Just When You Think You've See It All

Weirdness while playing live last Friday.  Paul was dealing.  I was in the small blind.  The first card hit my chips and flipped over - Ace of diamonds.  "Phooey" I said, knowing that it would have to be shuffled into the deck and I would get another card.  Paul said maybe he could give it back to me.  After the mandatory shuffling he proceeded to deal.  Wow.  The first card I looked at was the ace of diamonds.  What are the odds?  I got an 8 of diamonds to go with it and called a $7 raise to see a flop.  I ended up getting AAAA8 for the 8pm high hand.  I guess it was meant to be for me to get that ace.

On less of a weird scale, I got the A8 of diamonds again later and ended up with AAA88 for the 10pm high hand and it held up too.  I've always liked A8 - don't ask me why.  It seems to like me too.

I Do Believe I'm Cursed

Sunday, October 20 - Crazy Moose 10:00 tournament:  I call a small raise with 8-8 in the big blind.  Flop is 8 high so I have top set & check.  Original raiser bets.  I re-raise him all-in.  He has 10-10.  Dealer proceeds to give him 2 runners for a straight.  I am now short-stacked.

Same Day:  I limp in with J-10 suited and go all-in with a jack high flop.  The same guy who had 10-10 earlier calls me with a flush draw and hits his flush on the turn knocking me out of the tournament.  Don't you just love it when people call with draws?

Same Day, Jokers 2:00 tournament:  I have J-10 on the button and flop a queen high straight.  I decide to slow play.  The turn looks good so I check again and a guy goes all-in behind me.  I have to call because I currently have the best hand.  The river gives him a full house.  Short stacked again.  I can't remember how I got knocked out of that one.

Yesterday, Crazy Moose 10:00 tournament:  Blinds are 25-50.  There are several limpers.  I receive A-A on the button and raise to 350.  Everyone folds except Randy Taylor who calls me with A-10 (God, I hate that hand) and hits a 10 on the flop and one on the river.  Guess who is short-stacked again.  I fight back and go all-in later with 9-9 only to run into Q-Q.  Player down.

Yesterday, Jokers 2:00 tournament:  Blinds are 200-400.  I only have about 6,000 chips at this point.  I raise to 1600 with K-K under the gun.  I get two callers.  Sheesh.  Flop has no ace, but there is a straight draw so I just go all-in.  One player folds.  Other player tanks and then calls with a GUTSHOT needing a king so I feel pretty good because I have 2 of his outs.  Naturally he hits it on the turn.  Player down to 800 and out shortly thereafter.  I guess I should have gone all-in at the beginning of the hand, but A-J may still have called me as he was short-stacked too.

I am really worried about playing in Pendleton given my history over the past couple of weeks.  I am feeling totally snake bit and gun shy right now.  However, I will not give up.  I will not surrender.  I will play my two tournaments in Pendleton and do the best I can.  Wish me luck!!

Back to Back to Back to Back and a Couple of Quads

Sunday was interesting.  Ryan dealt me red jacks as my first hand.  I raised a little, had a good flop and won a small pot. 

On the very next hand I got red jacks again.  Hmmm.  I was in the one seat and looked at Ryan and said, "Did you change the deck?"  He saw what I had, gave a small laugh and we continued.  I raised a little, had a good flop and won a small pot.

On the very next hand I got black jacks.  Hmmm.  I nudged Ryan and said, "I don't know what to do.  I feel like I'm in the Twilight Zone."  He was as surprised as I was.  I raised a little, got a terrible flop and folded, not losing much.

Last but definitely not least, on the very next hand I got 2 aces.  Hmmm.  I showed Ryan and he just rolled his eyes.  I raised a little, had a good flop and won a small pot.  This is something I always enjoy when I have aces.

I have been playing for 9 years and have never seen back-to-back-to-back jacks followed by aces.  I've had back-to-back aces many times.  I once had aces 5 times in the first hour of a tournament.  I guess there's no end to the weird things that can happen at a poker table.

It continued last night.  Dealer "B" gave me pocket queens and I flopped quads to pick up $150.  Less than 20 minutes later he gave me 99 and I flopped quads again for another $150.  Again, I've had quads twice in one session before but never that fast.  I'm playing again tonight because they are giving away cash every 30 minutes and I have about 150 entries.  Wish me luck!

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

Thanks to Dr. Phil for the name of today's post. 

I won the 10am Sunday tournament at the Moose for $850.  I didn't have to split it with anybody.  The last four players were Jimmer, his wife Kathy, Ken (don't know him well) and me.  Jimmer never pays back the money bubble and he rarely chops.  Kathy is basically the same way.  I took Jimmer out and he got 4th place.  I had JJ and he had 55.  We both flopped a set and each of us naturally thought we were trapping the other.  Obviously, I won that battle.  I honestly don't remember if Kathy or I took out Ken, but we were head's up after only 1 or 2 more hands.  I had 4 times the chips Kathy had.  She didn't even ask about chopping.  I like playing head's up and never get enough practice at it, so I didn't mention it either.  I probably would have if we had played a long time, but we only played about 6 hands.

This tournament was quite different from most of my other tournaments.  I usually suffer a tremendous rollercoaster of ups and downs.  Sunday was almost perfect, with only one or two very small downsides during the entire thing.  I made some good plays and laid down some good hands, i.e., I laid down AK suited and my opponent showed KK.  Another time I raised with AJ suited when we were 4-handed and laid down to a large re-raise and was shown JJ.  I might have won either time, but I think I dodged bullets there. 

My favorite hand was the one that made me chip leader.  We were 5 or 6 handed at the final table when I was dealt 55.  The flop was A-2-5 giving me a set.  Unbeknownst to me, Kathy had 3-4 in the big blind and had flopped a wheel.  Again, we were each thinking about trapping.  She checked, I made an average bet, she went all-in and I called.  I was going to be out with no money, but Roland paired the board with an ace on the river and saved my bacon.  Phew.

It was really nice to win all by myself and to actually not be a bundle of nerves from the rollercoaster ride.  I hope my one true follower will make the next final table too.

The Perfect Storm

Another movie title.  I have no imagination.

Last night I went to play the cash game at the Moose just because I was bored.  We started the 2nd game with 6 players at about 7pm but it quickly filled up and there was actually a third game going by 9pm.  Pretty good for a Wednesday night.  I bought in for $220 and was up and down, up and down.  Even though I was first on the list for the main game I never got there until after 10pm.  I had already decided to leave no later than 11:30 because I still work.

No one had been leaving the main game because it was action city.  The people at the table were (by seat number) (1) Jen and (2) Andrew (I had played with this husband and wife before but hadn't seen them in probably 2 years; (3) An "Suck Out" Nguyen; (4) Thuy (5) Jeff from Joker's (larger guy about 40 with glasses); (6) Gloomy Ken who never smiles & hardly ever talks; (7) Skyler; (8) 7Dewey; and (9) Collin (another guy I hadn't seen in a long time).  I went to the table with just over $200.

Collin was driving the action.  Most of the time he made it $22 to go in any position if he wanted to play.  Most of the time he only looked at the first card in his hand until the river.  He was also drinking and had a lucky horseshoe up his butt (at least until I got there and removed it).  The action was fast & furious.  I honestly don't know how it happened, but I got extremely lucky on many more than one occasion and just kicked ass.  I also got AAA66 for a high hand right before 11:30 so I decided to stay until midnight just to pick up that $100, not that I really cared.  I was at the table for 2 hours, left at midnight like a good girl and my $200 was now $976 (including high hand money).  Two hours.  This is absolutely the best I have ever done in such a short period of time. 

I was also smart enough or tired enough to leave.  If I stayed I'm sure I would have given at least half of it back. I even won 4 out of 6 times with AJ which is a hand I hate, but I had to play it yesterday.  It was just fun.  Now if I could only do this more than once in a blue moon, I'd be a happy girl!!

Sometimes a Great Notion

I've decided to try to play the cash game only if I have $120 or more in winnings from a tournament.  As it turns out, the Sunday 10:00 a.m. tournament at the Moose provided $150 to play with and it turned out to be pretty good idea.

In the tournament itself, my usual roller coaster ride ended when my JJ lost to QJ after my all-in at the final table.  I only had 5 big blinds (which was still 20,000 chips) so it was a no-brainer for me.  The lucky SOB holding QJ caught a queen on the turn.  I went home for awhile and puttered around and went back to play live at about 3pm.

At about 4:00 dealer Melissa gave me quad 2s for $150.  She was the dealer of the night as far as quads went.  She dealt quad 2s, three different quad 6s and quad 8s, all in 4 hours.  Only one of them paid $499, but oh well.  Free money is still free money.  One of the quad 6s and the quad 8s were back-to-back.  (On a side note, this is the 2nd time she has dealt me quad 2s within one month.)

By 6:30 I had moved to the main game.  One of the other players got aces full of jacks for the first high hand of the night.  He claimed it would never hold up until 8:00.  At about 7:00 I had JJ and the board ended up with 3 aces on it, so I tied for the high hand.  It did indeed hold up and I got another $50.

And finally, for the good timing award, at about 9:50 I was allowed to limp in on the button with A3 off-suit and hit quad 3s with an ace kicker for the 10:00 high hand.  I ended up with a total of $300 free money.  No complaints here!  I went home at about 11:00 and still had most of it!  I am patting myself on the back for not giving it all back.

Breaking Tables - The Bane of My Existence

I played in Pendleton on Friday the 19th.  There were 339 players.  I zipped along quite nicely until after the dinner break.  I knew my table well.  We only had a total of 3 players knocked out & replaced by other players and I felt I had a good handle on them as well.  I was just above the chip average and there were only 81 players left.  36 players would get money.

Then . . . my table breaks.  This means we are down on 72 players.  Unfortunately, total misery and card deadness ensues.  I have absolutely no playable hands at the new table.  The best thing I see is A-3 and I can't play it because someone raises before me.  I am not having fun any more.  The only good thing going on is there are fewer and fewer players.  It seems that someone gets knocked out every other minute.

After less than 30 minutes this table breaks also - down to 63 players.  Again, I am totally lost.  I'm not there long enough to get to know anybody because I simply run out of chips.  When my first table broke I had about 35 big blinds and by the time I got to the last table I had less than half of that because the antes were eating all my chips and I seriously had no playable hands.  None.  When I saw KJ it looked like AA to me and I shoved all in with only about 12 big blinds remaining.  Naturally the guy to my immediate left actually did have AA and I was gone in about 60th place.

One of these days I will get a seat that's at the final table and I will never have to move.  Wouldn't that be heaven?

Cowboys Shot Down by the 44

Analysis needed!  I played the 10am tournament at the Crazy Moose yesterday.  The blinds had just gone up to 25-50 so we had only been playing just over 20 minutes when this hand came up.

There were about 6 limpers.  I was on the button and looked down at 2 red kings.  I correctly decide that I need to narrow the field so I raise 8 times the big blind to 400.  That got rid of 4 limpers, leaving Hispanic Tony (who calls me every time) and some new guy I've never played with.

The flop is 2-4-8 and is checked to me.  What does the Queen of Stupid do?  Why of course she goes all-in.  I wanted to win the pot right there damn it.  Hispanic Tony folds immediately and New Guy calls instantly, thus allowing me to know that he has flopped a set and I am screwed. 

Yes, indeed.  He has pocket 4s.  Naturally, I talk to myself all the way home as I am the 1st or 2nd person knocked out of the tournament.  (I saw Joe leaving at about the same time.)  Why didn't I just check?  Because I didn't want to see any aces on the turn, that's why.  Could I have gotten away from a large bet by New Guy on the turn or river?  I don't know.  Personally, I would have folded 44 pre-flop to a raise of 8 times the big blind, but hey that's just me.

What do you think oh faithful reader?  Your thoughts are appreciated.

Thanks to My Sponsor

I decided to finally post something.  Don't get used to it.  This may or may not happen about once a month. 

I wanted to thank Dr. Phil for all the fun and failure in Pendleton last Saturday.  I had many scary and fun hands to play.  When I went out of the tournament there were 105 players remaining, so I outlasted 374 people.  Not too shabby, but still 60 shy of the money.  Poop. 

Nonetheless, I thank him for the opportunity and for (1) sitting for five minutes while some bozo decided whether or not to call my all-in after the 10-9-3 flop (I had kings) and having my blood pressure go through the roof; and (2) for making a great call on a guy I knew was shoving to steal blinds and antes (I had A-J and he had Q-10) and having him hit his lousy 10 to cripple me; and (3) for making a terrific comeback after the aforesaid crippling and making it another hour; and (4) for flopping quad 9s against a guy with AA who just couldn't wait to put me all in; and (5) for making it to and past the dinner break; and (6) for playing until 7pm when I got so terribly short-stacked that I finally had to just shoot the works with 8-9 suited and got knocked out.  I would have been in the big blind the next hand and out of chips the hand after that, so there you go. 

I think 8-9 suited is one of my sponsor's favorite hands, so I feel good about that.  Maybe someday I will actually make the money in one of these bigger tournaments.  My biggest cash in Pendleton was against 155 women so 479 players is a little intimidating.  Anyway, thanks again to my loyal sponsor.  I really do appreciate your misplaced faith in me.

The Free Roll

I actually think the qualifying semi-final for the Free Roll was more fun than playing in the final.  My favorite hand was when I got all "married" to my aces and called down a bluff all the way to the river on a board of 10-9-3-9-3.  Eeeek!  So many things to beat me & I would have had less than 400 chips left very early in the tournament if I was wrong.  I just felt my opponent was trying too hard.

The worst hand in the qualifier was when I raised with K-K and Dave ("Butter") went all-in.  He'd shown pocket aces at least twice before that after going all-in so I was a tad nervous.  I had to call him though.  I was happy for about 5 seconds when he tabled J-J.  He caught a jack on the river and took half my chips.  However, I was able to take those measly chips & outlast everybody I needed to. 

I got very luck going all in with Q-J hearts and Rafa called me with K-Q offsuit.  I hit 2 pair on the flop and he did not improve and that crippled him.  I put him out a couple of hands later and Dave & Jeff & I were the last 3 standing.  :)

The final was basically just filled with tension for me during the last 30 minutes because I was terribly short stacked & trying to act like I didn't care if there was a chop or not.  I was very happy to get $400 out of the whole thing & it was a fun experience overall.  It was interesting to see the "cream" rise to the top as it were - most of the finalists were regular tournament players.

I hope they do more of this sort of thing.  Roland said they were so we shall see!

Filling Out the Tax Forms Already!

I've been on Monte Carlo and high hand fire lately.  Last Thursday I hit quad 8s, quad Qs and AAAQQ for a high hand.  I flopped both sets of quads.  If I'm going to get quads I flop them about 98% of the time.  I had people betting into me both times.  Nice.  I had to fill out the damn W9 because I was already over $700 for the year and I only played once or twice in January.  Shoot.

On Saturday or Sunday (can't remember which) I flopped quad 7s.  Again I had a poor guy betting into me with a full house.  Sometimes I feel bad.  Not often though - LOL.  On Monday I hit a jack high straight flush for $300.  Last night I got another high hand with AAA1010 - 15 minutes before the deadline.  About 30 minutes before the deadline I got AAA88 but shared it with Greg.  I hate to share - ha!

All in all it's been a pretty darn good week with a total of $950 in Monte Carlos and high hands, not to mention that I've been playing with prize money and other people's money the whole time.  I'm sure this won't happen again any time soon.  Drat.

Back in the Saddle Again

Yes, I have returned.  I'm seriously thinking of not playing most tournaments and sticking to the cash game for awhile.  I seem to win more that way, although it goes in spurts, as do my tournament wins.  On the whole, however, my profits in the cash games are much better.

For example - I decided to play last night to celebrate getting over the flu (YUCK) which I had been suffering from (and I DO mean suffering) since Monday.  I started out with $200 and promptly got stomped by Vern.  I had K-K on the button of all places.  There were about 6 limpers so I raised to $22 and got 2 callers.  The flop was something like 8-3-A.  Damned ace.  I hate those things.  I bet anyway and one guy folded and Vern called.  The turn was a 4.  Vern checked and I checked behind.  Big mistake?  Probably, but I think the idiot would have called me anyway since he called my $20 pre-flop raise with . . . wait for it . . . pocket 2s.  He hit a 5 on the river for runner-runner gutshot straight.  GAK!!! 

As Dr. Phil says, "Welcome to Tilt City".  I basically blew the rest of my first $200 because I was just flabbergasted.  (So was the rest of the table.)  I rebought for another $200 and promptly settled down - more or less.

Hector came to the table.  My saviour dealer.  I immediately got quad 9s for $150.  About 2 hands later he dealt me K-10 offsuit and with 7 people seeing the flop ahead of me (small $5 raise), I went ahead and called on the button.  The flop was 10 high with 2 clubs and the fireworks began.  Jorge made it $17 to go.  Four people flat called.  An raised to $37.  I said to myself, "what the hell" and called with top pair, 2nd kicker.  The pot was getting ridiculous.

The turn was non-important.  No flush card and no straight card.  $20 to go again.  There were still six people in the pot.  The river was a king giving me top two.  No flush.  No straight.  No paired board.  I realized that Jorge must have had jacks or queens because he visibly tensed up when the king hit on the end.  EVERYBODY checked the river to me.  I bet $20 and got 3 callers.  I won.  Amazing.  Huge pot.

I ended the night with a proft of $750.  I left Tilt City in style.   Oh, an Vern?  He rebought at least twice.  I didn't feel sorry for him.  I'm so evil.