Some Wins Are Just Embarassing!

So I was in a satellite to the 750K tournament on full tilt this morning and wound up at a table with Karina Jett. I chatted about the PartyPoker Million IV where I played with her live as well as with her husband. She actually knew who I was from googling her name and finding my blog. That was cool to be quasi-remembered. She and Chip both seemed quite nice in person. Both of us busted from that one and played the next one. We both won a seat at different tables. Full Tilt keeps the tournament going after the bubble breaks in a satellite so my table became an all in fest. I love all in fests. I got lucky and got to the final table. Some people (including Karina) were still playing tight! I did not understand this, as the tourney was over, we all had seats. It was not until after I won the thing that someone reminded me there was a bounty on Karina. I feel retarded, but it makes for some amusing hand history! Note that my M goes from 4.25 to 78.87 in 10 hands!

---Tournament Summary---
$0 MTT: Finished 1/9 for $0
Data for 13 hands.
You played 11 hands (84.62%)
You raised 7 times preflop (53.85%)
-----Hand 1-----
Hero's M = 4.25
Full Tilt Poker Game #3784410882: Satellite to $750K Guarantee (28384700), Table 1 - 300/600 Ante 75 - No Limit Hold'em - 15:00:46 ET - 2007/10/07
Seat 1: Nocturnick (2,960)
Seat 3: Taz 572 (2,905)
Seat 4: gnff (1,655)
Seat 5: JimNova (15,425)
Seat 6: ammbo (6,375)
Seat 7: vanaus1 (5,930)
Seat 8: ericontilt (1,665)
Seat 9: TexasTee69 (6,445)
All players post the ante 75
gnff posts the small blind of 300
JimNova posts the big blind of 600
The button is in seat #3
Preflop: ammbo dealt 8 3
ammbo raises to 6,300, and is all in
vanaus1 folds
ericontilt calls 1,590, and is all in
TexasTee69 raises to 6,370, and is all in
Nocturnick folds
Taz 572 folds
gnff calls 1,280, and is all in
JimNova folds
TexasTee69 shows A K
gnff shows J 5
ammbo shows 8 3
ericontilt shows 6 2
Uncalled bet of 70 returned to TexasTee69
Flop: 8 8 7
Turn: 4
River: 2
TexasTee69 shows a pair of Eights
ammbo shows three of a kind, Eights
ammbo wins side pot #2 (9,420) with three of a kind, Eights
ericontilt shows two pair, Eights and Twos
ammbo wins side pot #1 (30) with three of a kind, Eights
gnff shows a pair of Eights
ammbo wins the main pot (7,520) with three of a kind, Eights
gnff stands up
ericontilt stands up
-----Hand 2-----
Hero's M = 12.57
Full Tilt Poker Game #3784415832: Satellite to $750K Guarantee (28384700), Table 1 - 300/600 Ante 75 - No Limit Hold'em - 15:01:22 ET - 2007/10/07
Seat 1: Nocturnick (2,885)
Seat 3: Taz 572 (2,830)
Seat 5: JimNova (14,750)
Seat 6: ammbo (16,970)
Seat 7: vanaus1 (5,855)
Seat 9: TexasTee69 (70)
All players post the ante 75
JimNova posts the small blind of 300
ammbo posts the big blind of 600
The button is in seat #4
Preflop: ammbo dealt T 4
vanaus1 folds
ammbo: All skill, baby
Nocturnick raises to 2,810, and is all in
TexasTee69: lol
Taz 572 calls 2,755, and is all in
JimNova folds
ammbo calls 2,210
Nocturnick shows J 7
Taz 572 shows J K
ammbo shows T 4
TexasTee69 shows 6 9
Flop: 2 7 5
Turn: 8
River: A
Nocturnick shows a pair of Sevens
ammbo shows Ace Ten high
Nocturnick wins side pot #2 (110) with a pair of Sevens
Taz 572 shows Ace King high
Nocturnick wins side pot #1 (8,590) with a pair of Sevens
TexasTee69 shows a straight, Nine high
TexasTee69 wins the main pot (420) with a straight, Nine high
Taz 572 stands up
-----Hand 3-----
Hero's M = 7.41
Full Tilt Poker Game #3784421239: Satellite to $750K Guarantee (28384700), Table 1 - 400/800 Ante 100 - No Limit Hold'em - 15:02:02 ET - 2007/10/07
Seat 1: Nocturnick (8,700)
Seat 2: menyook (19,286)
Seat 5: JimNova (14,375)
Seat 6: ammbo (14,085)
Seat 8: jakeis1 (2,960)
Seat 9: TexasTee69 (420)
All players post the ante 100
ammbo posts the small blind of 400
vanaus1 posts the big blind of 800
The button is in seat #5
Preflop: ammbo dealt 4 6
TexasTee69: ok
jakeis1 raises to 2,860, and is all in
TexasTee69 calls 320, and is all in
Nocturnick folds
menyook raises to 19,186, and is all in
JimNova calls 14,275, and is all in
ammbo calls 13,585, and is all in
vanaus1 folds
menyook shows K 9
JimNova shows J A
ammbo shows 4 6
jakeis1 shows 2 4
TexasTee69 shows 8 7
Uncalled bet of 4,911 returned to menyook
Flop: 5 6 4
Turn: J
River: K
menyook shows a pair of Kings
JimNova shows a pair of Jacks
menyook wins side pot #3 (580) with a pair of Kings
ammbo shows two pair, Sixes and Fours
ammbo wins side pot #2 (33,375) with two pair, Sixes and Fours
jakeis1 shows a pair of Fours
ammbo wins side pot #1 (10,640) with two pair, Sixes and Fours
TexasTee69 shows a straight, Eight high
TexasTee69 wins the main pot (2,620) with a straight, Eight high
jakeis1 stands up
JimNova stands up
-----Hand 4-----
Hero's M = 18.64
Full Tilt Poker Game #3784435858: Satellite to $750K Guarantee (28384700), Table 3 - 400/800 Ante 100 - No Limit Hold'em - 15:03:49 ET - 2007/10/07
Seat 1: SiKenD04 (26,232)
Seat 2: ammbo (35,415)
Seat 3: Karina Jett (10,772)
Seat 5: vanaus1 (4,380)
Seat 7: Nocturnick (27,360)
Seat 9: warman24 (4,360)
All players post the ante 100
warman24 posts the big blind of 800
The button is in seat #6
Preflop: ammbo dealt T A
ammbo: gl in the 750K, Karina
SiKenD04 folds
ammbo raises to 35,315, and is all in
Karina Jett folds
thebirdman84 folds
vanaus1 calls 4,280, and is all in
Karina Jett: ty same to u
warman24 folds
ammbo shows T A
vanaus1 shows 4 4
Uncalled bet of 31,035 returned to ammbo
Flop: A 7 8
Turn: 6
River: 8
ammbo shows two pair, Aces and Eights
vanaus1 shows two pair, Eights and Fours
ammbo wins the pot (9,960) with two pair, Aces and Eights
vanaus1: final table good karma
vanaus1 stands up
-----Hand 5-----
Hero's M = 22.78
Full Tilt Poker Game #3784439118: Satellite to $750K Guarantee (28384700), Table 3 - 400/800 Ante 100 - No Limit Hold'em - 15:04:13 ET - 2007/10/07
Seat 1: SiKenD04 (26,132)
Seat 2: ammbo (40,995)
Seat 3: Karina Jett (10,672)
Seat 7: Nocturnick (27,360)
Seat 9: warman24 (3,460)
All players post the ante 100
warman24 posts the small blind of 400
SiKenD04 posts the big blind of 800
The button is in seat #8
ammbo: ty
Preflop: ammbo dealt 5 T
ammbo raises to 40,895, and is all in
Karina Jett folds
thebirdman84 folds
Nocturnick folds
warman24 calls 2,960, and is all in
SiKenD04 folds
ammbo shows 5 T
warman24 shows A 7
Uncalled bet of 37,535 returned to ammbo
Flop: 7 3 4
Turn: 9
River: J
ammbo shows Jack Ten high
warman24 shows a pair of Sevens
warman24 wins the pot (8,120) with a pair of Sevens
-----Hand 6-----
Hero's M = 20.85
Full Tilt Poker Game #3784442575: Satellite to $750K Guarantee (28384700), Table 3 - 400/800 Ante 100 - No Limit Hold'em - 15:04:38 ET - 2007/10/07
Seat 1: SiKenD04 (25,232)
Seat 2: ammbo (37,535)
Seat 3: Karina Jett (10,572)
Seat 7: Nocturnick (27,260)
Seat 9: warman24 (8,120)
All players post the ante 100
SiKenD04 posts the small blind of 400
ammbo posts the big blind of 800
The button is in seat #9
Preflop: ammbo dealt T 8
Karina Jett folds
thebirdman84 folds
Nocturnick folds
warman24 raises to 8,020, and is all in
SiKenD04 folds
ammbo calls 7,220
warman24 shows Q K
ammbo shows T 8
Flop: 3 9 6
Turn: T
River: 2
warman24 shows King Queen high
ammbo shows a pair of Tens
ammbo wins the pot (17,040) with a pair of Tens
warman24 stands up
-----Hand 7-----
Hero's M = 27.33
Full Tilt Poker Game #3784445637: Satellite to $750K Guarantee (28384700), Table 3 - 400/800 Ante 100 - No Limit Hold'em - 15:05:00 ET - 2007/10/07
Seat 1: SiKenD04 (24,732)
Seat 2: ammbo (46,455)
Seat 3: Karina Jett (10,472)
Seat 7: Nocturnick (27,160)
All players post the ante 100
ammbo posts the small blind of 400
Karina Jett posts the big blind of 800
The button is in seat #1
Preflop: ammbo dealt 6 6
thebirdman84 folds
Nocturnick folds
SiKenD04 raises to 24,632, and is all in
ammbo raises to 46,355, and is all in
Karina Jett folds
ammbo shows 6 6
SiKenD04 shows J A
Uncalled bet of 21,723 returned to ammbo
Flop: 2 9 3
Turn: 8
River: 5
ammbo shows a pair of Sixes
SiKenD04 shows Ace Jack high
ammbo wins the pot (50,564) with a pair of Sixes
SiKenD04 stands up
-----Hand 8-----
Hero's M = 45.18
Full Tilt Poker Game #3784450373: Satellite to $750K Guarantee (28384700), Table 3 - 400/800 Ante 100 - No Limit Hold'em - 15:05:34 ET - 2007/10/07
Seat 2: ammbo (72,287)
Seat 3: Karina Jett (9,572)
Seat 7: Nocturnick (27,060)
All players post the ante 100
Karina Jett posts the small blind of 400
thebirdman84 posts the big blind of 800
The button is in seat #2
Preflop: ammbo dealt T 8
ammbo: seat
Nocturnick folds
ammbo raises to 72,187, and is all in
Karina Jett folds
thebirdman84 folds
Uncalled bet of 71,387 returned to ammbo
ammbo mucks
ammbo wins the pot (2,400)
-----Hand 9-----
Hero's M = 46.12
Full Tilt Poker Game #3784451686: Satellite to $750K Guarantee (28384700), Table 3 - 400/800 Ante 100 - No Limit Hold'em - 15:05:44 ET - 2007/10/07
Seat 2: ammbo (73,787)
Seat 3: Karina Jett (9,072)
Seat 7: Nocturnick (26,960)
All players post the ante 100
thebirdman84 posts the small blind of 400
Nocturnick posts the big blind of 800
The button is in seat #3
Preflop: ammbo dealt 7 5
ammbo raises to 73,687, and is all in
Karina Jett folds
thebirdman84 folds
Nocturnick folds
Uncalled bet of 72,887 returned to ammbo
ammbo mucks
ammbo wins the pot (2,400)
-----Hand 10-----
Hero's M = 47.05
Full Tilt Poker Game #3784453541: Satellite to $750K Guarantee (28384700), Table 3 - 400/800 Ante 100 - No Limit Hold'em - 15:05:57 ET - 2007/10/07
Seat 2: ammbo (75,287)
Seat 3: Karina Jett (8,972)
Seat 7: Nocturnick (26,060)
All players post the ante 100
Nocturnick posts the small blind of 400
ammbo posts the big blind of 800
The button is in seat #4
Preflop: ammbo dealt 8 5
Karina Jett raises to 8,872, and is all in
thebirdman84 folds
Nocturnick raises to 25,960, and is all in
ammbo calls 25,160
Nocturnick shows K T
ammbo shows 8 5
Karina Jett shows Q Q
Flop: 8 3 8
Turn: 7
River: A
Nocturnick shows a pair of Eights
ammbo shows three of a kind, Eights
ammbo wins the side pot (34,176) with three of a kind, Eights
Karina Jett shows two pair, Queens and Eights
ammbo wins the main pot (27,016) with three of a kind, Eights
Karina Jett stands up
Nocturnick stands up
-----Hand 11-----
Hero's M = 78.87
Full Tilt Poker Game #3784456468: Satellite to $750K Guarantee (28384700), Table 3 - 400/800 Ante 100 - No Limit Hold'em - 15:06:18 ET - 2007/10/07
Seat 2: ammbo (110,419)
All players post the ante 100
ammbo posts the small blind of 400
thebirdman84 posts the big blind of 800
The button is in seat #2
Preflop: ammbo dealt 5 6
ammbo: gl in the main
ammbo: I am trying to bust out!
ammbo raises to 110,319, and is all in
thebirdman84 folds
Uncalled bet of 109,519 returned to ammbo
ammbo mucks
ammbo wins the pot (1,800)
ammbo: lol
4 6 BB (Folded to ammbo.)
J J BB (Folded to ammbo.)

6-Max Tournaments

Lately I have had a lot of success in 6 max tournaments. I took third in the FTP 14K guaranteed last night for $1400 and hit another FT last week. In the last month or so I have opened my game up a lot and have gotten almost recklessly aggressive. I think this new aggression helps me out in 6 max games where I only have 5 other hands to make fold rather than 9. In a full game I inevitably either bluff half my stack off or I get trapped by my opponents. In 6 max I steal so many blinds relative to my opponents that I feel I wind up with a sizable advantage. I also looked over some of my stats for the past 2 months and I found an interesting one. I have 12 final tables and 8 wins. If I make a final table I tend to win. I think a lot of this is because so many players just do not know how to play short handed. They let the blinds and my raises eat them alive. The only real down side to my short handed game is that my stack fluctuates a ton. I won a 90 player SnG at Full Tilt last night and at the final table I went from chip leader to 5/5 and then back to chip leader in about the space of 10 hands. It was crazy, but I just kept stealing even after I got short stacked and my opponents just let me.

I kind of enjoy being a complete LAG!

ITH Convention 2007 Trip Report

It was quite a good trip. I averaged 4 hours of sleep the whole time, so forgive me if I leave out critical details. Here is the gist:

Before:

After:

Piemaster and SteveGriff flew into NYC on Wednesday evening and we all opted to go out for a few pints that evening. I was planning to play the $500 tournament at the Borgata the next day so we only stayed out until 12:30 or so. I thought the tournament started at 8 AM (duh) so we got up at 5 and drove to AC. Of course, the tournament was not until 11 AM so we had to cool our heels. In the tournament I made a few good bluffs but overall failed to take advantage of an early chip lead at my table. I got the lead by nearly tripling up in a raised pot with 63o. I was BB (50) and called an UTG raise from a super aggressive player after 5 others called. The flop was . I checkraised his $500 bet to 2K and got two callers. The turn was the lovely . I checked (bad idea) and it checked around. The river was (action killer) and I value bet 1500. Both called, I assume with AK and a flush.

I made it as far as the dinner break before this hand came up on the last hand before dinner. I had AQ, BB reluctantly called my raise. I c/b on a flop of A44. He bet into me when a T turned and I put him all in. He called with AT and rivered another 10. I had all of dinner to strategize what I would do from UTG with an M of about 2.5. When I got back from dinner I pushed with and ran into KK. That was all she wrote.

I wanted to stay and rail Primitive but he insisted he was a big boy (he is 7ft something, after all). Off I went to the cocktail reception. There I had the pleasure of meeting numerous people for the first time, including Rocket and Wynton, both of whom live in NYC not too far from me.

That night I played the midnight madness tournament, and to be perfectly honest, I remember very little about it. Apparently I busted somewhere in the mid ranks.

The next day I played the limit event. I got a bit crazy at my first table, raising tons of pots and playing against Sami nearly every time he was in a pot. I managed to suck out a few times and build a bit of a stack but got moved and lost all table image. I was out before too long.

In the NL event that day I wound up getting nice and lucky and finishing fourth. Christine (ammboswife) finished third. It is her custom to outlast me in every tournament we enter. She is good. We stayed to rail Pie and Wade as they went HU. Pie finally made an "Oh, screw it I am tired" all in call and Wade took the trophy.

That evening I was quite tired and decided to go to bed early-ish. Christine and I had gone to play nickel slots and get free drinks for an hour or so after the tourney. We went back to the poker room and found a very drunk table of ITHers playing a 2/4 game. Actually, on the way over there we ran into MX at a non-ITH 2/4 table and watched him value raise seven limpers from the BB without looking at his cards. On a flop of he finally looked at his hand, only to find he had and had flopped the nuts. The hand was capped on the flop and the turn and two people paid him off on the river. Insane!

Inspired by MX, I took Nside's offer to play his stack while he tended to a very drunk SuitedPair. I lost a fair bit of his money and decided to play one more hand when he came back. I capped blind from MP, with Ed Miller reraising behind me. The flop came . I looked at my cards only to find I had capped blind with ! The flop was capped and right before the turn card came out, Ed yelled for the queen of clubs. Lo and behold, the hit the turn! This gave me the nut flush draw, a gutshot royal draw, and the nut straight. We capped again. The hit the river and I value bet. Ed folded his two small clubs and Ciaran sighed as he paid me off with . Nice pot, but Nside gave it all back when he got his chair back, the big fish.

In the ITH main event I played a nice aggressive game and trapped both Torch's 55 and SuitedPair's AJs with KK. The joke was on me when SuitedPair hit her ace and I was gone.

That night we decided to play the midnight madness tournament, a $100+20 turbo. 12 minute levels, $120 to buy in, 12K in chips, and starts at 12:12 AM. Oh, and no antes. Big fun! I played my normal tight-but-opportunistic-in-position game and was pretty short most of the time. I open pushed at one point with TT and got called by AJ. When the cards were rolled the girl next to me said she had folded AT. Ugh when the A hit the flop, with a J on the turn and then my miracle ONE OUTER on the river! The blinds were getting crazy so I got a bit crazy, too. Highlights include open pushing from UTG with 22 at a 7 handed table. SB called with QJ and went home. SB limped in my BB and I put him all in with . He called with A7o but I flopped a straight.

Osmosis and I both made it to the final table. I shifted back to fairly tight until the shorties busted. Osmosis lost a lot of chips with AQ and a few hands later pushed 100K at my 40K BB. The SB called all in for about 90K. No brainer. I actually got laughed at by the ITHers railing for looking at my cards before calling. Needless to say, my 94o busted both the SB's AK and Osmosis' AQ. We got to 4 handed and I was refusing to make a deal. 4th place paid $800, first paid $5400, and I had 800K in chips to the next stack's ~400K. No deal. Until, that is, I doubled up one of the shorter stacks when his Q6s made a straight against my K7s (he called all in). That reduced my chip lead and then the blinds went to $40K/$80K. I made a deal, taking $3K and everyone else got about $2.6K. The thing ended at 7AM, the perfect time to buy a few rounds for the rail!

Monday at work was no fun. None whatsoever.

I am really looking forward to the next convention and/or AC meetup!

Little Poker, Lotsa Wins

I guess I should have posted about it, but a few months ago a friend wanted to go to Atlantic City and I said what the heck. I played a $100 tournament, my first poker whatsoever in months. I ended up winning $3000 for first place. Not too bad for a rusty guy! I think that was in March.

Flash forward to this morning. Again, I had not played much poker in the last few months. The dog woke me up early so I played a few tourneys and SnGs. I probably played 8-9 tournaments total and was not doing well. QQ was losing to every hand imaginable. One bright spot in the morning:
Damn! 10,000% ROI is not too bad for a $26 investment. The only reason I had cash online is because I had played a few late WSOP qualifiers (went deep in one, but no love). I hit some monster hands in this tournament and put a lot of bad beats on people (Took my share, too). The worst was flopping two pair with 23s from the BB against a minimum raise. His aces did not hold and I doubled. I also got 3 way action on KK, smooth calling a raise and an all-in, and the original raiser tried to isolate the all-in with AQ. The KK held. I also got 3 way action when I flopped the nuts with QT at the final table. 89 flopped two pair and KJ came along for the ride with just top pair. When it was 3 handed I had one guy playing any two and one guy playing for second. I had over a million chips to their stacks of about 180K. Heads up lasted three hands, as the guy playing for 2nd just started moving all in every hand.

Not a bad day for a rusty ammbo!

Chalk Up Another One.

So the run continued into the day. I just chopped another tournament for $2750:
(Click to see full size)

I was the chip leader for the last half of the final table, and I was really on my game. I did nearly lose three handed when I ran into AA, but I came back to regain the lead. When one of my opponents finally busted the shorter stack, he ended up with 8,000 more chips than me, 50.07% of the total chips. As such, he got to set the terms of the deal. He wanted to take $3K and leave me with $2500, but I rejected that. I am not so arrogant to say I am better than him, but I know I am much more experienced heads up, I had excellent reads on him, and I think I would have won outright if we played. As it was, I got $7 less than he did and settled for a technical second place. No big deal.

All said and done, I deposited $500 into Party Poker last night around 10 PM. In less than 24 hours I turned that into $5093. Not bad! It is funny, I played a few $100 and $50 tournaments, but I kept bubbling in them. I made all of my money today in $20 and $30 tournaments. Feels good to have some game left! I think I need a break now.

I love a good $2 Rebuy!

***** Hand History for Game 4357695524 *****
NL Texas Hold'em Trny:24043905 Level:4 Blinds(100/200) - Thursday, May 25, 12:55:33 ET 2006
Table Speed Rebuy(707938) Table #23 (Real Money)
Seat 9 is the button
Total number of players : 9
Seat 1: kelthehel ( $54140 )
Seat 2: Hickory ( $5380 )
Seat 3: pearljam1012 ( $3000 )
Seat 4: vikum ( $710 )
Seat 5: yuqinwu80 ( $15490 )
Seat 7: GONETILTIN ( $8690 )
Seat 8: ammbo ( $3000 )
Seat 9: iamkingsosa ( $11840 )
Seat 6: WLIND ( $5850 )
Trny:24043905 Level:4
Blinds(100/200)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to ammbo [ 7s 2d ]
pearljam1012 is all-In [3000]
vikum folds.
yuqinwu80 folds.
WLIND raises [5800].
MizTam has joined the table.
Player MizTam has been moved from table 76 to this table
p.o.
GONETILTIN folds.
ammbo is all-In [3000]
iamkingsosa is all-In [11840]
kelthehel folds.
Hickory is all-In [5180]
WLIND is all-In [50]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 7h, 4h, 5h ]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 7d ]
** Dealing River ** [ 4s ]
WLIND shows [ Kc, Ks ] two pairs, kings and sevens.
ammbo shows [ 7s, 2d ] a full house, Sevens full of fours.
iamkingsosa shows [ As, 9c ] two pairs, sevens and fours.
Hickory shows [ Qh, Ah ] a flush, ace high.
pearljam1012 shows [ Ts, Qd ] two pairs, sevens and fours.
iamkingsosa wins 5990 chips from side pot #3 with two pairs, sevens and fours.
WLIND wins 940 chips from side pot #2 with two pairs, kings and sevens.
Hickory wins 7140 chips from side pot #1 with a flush, ace high.
ammbo wins 15100 chips from the main pot with a full house, Sevens full of fours.
Re-buy: ammbo re-buys 3000 chips and the chip stack increases from 15100 chips to 18100 chips.
Re-buy: iamkingsosa re-buys 3000 chips and the chip stack increases from 5990 chips to 8990 chips.
Re-buy: pearljam1012 re-buys 3000 chips and the chip stack increases from 0 chips to 3000 chips.

Poker Is Funny Sometimes

So due to a big tax bill, a number of other expenses, and poor performance at the table, I cashed out all of my money from Neteller to cover things. I was beginning to wonder if I had lost something in my few months off, as I had only been back a few days and was steadily losing. I decided to keep $500 in Party Poker for the evening and see where I could take it. I ran it down to $280 on a few lousy SnGs and suckouts and finally decided to enter a few multi-table tournaments to stretch my poker dollar. I entered a $33 and a $22 80 and 705 entrants respectively. Results are below:
(Click images to view full size)



A first and a second are not too bad for a guy who is rusty. I made a few mistakes, took a few (horrific) beats, but I came back from a 10 to 1 disadvantage in the first tournament and came from short stack with 5 left to second place in the second tournament. I don't know if I was on or if the poker gods decided to let me hit all of the hands I needed.
One quirky little thing, I folded 88 from the BB to three all ins at the final table of the second place. Had I called with marginal odds (I had plenty of chips), I would have busted the eventual winner. Funny how life works.
Anyway, I have a nice little shot of confidence in my game again. I may play a little more and see how I hold up with my rejuvenated bankroll. Thanks to all who read this and comment. You keep me running.

Weaning Back In

It has been an interesting few months. I have found myself completely disinterested in poker and as such have not been playing since about December, a span of perhaps three months. Prior to that, I had gone to Vegas, cashed in a WPT minor event, and hit Turning Stone where I had a good showing in one of their events. However, I began to simply lose focus, lose interest, and lose money as a result. Poker was not fun so I quit. Rather, I took a hiatus. Over the past week I have been quietly weaning back into it. I started playing a few of the Party Poker 3-Table sit and go tournaments. They now have a $50 level so I play those when they are running and I play the $30 level otherwise. I try to have 4 tournaments running at a time at all times.

The results over the past week are not too bad. In three days I played 27 3-table tournaments and made $822. That is a 70% ROI. Do I still got it or what?

I know that ROI is not sustainable and the sample size is puny and the results are skewed by two first place finishes in the $50 tournaments, yadda yadda... but I cannot help but smile at these results. I feel as though I have not been away at all when I am at the tables. I fall right back into it like riding a bike; I never forget how to do it. I will keep you informed how my little comeback is progressing over the next few weeks. I don't want to go too fast, after all.

I will also try to be more dilligent about updating this site. I know that I am not playing a lot of poker now, but I have missed a few updates about tournaments I played at the WSOP and a few WPT events as well as the ITH convention and a win at Binion's Horseshoe last summer. I might try to compile a few trip reports on them, but they were quite a while ago. We shall see. Until next time, keep your cards down and your stack up.

Lake Tahoe WSOP Circuit Trip Report

I barely know where to begin. It has been a long trip! I got to Tahoe on Wednesday night and met up with Matthew at the airport. We headed to the casino to play the next day.

In the first event, a $500 limit event, I played well in my estimation. The only real mistake I made was the last hand I played. The cutoff limped first in and I thought about folding but decided to call with 55 behind him. Then the big stack (who had been playing very tight) raised from the SB. I called and wound up with all of my chips in on a 7 high flop only to see his JJ take me down. It was a terrible play. That hand put me out in 10th, one off of the final table. Ugh. My 10th place finish was still good enough to double my money but I was nevertheless disappointed.

In the second event, a $500 limit event, I got very lucky. I either doubled up or busted a player each time I had AA. One hand was very scary when my opponent turned a set of jacks. Unfortunately for him the jack on the turn gave me the nut flush and he saw no help on the river. I left him with 75 in chip left, and after posting a $50 ante, he was ammboed! I blinded off for a while and finally decided to take a coinflip once we were in the money. My AQ was no good vs. 99 but I will take that hand again any time.

The next day was a $1000 NL event. I think I played very well. I defended my blinds at the right times and I pushed people out of pots at all the right times. Then a hand came up that I will never forget. I posted the hand here, but I think my wife already spilled the beans about the result. In the end I decided to take a shot at a huge pot and was out of the tournament in a flash. My father had stopped by to watch and was amazed that I was out after doing so well. Oh, well... I got some quality time with daddy out of it.

The final event was a $1000 limit event. Again, I truly felt on top of my game and managed to survive a few tough hands to make the final table. I ended up busting in 8th place when my QQ lost to 99's quad nines. I am not upset at that hand in the least, but I am much more upset at the hand I misplayed earlier. I had 99 in the BB and called an MP raise and a button call. The MP raiser checked a ten high flop and the button bet. I just called and the raiser called. He suddenly bet out a Q on the turn and I knew I had messed up so I folded. He said he had AQ (obviously) and the button confessed to having a smaller pair. I was not pleased with that mistake. In the end, however, I would have been all in with my QQ and lost to 9999 so it did not really matter.

Overall, I played some of the best poker I have ever played. I made the money in 3 out of 4 events, made one final table, and only missed the money in the other event due to a "that's poker" type of situation. I also had a great time. I had more fun at the table that I can remember having. I felt incredibly relaxed and at no time did I feel overmatched or intimidated by another player. I cannot wait for my next major event.

Personal note:

Right now I am sitting in a crummy motel in Niagra Falls, NY. I am still not home after travelling all day yesterday. Because of a flight delay I missed the Buffalo to Ithaca bus so my wife came to get me. Since we were so close to Niagra Falls we decided to go have a look. Neither of us had been there since we were kids. We also had a look at the new Casino Niagra, which seems to have quite a nice poker room. Then, on the way home, a deer bolted in front of the car and I ran right into it at about 50 miles per hour. Neither of us were hurt, the airbags did not even deploy, but the deer was killed. I feel awful about it. As a result, our 2004 Toyota Matrix is not drivable. My wife rented a car to head back home in order to take a final while I site here in this crappy hotel waiting for the insurance people to look at the car. FYI, Geico's service rules. The silver lining? I have wireless internet at this $30 per night hotel!

Party Poker Million IV Trip Report

It has been a tough tournament. Not because the opponents were tough but because the stacks have been up and down. Matthew had a tough first day, running KK into AA and 99 into a KK. His opponent slowplayed both times. As a result, he was out late on day one.

I had a tough time on day one, too. My table draw was great, I had no recognizable faces at my table. However, I could not get much going and found myself slowly sliding down in chips. After losing flush over flush and a few other key hands, I found myself desperate. I had 1500 left on a 500 big blind. I folded A4o to a raise from the button on my blind and had 1000 left with 300 of it in on the SB. It folded to me and I pushed my last paltry chip in with Q5o. The BB called without looking at his hand and showed K8s. I flopped a Q and stayed alive. A few hands later I picked up KK and doubled up again. I picked up JJ a few hands later and flopped a set against KK. Before I knew it, I had 25,500 chips at the end of day one. I was a slightly above average stack with only 270 players left and 180 getting paid.

On day two I got a fantastic table draw. The only Pro was Karina Jett, Chip Jett's wife, and she was short stacked. I was second in chips at this table and the chip leader had only 29,000. I bluffed him from a pot and took the chip lead. For the first two hours at this table I could do no wrong. I ran my 25,000 stack up to about 60,000. I doubled Karina Jett up when she raised all in with K9o and I had to call from the BB with T6o. She was then crippled on the next hand with AJ vs the BB's 53o :). I called the 53o as the winner when I saw the hand. Then our table broke.

I got moved to a table with Chip Jett, the chip leader. He was in my big blind when I had the button and I was not pleased. He had a monster stack and was raising every hand. We made the money when he raised the big blind who was all in. He showed 67s and she showed 56s. Poor girl! We were all now guaranteed $5,000. At this table I had a very aggressive player on my right and two on my immediate left (including Chip). I made a few moves but the blinds were killing me. I finally had that table break up and I was moved to a table full of amateur players. Fantastic! I blinded off a few hands (at a 4000 big blind, that is a lot of stack!). I finally three-bet a player with TT. He flopped two pair with his A5s and I was gone in 92nd place out of 750 players.

I made the second money level for a total of $10,500. Not bad given that it cost me about $600 to qualify for the trip. I was still disappointed that I did not go deeper but I'll take it!
Matthew and I also played a $200 SnG. He took second for $600 and I was the first one out. However, I played another one and won it for $1000. The whole table was drunk, that was a treat! :)

All in all it has been a successful trip for both of us. Matthew and I exchanged 20% stakes in each other so we both leave here with our trips more than paid for. We will be playing the $300 and the $500 side tournaments as well, so I will post my wins there, too. :)