1st in $50 $6k guaranteed!!!

Woohoo!!! So very very excited. After getting waaaaay too drunk last night and not doing very well online, I regrettably signed up for the tournament - the same one that I took 4th place in a couple of days ago for $410. But, since it was Sunday, Ultimate Bet guaranteed $6k which was cool.

There weren't a lot of really cool hands that I can remember. I just ran very very well, especially at the final table. I was 2nd in chips going in and absolutely cruised. I was super aggressive p/f and just never really got played back at. With about 93k in chips and the chipleader in the BB at about 115k, I picked up AK on the button, knowing that the chipleader was about to make a stand with a wide range of hands. I raised my standard 2.5x the BB from the button to 5k, and, as expected, he made it 17k. I shortly paused and moved in for my 93k. He quickly called with AQ, and I held as a 3/1. After that, I had a huge chip lead on the other three and got heads up with 210k against a 20k stack. I was a little bit nervous when he doubled through me and had it up to 60k at one point. On the final hand, I raised 77 from the button, and he bet pot to around 20k. I decided to call hoping for a ragged flop. Flop came 4h 3h 3x. He moved in for around 40k, and I called. He showed A9o and I faded the 6 outer twice.

I made $2100ish for my efforts and am officially on fire since the beginning of November. After that I treated Nate to Mizu, a very good Japanese steakhouse. Hibachi steak and shrimp: the mortal nuts.

Well right now I am watching Tiger Week on the Golf Channel and playing in the 7:30 bounty tournament. I'm shortstacked though after one hour so I'll need to strike up some magic.

Hawks play the Redskins this weekend in the wildcard round of the playoffs, and I am trying to pwn some craiglist seller trying to sell 4 tickets for $100 a piece 2 rows back on like the 35 yd. line. We'll see if they are legit.

God Bless,

JG

Playing...A LOT

I have been playing TONS of poker lately, mostly online. I am not a stats freak and I have not really tracked the amount of hours that I have logged, but what I do know is that I have played pretty much every day for the past like three months and just recently had some big scores.

The Saturday before Thanksgiving, I had the best day online I think I have ever had. First I qualified for the Sunday $200k and withdrew that and took the $215 tournament dollars. Then I basically chopped for first in the $15 bounty tournament for $750. Then, to top it off, I took 3rd in the $35 bounty tournament for $900, including like 8 $5 bounties. Needless to say, I was happy but obviously not satisfied. Going that deep twice and not winning is tough to swallow. But with a $1800 day, I think it was something I could handle. 3-handed in the $35 bounty and the first hand back from I woke up with KK in the BB. Me and the SB each had about 100k in chips and the button had 200k. The SB found JJ and bet pot as had been standard. Obviously, if I come over the top PF I double through and would fine myself heads up and even in chips. But I couldn't know he had JJ and decided to just call. Anyways, the flop came AK5 and all that I got was a pot-sized flop bet. Later on I eventually doubled that guy up and busted in 3rd. Sigh.

My desire for a MTT win did not have to wait long. The following Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving, I won that very same tournament for $1900. I hung around the chip average for most of the FT, playing very knitty. But when we got down to 4-handed, it was all over. I severely outplayed my opponents and was able to accumulate chips, playing very few big pots. I got heads up as a 2-1 dog and punished the guy. Man, that felt good and was big for my bankroll.

Because I haven't really separated my poker bankroll from my other money, paying rent and bills every month put a limit on my bankroll. That is why I have been playing so much online. I have finals coming up and need to set apart some studying time, but how can I turn down such high EV playing MTT's on Ultimate Bet? And especially when I am running well and feel like I'm going to win every tournament that I sign up for.

Well, I am currently 35th out of 99 remaining players in the 9pm $7500 guaranteed, so hopefully I win that and get to post another blog with some fun hands. I have already doubled through QQ with JJ, my favorite hand. That was fun.

Take care,

JG