing and bullying and strangely get a kick out of playing short-stacked. It's just a bit of fun. But, as I said, it takes so long to play.

Therefore it will take me a long time to improve because I just don't have the time to play. I'm fairly busy with work and I like to spend time with K in the evenings. So, I'm limited to playing maybe one or two per week - more if I get knocked out early.

So, onto my first bit of analysis (if it can be called that).

Q3 offsuit is obviously not the best starting hand but in certain situations I will play it. At this stage of the tournament I needed chips to make a serious challenge on the lead and felt that if I could see the flop for $400 it may have been a risk worth taking with plenty of money already in the pot.

In the end I decided against it but flinched in horror when the flop gave me a full house.

***** Betfair Poker Hand History for Game 371086415 *****
NL Texas Hold'em $5 Buy-in + $0.50 Entry Fee, Level:6 Blinds(100/200-(no ante)) - Sunday, June 15, 22:59:38 GMT 2008
$400 GTD Regular $5+$0.50 NLH #150459
Table 2 9-max (Real Money)
Seat 7 is the button
Total number of active players : 9
Seat 1: eddiepack ( 8,185.25 )
Seat 2: the catcher ( 27,793 )
Seat 3: Vicedice ( 6,508 )
Seat 4: davidoff280 ( 3,675 )
Seat 5: teacup77 ( 1,960 )
Seat 6: cod4 4eva ( 7,532.50 )
Seat 7: freevalue ( 4,015 )
Seat 8: Kirk2 ( 1,585 )
Seat 9: Quarty ( 5,342 )
Tourney Level:6 Blinds(100/200-(no ante))
Kirk2 posts small blind [100]
Quarty posts big blind [200]
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to freevalue [ Qh, 3d ]
eddiepack folds
the catcher raises to [400]
Vicedice calls [400]
davidoff280 calls [400]
teacup77 folds
cod4 4eva calls [400]
freevalue folds
Kirk2 folds
Quarty calls [200]
** Dealing Flop ** [ Qd, Qs, 3h ]
Quarty checks
the catcher bets [800]
Vicedice calls [800]
davidoff280 calls [800]
cod4 4eva folds
Quarty folds
** Dealing Turn ** [ Kd ]
the catcher checks
Vicedice checks
davidoff280 goes all-in
davidoff280 bets [2,475]
the catcher calls [2,475]
Vicedice goes all-in
Vicedice raises to [5,308]
the catcher calls [2,833]
** Showdown **
the catcher shows [ As, Ac ]
Vicedice shows [ Qc, Kh ]
davidoff280 shows [ 8h, 8c ]
** Dealing River ** [ 6h ]
** Hand Conclusion **
Vicedice wins 5,666 from side pot #1 with full house, Queens full of Kings
Vicedice wins 11,925 from main pot with full house, Queens full of Kings
************ Game 371086415 ends ************

I'm lucky at times.