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.)