Hey again. It's just me, X, ready to rant and rave about the goings on in my poker life. I hope everybody had a Happy Thanksgiving, because I sure did. Anyways, since it was a long weekend, Greg decided to graciously open his garage yesterday and hold a poker tournament. Being a sucker for a good poker game, I decided to join in on the fun. The buy in was $20, with unlimited rebuys for the first hour and twenty minutes. I came into the game with a plan, last with my original stack until after the rebuy period and make my move when I get cards. Here is how it went...
First off, when I got seated, I though my table would be the more reserved, less aggressive table. The table had Greg, Jack, Andy and Elaine, who are more laid back when it comes to their play. Then there were Jim, Leo, Ryan and myself who aren't the straight forward, ABC type. I'm not really crazy, but I'm also not a conservative player. I have been known to take risks. So it was an interesting table and the only question was who would break the mold and go crazy.
That question was answered quite emphatically when Ryan pushed all in on the second hand. I was in the BB and I picked up Ah - Jh. I wasn't thrilled with the hand. I mean A - J suited is a pretty good hand to see a flop with, but I get wary raising with it and I hate calling an all in with it. I don't know why, it's just that hand has never really won for me. Even considering all that, I still pondered calling. That is until Greg in the SB called Ryan's all in. That made my decision a lot more difficult. I really wasn't caught up with what Ryan had, because he could've honestly had anything. The call by Greg was a little more troubling for a couple of reasons. I knew Ryan had a strategy in regard to rebuy tournaments and he had done this before in similar tournaments. He'd push all in with any two cards and he'd either steal the blinds, get called and hit his cards and win the pot, or bust out and rebuy. It's not a bad strategy, I just don't think much of it, but that is beside the point. I have a decent hand and both Ryan and Greg (a conservative player as I mentioned) are playing for all of their chips. The trouble is Greg's call... I mean what could he have?! Pocket queens, pocket 10's, A - Q, A - K, pocket kings. You just don't know, and I couldn't really see getting into an all in pot knowing or even thinking Greg could have all of these hands. I folded after a little while of posturing. If Greg had folded I maybe would have called, I'm not sure. I may have made a bad fold considering it was so early to play a hand for all of my chips. When both Greg and Ryan flipped, I was kind of relieved and a little taken back as well. Ryan right on cue didn't much, K - 2 offsuit to be precise. Greg had As - Js, which was honestly not one of the hands I thought he had. I kicked myself preflop knowing that I probably in all estimation threw away half of Ryan's chips. That was until the I saw the flop, it was 2h - Qc - 4d. The turn was a 5c and the river was a 7d. Ryan won the pot with his pair of deuces. Sad, ain't it? I felt bad for Greg, I threw away two of the eight cards he needed. I also felt bad becuase K - 2 offsuit wasn't worthy of an all in play. At least not preflop, but hey, Ryan's strategy worked out.
After that, chips went back and forth between Ryan and Greg. Greg started hitting hands left and right, including a couple off of yours truly. After about forty minutes I found myslef shortstacked with about $1100 in chips. The blinds had just gone up and the play wasn't slowing down at our table either. I payed a hand against Jack that I don't normally play in early position, K - Q offsuit. The flop was Jd - 9c - 4s and I led out with a $400 bet, and Jack responded by going all in. Now I don't normally chase draws, but I had over a quarter of my stack invested in the pot and I was going to either win or rebuy so I called. Jack had me covered by a good thousand or so. We turned over our cards and he had Ad - Jh. The turn came Qc giving me top pair, and the river was the 7c. I admit it, it was a suckout, but I have been sucked out on a lot worse. I took a huge pot and was healthy again.
A little later in the game I played an all in pot against Leo when I had A - K suited. I pretty much played the hand as best as I possibly could have. I slow played my top pair of aces on the flop by check-calling a bet by Leo. When a club flush draw came up on the turn, I checked into Leo again only to have him bet again. I pushed all in and was called by Leo with his 9 - 7. A five came on the river and I took another good pot.
I ended up making it to the final table and surviving being card dead yet again with a few key double ups. I made it all the way to 3rd place, making $70. Not bad at all in my opinion. Coupled with the night I had at Kurt's and that's a damn good week. Kurt and I had come in with a plan of playing tight and surviving the rebuy period and turning on the afterburners. Kurt finished 4th so our plan worked out to perfection.
I don't really have any more to say, so I'll post again when I do. Later
X
Monday, November 27, 2006
Saturday, November 18, 2006
Finally, a great night for me!
Hello again, it's once again time for your nonstop poker fix. Well, where should I begin? I'll begin with the fact that I kicked ass last night!!! In the first game, I did alright and ended up finishing in 6th place. I could've done better, but I made one mistake in not calling a hand and I got sucked out on by George in another. The second I could've won had I not gone card dead when we got three handed. But hey those are the breaks. I'll go a little more in depth...
The first game, I got seated at a very tough table with the likes of Jim, Ryan, Bill, Jack and Scott. Although Jim only lasted one hand, the table was still very tough. I didn't catch any cards during the first round of blinds. When the blinds went up, I got dealt Ah - Jh and raised it to $80 not realizing that the blinds had gone up. Amazingly that minimum raise did the trick and everybody dumped their cards. After that, it was more mediocrity. I think I got dealt 8 - 2 offsuit like a hundred times last night. I made one good read on Ryan and took some chips from him. I had told Bill I had a plan of action against Ryan for last night's games. Now I won't say specifically what that plan was, but it did work out a couple of times in my favor. I didn't start getting good cards until the table merge. I was riding high for a while but when we got to the final table, I played like a little girl. I played conservative at the onset because I wanted to gain a couple of spots before trying to make a move. I do this a lot when it gets to final tables and it always ends up bad for me. There was a hand where I was the big blind and someone moved all in and was called by the small blind. I had enough to call easily and when I looked over at the small blinds' stack, he had about $300 or so left. It would've cost me about $1800 dollars more to possibly knock two players out. I had Qc - 9c and I was getting about 2 and a half on my money. The only problem was I HATE PLAYING Q - 9 suited. I ended up folding like a little bitch and I would've won the pot. A couple of hands later, George and I were in a hand. I had Qc - 8h and I limped in from the small blind. George was in the big blind and he checked. The flop came up Qh - 7c - 4h. I had top pair and I bet $1200 and George called. I pretty much knew what he had, it was obvious, at least to me, that he was on the flush draw. The turn came up Kh and now there were three to a flush and an overcard on the board. I checked and George bet $1500 and I folded. Even if he didn't have the flush he probably had the king and I was beat either way. A few hands later I bet into Greg who picked up KK in the big blind and played a pot with AJ suited for all but $600 of my chips. Of course nothing came up to help and I was short stacked. I ended up going out after George eliminated both Bob and I in the same hand with big slick.
The second tournament started a lot like the first. No cards, decent cards I'd call but miss the flop or hit mid pair and I'd see bet raise re-raise. I ended up taking a couple of decent pots from Karl and Elaine, and I butsed Paul with a set of queens. From then on I steamrolled the table and came into the final table as one of the chip leaders. We got to the final table with 10 people still left. There were a lot of average stacks, three or four big stacks and two short stacks. The only problem was for the longest time, close to an hour, no one dropped. We played ten handed for nearly an hour before someone got eliminated. It stayed eight handed for a while after that. Everyone didn't want to make a move because everyone wanted points. Not a bad idea considering that there is only 2 weeks left this year to get points. Gradually people started dropping and it came down to three people, Kurt, Henry, and myself. From then on, I was pretty much card dead. It was absolutely infuriating. I mean hands like 6 - 3 offsuit, 8 - 2 offsuit, 7 - 2 offsuit, 4 - 2 offsuit. It was all variations of those hands and nothing else. Then I finally picked up a pocket pair in the big blind. I had pocket 10's and I was last to act preflop. Henry who was first to act goes all in for about $1500 and Kurt calls. At that point, what do you do? Do I call and risk all my chips with a decent hand knowing that both have at least an ace and probably another overcard? Do I fold and possibly fold away the best hand I had seen in an hour? Do I fold to only see a 10 on the flop? It was agonizing thinking about it, but I finally ended up folding. I was relieved to see Henry turn over pocket aces. Just as I had suspected, Kurt had an ace, but with a weak kicker. I pretty much read that hand as perfect as I think anyone could've. It's weird how sometimes I just catch a vibe from the body language from a certain player. It's kind of like rainman but not as weird, if that makes any sense. Well Henry won the hand but went out a short time later. When Kurt and I got to heads up, it was pretty much a foregone conclusion that Kurt was going to win, I pushed all in with two live cards and was promptly trounced when Kurt flopped a set of kings.
I must say last night was a terrific night and it certainly made up for a few weeks ago. I jumped in points as well, leap frogging both Karl and George and tying Jim. I am happy with the points and the money, I only wished I could've won. I came oh so close last night, but I can't complain. Alright that's it for me. Y'all have a happy turkey day!
X
The first game, I got seated at a very tough table with the likes of Jim, Ryan, Bill, Jack and Scott. Although Jim only lasted one hand, the table was still very tough. I didn't catch any cards during the first round of blinds. When the blinds went up, I got dealt Ah - Jh and raised it to $80 not realizing that the blinds had gone up. Amazingly that minimum raise did the trick and everybody dumped their cards. After that, it was more mediocrity. I think I got dealt 8 - 2 offsuit like a hundred times last night. I made one good read on Ryan and took some chips from him. I had told Bill I had a plan of action against Ryan for last night's games. Now I won't say specifically what that plan was, but it did work out a couple of times in my favor. I didn't start getting good cards until the table merge. I was riding high for a while but when we got to the final table, I played like a little girl. I played conservative at the onset because I wanted to gain a couple of spots before trying to make a move. I do this a lot when it gets to final tables and it always ends up bad for me. There was a hand where I was the big blind and someone moved all in and was called by the small blind. I had enough to call easily and when I looked over at the small blinds' stack, he had about $300 or so left. It would've cost me about $1800 dollars more to possibly knock two players out. I had Qc - 9c and I was getting about 2 and a half on my money. The only problem was I HATE PLAYING Q - 9 suited. I ended up folding like a little bitch and I would've won the pot. A couple of hands later, George and I were in a hand. I had Qc - 8h and I limped in from the small blind. George was in the big blind and he checked. The flop came up Qh - 7c - 4h. I had top pair and I bet $1200 and George called. I pretty much knew what he had, it was obvious, at least to me, that he was on the flush draw. The turn came up Kh and now there were three to a flush and an overcard on the board. I checked and George bet $1500 and I folded. Even if he didn't have the flush he probably had the king and I was beat either way. A few hands later I bet into Greg who picked up KK in the big blind and played a pot with AJ suited for all but $600 of my chips. Of course nothing came up to help and I was short stacked. I ended up going out after George eliminated both Bob and I in the same hand with big slick.
The second tournament started a lot like the first. No cards, decent cards I'd call but miss the flop or hit mid pair and I'd see bet raise re-raise. I ended up taking a couple of decent pots from Karl and Elaine, and I butsed Paul with a set of queens. From then on I steamrolled the table and came into the final table as one of the chip leaders. We got to the final table with 10 people still left. There were a lot of average stacks, three or four big stacks and two short stacks. The only problem was for the longest time, close to an hour, no one dropped. We played ten handed for nearly an hour before someone got eliminated. It stayed eight handed for a while after that. Everyone didn't want to make a move because everyone wanted points. Not a bad idea considering that there is only 2 weeks left this year to get points. Gradually people started dropping and it came down to three people, Kurt, Henry, and myself. From then on, I was pretty much card dead. It was absolutely infuriating. I mean hands like 6 - 3 offsuit, 8 - 2 offsuit, 7 - 2 offsuit, 4 - 2 offsuit. It was all variations of those hands and nothing else. Then I finally picked up a pocket pair in the big blind. I had pocket 10's and I was last to act preflop. Henry who was first to act goes all in for about $1500 and Kurt calls. At that point, what do you do? Do I call and risk all my chips with a decent hand knowing that both have at least an ace and probably another overcard? Do I fold and possibly fold away the best hand I had seen in an hour? Do I fold to only see a 10 on the flop? It was agonizing thinking about it, but I finally ended up folding. I was relieved to see Henry turn over pocket aces. Just as I had suspected, Kurt had an ace, but with a weak kicker. I pretty much read that hand as perfect as I think anyone could've. It's weird how sometimes I just catch a vibe from the body language from a certain player. It's kind of like rainman but not as weird, if that makes any sense. Well Henry won the hand but went out a short time later. When Kurt and I got to heads up, it was pretty much a foregone conclusion that Kurt was going to win, I pushed all in with two live cards and was promptly trounced when Kurt flopped a set of kings.
I must say last night was a terrific night and it certainly made up for a few weeks ago. I jumped in points as well, leap frogging both Karl and George and tying Jim. I am happy with the points and the money, I only wished I could've won. I came oh so close last night, but I can't complain. Alright that's it for me. Y'all have a happy turkey day!
X
Saturday, November 11, 2006
Welcome back X...
Wow, it's been a really long time since I've posted. There's quite a lot of stuff to catch y'all up on. Let's not delay the fun anymore and get right to it...
First off, I am not going on the Veteran's Day Atlantic City trip as I had planned on. This is for a variety of reasons. Lack of planning on my part, lack of money due to bills, lack of attentiveness on my part. It does suck because I was really looking forward to going. I had been planning on this trip since the early summer. Oh well, I am planning on going to Atlantic City this February with Bill and whoever else wants to go with us.
I'm not sure if I mentioned this in previous blogs but recently Bill and I have started playing in the Eastern Poker Tour. I had a couple of good nights, best of which was a second place in which I won a 8 day, 7 night vacation. I haven't been there in a while, but I do plan on going this upcoming week. Bill has done well also, he won a vacation too and has had a couple of final table appearances.
As far as Kurt's goes, I've been doing alright. A few weeks I had good night, but last week I had a bagel. I'm still looking for my first win, but I am pretty much resigned to my fate of being in the bottom five. My horrible year will come to a merciful end in a few weeks. I am totally disappointed with my play this past year. The times I needed to make moves, I didn't. The times I needed to sit back and wait, I overplayed my hands and got over-aggressive. This past week during the second game, I got really annoyed with my play. That was the first time I've been on tilt in a while. Why you ask? I don't really know. I had a decent chip stack early but I ended up chasing a lot of hands that I shouldn't have. And for some weird reason, Ryan's play really pissed me off. He was raising with junk and I would call but be in bad position and completely miss my flop. He would in turn bet and I'd lay my hand down like a little bitch. The worst part is I'd know I had a better hand than he did, but I wouldn't bet it to save my life. A couple of times I pondered going all in over the top of him, but being the little bitch I am, I didn't and I let him run right over me. I was so pissed at the way I played that I didn't say a word for the rest of the night in regards to poker. I played so friggin' bad that I had deserved to lose. Words couldn't express my frustration. I wasn't sulking, it's just that I had made so much progress with my game to play that way felt like regressing back to the old way I played. All the work I had put in, all the discipline I had showed, to play the way I did was to take a huge step backwards. Needless to say, I haven't played poker since and I'm glad I didn't go to Atlantic City. The way I've been playing, they would have stolen everything including the shirt off my back. I'm sure I'll play better next week at Kurt's, I have no doubt about that.
Anyways, that's about it for now. I'll post if there's anything new to say. Have a nice Veteran's Day everybody!
X
First off, I am not going on the Veteran's Day Atlantic City trip as I had planned on. This is for a variety of reasons. Lack of planning on my part, lack of money due to bills, lack of attentiveness on my part. It does suck because I was really looking forward to going. I had been planning on this trip since the early summer. Oh well, I am planning on going to Atlantic City this February with Bill and whoever else wants to go with us.
I'm not sure if I mentioned this in previous blogs but recently Bill and I have started playing in the Eastern Poker Tour. I had a couple of good nights, best of which was a second place in which I won a 8 day, 7 night vacation. I haven't been there in a while, but I do plan on going this upcoming week. Bill has done well also, he won a vacation too and has had a couple of final table appearances.
As far as Kurt's goes, I've been doing alright. A few weeks I had good night, but last week I had a bagel. I'm still looking for my first win, but I am pretty much resigned to my fate of being in the bottom five. My horrible year will come to a merciful end in a few weeks. I am totally disappointed with my play this past year. The times I needed to make moves, I didn't. The times I needed to sit back and wait, I overplayed my hands and got over-aggressive. This past week during the second game, I got really annoyed with my play. That was the first time I've been on tilt in a while. Why you ask? I don't really know. I had a decent chip stack early but I ended up chasing a lot of hands that I shouldn't have. And for some weird reason, Ryan's play really pissed me off. He was raising with junk and I would call but be in bad position and completely miss my flop. He would in turn bet and I'd lay my hand down like a little bitch. The worst part is I'd know I had a better hand than he did, but I wouldn't bet it to save my life. A couple of times I pondered going all in over the top of him, but being the little bitch I am, I didn't and I let him run right over me. I was so pissed at the way I played that I didn't say a word for the rest of the night in regards to poker. I played so friggin' bad that I had deserved to lose. Words couldn't express my frustration. I wasn't sulking, it's just that I had made so much progress with my game to play that way felt like regressing back to the old way I played. All the work I had put in, all the discipline I had showed, to play the way I did was to take a huge step backwards. Needless to say, I haven't played poker since and I'm glad I didn't go to Atlantic City. The way I've been playing, they would have stolen everything including the shirt off my back. I'm sure I'll play better next week at Kurt's, I have no doubt about that.
Anyways, that's about it for now. I'll post if there's anything new to say. Have a nice Veteran's Day everybody!
X
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