Still Winning

Call me butter . . . I'm on a roll. I won the 10:00 a.m. Saturday tournament at the Moose and split first at Joker's that same afternoon. My favorite part of the whole Joker's tournament was this hand:

3 players left. I was in the small blind, Billy Mack in the big blind and JP on the button. We all limped in. I had 7-2. Yippee! The flop was K-7-3 rainbow. I checked middle pair and both guys checked behind me.

The turn was a 6. We all checked again. The river was another king, so I had K-K-7-7-6. I checked. Billy Mack pushed all-in and JP folded. I had Billy Mack more than covered, but my concern was playing head's up without a lot of chips. After about 60 seconds, I decided that if he'd had a king, he surely would have bet the flop or the turn and if he had a 3 or a 6 or possibly a weak ace or something then I had the best hand. I called him and all he had was a 3.

This was fun for me (not for him of course) because just a few hands earlier we had been talking about my luck with the 7-2 and he told JP that I had beaten him with it in several pots in other tournaments (although I really don't remember). He was not happy to be beaten by me holding 7-2 again.

On Sunday at the Moose I made it to 5th place, but they only paid 3 spots. Still not a bad showing for the weekend though. I'm going to try the deep stack at the Island tonight.

Tournament Number Two

Life is GOOD! The ladies-only (no limit) tournament went MUCH better than the limit tournament. I was one of about a dozen ladies from the Tri-Cities and we are a tough bunch. At least four made the money (last 2 tables, 18 players) and yours truly took down 7th place - BIG SMILE!! Carmen V., a very nice lady that I have played with before in some deep stack tournaments took first place! The Tri-Cities did very well, I would say.

This was so cool. Professional players Jan Fisher and Susie Isaacs were also at the final table. I did not know any of the other ladies except Carmen. I lasted longer than Jan, but Susie went out in 6th place. I received the all important Wildhorse cap with "final table" sewn on the back.

I played well all day, but the blinds and antes finally just got too steep for me and I had to go all-in with a J-6 suited in spades under the gun with only 15,000 left and blinds of 5,000 and 10,000 with a 2,000 ante. Carmen called with pocket deuces and hit a deuce on the flop. If she had not hit that deuce, I would have won the hand with a 6 on the turn. Oh, well. As they say, "that's poker".

I played until midnight and spent the night and drove back Wednesday morning to go back to work at 1:00 p.m. I am still pumped about my first "major" tournament win. Thanks to everyone for all the good luck wishes!!

Tournament Number One

Well - as I work for lawyers you would think I would know better than to put anything in writing - LOL. My first tournament was a disaster. I was getting monster cards and having them crushed on the river every time. Because this was a limit tournament, it was simply the wrong time to pick up these big hands. The blinds and betting limits were just too small to keep anyone on a draw from folding. I had aces cracked by a straight on the river, kings cracked by a set of queens, etc. It was a nightmare. I was out by the first break - 1.5 hours. Phooey.

However, I am still confident. I do not believe I played poorly at all - just had atrocious luck and could not get anyone to fold. I think I will do much better in the ladies only tournament tomorrow. It's still in writing. Wish me luck!!

Putting it in writing

OK, I am going to get really audacious about my poker skill/luck. I am playing in two tournaments at the Pendleton poker round-up - one this Friday (limit) and one next Tuesday (ladies only).

I am putting in writing : I firmly believe I will make the final table or, at a minimum, cash in one or both of these tournaments. I am feeling really good about my game right now and if I use my best weapon (woman's intuition), think things through and not be in too much of a hurry, and not pull any bonehead moves, I can and will do it!

I will keep you posted as to the outcome of each tournament. Wish me luck!

Last Woman Standing

The Crazy Moose had its qualifying tournaments for its Pendleton round-up prize package last weekend. I decided to play the 3:30 Sunday flight so I could just go right into the finals if I was so lucky. I got lucky early when my pocket queens held up against Thuy's K-J. She was playing in her usual aggressive style and knocked out 2 players early and had a huge chip stack which she proceeded to "donk" off in about 30 minutes. She could have just sat there and never played a hand and made it to the finals, but that's not her style, for which I thank her. Anyway, her chips helped me make it to the finals, although I only had 27,000 and a lot of the other players had over 40,000. But, hey - a chip and a chair! (I was also very happy to win 2 hands with my 7-2 offsuit - always fun!!)

The 2-table final started at 7:00 and I lasted until there were 6 or 7 players remaining. I made a terrible call on the second hand of the tournament, pitting my A-K offsuit against pocket kings and hitting an ace on the turn. Other than than, I believe I played very well. The A-K of clubs was my final hand against pocket jacks, so I guess you could say A-K got me off to a very good start and also finished me off! Nevertheless, the Crazy Moose had a "last woman standing" prize for the finals and I won that, so I get to play in the ladies tournament on Tuesday the 20th with free hotel stay that night. Wish me luck!

Three "Phooeys" in a Row

Last Saturday morning in the 8:00 tournament, I ended up a little short stacked and was very happy to find pocket rockets in my hand with a raise in front of me, so naturally I shoved all-in. Old Joe called me with pocket 7s and hit a seven on the flop and I was gone. Phooey.

At the 10:00 tournament, being in just about the same predicament, Donna limped in and Grady moved all-in with just about 300 more chips than me and I looked down at pocket jacks. Again, I naturally moved all-in. Donna called. She had limped in (which is quite normal for her) with a pocket pair (9s). Grady had A-8 suited in spades. Once again, I was a huge favorite. Grady hit his ace on the river. Phooey.

The 12:30 deep stack tournament at Jokers was the worst, however, because I was 2 away from the money. There were only five players left and I had K-J clubs on the button and I raised 4 times the big blind. I got called by one player. The flop was jack high with two hearts and I went all-in. He had A-7 of hearts (naturally) and called me on a draw and got there. Phooey.

Three tournaments in a row . . . I was a huge favorite either before the flop or after the flop, although not quite so much on the last hand, but still . . . very phooey. It's always said that if you play well and you get your money in with the best of it that you should be proud of yourself and I guess I am, but it still doesn't make it any easier.

I'm such a whiner. Phooey.