Seven Way Split - Kinda Silly

I played in the deep stack (20,000) at the Island Casino for the first time in months. If you make the final table you usually play until at least 11:30 p.m. and since I still work it's kind of a pain, but I figure I can do it once in awhile. They have also stopped the 25 minute dinner break, so that shortens things up a bit.

I did make the final table which was a miracle. In the first 20 minutes of the tournament I made 2 bad mistakes and lost more than half my chips. But I struggled valiantly and continued on. When we got down to 7 players with the blinds at 4,000-8,000, and sitting on a very short stack of just over 5 big blinds, I laughingly suggested a 7-way split. To my total amazement, 4 others wanted to do it. Two players (both fairly large chip stacks) declined so we played on. After about 2 more hands, they both agreed to chop as well.

I really didn't think the 7-way split ($336 total for each player) would occur, but I certainly wasn't going to argue when I was the short stack. They were only paying 3 spots at that point and cash in hand is better than nothing when my odds of cashing were extreme. After deducting $26 tip and $65 buy-in cost it was a $245 profit, which is more than I get in a lot of tournaments in which I take first or second. It was just under $50/hour too, which isn't bad at all.

What do you think? Would you make a split like this at 11:25 p.m. on a Tuesday night with 5 big blinds? I think you would.

In the Zone

Do you ever feel like it's not really you who's playing poker? Yesterday felt like that to me.

First, I should preface this by saying that on Tuesday I played the 15,000 chip tournament (15-minute rounds) at Jokers and busted out right before the first round was over. I had not played one single hand (and had folded both small & big blind to raises) when I picked up the dreaded A-A. With blinds at 25-50, Bill somebody-or-other raised to a ridiculous 325. Two people in front of me called and I had A-A on the button. I re-raised to 1,025. Bill insta-called and one of the other players called too. You would think one of these bozos would have noticed that I hadn't played a hand yet.

The flop was 10-5-4 with 2 hearts. Bill bet 3,000. The other player folded and I raised to 6,000. Bill went all-in immediately. Oh dear. We had the exact same chip stack. My first thought was that he had flopped a set with 10-10, but I've played with him before and I really thought he would have re-raised me before the flop with 10-10. That's just the way he is (very aggressive). So I discounted 10-10. I called like the idiot I am for all my chips and he had flopped a set of fives. FIVES for God's sake. Here is another example of me thinking I would never call a re-raise with 5-5 but not assuming that someone else would. Great googly moogly.

Anyway, I made up for it yesterday. I could do no wrong. The flops all came my way. I played any two cards for a bit because I was just hitting everything. It was crazy. My pocket aces held up twice. (Bill wasn't playing which is probably a good thing.) I hit two pair about 6 times. I hit the river several times to win when I was behind. I felt like I was on automatic. And I won the tournament. This is good because I haven't cashed in over a month, which is really unusual for me. I have been making final tables left and right, but not cashing. I needed it, even though there were only 14 players and I only netted $150. I just don't care. It feels really good.

Onward and upward! Now I can play tonight at the Lucky Bridge. They add $700 and the pay-outs are pretty darn good. Wish me luck!

Changing the Way I Do Things

I've decided I play too much poker. I'm only going to play deep stack tournaments from now on. By deep stack I mean starting chips of 5,000+ and blind rounds of at least 15-20 minutes. I feel that I get to play more poker this way instead of the stupid ram & jam necessary in the short stack 10-minute round tournaments. The deep stacks also pay better and they are not that much more expensive.

Thus, I will probably play only once or twice a month at the Moose ($60) and once or twice a month elsewhere (Jokers for $40 or Island for $65 probably). My goal is to get damned serious and start winning more of these so I can play bigger and bigger tournaments. I would really like to play in more of the Pendleton tournaments or up in Spokane at Northern Quest's Best of the West, but I never seem to hold onto any of my winnings very long.

So, my goal over the next several months is to basically play ONLY tournaments, ONLY deep stack tournaments and to SAVE my damned winnings, which will be the hardest part believe me because I love to blow money. Don't we all?

For starters, I'm playing in the $100 buy-in at Pendleton on Friday, November 4. That's the only one I can afford to play in unless I make lots of money in the tournament. Wish me luck!

Worst Player Ever (Me!)

Playing in the Jokers Tuesday night tournament, I had about 22,000 with blinds of 1,000-2,000. I was in the cut-off one seat before the button. With no raises in front of me and 4 limpers, I called with 4-4. (First mistake.)

Flop was 4-8-A, all spades. It was checked around to me and I checked also with my set. (Second mistake.)

The turn was another spade. Oops. Checked to Ryan 2 seats to my right. He bets 3,000. I call. (Third mistake.) Everyone else folds.

The river is a blank and naturally doesn't pair the board. Ryan bets 4,000. I go into the tank for about 1 minute and decide he's bluffing with 4 spades on the board and call him. (Last mistake). Naturally he has Q-J offsuit with the jack of spades.

I honestly believe I could have avoided all this stupidity with a shove all-in pre-flop. Knowing Ryan, I don't think he would have called 22,000 pre-flop with jack-queen offsuit.

On the very next hand I pick up 9-9 and shove my last 11,000 or so into the pot. I get called by K-Q and Q-J and naturally a queen falls and I'm toast. Worst Player Ever!!! (The only two good things about the tournament were that I made the final table (as usual) and that I had (as usual) the best hand when I did go all in.)

Why Do I Do These Things?

It's official. I'm a poker idiot. I was the first person out at the Joker's 2:00 tournament on Sunday & that's very unusual for me and probably hasn't happened in over 3 years.

My first idiot hand was A-K. I raised the big blind 3x and got 4 callers for a pot of $750 or so. Flop was Q-8-3. I C-bet $300 when it was checked to me and then got check raised the minimum to $600. Did I fold? Oh, no. I reraised to $1800 hoping to induce a fold and representing a big hand. All this got me was 2 free cards, the last of which was my ace and I got stupid again and bet $2000 (we start with 15k in this one & it was early). I was called and he had Q-8 for a flopped 2 pair. Eeeek.

I played a couple of hands after that, mostly folding after the flop. I got bored and ended up playing a Q7 suited in clubs for the extremly stupid reason that it had been a really good hand for me the last time I played when I won with it 3 times. The super stupid part was that I called a raise with it. (Blinds were 50-100 at this point & the raise was to 300. I was on the button.)

The flop was 7-7-5. Yippee!! There were 3 players in the hand. The original raiser (under the gun) bet 300 again. Evan on my right flat called. I raised to 1,000. The original raiser folded and Evan flat called again. The turn was a 3 and Evan checks. I bet 1,000. He raises to 3,000. I call. The river is a jack or queen or some such face card. As quick as lightning, Evan shoves all-in with a big sigh. He has me covered.

I think he's full of it but I think about it for 2 minutes. I call. He has 7-5 and flopped the full house. I don't even show my hand. I say nothing & just get up and walk out, thoroughly embarrassed with myself. Sometimes I seriously think I should just quit. On the other hand, Evan made a bad call pre-flop too, so I guess we get what we get.

Just Bitching

Oh my gosh. Sometimes it's just hard. I was playing in the 20,000 chip 10-minute round turbo tournament at Jokers last night. There were only 16 players that showed up. The weather's too nice I guess. Anyway, first place was $210 and second was $130 with $40 to third (agreed between last 3 players) on a $35 buy-in. So even with only 16 players it wasn't too bad for pay-outs.

I was one of the final 3. I was probably 2nd in chips when the guy on my right raised and put me all-in. Looking down at Q-Q I insta-called because that's a mighty powerful hand in a 3-handed game. He had A-10. The flop was K-J-3. The turn was a blank. Did I really need a queen on the river? Oh, hell no. That gave him a gutshot straight and it was bye-bye Lynne with the best hand before the flop yet again. I took the $40, gave the dealers $5 and went home with my buy-in. Whee.

As I said . . . just bitching. Why me all the time? Phooey.

Sometimes You Gotta Get Lucky

Last Sunday at the 2:00 Jokers tournament, there were 3 of us left - me, Big Daddy (Sean) and Sal (Sal & Rosa). Sal was the overwhelming chip leader, Big Daddy was second and I was a distant third. Big Daddy & I playfully asked Sal to chop 3 ways a couple of times. He ignored us. Big Daddy insisted that he could never win against me & was waiting for me to make a mistake. I indicated that I was waiting for them to make a mistake.

Sal ended up calling a couple of my all-ins and losing. His stack started to dwindle. Big Daddy's stayed about the same. After a while, Sal had fewer chips than me, although not by much. I raised all-in with 6-6 (bad play) and Sal insta-called with A-A. I knocked him out when 4 clubs appeared and I had the 6 of clubs and he had the wrong aces. Icky!! This was super lucky.

Then I raised with A-Q and Big Daddy called. He still had me covered at this point. The flop was A-Q-? and he moved all-in with an A-5. I naturally called and he was down to less than the big blind. I called in the dark and had J-7. I forget what he had but I hit my 7 and it held up and I went from being miserably short-stacked to winning the tournament!! I'd rather be lucky than good, although it helps to be both. Two Sunday tournaments in a row at Jokers. Maybe I'm beginning to figure these guys out!

Someone Else Plays Bad & Gets Lucky

Radical Roxie. I would never call her that to her face. She is a semi-regular in the Jokers tournaments & I know she is a little crazy. I know this because I raised once with 10-10 and she called me with A-6 offsuit. Naturally she spiked an A on the turn. However, I had kept the pot small & didn't lose too much. I said to her, "I guess I'll have to go all-in next time." She said, "I would have called." Oh my gosh. So I knew she was a little out there.

Tuesday night I was playing at Jokers and Radical Roxie was to my right. I was doing OK when about 5 limpers entered the pot. I had A-K and only about 15 big blinds left so I shoved all-in. Everyone folded except RR. She called with K-J suited. Excellent. Until a king hit the flop and a jack hit the turn. Playing bad & getting lucky. Now I was hurting for chips.

A few hands later the same thing happens - about 4 or 5 limpers including RR. I have 4-4 so I shove all-in. She calls me with the dreaded weakish ace (A-9 offsuit) and spikes an ace right on the flop. Bye bye Lynne.

Again, however, I want her at my table. Most of the time I will win both of those hands and she will be history. I sure wish I got lucky more often. Playing bad? I've got that down - LOL.

Queen of Quads

It's said by many that poker is very cyclical. I believe it.

Last Friday after work I went to the Island hoping to play a tournament, but ended up playing 2-10 spread limit when nobody showed up for the tournament until the last 5 minutes and then I stayed in the live game.

I'd been playing less than 30 minutes when my 3-3 flopped quads. This was nice because I hadn't had quads in a while & I also got paid off a little and my hand went up on the board for the $100 high hand to pay out at midnight.

About 1 hour later (same dealer as 3-3) I had a K-3 suited in diamonds and flopped 3-K-3 for a full house. Again I got paid off even when I hit my 4th three on the river for quad 3s again. Crazy.

Within that same 30-minutes, I had K-J with a flop of K-K-8 and another K on the river. Great googly moogly. The jack played so I beat my own high hand!!

About 60 minutes later (different dealer this time) I hit quad 6s holding J-6 suited in hearts. My K-K-K-K-J did hold up and I collected my $100 high hand and went home shortly thereafter. I wonder what the odds are of getting quads 4 times in one night? Quad quads!! LOL! Dr. Phil, does your poker calculator tell you that?

Not done yet though. The very next day I hit quad kings in the tournament. And on Sunday I called a guy's all-in with 6-6 and flopped quads.

This is fun. Hope this cycle lasts for a while! :)

Tournament of Champions

First, thanks to Dr. Phil for his brutally honest comments on my playing bad & getting lucky. I believe he was totally correct for the most part. (By the way, the hand took place in the Jokers deep stack tournament so most of us had over 10,000 chips at the start of the hand.) I hate to admit this, however, but most of the time I go by feel instead of math and perhaps that's stupid, but it usually works OK for me. Call it woman's intuition.

Having said that, I just want to toot my own horn by saying that my "feelings" allowed me to call a couple of hands during the Jokers Tournament of Champions that I probably should not have called. In the first hand I was holding A-8 (with everyone limping early in the tournament) & a flop of A-5-5. I checked and called one player all the way down who kept betting and I just didn't put him on a 5 or even an ace. I honestly can't say why I felt that way - I just did. He folded without showing his cards after I called the river.

In the second hand I had 6-6 in the big blind. I had about 6,000 chips at that point. There was one raise to 600 and another guy went all-in for 1,600. I called actually believing I had the best hand, which I believed even more when the original raiser folded. The all-in had 8-7 offsuit so he had 2 over-cards. I flopped quads. Good gravy. That was the SIXTH time I had quads since Friday, but that's another story. Needless to say, I knocked him out.

I ended up winning the tournament for a good payout (14 x buy-in). Fun, fun, fun. I guess I really would rather be lucky than good.

"You play so bad and get so lucky"

I don't usually post so often, but the last post I did reminded me of a hand I played the previous week where my opponent said to me, "You play so bad and get so lucky." Here's what happened.

Blinds were 50-100. I raised to 300 in middle position with A-10 suited (hearts). A couple of others called & the button player (Matt somebody-or-other) raised to 1200. The lady to my right called the 1200. Normally, I don't call a raise with A-10, but I felt like doing so in this case. This guy was on the button and I had no way of knowing if he was just making a move or not at that point, although I had played with him a couple of other times and he seemed to play fairly tight. One of the other people who called my raise also called the re-raise.

The flop was 10-7-3 or something like that - rainbow. So I had top pair with top kicker. We all checked to the button raiser who bet 2,500. The lady to my right called fairly quickly. At that point, I thought Matt might have an overpair, but I also felt that the lady's call made it OK for me to call also, which I did. The other caller folded and we three were the only ones left.

The turn was an ace, giving me top 2 pair. The lady checked. I decided to bet because I felt like I had a pretty good hand at that point. I threw out 5,000 and that's when Matt said, "You play so bad and get so lucky." He was visibly pissed off. To my credit, I was very cool about it and basically said nothing. He called my bet and the lady folded. (She said after the hand that she folded 8-8 and would have hit a set on the river, so it was a good thing I bet I guess.)

The river was an 8, which did put a straight possibility on the board, but I didn't think Matt had that kind of hand. I honestly thought he had an overpair and I was right. I bet 8,000 on the river and he called. Without waiting for me to show my hand, he tabled K-K. When he saw my A-10, he started talking smack about me again. He continued for about three hands afterward. I did my best to ignore him and several people (and dealers) told me later that they were pleased and surprised by the way I acted (that I hadn't gone ballistic right back at him).

Matt has done this to me before, however. About a month ago I beat him on the river with a flush after I had flopped middle pair and 4 of my suit. He said I was a terrible player that time too. I'm telling you, if this guy gives me grief again, I'm going to flat out tell him to shut his rude ass up. I heard from somebody that he is a dealer somewhere & that really amazed me with the attitude he had. You would think he'd never had his kings busted before.

So, was I wrong to play this hand this way? Was Matt just frustrated or am I really a bad player? Comments appreciated. Be brutally honest please. Thanks.

Help!

I'm amazed at the play of this hand from a tournament last week at Jokers. I was pretty desperate and went all-in with an A-8 offsuit on the button for 1600.

Mike #1 in the small blind raised to 4600. Action folded around to Mike #2 (middle of table) who called.

Flop comes A-J-? with 2 spades. Hope springs eternal for yours truly. Mike #1 bets. I can't remember all the bet sizes, but they weren't cheap. Rut row. (I think he has a bigger kicker than me - maybe even A-J). Mike #2 calls without even thinking about it. The turn is a blank but another spade, making a flush possible. Mike #1 bets again. Mike #2 calls again.

The river is yet another spade. I have no spades. I know I am screwed, but what amazes me is what happens with the 2 Mikes. Mike #1 bets yet again. Mike #2 calls pretty quickly.

Mike #1 turns over 10-10 without any spade. Mike #2 turns over 6-6 with one spade and takes the entire huge pot.

This was mostly sidepot action & didn't concern me at all & I knew I was doomed, but here are my thoughts on this hand for what it's worth.

First, how does Mike #2 call a fairly large re-raise with a rather small pair? How in heck does Mike #1 bet out on the flop holding 10-10 with 2 overcards on the board? How does Mike #2 call the flop bet holding 6-6?

After Mike #2 calls the first bet, why does Mike #1 continue to fire into the side pot? Why does Mike #2 call again?

And, most insanely, how does Mike #1 continue to fire on the river when there are 4 spades and he doesn't have one and there are still those 2 overcards out there? And continuing the insanity, how in hell does Mike #2 think his 6-6 with the tiny spade is good and call the river?

I am flabbergasted. Am I the only one who thinks the two Mikes are crazy? Sometimes I just don't get it. And believe me, most of the time I want both of the Mikes in my pots.

Poker Weekend

Friday I got off work early & played the 3:00 at Jokers to no avail. For some reason I decided to go play live at the Crazy Moose afterward. I keep telling myself not to play live unless I win a tournament first, but I never listen to myself. I'm glad I went because I bought in for $200 and left 5 hours later with $825. Not too shabby for me.

On Saturday I took first in the Jokers 12:30 tournament for a profit of $440, so my profit for the weekend was $965 at that point (deducting tournament buy-ins and tips). I went off to Pendleton for the summer poker round-up beginning at noon on Sunday. I was planning on going anyway, but now it was basically a free roll. Always a good thing.

There were 197 players. I did well until right before the dinner break when I ran into two hands that just turned out wrong. It's so hard to win tournaments anyway . . . whether it's 40 players or 200+. But I lasted longer than 112 other people, so I was OK with that. I'm going to get a bracelet sooner or later, gosh darn it!! Anyway, it was fun to play all weekend for virtually nothing.

Open Ended Straights Part 2

The very next night (again at Jokers) I ended up getting beat pretty badly in a hand and was short stacked. It's funny how I can never remember the hand that got me short stacked in the first place . . . only the one that eventually takes me out.

A very nice guy named Mike had lost quite a lot of his chips too. In his very next hand he went all-in, tossing his chips in the middle like he just didn't care. I was in desparation mode myself and saw an ace (not the 2nd card) and went all in too, thinking he was just ticked off. He ended up having a playable Q-J but I had A-5 so I was happy to see I was ahead. Naturally, however, the flop gave him an open-ended straight draw and he hit it on the river. Great googly moogly.

I can't honestly complain too much however because I myself actually hit an open-ended straight draw earlier in the tournament, which I rarely do anymore, so it really surprised me even though hitting the damned thing was what I wanted.

I raised to 150 under the gun (best place to bluff) with my beloved 7-2 offsuit. Nadine re-raised to 500. Two or three others called so I did too. There was NOTHING for my hand on the flop and I checked. The flop was A-5-4 rainbow. Nadine bet 1,500. Completly intending to check raise her on the turn & try to steal the pot, I called the bet. The turn was a 6 and gave me an open-ended straight draw. Good grief. I checked again. She bet 2,500 I think. I called again. The river was a 3 and I hit the damned straight. I actually had a 7-card straight from the A to the 7 - LOL.

Believe it or not, I checked again. My reasoning was that I honestly did not believe Nadine had anything except maybe an ace or a medium pair. I didn't think she would call me with what was on the board because I only needed one card to make a straight. She surprised me by betting 3,000. The board wasn't paired or flushed and I wasn't worried about it, so I shoved my last 8,475 in the pot and went all-in saying, "You're going to hate me." The guy sitting next to her looked at me and smiled. He knew what I had. It was too funny.

Nadine thought for quite a while. She had me more than covered. She finally called and showed a set of 5s. OMG. She couldn't believe it!

So, open-ended straights . . . nemesis or not? I really do not hit them very often. Give me a good gut-shot any day of the week. :)

Open-Ended Straights Are My Nemesis

Tuesday night at Jokers I was rolling along the entire time. I bluffed the very first pot & just kept going from there. I was on fire. At the final table I had a good chip stack. They were paying 3 spots & when we got down to 5 we decided to pay $50 to 4th & 5th ($40 buy-in). I finally whittled my stack away to about 15 big blinds. When I was in the big blind, the first 3 guys folded & Kim Hammond limped in. I had J-10 suited & my woman's intuition told me to raise. I should always listen to it, but I sometimes don't and it screws me over every time when I don't pay attention to myself. I checked.

The flop was J-8-3 rainbow. Kim made a minimum continuation bet. My woman's intuition worked this time & I simply did not put him on a made hand. I thought he had maybe flopped a draw & I was right. I pushed all-in. He took a good 3 minutes thinking about it. He counted the chips. He had me covered but if he called he would be down to less than 2 big blinds. He called. He had 9-10 offsuit and hit his 7 for a straight right on the turn. Good God what a bad call. He says to me, "Remember that time last week when you went runner-runner for a bigger 2 pair than me? Now we're even." I was just amazed. Revenge poker? Are you kidding me? Of course, I want the call most of the time, but I thought it was just insane for him to make it considering his chip stack & the fact that he absolutely had to know I had him beat at that point. Nonetheless, I got my lousy little $50 bucks and went home.

Part 2 of Open-Ended Straights will be posted a little later.

Open Apology to Dr. Phil

I know I shouldn't have called your raise with 10-3 suited, but if you'd been hitting every hand like I was, you probably would have done the same thing. It's a crappy excuse but there it is. Please feel better knowing that I went out on the money bubble so I made exactly the same amount of money you did - ha! I HATE THAT!!

Bryan (organizer's son who only plays once in a blue moon because of his work schedule) raised to my right. I had K-K. I went over the top as I had him covered & just wanted him to fold. He went all-in. He had A-K hearts and hit his flush, so I was down to only 1500 with blinds of 500-1000. I made a pretty good comeback to about 8500 and went all-in with A-8 hearts and hit an 8, but my opponent hit top pair & a flush draw with Q-9 diamonds. He hit his flush, but it didn't matter because his queen was good enough. Phooey.

I hope you enjoyed the tournament even though you didn't get to play too long. It only happens once a month so I'm not sure how often you would be able to play, but I would be happy to provide Steve with your email if you want me too. I think the next tournament will be on July 10. It's always at 2:00 p.m. and you always get 3000 chips. If you come by 1:30 you get an extra 500 chips & if you bring 2 cans of food you get another 500 chips. Sometimes you will get extra chips for doing various things, like wearing a football jersey or whatever. There is always some kind of theme. It's just fun & not so much pressure & I basically do it to donate to the food bank because Lord knows I never win! I did get 2nd once. My goal is to get on the wall of fame because I'm already on the wall of shame.

Oh & I got a nice new hammer for high hand to go with my handy dandy wrench. LOL.

What's With the Ladies Tournament?

I guess I just have to whine some to feel better & start playing good again. Who knows?

Last night I won the ladies tournament at the Island AGAIN and for the 2nd week in a row. I have now played a total of 10 ladies only tournaments at that location. I have 4 wins, 1 split of first place & two 2nd place finishes. No 3rds or 4ths. It's either 1st or 2nd or nothing with me, I guess. So basically I have a 70% cash rate, with 50% of those cashes being 1st place. I have to be doing something right.

And as for whining - I will try not to do that any more. Last night I was pretty short-stacked and went all-in with 7-7. I was called by Q-J and she hit a Q on the flop. I hit my 7 on the river to double up & go on to eventual victory. Also, on the final hand, my opponent pushed all-in with Q-Q and I called with J-7 because I just had her clobbered in chips. I flopped 2 pair and the tournament was over. In all fairness, her odds were not good to win even if she doubled up because I still would have had 90% of the chips in play, but you never know.

So, no more whining for me except to say I wish I had this winning percentage in all my tournaments.

Why Me? Why Me All The Time?

Do you ever feel like the poker gods are just having a ball at your expense? They are just hanging around laughing their asses off at your misfortune.

Even though I split first place last Saturday & took second in a tournament yesterday, for the most part the poker gods have been super unkind to me lately. I hate to whine . . . but . . . here are a couple of examples.

On Tuesday evening at Jokers I was at the final table (like I usually am) when TWO rather loose players went all-in and I had them both covered and I had A-K and called. Naturally I had the best hand. Loose Player #1 had 5-6 offsuit and Loose Player #2 had Q-J or some such thing. They both hit pairs on me and I lost quite a few chips. LP1 really didn't have any chips, so it was mostly LP2 that did the damage. One time, can't I win these damned races?

The second example is really in 2 parts. Two Saturdays ago, also at Jokers, there were SIX limpers. I had 6-6 on the button and quite a few chips (feeling frisky) and shoved all-in. Everyone folded except the guy on my right who called with 5-5. There was naturally a 5 right in the door & his 2 outer left me severely short stacked. Punished for making a good play.

One Saturday later at the Moose, I was head's up with Marco. I called his all-in holding 7-7 and he showed 6-6 and yes, you guessed it, another 6 right in the door. I told him before we even saw the flop that I had a bad feeling about it. Do I jinx myself? WHY ME ALL THE TIME? ( will admit that this is the tournament that I split 1st place in.)

I believe when I go all-in that I have the best hand 90-95% of the time and I still almost always get creamed. What's up with that?

OK, I'll stop now. I will try super hard to get my positive attitude back & quit being so grumpy.

A One Week Break is not Enough

I played in the Islands deep stack tournament last night. I was roaring along during the first hour. I made a couple of good plays and a really good call when I put a player on a missed flush draw. We start with 20,000 and I had 36,000 right before the dinner break when my K-K ran into 8-8. 8-8 raised to 700 (blinds of 100-200). With 3 callers between him and me I had to raise. I made it 2700 to go and he called. All others folded. The flop was 8-3-2 with 2 spades. He checked and I bet 6000. He thought for a minute and called. The flop was a jack I think. He checked again & completely not thinking at all about why he had called my flop bet, I went all-in. Having flopped his set of 8s he called immediately and I was down to less than 10,000 just like that. ICK!! I am a terrible player!!

After the dinner break, I played no hands until the same guy raised to 800 and I went all-in with 7-7. He had a huge stack full of my chips so naturally he called with his J-10 suited in hearts. It wasn't a bad call, but good golly, the board was 8-9-9. I flopped 2 pair and he flopped an open-ender, so it wouldn't have made any difference in the long run. The ending would have been the same. The turn was a 3rd nine, giving me a full house. Did the dealer really have to put a 10 on the river? I don't think so. I need a 2-week break now. Help!

Taking a Break (Again)

I've decided to take a two or three week poker break. I probably won't last that long, but I need to give it a try. My game is just "off" lately and I'm not sure why.

I talked about this with a friend and co-worker who had an interesting analogy. She likens our brain neuro pathways to a nice straight road. When we start to think about something too much or try too hard to do something right, our nice straight road ends up with a hole in it. Over time, this hole grows to become a rather large ditch, thus making it quite difficult to just keep moseying down the road. We have to climb down into the ditch and struggle up the other side and it's just a lot of work. We get worn out. We get irritable. We are "off".

As we stop trying too hard or thinking too much about something, the ditch suddenly starts to begin filling up again and the road becomes a lot easier to travel. I really like thinking about it this way. So, I am going to stop struggling in and out of that ditch for a little while and let my road flatten out a little. I think I'll watch a bunch of baseball!

Dazed and Confused (not the Led Zeppelin song)

I got knocked out of the $60 Moose Sunday tournament in 6th place and they only paid 3 places at that point as no deals had yet been made. Was it my own fault? You decide. Blinds were 1,000-2,000. I only had 11 big blinds or 22,000. The chip leader was Tall Jeff with over 50,000. Unknown Guy went all-in for 8,500. Everyone folded to Tall Jeff on my immediate right. He called. My thought process was that if he had a great hand or even a medium pocket pair he would raise to isolate. He didn't do that so when I looked down at pocket queens I moved all-in over the top, hoping to isolate also. Tall Jeff insta-called with A-J. His called confused me for 3 main reasons. First, I would think that he would know that I had to have a super good hand if I was going to move all-in. Second, he called off half his remaining chips without even thinking about it and he was chip leader and didn't need to do that. Third, it was a crappy hand to insta-call with. He was beat pre-flop if I had AQ, AK or any pocket pair. Naturally, there was an ace right in the door on the flop and yours truly was history. Was I wrong to move all-in? Hindsight tells me that I could have simply called and still had 6 big blinds left, but I think I did the right thing. Was Jeff wrong? I think so. What do you think?

Tooting My Own Horn

This is my pat on the back for the past month. The Island had a ladies only tournmant last year, but they stopped it in December. After many requests, they restarted on Thursday nights 4 weeks ago with a couple of changes. The cost went from $20 to $25 and antes have been added starting at the 200-400 level. We still start with 3,000 in chips and blind rounds are 15 minutes. The first week I placed 2nd. The second week I busted out of the money holding aces when I moved all-in on a jack high board. My opponent had a set of 10s. Phooey. The third week I placed second again. Last week I won! So, in 4 weeks, I have cashed 1st or 2nd 3 times. I may just play ladies only tournaments from now on! Wish me luck on the 14th - week 5. This is not a lot of money after buy-ins and tips, but I still have a $415 profit. I am not complaining. :)

What Was I Thinking?

Sometimes, I think I will never learn anything. I was playing in the deep stack tournament at the Islands last night and doing pretty well. I had been reading hands and people OK and had a decent (but not great) chip stack of just over 100,000 with blinds of 3000-6000 (17 big blinds). There were 2 tables left. I was in the big blind for 6000. The player to my immediate left limped under the gun. I think everyone folded to Bobby Petty on my immediate right. Bobby had gone on a recent tear and had at least 175,000. He raised all-in. I found K-K in my hand and WITHOUT THINKING AT ALL pushed all in as well. BIG MISTAKE. In hindsight, I honestly believe that I could have folded my kings pre-flop if I had given one second's thought to who had raised. This guy is the tightest rock on the planet, I kid you not. As soon as I pushed all in, I did not feel right about it. The limper folded, Bobby insta-called and had the dreaded aces and I was gone. To make matters worse he got an ace on the turn and I was drawing dead. It was so stupid. I don't think I'm ready for Pendleton. Gak!

Remedial Poker Playing School Needed

I played (if you can call it that) in the 8 a.m. Sunday morning tournament at the Moose. I misplayed pocket kings so badly that I should be demoted to newbie and sent to remedial poker playing school immediately. OMG.

We start with 2000 chips and I had about 1600 left, so I was far from desperate. When I saw pocket kings in my hand, I decided I should try to trap and chip up a bit. Mistake 1: I did not raise before the flop, thus letting the big blind in for free. But, hey, I was trapping, right?

The flop was 8-7-3 with 2 spades. Mistake 2: I checked the flop, although if I had check-raised later this would have been OK. My lone opponent bet 200. Mistake 3: I called. I did not check raise or move all-in.

Mistake 4: I checked the turn, which was a blank and not a spade. In my defense, I was hoping my opponent would bet again and then I could push. He checked behind and got a free card. That card was another 3, pairing the board.

I checked the river. He put out enough chips to put me all in. In my defense, I did think about it for a little bit. He could have had A8 or A7 and have 8s and 3s or 7s and 3s, but in my heart I knew he had a three. Mistake 5: I put all my chips in the pot and was knocked out by A3. I never should have called. I still had chips and when you still have chips you can still win.

Mistake 6: I showed the 2 kings and took a ribbing from all my poker buddies for about an hour. I admit it. I deserved it. I played them horrendously and deserved what I got. Never again. Lesson learned.

I Win With 7-2 While Holding Q-J

In the Sunday morning 10:00 tournament at the Moose, I was holding QJ clubs. The blinds were 25-25. There were about 3 limpers and no raises before me so I made it 100 to go. The big blind raised to 350. One of the limpers called, two folded and I called because I felt I had a reasonable hand to play. It was early in the tournament. I could get away from it fairly cheaply if I didn't hit. I also had position being last to act.

Right between the time I called and the time the flop hit the board, my opponent in the big blind says, "I sure hope there are no sevens or deuces on the board." This is because everyone knows that 7-2 is my favorite hand and I win with it frequently. He should have kept his mouth shut.

The flop was 7-2-something (don't remember). He rolls his eyes and checks. The other player checks. I smile and bet 625. He looks at me and thinks for about 30 seconds. He folds A-K face up and says "I knew you were playing that garbage." The other player folds and I win. I did not show my cards. I absolutely wanted him to think I had 7-2. It was super fun to win with it when I didn't even have it. LOL.

Lesson to be applied - pretty easy to figure out - keep your mouth shut during the play of a hand. You really do give your opponents way too much information. I'm sure glad he did!

My Donkey Play of the Month

I made my every-other-month showing at the Island Casino's Tuesday night deep stack. I really like this tournament except for the fact that it's on a work night. Just FYI to my millions of fans, the Island will have a Saturday deep stack at 5:00 p.m. for $100 (20,000 chips, dinner included). I believe this starts on March 12, but you can call to make sure.

Anyway . . . the blinds were 400-800 and I was the big blind with 800 invested. A player in middle position raised to 2000. There was a re-raise to 4600 from the hijack position. The button and small blind both called. I had 4-2 suited in clubs. THROW THIS AWAY!!! Hmmm. I was getting about 3 to 1 so I made the donkey call.

Flop came 9c-8c-4s. So there I sat with a pair of 4s and a huge 4-high flush draw - LOL. Original raiser bets about 5,000. The button and I both call so there are only 3 remaining in the pot.

The turn is a blank and everyone checks. Personally, as you will see below when you find out what the other 2 hands were, I think the button played this hand worse than I did, but oh well.

The card on the river that I got to see for free was the 2 of spades. 2 pair. No flush possibility. No straight possibility. I'm not too disappointed with this outcome. I believe it was at this point that the original raiser went all in, although he may have done that on the flop. Somebody bet something and I just called. The original raiser had pocket 10s. The button had pocket kings.

I won a pot of very close to 50,000 chips in a hand that took over 6 minutes to play and everyone at the table was amazed at the outcome, including yours truly the donkey. The guy to my right started pounding me on the back and saying, "Wow! What a gutsy pre-flop call!" It was too crazy. The guy with pocket kings was totally disgusted but, hey, as already indicated, he should have pushed harder and he never should have checked the turn. Maybe he was the real donkey??

Anyway, I made the final table and took 5th place for $330 on a $65 buy-in, so sometimes it pays to be a donkey. Hee haw!!

Seven Dewey is a Monster - Ha!

I was playing 2-20 spread limit at the Moose on Friday night. I had a great time for many hours, but mainly due to being tired I started bleeding chips. I finally ended up just going all-in for fun with my last $18 and my favorite garbage hand, 7-2 (suited in hearts). I got two other callers.

The flop was 4 hearts and a nine (I think). The two other players checked. The turn and river meant nothing to me and I honestly don't remember what they were. When it came time to show our cards, the guy on my left (Colin) says, "I can't win" and mucks his cards. I say "I can't win either" and almost start to muck mine when Ron (across from me) says "maybe you should show your hand" and turns over the 4-5 hearts. In great surprise, I turn over my lucky garbage and find that my 7 plays and I win the all-in with a 7 high!!

I asked Colin what he folded and he claimed to have a 2-3, but I'm not sure that I believe him. He probably folded the winner and I'm happy for that. I made a slight comeback and got to play a little longer and there's nothing better than winning with a 7 high with your favorite crap hand. LOL.

In tournament news, I made 3 final tables and no money. GAK!

My Alternate Universe :)

I did not have to work on New Year's Eve so naturally I headed to the Crazy Moose for some 2-20 spread action. I had a great time and basically broke even, but stayed way too late (for me) and did not get home until after 2:00 a.m. Yawn! I was all wound up from having fun and probably didn't get to sleep until after 3:00 a.m. Yawn again!

For some reason, I woke up at about 8:00 a.m. and could not really get back to sleep. At some point I realized that it was Friday and there was a 10:00 a.m. tournament at the Moose. I spent about 30 minutes trying to talk myself out of it because I was REALLY tired, but naturally I went anyway. I did not arrive until almost tournament time and Roland informed me that I would be NINTH alternate. Yuck to the max. I absolutely HATE being an alternate because one is so short stacked to begin with in these stupid 10-minute blind round tournaments and then there is posting involved and it's just nuts. However, I was already there and I was already awake. Once I'm awake I don't go back to sleep unless I'm sick or something, so I decided to stay.

There ended up being 13 alternates. They froze the blinds at 100-200. I did not get into the tournament until almost 11:00 a.m. Luckily, I was seated one behind the button when I did finally get to a table. However, I had to post 300 and was left with 1700 chips or only 8.5 big blinds. Icky poo.

I won the tournament. I still find this to be totally amazing and I'm not at all sure how it happened. I know I survived no less than 4 all-ins before the final table. I scratched and clawed and bluffed my way up to about 6000 chips and then I gave half of that back when an all-in player's pocket 4s held up against my AK hearts. I ended up being the shortest stack at the final table, but hey! I made it to the final table. I simply went on the luckiest streak of all time and took down the whole thing for $510!! Not too bad for a $25 buy-in.

I told Roland I would never bitch about being an alternate again. LOL. However, I still intend to do my utmost best not to be one. I hope everyone out there is having as good a start to their new year as I am! See you soon!