The Bracelets Keep Coming/ Tilt Post

Overall things have been good poker-wise the last few days. School-wise, however, this has been BY FAR the toughest quarter of my life. I am taking 4 Econ classes, one of which is supposed to be the toughest class in the economics department (thank goodness I have a very good/easy professor). I have really worked my butt off and it has paid off. I am hoping to pull off somewhere around a 3.3-3.4, and I will be extremely happy!

I somehow have managed to put together a pretty good quarter of poker as well. Wednesday was sort of an odd day. It started off with me playing in the STUPIDEST satellite tournament ever. I signed up because it was a $20 rebuy to get into the $200 $80k guaranteed later that night. I didn't realize that it was a super short stack/turbo tournament. This meant that each player started off with 100 chips with a normal/quick blind structure. I should have cut my losses after I busted on the first hand but I decided that I was already stuck and had to win the entry. $140 later, I was basically tied for the chip lead (1300 at 150/300) with 4 left. I then shoved the button with K5hh, which I am pretty sure is correct, and the BB (only person that barely had me covered) called with 88, and I lost. This pissed me off quite a bit as I felt like I had pissed away $140 to start off the day.

I did not tilt and spew thankfully, as i amassed a huge chipcount in the $15 rebuy (no guaranteed). With about 80k in chips and about 14 left (20 paid), I accidentally knocked my brother out when I got it in with QQ against his JJ on a J 9 8 flop; turn X, river 10. OOOOPS!!!
After that, it was basically mine to lose. I ran very well at the final table. But then I got heads up and got a bit too ancy. After doubling my opponent up twice after grinding him down playing small ball, position poker, I realized that I probably had a very loose image. I decided to slow things down a little bit after the break. On the final hand, my opponent min-raised to 12000 on the button, and I defended with 67o. Flop came K 4 2. I checked, and villain bet 6000, the min. bet. I decided to make a move, raising it to 21k. He quickly called, at which point I was left with a decision on the 5 turn. The pot was around 80k, while my opponent had about 95k in chips. I felt that he might have flatted my raise with 66-1010 with a small chance of him having a K. If I moved him in and lost, he would take a slight chip-lead. If I made a normal half-size pot bet, I would be in an awkward spot if he raised, a spot that I did not want to be in. I decided to check and to my surprise my opponent bet min. again!! At this point I had no idea what he had but was probably not going to put any money unless the river was a . . . 8!! NUTS! I moved him in, and he snap-called with a very poorly played KQ.

So that was cool. While playing, I also qualified for the $100 $40k sniper the next day (Thursday). So Derek came up, and I played while he railed. The tourney started at 6, and we had plans to see Indiana Jones at 10, so I was trying to run my stack up or bust obv. I made a border-line 3-bet AI with AA on a flop of Jh 8s 4s when it went check, I bet 350, cold call, and BB made it 1450. I moved, and he called with 7s-9s and I held as a 53% fav. I ran my stack up to as high as 13000 from the 2500 starting stack when things started going poorly.

I lost a few pots and was down to 9000. While on the phone with a friend, I went to check the tournament lobby when the screen froze. I tried to CTL ALT DELETE, but it just slowed things down more, and I was forced to manually shut her down :( Probably more than 5 mins. later, I was back and was down to 6500ish chips at 300/600. First hand I pick up JJ and ship behind a limper with no callers. Then, for whatever reason, Joel's stupid little brain decided it would be a good idea to go back into the tournament lobby to find the payouts. What do you think happened? FROZE AGAIN!!! At this point I can not repeat the profanities that came out of my mouth but I was not happy. I then came back to about 5k in chips at 400/800. I survived until there were 22 left with 20 getting paid, and I moved in with 99 from EP for 5500 (400/800). Guy behind comes over the top and I start to close my laptop. He finds 88, and I yell for it to hold. 8xxxx, and I throw my laptop off our deck on to Lincoln St.

Not really but I gave it a good toss into the couch. After getting up to 13k, things probably could not have gotten any worse. Earlier in my poker career, this would be too much to handle and I would probably be tempted to getting in some big live games and spew. Although I was probably the most upset I had ever been as a result of poker, it only took me a few minutes to realize that this is what you sign up for when you take up poker as a hobby. Even though I haven't had that much success in bigger buy-in tournaments (try almost no success), I feel like I am +EV in these fields. As I mentioned in the last blog, I am looking forward to expanding my bankroll and playing in these tournaments regularly.

After the tournament, we went and saw Indiana Jones and it was quite awful - probably the worst movie I have seen in theaters this decade. DO NOT SEE IT.

Oh ya, I almost forgot. I started writing this blog yesterday, and I just got done playing in the 11pm UB $30 tourney and (brag) I won again! It was good for 585/2 because I apparently made a deal with Derek to give him half (oh well). I am running so well right now and wish I could play every day. But with a 8-12 page paper due on Wednesday and finals coming up, I will only be able to play sparingly.

Oh well, gotta change the name of this blog from "Yet Another Bracelet/ Tilt Post" to "The Bracelets Keep Coming/ Tilt Post".

God Bless,

JG

Big Day Online

No class on Tuesdays/Thursdays means either being very productive with homework and reading and stuff or just playing a lot of online. Monday night I played some $.5/$1 NL and was less than successful, losing 4 buy-ins.

But I woke up yesterday (Tuesday) and was itchy to play the slate of scheduled tournaments. I had intentions of getting some stuff done (working out, hitting balls, and doing some reading) but actually never made it out of my apartment all day, LOL! I played in the 12pm $10k guaranteed and ran my 5000 starting stack up to 15000 but lost a big pot against an absolutely awful player when he limp/called half his stack with A-10 when I held KK, and he flopped a A. Like two hands later I got KK AIPF against QQ and lost. I bled and bled and eventually busted.

I also played in some $50 sng's, which is something I have been doing pretty regularly lately, as it is less than 2% of my online BR and the play is not a whole lot better than the $20's and $30's. If I remember correctly, I cashed in 4 of 6, winning 2 with one 2nd and one 3rd for a nice little profit.

I continued to play MTT's and had a trend of accumulating a lot of chips and then falling short of any significant paydays. I played in the $30 deep stack (which I have won before) and absolutely pwned. I got 3-handed with around 45k with the chipleader to my right with around 50k. I then went on to win approximately 7 pots in a row with no showdown until the big hand came up. I raised on the button with AA, SB (at this point I had him slightly covered) called. Flop came Q 6 4 rainbow, and he checked. I led 2/3 pot and he min-raised. I then made it like 20k more, and he insta-4-bet with QJ. I held and then won the tourney the very next hand when my A8 held against villain's KQ.

I also signed up for the 5pm $10 $10k guaranteed, a great tournament as there were only 730 entrants (= lots of overlay). I ran super hot when I played a pot with this absolute donk. I had around 5k in chips to start the hand and had a pretty solid image. There were two limpers (100/200), and I decided to raise A8o from the button to 925. I got one caller, the station to my right. The flop came Q J 10, rainbow. Check, check. Turn 5, he checked again and I led 1200ish into a 2400. He called. River 8, and he again checked (having me covered). I decided that my hand may have looked like AK and that an AI bet might be able to move him off a J or a 10. I was pretty sure he didn't have a Q. I decided to move in, and he called pretty quickly. I was about to close the table when he tabled A5o!!! Weeeeeeeeeee.......

A couple hands later, I had J10cc in the BB; The only player at the table who had me covered limped from the button. I checked, flop came 9s 8s 7c. I checked, he bet pot at 500, and I made it 1400. He snap called. The turn was the Qc, and I bet 2200 into a 3300, and he min-raised. I "tanked" then shipped it, and he called with Q6ss. The river bricked out, and I was up to like 22k. I steadily chipped up until we got down to 2 tables and I could not get anything going. The blinds were a ridiculous 3k/6k. I lost a 120k pot with QQ against KJ AIPF and found myself down to 45k. I then moved in from the SB with A9, and the BB called with AJcc. Flop came Kc 10c x, turn x, river 9d!!

I entered the FT 5th in chips with 105k. I steadily chipped up until we got 4-handed when I re-shipped 10-10 for 120k into a min-raise who somehow found KK. Board came 10xxxx, and I won. Then, 3-handed, the bust-hand came up. I had 220k with the other stacks being around 400k each. The button was a maniac who I had played several big pots with up until that point. He/she min-raised the button to 20k, and I called from the BB with A4o. Flop came AsKxQs. I checked, he bet 19k, and I opted to just call trying to control the pot. The turn was the interesting 4s. At this point, I am going to stack off here every time against this player. I checked again, and he bet pot at 60ishk, and I moved in for my last 120k, and he snap called with Ks-6x. The river was the gross 5s, and I was sent to the rail in 3rd for a grand total of...$900 or so.

Overall, I ended up around $1600 for the day, which was a nice score. I feel very confident playing the mid-buyin MTT's and will continue to do so until my bankroll is big enough to consistently play the $100 MTT's. I played in two of them today with no success. I got it in once with KK against AK against J10 in a big pot and lost. Overall, I feel like I haven't played enough of them to get an accurate feel for my EV in these. But the play is definitely a lot better as there is usually only 1 or 2 players that will spew at any given table as opposed to about 3 or 4 in the lower BI tourneys. I hope to have more success in the upcoming months and hopefully have a big score sometime soon. I feel so confident in my tourney game right now that it would be stupid of me to ignore the bigger buy-in tourneys.

That is all that I have. I probably won't be playing very much for the rest of the week and into the weekend. I have a test on Friday and am going down to Seattle on Saturday to play golf with a friend and then Sunday I will be coming back up to play golf with another friend who is prepping for the high school state tournament next week.

That said, I gotta go do some quality studying (maybe I will get the itch later tonight but no promises).

God Bless,

JG