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.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
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!
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!
Friday, August 5, 2011
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.
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.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
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! :)
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! :)
Monday, August 1, 2011
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.
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
