The Good, The Bad, And The Lucky

I played in a tournament at the local Indian Casino a few weeks back.

Registration filled up quick. I was on hold at 10am when registration opened up. I finally got signed at 10:20 and I was 28th on the list. 30 max. 1 guy from work didn’t make it. It started at 6pm. I got to there at 5:15 and blew $50 in the slots waiting to be seated. We started with 2000 in chips. Blinds went – 10/20, 20/40, 50/100, 100/200, 2/4, and so on. I decided to see a lot of flops due to the early stack/blind ratio.

I hit a few nice hands early on and chipped up. Then I get AA. A chick to my right opens PF. I reraise and she calls. She hits 2 pair on the flop with Q8o. We get all-in on the flop and I suckout on the river to stack her. IMO, she got what was coming to her for raising PF from EP with trash and then calling my large rerasie.

A little later I misread that 1 dude was in a hand because he had his arms on the table, which were covering his cards. I opened trying to blind steal from the button and he pushes for a small amount more. I was embarrassed to turn over my junk, which I never would have raised with if I was paying attention that the shorty limped in. He doubles through me. At 1st break, which was at the end of level 4, we were down to 2 tables, and I had about 9000 in chips. RC went before this break in mid or early 20’s. That’s one from the prop bet down. 10 pride dollars, cha-ching.

We consolidated to 2 tables and I was card dead forever it seemed. Yet I keep stealing the SB from a passive rock that always limped from the small and then would fold to my raises. He was to my immediate right at all three tables and kept giving me his blinds.

Close to the 2nd break, and down to the final table, with the blinds at 500/1000, I’m looking for a spot to push. If it wasn’t for the guy on my right winning hands and then folding to my BB pushes and raises I would have had to find a spot much sooner. A guy limps from MP. The SB calls and I check my Q7o. Flop comes Q7x. Checky-check and MP pushes. He has King-high. Rock folds and I call. He is way behind and I scoop a nice pot. 2nd break I have maybe 16000 in chips. HG goes home in 8th place. 20 pride dollars.

When we start back up players start locking horns as I sat back and waited for the bubble-buster. 5 places cashed. It gets down to 4 and I get KK in the SB. Folds to me and I check to a stack that’s bigger than me. He pushes. I obviously call and he shows KJo. I double-up and he doesn’t even have enough for the 1500/3000 blinds. He goes all-in next hand and 2 of us check him down and HGH (he goes home) in 4th. I steal a few blinds and the chip leader takes out the shortie.

Heads-up. I start stealing blinds with big raises and all-ins especially if he just called the Small Blind. We only played maybe 4 hands before we both got all-in. I think he set me up hoping I would push on his SB call. I had 29,700 in chips and he had 30,300. I pushed and he called with pocket 4’s. He had to think it would be a race, but it wasn’t. I had A2o. I hit an Ace on the flop, leaving him with 600 in chips. The blinds were 1500/3000. I now had him 100 to 1 in chips. LOL. I pushed every hand and after doubling 3 times I finally took him out. $600 for first place and my pic on the wall until next tourney. That was kind’a ghey, but the $600 was cool, and bragging rights with the boys was priceless.

I Won That Tourney Was Week

I will update with a full rundown of the tournament in a few days once I get back to work.

That is 3 live tourneys now with great results. 2 1st place finishes and a final table.

Later, Ash out...

Update and a Free $15

I haven’t played that much this month. I will end up with Sliver IM status most likely. I am up over $600 so far this year. I’m not playing the best, but with bonuses and Rakebreak I have made this profit. I have cashed out $700 or $800 so far this year. My online roll is slightly less than $600.

Live, I have been doing well this year so far. We have played 8 times. I just lost my first session. That puts me at 7 wins and 1 loss. I am up or $300. I am happy about this.

I will go the casino for the first time on Tuesday. 4 of us from the Home Game are going to play in a $50 NL tourney. We also have a $10 prop bet going on for who lasts the longest. We plan on staying after and playing some cash NL $1/$2. I’ll keep you posted.

Also, I added an affiliate link on the side bar. I’ll hook anyone that signs under me with a free $15 on Full Tilt. If anyone is interested just e-mail me and we can set it up. Any questions shoot me an e-mail – subject affiliate.

2007 earnings* and 2008 supposition**

DISCLAIMER: What you are about to read in regard to one’s yearly earnings is only gratuitous nonsensical fiction only stated to make one seem validated and vindicated in one’s time spent playing poker. No real money was earned. All amounts of play money are approximations and likely stated well above one’s actual earnings of play money. All play money is worthless as US legal tender and thus holds no real monetary value.

I had a bumpy year. And here is the run-down. I started the 2007 with $500 in my online accounts. Throughout the year I cashed out $1578.94 in earnings. At year’s end I had an $836.72 online bankroll. So that sums-up to $1915.66 for 2007. That is over $3000 less than 2006.

My goal at the start of 2007 was to double the previous year’s total net. So 10000.00 was the goal. I only achieved 1/5th of that goal. I’m not real happy with that result, but after where I was at earlier in the year, I am happy about the comeback. Early in the year I was down $300 thereabouts. A $2200 comeback in the second half of the year is acceptable to me. So my goal this year is to double 2007’s total. So I want to make $4000 this year.

I got away from my winning game at some point early on. I took a few months off to cool down. TILT was palpable in my psyche. I went from UB and moved my roll over to Tilt. There I worked my way up and back down the ranks many times. Not to losing always, but to cashouts and also to downswings soon after sometimes. I also found that I wasn’t and still ain’t crushing the levels that I used to. I have maintained Iron man status for 7 months straight and am still going. (Not top tear every month.)

I also did my share of Live action over 2007. Most were local home games with my friends from work. I also played a few times with the Family in low buyin tourneys. And I only played at the casino once all year. I made a grand total of $1094 at live action play last year. That is a $327 increase from the previous year’s total. I’m happy here. My 2008 goal is $1500.

Breakdown:
Casino – 2007 - earned $22 – 1 win.
Casino – 2006 - lost $139 – 3 wins/2 losses.
That is a $161 swing.

Local home games – 2007 - earned $1064 – 45 wins/10 losses.
Local home games – 2006 - earned $821.00 – 18 wins/3 losses.
Increase of $243.
That is 34 more games.
My average went from +$39 a game in 2006 to +$19 a game in 2007???
I don’t really have an explanation for this. I will think on it.


Fam Games – 2007 – lost $40 – 1 win/5 losses.
Fam Games – 2006 - earned $85 – 4 wins/0 losses.
This is a $125 swing???
I can’t really explain this either.

There is a couple other live games that don’t fall under these 3 categories that I did play in also. I won most of those that brought my year total up.

My game has transitioned big time during 2007. My TAG, TAG-weak style has evolved into a TAG-weak, yet quite a late position AGRO style. LOL. I would love to get rid of the weak part for sure. That is something that I plan on focusing on in 2008. Also along these same lines, have just noticed by watching my hand stats, that I am especially weak on the river. I am missing out on a lot of wins on this street by not value betting and inducing more profits or wins without going to showdown. I have a bad habit of seeing monsters and check/calling in these situations. I am irrationally near always afraid of the dreaded check-raise if I don’t have at least the near-nuts. I have a lot of leaks that I need to find and work on one by one.

*Earnings: Figurative monetary units.
**Supposition: Estimate of future earnings*.

Quick Update and a Casino Trip

Ok, I revised the post. God was it horrid. I was writing at work and got busy, so I just hurried up and posted. I’m sorry for anyone that read it.

I played at the casino for the first time in over a year. After the Christmas party I got put on the waiting list. There was only one table going at that time. It was $1/$2. I was told that 5 dudes were on the list ahead of me, but they had called in ahead of time so I was essentially next up. After 20 mins of throwing quarters in hungry unproductive slots I checked back. He said that I was now 6th on the list again because they were in. I was chatting with the pitboss when someone left the table. He said fuck-it go ahead and jump in there.

I sat down in the 5th seat with a full table of regulars that I had seen before in my multiple visits to a different casino last year. Luckily a guy left and a huge chip-spewing fish took his seat in the 2 spot. I started mixing it up with him right off the bat. I won a few smallish pots from him. I then hook horns again with him. I reaise him with AA. He pushes and I call, making it a $120 pot. He shows AKo. He hits a flush on the turn. I reload $60, putting me back at the max buy-in of $100.

I get in with him again soon after and push for $35 more on the river, because he checks after being the aggressor on every prior street. It was a river bluff with AQs. He folded and I showed.

I later called $10 more from the BB with 43s to isolate against him again. I hit an open-ender and called a flop bet without the odds but hoping to hit. Turn brings me a pr of 3’s to add to my SD. I call another bet. River is a beautiful 3. He bets me on the river and I shove like the time before trying to portray the bluff again. He throws away his hand and says that he was trying to buy it with overs.

I also got lucky once. A guy to my left was short-stacked after losing a few hands. He pushes for $25 from UTG. Folds back to me in the BB. I have KJs. I decide to call. He shows AQo. I hit trip-jacks.

I also lost some nice bets when I got reraised preflop and had to laydown. I also had to drop a few hands when the turn got ugly. I only got to play 2 hrs because we rode with the in-laws and they along with my wife were ready to jet. I ended the session up $22. Ghey, but at least I didn’t lose. I wish I would have driven a separate car because my table got real juicy just before I had to go. 2 drunk guys sat down and it was obvious to most at the table that they were dead money.