Good in the Mookie, WTF in the Dookie

Poker was a lot of fun late night. Got to play a lot in the Mookie, a few nice hands in the 2nd hour gave me a decent enough stack to actually finish 16th. The swings by some players in that tournament were amazing. Towards the end of the 2nd hour, I sat at the same table as FTOPS winner LilKimmer, who had a MONSTER chip stack. Fortunetely that table broke soon after. When we get down to 20 (with 18 paying), LilKimmer was down to <800 chips. It seems like he pushed AK and AQ in consecutive hands into KK both times. Live and learn! I ended up being a shorty by the bubble, but still played well until the blinds at 500/1000 forced me to push my QcJc in KK, and out I went.

The Dookie on the other hand, I lasted all of ONE hand. I get AA, and being Pot Limit Holdem, I bet pot, get a caller, the a player behind me bets Pot again. As I obviously have the best hand as this point, I repot it and he pushes. He flips over 99. Amazing that he though he might be even close to good at that point. So, a 9 on the Flop? No. 3 spades though. Crap, he has a spade. Turn. You guessed it, another Spade. And I am drawing dead at the river. It happens. But seriously, if you are going to push with 99 and you get lucky enough to suck out with a flush, dont type BOOOM in the chat box, as least against someone you have never played a single hand against before. I dont see a problem doing stuff like that when you knock out someone you know/talk to on a regular basis. But dont be an ass to someone you never played before. This is how people get pissed off and dont come back. Ok, I am off my soapbox now.

See you all at the Big Game!

Bodonkey Fun

Played good and tight early, getting my money in only when I knew I was good. Was up to about 4,000 chips after the first hour, and made a few good plays/reads that actually got me the chip lead with 15 left to play. So any guesses where I ended up finishing?? 13th. Played like such a donkey with the big stack, and if ICrushBloggers is close to as good as he thinks he is, he should have at least finished up high in the final table, wtih the gift of chips I ended up giving him. Likely if I had just kept playing the TightAgressive poker I played early to get the big stack, I would have at least final tabled, if not cashed. Live and learn.

Final Table Bubble in Skills Game....And How I Discovered a Problem

Out of 87 players in the Skills Game last night, for NO LIMIT Omaha (Not sure what Chad was thinking on that one!), I managed to get my way all the way to 10th. Amazing enough we lost only about 30 in the first hour, and still had 24 or so left after two hours. I really expected far more donkey moves in No Limit H/L Omaha. Started slowly myself, staying near the starting chip stack of 3,000 most of the first hour. A few good hands early in the 2nd hour got me to 5,000. On a QxQ flop, with me holding QA37, I figured my set, top kicker might be good. I pushed and got a caller, and was head and the 7 on the river gave me a Full House to finish it. A few other nice hands/lucky hands, and I was in 2nd place with 28,000 chips with 15 left. Then is when I discovered when I had a problem with my game. A little bad luck and/or bad call on my part cost me 10,000 chips, but I was still a middle stack with 13 left, and 9 getting paid. My problem I FINALLY figure out, is I have a very hard time playing a medium size stack on the bubble. A big stack I have no problem with, and I actually take pride in my ability to play a short stack pretty well. But with the middle stacks, I play scared too much, giving both the big stack and the shorties too much credit for what they may or may not be holding. Needless to say after an long bubble when Lucko pushed and/or caught cards at the right times, I ended up pushing my QQxx in the big blind into A347 or some other crap like that. Of course an A hits the flop, and with no low draw, I am dead in the water and out in 10th.

MIddle of the field in the HOY

Played another BBT3 event last night, Mondays at the HOY, and actually for the first time since my MATH win on Christmas Eve, I was on the same table as Hoyazo himself. Also with a couple other tough players, including BBT3 monster Tuscalossa John, so I knew I had my work cut out for me. With my tight style, I was getting pushed off my good by not great hands, and bled off a few hundered chips early. My AA got no action to a 3X raise, so when I finally got QQ UTG, I simply minraised. Hoy read me correctly (see his blog) for a strong hand, but his KK was stronger, so his push was good, my instacall not so much (I read him for a resteal of my minraise, not a monster hand). The Q on the flop put me ahead, and I managed not to get resucked out on. Unfortunetly that was the best I could do all night, as I never really got about 4,000 chips, and eventually got to push mode when we were down around 30 left of 70 starters. 27th place and no points, so I probably sit at 13th-15th for May, and will need a good showing in tonights Skillz game to move into the Top 10 and continue my run for a TOC seat and/or a $2000 package for the most points in May.

Good Week in the BBT3

Short post today.

Played the Skills game on Tuesday, Limit Razz, which I HATE, mostly because I think people stay too long on very long odds hopeing for that one card. Amazingly enough, with 87 starters, we still had 87 after the first hour. I abused my table however, with starting stacks at 3,000 and 8 players, three players were about 10% over their starting stack, 4 others much lower, and I had more then doubled to over 6,000 chips. As the blinds got big in the 3rd hour, I eventually wore down, but finished 7th for a final table and a little bit of cash.

Also played Riverschasers last night, started slow after the first hour, but managed to hit well the 2nd and 3rd hour. Funny thing was, the few times I had premium Top 3 hands (AA 3 times, KK 2 times, QQ once), I couldnt even get a call on a simple 3x BB bet. After being the a bottom 3 stack most of the time from 24 players left on, I still managed to final table my 2nd BBT event of the week. I finally went out in 6th, when my AJ < A5 (Board was 56625). Another cash though, and thoughts of actually trying to play most of the most in order to take a run at the May prize. I was 29th after 4 events, but I had only played 2, and that didnt include my final table last night. A few more final tables and hopefully a win somewhere in there and I may have a shot.

One of the things with poker I have learned lately is that even online, you need to have confidence in your own game in order to do well.

In Memory

I dont share much of my personal life here, preferring to focus on poker for the most part. However, as a few of my readers know, my wife and I have had my mother-in-law live with us soon after we were married. Less then three weeks ago, she ended up in the hospital due to an issue with her pancreas. Less then 24 hours before she was due to be discharged, she had a massive stroke. She never regained conciousness, and last Friday she died peacefully. She was a wonderful woman, and will be greatly missed by everyone that knew her.

To my mother in law, Barbara "Sue" Smith, I love you very much and will miss you so much. I know she will be watching over us, as my wife and I go through her pregnancy and having our first baby.

Wednesday Poker

Played quite a bit last night. Went out 40th in the Token Frenzy, just couldnt get anything going quite well in it. Did win/dominate a $15 Super-Satellite to get T$55, just playing smart and getting people to somehow pay me off when I had the nut hands. The Mookie was very up and down, started slow, but built up to almost 4,000 chips. Pushed my AQsuited from the button, and was called by KJ of the same same suit. Of course he rivered the King, and out I went 29th of 104. The worst poker player in the world, Waffles, somehow managed to win the April $2,000 package for the BBT3. Unreal. I did play the Dookie, where a HUGE field of 10 showed up to play Pot Limit Omaha Hi. Finished 2nd, as I entered heads up as a 3-1 dog in chips, and never could string a few good hands together. Congrats to Numbbono for winning the Dookie.