Close = No Good

I came so close to winning a seat to the TOC in BBT4... it woulda been nice to lock up a seat this early and with the chip stack I had, I should have. I think I pretty much was in first place the whole time except at the very end when it mattered most.



My demise came here...

Full Tilt Poker Game #10919212418: Blogger Big Game (81289088), Table 5 - 4000/8000 Ante 1000 - No Limit Hold'em - 1:48:09 ET - 2009/03/02
Seat 5: RecessRampage (101,324)
Seat 7: Rake Feeder (223,676)
RecessRampage antes 1,000
Rake Feeder antes 1,000
RecessRampage posts the small blind of 4,000
Rake Feeder posts the big blind of 8,000
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RecessRampage [Ks 6d]
RecessRampage calls 4,000
Rake Feeder checks
*** FLOP *** [2s Kh Ah]
Rake Feeder checks
RecessRampage checks
*** TURN *** [2s Kh Ah] [Qc]
Rake Feeder checks
RecessRampage bets 9,000
wwonka69 (Observer): go rakegeeder
Rake Feeder raises to 25,000
wwonka69 (Observer): rakefeeder
RecessRampage raises to 92,324, and is all in
Rake Feeder calls 67,324
wwonka69 (Observer): go go go
RecessRampage shows [Ks 6d]
Rake Feeder shows [Qh Qs]
*** RIVER *** [2s Kh Ah Qc] [4s]
RecessRampage shows a pair of Kings
Rake Feeder shows three of a kind, Queens
Rake Feeder wins the pot (202,648) with three of a kind, Queens
RecessRampage: gg
RecessRampage stands up
Rake Feeder stands up

I'm not unhappy with how I played the last hand. You can obv argue that I coulda bet the flop but there's really no card that I'm afraid of.... sure, a heart maybe but HU, you really can't sweat the flush draw. So, I felt that if I'm already behind, I'm going broke here anyways... and if I'm ahead, I figured to be pretty far ahead so I figured I'd try to let him catch up. Unfortunately, he caught up in a big way but any other card, I think I woulda got some more action out of his QQ by checking the flop. Oh well, moot point.

GG Rakefeeder! (Do you have a blog? If so, please comment and I'll link you up) And thanks to all those who railed me.

Fuel is gay.

Missing the opportunity?

Maybe my mind is too business oriented. Even though I am involved in a few pro bono work through my company and doing the whole "giving back to the community" thing, I think I always made it clear that that's really not my thing. Don't get me wrong, I'm not against it. But when I help these organizations and help give back to the community, I don't get that sense of satisfaction that a lot of people talk about. Maybe I'm the devil. Whatever is the case, I don't really get much out of helping the needy.

So, it was interesting to me when I heard that the BBT4 will consist of a few $10 buy-in tourneys (Mookie and Skillz or something?) and maybe another CHEAPER tournament... to me, this is shocking... Don't get me wrong. I am not saying anything bad about the BBT series because I think it's great that Al puts this together, giving bloggers an opportunity to play in the WSOP and other larger buy-in events. But if I were to put my business hat on, only including smaller buy-in tourneys seems like we're missing something here. Again, it might just be that Al is organizing for the bloggers so the idea behind it is that it would encourage more bloggers to play in a $10 tourney than say a $26 (really!? Twenty six fuckin dollars!?) or heaven forbid, a $50+ tourney. Wouldn't fulltilt be better off if these were slightly higher buy-ins, generating more rake AND more importantly, forcing people to redeposit money?

With the BBT, the stakes are much higher. The rewards are awesome and so it's shocking that the buy-in doesn't reflect that. It's also amazing how in an average blogger's poker fund, $26 seems so much more than $10 or whatever considering I'm pretty sure most of you waste $26 on nothing... well, if not, then maybe I'm extremely careless with my money. Let's see, so far today, what did I spend money on. Breakfast because I was too lazy to eat cereal at home (actually, I was in a hurry cuz I was late for bball) was $3.50ish. Lunch was $7.55 (our company cafeteria is NOT cheap). That's already a mookie buy-in! And I haven't gotten through the whole day! I just feel like this would be a great opportunity to get people to deposit more money into the poker client, hence injecting more money into poker. And the more money there is out there in the poker world, the better for us right?

Again, it's not so much I'm complaining about the buyins or anything. I guess I just don't understand and that's all there is to it. I'd still play the BBT if they are $1 because it's not about the actual prize pool in the tournament but rather, what's possible to win as add-ons. But beyond that, the reason I don't really play blogger tourneys anymore is because heaven forbid I get lucky enough to make it deep or win, it's not worth it for me to stay up till 1am or 2am winning $100 and change or whatever the top prize is these days for the Mookie. I gotta get up at 6am to go play ball in the mornings (I don't HAVE TO but I want to/I'd rather) so without the added prizes, there's really no incentive for me. I love you all and it is fun when I actually do end up playing in it but so is basketball...

So the bottom line is this. Why is the buy-in so low when the stakes are so high? Would there really be that much of a drop off in players if the buy-ins were increased?

Bodog - this has to help my standings...

First off, go congratulate KJTech for his victory. It was a lengthy heads up match and I almost finished him off at first with 99 all in preflop against AJs. Two diamond flop and he has AJ of diamonds so even if I call his 3 bet and jam flop, result would be the same. Nonetheless, from that point on, he pretty much pwned me. I did manage to get back to even but in the end, I overplayed Kx suited and was busted by his A7 suited. He played well, obv, so again, go give his blog some love.

I bad beated him when we were down to 3 handed maybe when I had 88 vs his AA and I hit an 8. Earlier, I got coolered where I had KK and Riggstad had AA. Give and take I guess. Yes... I will not forget that in these two hands, the only bad beat was the one given by me...

I missed out the first hour and maybe 15 minutes. I just got home late tonight... probably a good thing. Maybe I'll try that next week. That will prevent me from spewing chips early.

I don't know exactly where I stand... I think last I checked, I was in like twenty something place... Hopefully, tonight's performance gets me in top 18 since there's a 18 person SNG for a seat to the WSOP.

I noticed this post is very choppy. I'm tired... I'm going to bed...

So close...

I had to work a fair amount this weekend which meant I didn't get to play as much poker... not being able to play poker on the weekends when all the donkeys are out in full force is definitely a bad beat in itself. But then again, my "didn't get to play much" translates into playing for like 7 hrs total for the weekend. For some, that's not much at all but for others, it may sound like a lot...

So, I didn't get a chance to play much cash games but instead, I took a few shots at MTTs for a change. With FTOPS starting soon as well as the TOC coming up in June and all the tourneys I play during the BBT3, I figured it would be good if I studied MTT strategies and played more tournaments. I also want to win a WSOP package one way or another (whether I play in it or not is a different story) so, I decided to take a shot at the WSOP ME super sat...



Top 2 gets the seat, 3rd place gets a very ghey $250... My hopes were dashed when the button who had a similar size stack but I had him slightly covered raised from the button, I shoved from the SB with JJ... only to get called by the big stack who woke up with KK. That sucked...

Then there was the big game. Of all the blogger tourneys, I have to admit that this is my favorite, mainly because of the prize pool that this tournament generates. $1,200 first place prize is definitely worth fighting for unlike the other blogger tourneys. I got my necessary suckouts and made a few good reads/plays but in the end, I busted out in 4th place when I decided to make a stand with A9 against the big stack's A6 but this time, it was my turn to get sucked out on...



Ended up with a semi-ghey $350...

Speaking of ghey, how much are you hating presto here...



Set over set over set on the flop... what are the odds!?

I hope everyone had a very profitable weekend.

Riverchasers Final Table Run

Alright, I'm gonna try to keep the hand histories to a minimum... Believe it or not, I don't try to clutter up my blog with bunch of hand histories but I guess I will give you some examples of how I played the final table.

If I had to describe how I played early in the final table, there's one word for it.

UberTIGHT

My stack was fairly short so I did have to gamble in key spots. However, one thing I really wanted to make sure I did was that I was the one doing the shoving and not the one calling the shove or a raise. And if there was a raise, I wanted to make sure I had fold equity. Some of the examples below will probably seem weaktight to most of you. But I was convinced there'd be better spots so I waited. I'm not results oriented so I don't know if in the grand scheme of things if it's the right thing to do or not but it certainly worked out for me last night. First example...

Stack sizes were as follows:

Seat 1: stl_phily (71,407)
Seat 2: NumbBono (41,900)
Seat 4: Wadzilla (16,850)
Seat 5: pushmonkey72 (44,439)
Seat 7: hoyazo (72,344)
Seat 8: bayne_s (16,080)
Seat 9: RecessRampage (21,980)

Dealt to RecessRampage [Qc Jc]
stl_phily folds
NumbBono folds
Wadzilla raises to 5,200
pushmonkey72 folds
hoyazo folds
bayne_s folds
RecessRampage folds
Uncalled bet of 3,600 returned to Wadzilla

Again, I think a lot of people would have pushed here but my impression of Wadzilla at the time was that he was fairly tight. But I also wasn't sure if that meant he's capable of folding hands like AJ. Anything better and he's priced in to call, esp because he already has a 3rd of his stack out with that raise. I felt I hardly had any fold equity so I chose to fold.

In the next few hands, I fold A7 to an open raise, I fold 22 in EP, I fold A5s UTG. I jam K9 when it's folded to me and I'm in the SB. Stl_philly folds. My stack is clearly dwindling but I didn't want to panic. And then this hand happened:

Blinds 800/1600 ante 200, stack sizes

Seat 1: stl_phily (65,607)
Seat 2: NumbBono (37,700)
Seat 4: Wadzilla (24,050)
Seat 5: pushmonkey72 (56,239)
Seat 7: hoyazo (54,264)
Seat 8: bayne_s (27,960)
Seat 9: RecessRampage (19,180)

Dealt to RecessRampage [Jd Ks]
Wadzilla raises to 5,200
pushmonkey72 folds
hoyazo folds
bayne_s folds
RecessRampage folds
stl_phily has 15 seconds left to act
stl_phily calls 4,400
NumbBono folds
*** FLOP *** [Kh Ts Tc]
stl_phily checks
Wadzilla bets 18,650, and is all in
stl_phily calls 18,650
Wadzilla shows [Ad As]
stl_phily shows [Ah Ac]
*** TURN *** [Kh Ts Tc] [Qd]
*** RIVER *** [Kh Ts Tc Qd] [7c]

Good thing I didn't come over the top. I think a lot of people with my stack size may have but again, I felt I didn't have much fold equity, I felt Wazilla was fairly tight with his opening range and based on that, I just didn't want to shove KJ. Again, remember, I wanted to open raise, not reraise unless I had the cards or fold equity or both.

My stack keeps dwindling down to 15k and I am dealt A8o in the SB but I also fold that to NumbBono's UTG raise. No brainer there. No sense in shoving A-x against a guy who raised. I told you. TIGHT. I even toss a pair...

Seat 1: stl_phily (72,207)
Seat 2: NumbBono (42,950)
Seat 4: Wadzilla (26,050)
Seat 5: pushmonkey72 (51,589)
Seat 7: hoyazo (54,364)
Seat 8: bayne_s (23,310)
Seat 9: RecessRampage (14,530)

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RecessRampage [2h 2s]
Wadzilla folds
pushmonkey72 folds
hoyazo folds
bayne_s raises to 23,060, and is all in
RecessRampage folds
stl_phily raises to 71,957, and is all in
NumbBono folds
stl_phily shows [Kh As]
bayne_s shows [9s Ac]
Uncalled bet of 48,897 returned to stl_phily
*** FLOP *** [3h Ad Kd]
*** TURN *** [3h Ad Kd] [6c]
*** RIVER *** [3h Ad Kd 6c] [2d] <--- DAMMIT!!!
stl_phily shows two pair, Aces and Kings
bayne_s shows a pair of Aces
stl_phily wins the pot (49,870) with two pair, Aces and Kings

Again, I didn't want to CALL an all in from Bayne who I think also falls on the tighter side. Even with his stack, he's not shoving ATC and I just didn't want to go to war there like that. However, when it was folded to me, I did open shove with K4. At this point though, I am ok with shoving with K4 rather than a suited connector because then if someone decides to call with QJ or something, I am actually ahead because of my one high card. I somehow manage to keep myself afloat by pretty much shoving about once per orbit but really not getting out of line. I'm clearly not building a stack. I'm just playing survival poker at this point, trying to wait for the opportune moment. And then it came... and I think this might be the most weak tight thing I've ever done and you guys might be shocked... but I folded KQs to a UTG+1 raise. That was probably a mistake... even if I didn't want to CALL, KQs was the best hand I've seen since I got to the final table... ah well... at least I'm still alive...

More folding and my stack is dwindling. I am UTG, blinds are about to come around so I shove my K4s... to get called by Hoy's 77, but I fortunately suckout my 3 outer on the flop and my pair of kings hold. I get my critical double up. The very next hand, I am in the BB with A7, everyone folds to Hoy who limps from the SB. I thought he might be getting tricky by limp calling from the SB but he's done that earlier against Bayne and then didn't have a hand. So, I shoved. Hoy called with 59o but his two live cards were basically dead when I flop 7-Q-7. Turn seals the deal and Hoy's fate when another Q comes for a boat. All of a sudden, I am up to 45k after one big suckout and a nice hold by A7.

Now it's down to 5 players and my stack is now healthy.
Seat 1: stl_phily (78,017)
Seat 2: NumbBono (46,350)
Seat 4: Wadzilla (71,750)
Seat 5: pushmonkey72 (38,989)
Seat 9: RecessRampage (49,894)

I am knocked down to 30k in chips when I raise with 88, get smooth called by Pushmonkey in the BB and on a QJx board, he checks to me, I fire a cbet, and he shoves. I fold. I am down to fairly desperate levels again and so I shove with A5. I don't like it when I get called but I am ahead of NumbBono's KQ. Flop gives me a good scare coming JTx, giving him two live cards and OESD but some how, my A5 holds. I guess it was my night.

Few hands later, I raise UTG with QJs (it is 5 handed after all), then Stl_philly shoves. Fortunately, pushmonkey makes my decision easy when he also shoves. Push's KK > Stl_philly's 99 and we are down to 4 players.

Seat 2: NumbBono (20,756)
Seat 4: Wadzilla (84,450)
Seat 5: pushmonkey72 (135,706)
Seat 9: RecessRampage (44,088)

I was concerned about Pushmonkey's huge stack. But I knew that amongst these 4, I had to have the most shorthanded experience and LJ reiterated that to me.

"Just play your game."

That was gonna be my mantra for the evening at this point. Well, that and WWRD.

I was surprised with the amount of calls I got on my raises and then folds to my cbets. Nonetheless, that kept me alive (blinds were coming so fast so that's the only way to survive) and then pushmonkey busts NumbBono, adding to his stack even more as we were down to 3.

Seat 4: Wadzilla (74,250)
Seat 5: pushmonkey72 (166,362)
Seat 9: RecessRampage (44,388)

Pushmonkey was starting to bully with his stack so I knew I had to make a stand with a marginal hand and double up. Then this hand came:

Dealt to RecessRampage [3c Ah]
pushmonkey72 raises to 11,700
RecessRampage raises to 40,188, and is all in
Wadzilla folds
pushmonkey72 calls 28,488
RecessRampage shows [3c Ah]
pushmonkey72 shows [Ts Jd]
*** FLOP *** [2s 8s 3d]
*** TURN *** [2s 8s 3d] [6d]
*** RIVER *** [2s 8s 3d 6d] [Kh]
RecessRampage shows a pair of Threes
pushmonkey72 shows King Jack high
RecessRampage wins the pot (84,576) with a pair of Threes

I knew I really didn't have much fold equity but I had to take a stand and A high 3 handed was good enough for me. Once again, a sick hold by my A-x hand and I get a crucial double up, even more so because it puts a slight dent to the big stack.

At this point, stealing is critical:

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RecessRampage [2c Jc]
pushmonkey72 folds
RecessRampage raises to 9,000
Wadzilla calls 6,000
*** FLOP *** [8s Kd 7h]
RecessRampage bets 14,000
Wadzilla has 15 seconds left to act
Wadzilla folds
Uncalled bet of 14,000 returned to RecessRampage
RecessRampage mucks
RecessRampage wins the pot (19,200)

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RecessRampage [Qh 5s]
RecessRampage raises to 9,000
Wadzilla folds
pushmonkey72 calls 6,000
*** FLOP *** [Tc 4s 2s]
pushmonkey72 checks
RecessRampage bets 14,000
pushmonkey72 folds
Uncalled bet of 14,000 returned to RecessRampage
RecessRampage mucks
RecessRampage wins the pot (20,700)

Again, I was surprised with the amount of call/folds I was getting but that helps even more than just picking up the blinds. Thanks to that, my stack is slowly growing and then this gem happens:

Seat 4: Wadzilla (65,950)
Seat 5: pushmonkey72 (127,774)
Seat 9: RecessRampage (91,276)

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RecessRampage [As Ac]
pushmonkey72 raises to 11,700
RecessRampage has 15 seconds left to act
RecessRampage raises to 33,000
Wadzilla folds
pushmonkey72 calls 21,300
*** FLOP *** [Qc Qs 2c]
RecessRampage bets 57,876, and is all in
pushmonkey72 folds
Uncalled bet of 57,876 returned to RecessRampage
RecessRampage mucks
RecessRampage wins the pot (70,200)

Taking a big pot off pushmonkey is huge at this point. This obviously propels me to be the chipleader. I continue to apply pressure and I continue to get calls on my raises preflop but folds to my cbets.

Maybe it was all the raising/cbetting that I was doing but pushmonkey finally decides to make a stand. Unfortunately for him, this time, I had a real hand.

Seat 4: Wadzilla (65,950)
Seat 5: pushmonkey72 (83,074)
Seat 9: RecessRampage (135,976)

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RecessRampage [Kc Kd]
pushmonkey72 calls 3,000 <--- from the button
RecessRampage has 15 seconds left to act
RecessRampage raises to 12,000
Wadzilla folds
pushmonkey72 calls 9,000
*** FLOP *** [7s 7h 5c]
RecessRampage has 15 seconds left to act
RecessRampage bets 19,000
pushmonkey72 raises to 70,674, and is all in
RecessRampage calls 51,674
pushmonkey72 shows [Jh Th]
RecessRampage shows [Kc Kd]
*** TURN *** [7s 7h 5c] [2d]
*** RIVER *** [7s 7h 5c 2d] [Ad]
pushmonkey72 shows a pair of Sevens
RecessRampage shows two pair, Kings and Sevens
RecessRampage wins the pot (169,548) with two pair, Kings and Sevens

At this point, I have a commanding chip lead over Wadzilla in what I figured to be a match that I should be able to end quickly. Unfortunately, Wadzilla was gonna have none of that. I was raising A LOT from the button. Almost every time. And yet, even when I had a hand, he wouldn't bite. So, once in a while, I had to make some moves:

Seat 4: Wadzilla (90,050)
Seat 9: RecessRampage (194,950)
Wadzilla antes 500
RecessRampage antes 500
RecessRampage posts the small blind of 2,000
Wadzilla posts the big blind of 4,000
The button is in seat #9
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RecessRampage [Ah 9d]
RecessRampage raises to 11,000
Wadzilla has 15 seconds left to act
Wadzilla calls 7,000
*** FLOP *** [8c 3s Th]
Wadzilla bets 14,000
RecessRampage has 15 seconds left to act
RecessRampage has requested TIME
RecessRampage raises to 183,450, and is all in
Wadzilla has 15 seconds left to act
Wadzilla folds

I felt that his bet out indicated he caught a piece but wasn't so strong (if he had a T, I felt he would checkraise me, so I shoved, indicating strength based on my preflop action as well). He's patient the whole time and then I make an illadvised move by shoving over the top of Wadzilla's raise with 44 and he calls with 88. Big double up for Wadzilla. All of a sudden, my 200k+ stack was now down to 155k and he now has 125k.

I still continue to play aggressive and god dammit, I am HUC5 and HUC6 runner up. I should be above average in heads up play right!?

Seat 4: Wadzilla (125,500)
Seat 9: RecessRampage (159,500)

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RecessRampage [9d Td]
Wadzilla calls 2,500
RecessRampage checks
*** FLOP *** [4d Tc As]
RecessRampage checks
Wadzilla bets 7,500
RecessRampage calls 7,500

With no raise, I Wadzilla didn't have an A. I thought about checkraise here but I figured I'll peel one more card and fire out if it's a blank.

*** TURN *** [4d Tc As] [6c] <--- blank
RecessRampage bets 22,000
Astin (Observer): aggression never won anythng <--- I disagree
Wadzilla folds
Uncalled bet of 22,000 returned to RecessRampage
RecessRampage mucks
RecessRampage wins the pot (26,200)

I tried overbetting for value here but I guess he didn't have any piece of this board.

Seat 4: Wadzilla (112,400)
Seat 9: RecessRampage (172,600)

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RecessRampage [Js Jd]
RecessRampage raises to 13,000
Wadzilla has 15 seconds left to act
Wadzilla calls 8,000
*** FLOP *** [Jc Qc Kd] <--- he called my raise, I figured this had to hit him
Wadzilla checks
RecessRampage bets 159,000, and is all in
Wadzilla folds
Uncalled bet of 159,000 returned to RecessRampage
RecessRampage mucks
RecessRampage wins the pot (27,200)

I flop a set and heads up, if he has a K, it would be very hard to get away for him, I thought so hence, the shove. Didn't work this time.

Wadzilla then ramps up his aggression (or started getting cards) and all of a sudden, I see my stack dwindling. I check my 77 from the BB and fold to his bet on a KQ9 (all heart) board. We still keep going back and forth and I even fold a pair here.

Seat 4: Wadzilla (114,400)
Seat 9: RecessRampage (170,600)

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RecessRampage [5s 5h]
RecessRampage raises to 15,000
Wadzilla raises to 45,000
RecessRampage has 15 seconds left to act
RecessRampage folds
Uncalled bet of 30,000 returned to Wadzilla
Wadzilla mucks
Wadzilla wins the pot (31,500)

I obviously considered shoving. But with my stack size, I didn't feel the need to race here. He's been playing very tight/passive up till this point so his reraise for more than a 3rd of his stack seemed extreme strength. At best, I was a slight favorite in a coin flip and I felt there was a better spot.

Same sequence as above happens when I have 22.

And based on that, all of a sudden, I am starting to see a lot of reraises from him preflop and I am laying down after a raise which is starting to really hurt my stack.

Seat 4: Wadzilla (205,150)
Seat 9: RecessRampage (79,850)

So, I need to start picking more marginal spots as well, like this:

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RecessRampage [4s 5c]
Wadzilla calls 3,000
RecessRampage checks
*** FLOP *** [Kd 6h 3s]
RecessRampage checks
Wadzilla bets 7,500
RecessRampage raises to 73,100, and is all in
Wadzilla folds
Uncalled bet of 65,600 returned to RecessRampage
RecessRampage mucks
RecessRampage wins the pot (28,500)

Seat 4: Wadzilla (204,400)
Seat 9: RecessRampage (80,600)

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RecessRampage [Jd 3d]
RecessRampage calls 4,000 <--- Bad Recess!!! Brain fart...
Wadzilla checks
*** FLOP *** [2c Ad 4s]
Wadzilla bets 12,000 <--- weird... something's not right
RecessRampage raises to 71,600, and is all in
Wadzilla has 15 seconds left to act
Wadzilla folds
Uncalled bet of 59,600 returned to RecessRampage
RecessRampage mucks
RecessRampage wins the pot (42,000)

That was bad but at least I was able to steal from him post flop...

I then runner runner a straight with JJ and get paid off for a fair amount and I regain the chip lead. This heads up match is taking forever. The blinds are starting to really increase too so I figured I need to ramp up my aggression even more. I start raising more, reraising some and where I can steal on the flop, I do.

Seat 4: Wadzilla (77,400)
Seat 9: RecessRampage (207,600)

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RecessRampage [5c 4c]
Wadzilla calls 4,000
RecessRampage checks

*** FLOP *** [As 6h 3c]
RecessRampage checks
Wadzilla bets 12,000
RecessRampage raises to 54,000
Wadzilla folds
Uncalled bet of 42,000 returned to RecessRampage
RecessRampage mucks
RecessRampage wins the pot (42,000)

At this stage, taking these pots are huge. After the above hand, Wadzilla is down to 50k in chips and I feel that I am so close. And then after a few more back and forth, the final hand:

Seat 4: Wadzilla (70,400)
Seat 9: RecessRampage (214,600)
Wadzilla antes 1,000
RecessRampage antes 1,000
RecessRampage posts the small blind of 4,000
Wadzilla posts the big blind of 8,000

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RecessRampage [7c As]
RecessRampage raises to 20,000
Wadzilla raises to 69,400, and is all in
RecessRampage calls 49,400
Wadzilla shows [3h Ac]
RecessRampage: gl me <--- SHAMELESS
RecessRampage shows [7c As]
*** FLOP *** [2c 9c Tc]
Wadzilla: ahh
*** TURN *** [2c 9c Tc] [6d]
*** RIVER *** [2c 9c Tc 6d] [Th]
Wadzilla shows a pair of Tens
RecessRampage shows a pair of Tens
RecessRampage wins the pot (140,800) with a pair of Tens
Wadzilla: gg
Wadzilla stands up
RecessRampage stands up

It was a tough, tough heads up match. Again, thanks to everyone railing!

And this post got much much longer than expected...

I'm IN!!!!

Too lazy and tired to recap HHs. Plenty of suckouts along the way, played very patient, and once it got down to 3-4 handed play, I felt very comfortable. Short handed cash really helps my instincts on how to play certain hands so I was able to take down quite a few pots uncontested. Wadzilla (do you have a blog?) played a great HU game. It was very hard to get chips from him but I constantly raised from the button and he finally started playing back. I waited for the right time but in the end, it was pretty much a HU setup where he had A3 and I had A7. With the blinds so high, it's almost inevitable to get it all in with any ace HU. I will say though that I did make a lot of plays HU with air. I may or may not post those HHs... I don't want my image to be totally shot...

Thanks to everyone who railed me. I couldn't keep track.... so many people, so thanks to all. Sorry for no individual mention except LJ who was on the girlie chat, telling me to just play my game once we got shorthanded. WWRD baby!!!

OTP lives here

I am a One Trick Pony. I have no clue strategically, how to play stud... hi or low. Or pot limit omaha... hi or low. So, the game starts... I mean I know how the game works but again, I have no idea what's a good starting hand, etc. Yes, I know AA(A) would be nice but you know, what else are good? So, basically, I just decided to stick with the basic strategy where I looked at my cards, looked at everyone else's and if people had more than 2 of my connecting cards, I would muck. So unless I had a high PP or 3 broadway cards, if they are suited or connected, as long as I didn't see 2 of the same suit out there or 2 of the cards I would need to make a straight out there, I would play.

In the beginning, I needed some answers but no one on my table would accomodate... so I had to pull in the assistant. The following are actual questions I asked:

me: in stud... if your door cards are 99 (door cards are hidden cards right?), but you see a 9 in someone else's exposed card, and before you put any money in, someone with an A completes the bring in, is folding the right move?
or is that retardedly tight?

As evidenced above, in the beginning, I didn't even know proper terminology. (for those that still don't know, you are dealt two hole cards which are the hidden ones and one door card which is the exposed one)

Another question I had to ask:

me: hey, since I'm chatting alone at my table
is the HH all jumbled or are they in order the cards are dealt?

Above is clearly indicative of no one answering my questions.

me: I just folded KK door card after 5th street to a guy showing 10-8-3 but put in a raise
one K was dead
one pair is not so good in stud, right?

In my defense to above question, I believe the action was fairly heavy enough that I didn't think one pair was good enough to continue... granted, I was shocked with the amount of one pair hands that went to showdown. I mean I honestly don't have a clue in stud but if you're getting dealt 7 cards, my instincts already tell me that one pair is not that good... Admittedly, the assistant's response was this:

Bayne: that is weak in against bloggers

me: can't be with 7 cards being dealt
really
Bayne: 1p no good
me: except in blonkaments?
Bayne: but 2 to come

Not sure if Bayne was just yankin my chain or not... I just couldn't see myself calling the raised big bet (the action before it got to me was bet, raise so I'd have to call 2 big bets, assuming the initial bettor doesn't put in 3rd bet), knowing I have to call two more if I don't catch another pair on the 6th street. That just seemed a little too spewy considering I had no other realistic draws. Maybe I think too much...

After a while, I'm getting the hang of it... and I start seeing some incredible things... to which I commented (sorry if you were in this pot... I was really just shocked to see it happen).

me: OH MY GOD
these guys are atrocious
Buddy dank is betting... showing QQ
4 callers until the 7th crd
two of them FOLDS
one of them calls with two pair!
neither pair higher than Q

me: Buddy was betting every street
there was raise, reraise
2000+ pot
buddy shows QQQ
obv
Bayne: obv

I have some HH's saved here that I could post... and maybe it's just me because I'm not used to it but 7 stud HHs are hard to decipher...

In the end though, I busted in 19th place when my QQ(4) was no match to the villain's AA(J). With the J exposed, I thought when I raised and he reraised, he had a J in the hole card. Because I was fairly short stacked and with all the weak hands that actually went to showdown prior to this, I thought I was good... until the cards were flipped over. Reading strength/weakness was definitely hard for me and I did notice that I was giving too much credit to certain players.

One interesting hand also happened against Lucko where I had QQ hidden. There was some preflop action but when all the money went in, lucko was ahead with two pair. I had a monster draw so I put in the 4th raise. Lucko had less than 2 streets worth betting so I wasn't folding at that point based on the cards I had. I get lucky on the river but I can't imagine that I'm too much of a dog here when the money goes in. Here's the actual HH.

Full Tilt Poker Game #5506048290: Skill Series (40521319), Table 5 - 500/1000 Ante 100 - Limit Stud Hi - 23:50:16 ET - 2008/03/04
Seat 1: lucko21 (4,816)
Seat 2: Rob110178 (1,919)
Seat 3: RecessRampage (8,734)
Seat 4: Jestocost (16,796)
Seat 5: BuddyDank (3,081)
Seat 6: IslandBum1 (6,340)
Seat 7: chitwood (4,128)
lucko21 antes 100
Rob110178 antes 100
RecessRampage antes 100
Jestocost antes 100
BuddyDank antes 100
IslandBum1 antes 100
chitwood antes 100
*** 3RD STREET ***
Dealt to lucko21 [Th]
Dealt to Rob110178 [8c]
Dealt to RecessRampage [Qs Qc] [Js]
Dealt to Jestocost [9s]
Dealt to BuddyDank [3d]
Dealt to IslandBum1 [4d]
Dealt to chitwood [6s]
BuddyDank is low with [3d]
BuddyDank brings in for 150
IslandBum1 folds
chitwood folds
lucko21 completes it to 500
Rob110178 folds
RecessRampage calls 500
Jestocost folds
BuddyDank folds
*** 4TH STREET ***
Dealt to lucko21 [Th] [5h]
Dealt to RecessRampage [Qs Qc Js] [Ac]
RecessRampage bets 500
lucko21 calls 500
*** 5TH STREET ***
Dealt to lucko21 [Th 5h] [7d]
Dealt to RecessRampage [Qs Qc Js Ac] [Ts]
RecessRampage bets 1,000
lucko21 raises to 2,000
RecessRampage has 15 seconds left to act
RecessRampage has requested TIME

At this point, when I am showing that board, and lucko knowing the way I play poker in general, I actually figured him for a fairly strong hand. But since I got the T, I couldn't believe that lucko would have the remaining three 10's. I was a little confused. But if he's raising, he definitely has a better hand than my one pair. Having said that, the pot is so big, and lucko only has enough to bet out on two streets so I figured if all our money is going in anyways, might as well just get it in now (I mean I'm not folding at this point on the 6th or 7th street).

RecessRampage raises to 3,000
lucko21 raises to 3,716, and is all in
RecessRampage calls 716
lucko21 shows [7h Td Th 5h 7d]
RecessRampage shows [Qs Qc Js Ac Ts]
*** 6TH STREET ***
Dealt to lucko21 [7h Td Th 5h 7d] [Jd]
Dealt to RecessRampage [Qs Qc Js Ac Ts] [3h]
*** 7TH STREET ***
Dealt to lucko21 [7h Td Th 5h 7d Jd] [9c]
Dealt to RecessRampage [Qs Qc Js Ac Ts 3h] [As]
lucko21 shows [7h Td Th 5h 7d Jd 9c] two pair, Tens and Sevens
RecessRampage shows [Qs Qc Js Ac Ts 3h As] two pair, Aces and Queens
RecessRampage wins the pot (10,282) with two pair, Aces and Queens
lucko21 stands up

I don't know odds and statistics in stud so I have to go by what I remembered. I knew I didn't see any face cards (I obv keep track of stuff like that, naturally) so I was fairly certain I had a fair amount of outs. I am guessing I'm behind but not by much when the money goes in. Who knows, maybe I'm a huge dog but I can't imagine. Oh... and sadly (but true), this is the first time in the whole tournament that I realized this was a KO tourney... seriously, how retarded am I????

This is my final hand where I overvalued my hidden pocket pair.

Full Tilt Poker Game #5506328668: Skill Series (40521319), Table 5 - 1000/2000 Ante 150 - Limit Stud Hi - 0:13:24 ET - 2008/03/05
Seat 1: pkrplr4116 (14,035)
Seat 2: Rob110178 (6,257)
Seat 3: RecessRampage (7,800)
Seat 4: Jestocost (36,274)
Seat 5: lilkimmer77 (7,068)
Seat 6: SirFWALGMan (22,043)
Seat 7: Mean_G (20,152)
pkrplr4116 antes 150
Rob110178 antes 150
RecessRampage antes 150
Jestocost antes 150
lilkimmer77 antes 150
SirFWALGMan antes 150
Mean_G antes 150
Jestocost: wink wink
*** 3RD STREET ***
Dealt to pkrplr4116 [6h]
Dealt to Rob110178 [3s]
Dealt to RecessRampage [Qc Qd] [4s]
Dealt to Jestocost [9h]
Dealt to lilkimmer77 [Jh]
Dealt to SirFWALGMan [Tc]
Dealt to Mean_G [4h]
Rob110178 is low with [3s]
Rob110178 brings in for 300
SirFWALGMan: lol
RecessRampage completes it to 1,000
Jestocost folds
lilkimmer77 raises to 2,000
SirFWALGMan folds
Mean_G folds
pkrplr4116 folds
SirFWALGMan: i had at least 17 outs
Rob110178 folds
SirFWALGMan: lol
RecessRampage raises to 3,000
lilkimmer77 raises to 4,000
SirFWALGMan: maybe more but i cant count
RecessRampage calls 1,000
*** 4TH STREET ***
Dealt to RecessRampage [Qc Qd 4s] [2s]
Dealt to lilkimmer77 [Jh] [Ts]
lilkimmer77 bets 1,000
RecessRampage raises to 2,000
lilkimmer77 raises to 2,918, and is all in
RecessRampage calls 918
lilkimmer77 shows [Ah Ad Jh Ts]
RecessRampage shows [Qc Qd 4s 2s]
*** 5TH STREET ***
Dealt to RecessRampage [Qc Qd 4s 2s] [8d]
Dealt to lilkimmer77 [Ah Ad Jh Ts] [8h]
*** 6TH STREET ***
Dealt to RecessRampage [Qc Qd 4s 2s 8d] [7s]
Dealt to lilkimmer77 [Ah Ad Jh Ts 8h] [Jc]
*** 7TH STREET ***
Dealt to RecessRampage [Qc Qd 4s 2s 8d 7s] [3c]
Dealt to lilkimmer77 [Ah Ad Jh Ts 8h Jc] [Js]
lilkimmer77 shows [Ah Ad Jh Ts 8h Jc Js] a full house, Jacks full of Aces
RecessRampage shows [Qc Qd 4s 2s 8d 7s 3c] a pair of Queens
lilkimmer77 wins the pot (15,186) with a full house, Jacks full of Aces

Oh... I just realized this wasn't the hand I busted out on... but this crippled me enough that the next hand was insignificant.

This was fun though. I guess variety is the spice of life.

In the Bodonkey, I came in 12th when I had a ridiculous mental melt down and shoved TT from UTG with a fairly healthy stack (the moment I shoved, I said out loud, holy shit, wtf did I just do!?) Everyone was folding so I was just about to feel relieved when the BB calls with AA... I bust 12th. Honestly, I can't explain why I shoved. I was not in a push shove mode, I could easily have made a standard raise and fold to a shove and still have enough chips to have good fold equity. Kurokitty was there and even though he was nice on gchat, I'm sure his thought was "what the hell just happened to Recess?" And honestly, I have no idea... literally, I clicked on the max button on Bodog, clicked on bet, and within a nanosecond, I said "oh shit!" Literally, a mental meltdown... I have no excuse. This is a good time to pile on Recess "mr I am feeling good about my MTT game/how can you overplay medium pocket pair" Rampage. That was just bad, bad play.

Oh well. I plan on winning the Mookie tonight. See you all there!

Sick! (big hand from the Big Game)

As you all know by now (or at least if you're a blogger you know), we had a record breaking 105 entrants into MiamiDon's Big Game. First place prize was just short of $2,000... basically, winning that tournament was like winning the $2k preliminary WSOP package. All weekend, I've been doing everything to prepare for the grueling MTT bloggers series that is the BBT3. Well, everything but playing in an actual MTT.

Well, as the Big Game kicked off, I felt good. I was, for the first time in a long time, single tabling... I can't recall not having multiple tables open for some time... and realized how much of a difference that makes. I was watching everyone play and I was recognizing the good and the bad. I really couldn't get much going in the first hour and eventually the blinds were getting fairly high and my stack was still hovering around 4,500... a little less than the starting stack of 5,000. However, that's when I started catching some cards and more importantly, winning some races. During the second hour, I went from having just 4,500 to 22,000ish by means of AQ > 88, QQ > JJ, JJ > AK. I was catching the cards and winning the races/not getting sucked out on. Very important in these tournaments. Also, I was recognizing situations and I felt good. The only thing I didn't like was that the 2 time WSOP champion Scott Fischman was at my table. What was even worse was that he was clearly splashing the pot around, making it very hard to put him on a hand and since he had a big stack and he played like he didn't care, he was a threat to everyone. Well, then this hand came up...


Full Tilt Poker Game #5479172226: Blogger Big Game (40523592), Table 2 - 250/500 Ante 50 - No Limit Hold'em - 23:45:29 ET - 2008/03/02
Seat 1: Scott Fischman (19,052)
Seat 2: weak_player (8,908)
Seat 3: asphnxma (8,775)
Seat 4: a104l9 (14,400)
Seat 5: JL514 (10,625)
Seat 6: columbo (28,673)
Seat 7: RecessRampage (22,530)
Seat 9: twoblackaces (1,835)
Scott Fischman antes 50
weak_player antes 50
asphnxma antes 50
a104l9 antes 50
JL514 antes 50
columbo antes 50
RecessRampage antes 50
twoblackaces antes 50
columbo posts the small blind of 250
RecessRampage posts the big blind of 500
The button is in seat #5

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RecessRampage [Kd Qd]
twoblackaces folds
Scott Fischman raises to 1,000
weak_player folds
asphnxma folds
a104l9 folds
JL514 folds
columbo folds
RecessRampage calls 500

Fischman was minraising pretty much everytime. However, I did not want to get into a big confrontation with him out of position so I elected to smooth call with KQs which I knew was ahead of his raising hand range (even from that EP). Plus with the pot odds, it's obv a no brainer call.

*** FLOP *** [6d 7d 3c]
RecessRampage checks
Scott Fischman bets 1,500
RecessRampage raises to 6,000
Scott Fischman raises to 18,002, and is all in
RecessRampage has 15 seconds left to act
RecessRampage has requested TIME
RecessRampage calls 12,002
Scott Fischman shows [7c 5c]
RecessRampage shows [Kd Qd]
*** TURN *** [6d 7d 3c] [As]
*** RIVER *** [6d 7d 3c As] [5s]
Scott Fischman shows two pair, Sevens and Fives
RecessRampage shows Ace King high
Scott Fischman wins the pot (38,654) with two pair, Sevens and Fives

This hand obviously crippled me and the very next hand, Scott once again minraises, everyone folds, I shove from the SB with A-10, he has KQ or KJ or something and I'm out. Now before I chalk this one up to bad luck for not catching my 15 outs twice (according to Bayne, I'm a slight favorite on the flop - either way, it's a virtual coinfliop), I naturally, started thinking about this hand. It's not unusual for me to go to bed thinking about poker but I have to admit, I even dreamt about it and this morning when I woke up, this hand was the first thing that came to mind... even sicker when I saw that Scott Fischman ended up taking down this tournament.

Well, ok, back to the main point of this post. I looked over this hand history. And then I realized I made a critical mistake. Where's the mistake? Well, let's revisit the hand history. But before I do that, I want to lay out the table first.

Blinds - 250/500 Ante 50
Seat 1: Scott Fischman (19,052)
Seat 2: weak_player (8,908)
Seat 3: asphnxma (8,775)
Seat 4: a104l9 (14,400)
Seat 5: JL514 (10,625)
Seat 6: columbo (28,673)
Seat 7: RecessRampage (22,530)
Seat 9: twoblackaces (1,835)

As you see here, I am second in chips and even better is that columbo who is the huge chip leader is sitting to my right. I couldn't ask for anything better (unless of course, Fischman is sitting to Columbo's right, then it would be perfect). This is the table where I accumulated most of my chips and the only hands that I've shown down so far were QQ and JJ. So, in other words, I have a good table image and a big stack. With the blinds and antes and 8 players at the table, the pot has T$1,150. With my stack, I am not looking to get into a major confrontation with the two other big stacks without a big hand. Now let's analyze the preflop action.

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RecessRampage [Kd Qd]
twoblackaces folds
Scott Fischman raises to 1,000
weak_player folds
asphnxma folds
a104l9 folds
JL514 folds
columbo folds
RecessRampage calls 500

Scott Fischman minraises from UTG+1. Shockingly, no one gives him action. With the odds that he was laying, a lot of people could have called but I was especially shocked that no one from late position who has an M of around 10 shoved. He's been minraising a lot so that was no indication of him being tricky or any signs of strength. Now it's quite possible that no one had anything playable but again, shocking. Well, with my KQs, I just called. I figured that by just calling, I don't commit too many chips preflop, I thought it's a hand that is generally ahead of his raising range but if I miss, I could get away from it easily and look for a better spot to take his money.

*** FLOP *** [6d 7d 3c]
RecessRampage checks
Scott Fischman bets 1,500

The flop is about as good as it gets for me without actually hitting. All low cards with two diamonds. Fischman leads out with a weakish bet of around 1,500. At this point, I could either fold, call, or checkraise. I think the fold here is ridiculously weak. The pot has T$3,150, Fischman just bet 1,500 into it so I'm getting 3:1 on my money to call. However, at this point, I figured he either completely missed or got a piece of it so I decided to go with the checkraise.

RecessRampage raises to 6,000
Scott Fischman raises to 18,002, and is all in
RecessRampage has 15 seconds left to act
RecessRampage has requested TIME

This is where I messed up. No, not the fact that I checkraise. I don't mind that line too much. Except I didn't think this through. Let's go back for a second. Fischman bet 1,500 into a pot that had 3,150. By me raising it to 6,000, what does that do? Now, Fischman is getting close to 2.5:1 odds (for him to call off another 4,500 into a pot that is now 10,650. Even worse is this. My checkraise amount was just the amount that a pro could read as a weak checkraise. I left myself about 14 or 15,000 in chips. It's almost as if I'm saying I'm making this one move but I can still fold. In other words, Scott is getting 2.5:1 odds, he got a piece of it, AND he's got fold equity... or so he thought so he shoves.

The way I analyze hands, I always try to get into the head of another player. If I were Scotty, what do I think Recess has? Well, Recess called the preflop minraise so he obv doesn't have AA-JJ. Maybe AK but also unlikely (keep in mind he doesn't know me so he would have to generalize my play a little). So, the calling range of Recess could be wide but it's obv not a premium hand. Flop comes 7 high. I hit top pair and gut shot straight draw (remember, I'm Scott right now). Recess checkraises me but left himself enough to fold. What does he have? 88-99, maybe TT? Some sort of a draw? Did he hit a piece of this also? A6 or A7? If these are the ranges that Recess has, I have some fold equity if I shove. ALL IN.

Any thoughts? Of course, based on the way Scott was playing, one can argue that he wasn't thinking much but this is how I'm looking at the hand. If I had checkraised a more solid amount whereby indicating to Scott that I'm committed in this hand, I'm not so sure that he wouldn't have folded. Maybe he would have shoved anyways but because my checkraise amount was so weak, I gave him the opportunity to come back over the top to make me make the decision... as opposed to me putting him to the test. He outplayed me, I had a hand that was good enough to call at that point (I was getting 2:1 with two overs and a flush draw) and the hand played itself out. But I can't stop thinking what could have been if I either won that race OR if I had checkraised more and just taken the pot away from him.

RecessRampage calls 12,002
Scott Fischman shows [7c 5c]
RecessRampage shows [Kd Qd]
*** TURN *** [6d 7d 3c] [As]
*** RIVER *** [6d 7d 3c As] [5s]
Scott Fischman shows two pair, Sevens and Fives
RecessRampage shows Ace King high
Scott Fischman wins the pot (38,654) with two pair, Sevens and Fives

I still have so much to learn. But I am seeing the tables and MTT situations in ways I haven't seen before so I am happy about that. And I can only get better. I also have a few sick side bets with Fuel for up to approx $1,000. This BBT is gonna be fun!

Oh, on the cash game side... I think (not 100% sure) this is the biggest pot I've won (which I know is not so big for some of you megafish out there but it's a start).

Full Tilt Poker Game #5473926807: Table Snow Flat (6 max) - $5/$10 - No Limit Hold'em - 17:07:46 ET - 2008/03/02
Seat 1: peterpan777 ($2,244)
Seat 2: 93TilInfinity ($1,872.75)
Seat 3: Greennday13 ($200)
Seat 4: RecessRampage ($1,292)
Seat 5: Nicolak ($1,000)
Seat 6: FastEddie267 ($990)
FastEddie267 posts the small blind of $5
peterpan777 posts the big blind of $10
The button is in seat #5

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RecessRampage [Tc Jc]
93TilInfinity folds
RecessRampage raises to $35
Nicolak folds
FastEddie267 folds
peterpan777 calls $25

*** FLOP *** [Ts 2d 7c]
peterpan777 checks
RecessRampage bets $55
peterpan777 raises to $150
RecessRampage calls $95

*** TURN *** [Ts 2d 7c] [Jd]<--- gin!
peterpan777 checks
RecessRampage has 15 seconds left to act
RecessRampage has requested TIME
RecessRampage bets $280
peterpan777 raises to $2,059, and is all in
RecessRampage calls $827, and is all in
peterpan777 shows [Td 8d]
RecessRampage shows [Tc Jc]
Uncalled bet of $952 returned to peterpan777

*** RIVER *** [Ts 2d 7c Jd] [8s]
peterpan777 shows two pair, Tens and Eights
RecessRampage shows two pair, Jacks and Tens
RecessRampage wins the pot ($2,586) with two pair, Jacks and Tens <--- BOOM!!!!

Short lived TOC

Wow, I didn't even last till the first break. Not sure if this was a bad move on my part or not. More often than not, it probably is. Here's my bust out hand. Any thoughts are welcome...

Full Tilt Poker Game #4570970908: Battle of the Bloggers Final (30643270), Table 3 - 30/60 - No Limit Hold'em - 22:41:39 ET - 2007/12/20
Seat 1: SnailTrax (5,352)
Seat 2: jjok (2,897)
Seat 3: RecessRampage (3,540)
Seat 4: Loretta8 (2,609)
Seat 5: Kajagugu (2,076)
Seat 6: twoblackaces (3,175)
Seat 7: Julius_Goat (3,041)
Seat 9: jeciimd (1,975)
jjok posts the small blind of 30
RecessRampage posts the big blind of 60
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RecessRampage [Jh Ad]
Loretta8 folds
Kajagugu folds
twoblackaces folds
Julius_Goat folds
jeciimd folds
SnailTrax raises to 159 <--- from button
jjok folds
RecessRampage has 15 seconds left to act
RecessRampage raises to 460
SnailTrax calls 301

Now most of you already know that I know better than to think AJ is a great hand. So, for what it's worth, this was my thought process. I didn't have much going for me early on in terms of cards. Without cards, I know I'm not gonna take this down. So, if I'm not getting cards early, my only thought/prayer was that I would get cards later (if I could make it till later). And if I do, I want action at that point so I didn't want to look like I was playing too tight in this TOC early on so that I would get action later on when I actually have cards. Silly? Maybe. Does anyone think like that?

Another thing was that it was a raise from the button. I felt that the range was a little more wide open so I was basically going for a resteal. I didn't want to be folding my blinds too easy. Again, my theme for this tournament was to make sure I stay aggressive. If I miss the flop, I figured I'll fire one cbet and if that doesn't take it down, I was going to shut down... but then this happens...

*** FLOP *** [Ts Ac Js]
RecessRampage has 15 seconds left to act
RecessRampage bets 680
SnailTrax raises to 4,892, and is all in
RecessRampage has 15 seconds left to act
RecessRampage has requested TIME
RecessRampage calls 2,400, and is all in
SnailTrax shows [Kd Qs]
RecessRampage shows [Jh Ad]
Uncalled bet of 1,812 returned to SnailTrax

*** TURN *** [Ts Ac Js] [8c]
RecessRampage: nh
*** RIVER *** [Ts Ac Js 8c] [8h]
SnailTrax shows a straight, Ace high
RecessRampage shows two pair, Aces and Jacks
SnailTrax wins the pot (7,110) with a straight, Ace high
RecessRampage: gg all
RecessRampage stands up

I really had to think about that bet on the flop. It did feel a lot like an overbet for value. But then again, there were two spades so I wasn't sure if he was pushing an ace with a spade or something. It was a very close call for me but in the end, I just couldn't fold the top two. Should I have been able to? Or should I have not been in the hand at all? I just feel like I couldn't get away from the top 2 pair. Again, any thoughts here? Maybe I made the move a little too early in the tournament. Who knows. I really wanted to build the image as an aggressor but maybe I tried it a little too early. Who knows. Even if this was a mistake, I'd have to think that it was a marginal mistake. Again, all thoughts are welcome.

To make things worse, I got stacked at 3-6NL... just like I was saying to Fuel and Chislodc... 3-6NL is like my worst game... but then again, on the more positive note, I've more than doubled up at 5-10NL... win some, lose some, I guess.

I am flying out to my home land in less than 8 hrs and I haven't packed yet. So, I guess I better go pack...

Happy holidays to all. I hope you all have a safe and happy holidays. Good night now! And good luck to everyone who is left in the TOC.

BBTwo TOC tonight!

Tonight will bring the close to the amazing BBTwo. Just to echo the sentiment of everyone, big thanks goes to Al for setting this whole thing and as usual to Hoy, Mookie, and Don for hosting their games.



I got lucky and won a seat to the Tournament of Champions (TOC) by winning the Mookie about a month ago. There will be 27 of us competing for the grand prize... the $18,000 Aussie Millions package. It's gonna be crazy and I really look forward to it. I know I can hold my own but I am not truly crazy enough to think that I can outplay everyone. Nonetheless, it's one tournament. 1 in 27 chance. It could happen.

Good luck to everyone in the TOC, good luck to everyone in the tournament leaderboard freeroll (I'm the only one in the TOC who is not in the TLB, I think...), and may the best player win. Regardless of who wins, hopefully, we can send a great representative for this whole crew of poker degenerates. See you all tonight!

Tournament of Champions? Huh? Me? I'm in!

EDIT - linked everyone, added cmitch to the list of railers. Thanks for the comments everyone.

I'll post details later. I'm exhausted. But I gotta do this now. 2:20am? Perfect. I'll get about 5hrs of sleep.



So I'm in the 27 seat (I believe it's actually 26 now since xxMagicianxx won two seats, right?) Tournament of Champions to compete for a $18,000 Australia package. To say that I got lucky tonight is an understatement. Honestly, I'm not even gonna try to tell you how I played well or whatever... because when you get the cards that I got, it really doesn't matter. The grossest of them all was this one...

Sellthekids and I are heads up and basically he's got me covered 2:1 in chips. We get it all in and I am waaaaaaay behind (Mookie said, 93% vs 7%... too tired to check) when he flips over AA vs my A6... and this madness ensues...



This leads eventually to the final hand where I complete from the SB with K7, he checks and I flop top two. I check to him, he shoves, I instacall and that's all she wrote.



Like I said, even getting to this point, I got very lucky. I only got sucked out on once when my KK lost to AQ for a very big pot. However, my chipstack was very healthy so I wasn't totally dead. I think I was down to around 20k with about 12 people remaining but I recovered. And again, I don't really tilt over bad beats so I let that roll off my back and just kept playing.

I'm not gonna go into details now since I'm exhausted but suffice to say, pretty much anyone can win a tournament when you get cards like this:

AA x 1
AK x 8
AQ x 4
KK x 5
QQ x 3
JJ x 5
TT x 1

I guess those are the premium hands. And for good measure, 99 x 2.

It was sick. I won several big hands with AK including this critical one...

5 players remaining

Seat 3: actyper (38,682)
Seat 4: RecessRampage (42,122)
Seat 5: sellthekids (40,976)
Seat 7: madbrooklyn (18,420)
Seat 8: RaisingCayne (129,800)
actyper antes 500
RecessRampage antes 500
sellthekids antes 500
madbrooklyn antes 500
RaisingCayne antes 500
actyper posts the small blind of 2,000
RecessRampage posts the big blind of 4,000
The button is in seat #8
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RecessRampage [Kd Ac]
sellthekids folds
madbrooklyn folds
RaisingCayne raises to 129,300, and is all in <--- from the button
actyper has 15 seconds left to act
actyper has requested TIME
actyper calls 36,182, and is all in
RecessRampage: holy cow
RecessRampage has 15 seconds left to act
RecessRampage has requested TIME
RecessRampage: I honestly don't know what to do here
RecessRampage: you both have PP right?
RecessRampage: I gotta call
RecessRampage: gl me
RecessRampage calls 37,622, and is all in
RaisingCayne shows [7s Ts] <--- no PP
actyper shows [Ah Th] <--- no PP

as you can tell, my hand readings skills were right on... :)

RecessRampage shows [Kd Ac]
RaisingCayne: i'm a donkey!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!
sellthekids: fold till the points?
Uncalled bet of 87,678 returned to RaisingCayne
*** FLOP *** [5c 2h 3h]
*** TURN *** [5c 2h 3h] [6s]
*** RIVER *** [5c 2h 3h 6s] [Jc]
RaisingCayne shows Jack Ten high
RecessRampage shows Ace King high
RecessRampage wins the side pot (6,880) with Ace King high
actyper shows Ace Jack high
RecessRampage wins the main pot (117,046) with Ace King high
actyper stands up

I guess for most people, it's an instacall? I mean the point is to win so obviously you have to call but I guess I always have to think about these things... I guess that's why I'm no good in tourneys. But at least I got it right.

Now the inordinate amount of good cards I got can only be attributed to karma. Today, I transferred some money on FTP to InstantTragedy since he recently purchased a gift for Doc Chaco in Iraq. I don't even know Doc but I support what IT was doing so I just wanted to help out. Well, maybe the poker gods saw my good deed and decided to treat me. Who knows. I got lucky and poker is so easy when you get lucky. Who ever said this game is skill based???? (sarcasm based on my post from yesterday)

I also want to thank everyone that railed me at one point or another and esp the final table. Buddy hammered on the radio was hilarious and that and all the table banter made the final table a very entertaining one. I am afraid that if I list the names, I'll forget but I'll give it a shot. Also, I'll link you all up tomorrow, not that most of you needs it since everybody probably reads your blog before they read mine. Ok, in no particular order, here goes. Again, thanks Chad, LJ, InstantTragedy, JamyHawk, Pirate Lawyer, MClarich, Schaubs, Lightning36, pushmonkey, cmitch... I'm probably forgetting someone and if so, I am very sorry. Let me know, esp if you want to be linked up. Also, thanks Mookie for pointing out how much of a dog I was in that A6 vs AA hand... errr, I mean thanks for hosting. Dammit... it's 3am. GG to all. And thank you again for the support and entertainment.

WTF FULLTILT!?!?

So here I am, with my empty stomach, recovering from the "mild" food poisoning and playing in the BBT freeroll when the FTP server lets us all down by having some serious issues. For the next hour or so, this is what I see.





I mean come on. At first, it freaked me out until I heard from girly chats and BuddyDank radio that everyone was frozen out. This sucks.... this one hour (ok, maybe it's like 40 minutes) delay is really a hinderance to us east coasters. Honestly though, the BuddyDank radio and the girly chats kept me entertained... but I'm weak from the lack of food. Oh well... Yeah, yeah, cry me a river, I know. This sucks... I am now pulling for a reschedule...

My short vacation and a disappointing finish to the BBT

On Sunday, Mrs Recess and I headed down to Corolla, NC where my in-laws were renting a beach house for the week. Because of my work schedule, we couldn't stay all week, which is why we are now safely back in Richmond. Well, as most of you know, heading into the final BBT tournament (Don's Big Game), I was in 6th or 7th place on the BBT leaderboard with Top 5 winning cash/prizes. I also saw who was behind me and there were several solid players behind me so I knew that instead of worrying about how others do, I just needed to take this down and then the rest would take care of itself. I also have to admit that I was relatively confident heading into this tournament. Having just taken down the Mookie and this being my favorite format as a deep stack tourney, I thought I had a chance to do real well. My only concern was whether I was actually going to be able to play. The house we were at did not have an internet connection so as we were driving down, I was making note of the nearby hotels that maybe I could go and "borrow" their wireless that night.
Well, it was already a lucky start to my night. I booted up my laptop and found a wireless network in the neighborhood that I can latch on to. It wasn't the most reliable but I figured if it did cut out in the middle of the tourney, there's a hotel 10 minutes down the road that I can go and try to get connected so I felt comfortable.
As the tourney kicked off, it seemed that the players were fairly tight. I had Astin to my right, BuddyDank, a few seats to my left, and Mike_Maloney across the table from me. At that point, I was no threat to BuddyDank who by making the points in this tourney secured his second place finish to the BBT Machine that is Bayne_s. However, Astin and Mike_Maloney were both right behind me on the BBT leaderboard so I would be lying if I said that I didn't pay attention to that. I played fairly tight but with a deep stack tourney, the beginning of the tourney plays similarly to a cash game which I am very comfortable in. It helps to get good cards when I was able to send Astin to the rail when I flopped a straight against his bottom set and no improvement for him ended his solid run in the BBT series. I was on a roll when later, I flopped top set with my QQ, got it all in on the flop against Bone_Daddy84's KQ and so I have 3 times my starting stack. I could describe the hand but he does a much better job so visit his recap of this hand here.

I have to admit, I was starting to think this could be my night when Mike_Maloney pulled off what I would consider the most impressive, trickiest move I've ever seen in poker... oh, excuse me, while I mop up all the sarcasm that dripped off that sentence. :)

FullTiltPoker Game #2826271870: Blogger Big Game (19471102), Table 5 - 30/60 - No Limit Hold'em - 22:10:44 ET - 2007/07/01
Seat 1: Mike_Maloney (1,380) <--- VILLAIN
Seat 3: IslandBum1 (2,644)
Seat 5: RecessRampage (8,657)
Seat 6: leftylu (4,470)
Seat 7: maf212 (4,144)
Seat 8: BuddyDank (2,665)
Seat 9: mtnrider81 (3,040)
RecessRampage posts the small blind of 30
leftylu posts the big blind of 60
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RecessRampage [Ks Kc]
maf212 folds
BuddyDank folds
mtnrider81 folds
Mike_Maloney calls 60 <--- limp huh? weak hand?
IslandBum1 folds
RecessRampage raises to 300 <--- HERO raises like a MAN
leftylu folds
Mike_Maloney: jerk <--- directed to yours truly, how dare he???
Mike_Maloney has 15 seconds left to act
Mike_Maloney has requested TIME <--- oooh, digging deep into his play book!
Mike_Maloney: let's gambooooool <--- oh yeah, LET'S! I got kings, biatch! Mike_Maloney raises to 1,380, and is all in
RecessRampage calls 1,080
Mike_Maloney shows [Ac Ah] <--- what a jerk...
RecessRampage shows [Ks Kc]
RecessRampage: dammit <--- well said
*** FLOP *** [Tc 8c 2h]
*** TURN *** [Tc 8c 2h] [4c]
*** RIVER *** [Tc 8c 2h 4c] [7c]
Mike_Maloney shows a flush, Ace high
RecessRampage: jerk <--- so true...
RecessRampage shows a flush, King high
Jerk, I mean Mike_Maloney wins the pot (2,820) with a flush, Ace high
Mike_Maloney: lol

I hope you all go visit his site here and leave him nasty comments! :) (of course, I jest... I promised him that I'd post this hand so here it is, bro!)

But that was really a bump in the road because he was relatively short stacked. I still had a very healthy stack... and then my test as a tournament player came up. I went card dead. I started off hot but my cards took a turn for the worse and so I was slowly bleeding chips off but still above average and doing fairly well. The only two remaining that were involved in terms of the BBT race were Hoy and Jeciimd. So, I needed to outlast these two in order to climb up the BBT leaderboard further. Well, I'm clearly no Hoy when it comes to tourneys and I didn't know how to make something out of nothing. When my cards went dead, I really didn't know what to do. And then this hand came up which I think was kind of a make or break situation in this tournament...

FullTiltPoker Game #2827036091: Blogger Big Game (19471102), Table 5 - 150/300 Ante 25 - No Limit Hold'em - 23:26:54 ET - 2007/07/01
Seat 1: hoyazo (3,125)
Seat 2: DDionysus (6,538)
Seat 3: IslandBum1 (5,188)
Seat 4: Julius_Goat (7,357)
Seat 5: RecessRampage (8,012)
Seat 6: TripJax (5,940)
Seat 7: DonkeyPuncher74 (3,785)
Seat 8: DaBag (12,885)
Seat 9: NewinNov (6,621)
hoyazo antes 25
DDionysus antes 25
IslandBum1 antes 25
Julius_Goat antes 25
RecessRampage antes 25
TripJax antes 25
DonkeyPuncher74 antes 25
DaBag antes 25
NewinNov antes 25
DonkeyPuncher74 posts the small blind of 150
DaBag posts the big blind of 300
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RecessRampage [Jd Ac]
NewinNov folds
hoyazo folds
DDionysus folds
IslandBum1 folds
Julius_Goat folds
RecessRampage raises to 1,275
TripJax folds
DonkeyPuncher74 raises to 3,760, and is all in
DaBag folds
RecessRampage has 15 seconds left to act
RecessRampage has requested TIME
hoyazo: nh dp.
RecessRampage folds
Uncalled bet of 2,485 returned to DonkeyPuncher74
DonkeyPuncher74 mucks
DonkeyPuncher74 wins the pot (3,075)
The blinds are now 200/400 with an ante of 50

I know it wasn't that much more for me to call. I was really torn. But I hadn't been stealing from late position in a while so I felt that DonkeyPuncher74 had no reason to think that I was on a pure steal. Plus, if I called and my guess that he had a better hand was right, (I felt that the BEST CASE scenario was that I was on the wrong side of a coin flip) I would become relatively shortstacked. So, I decided to pick a better spot. In hindsight, I still don't know if I should have called or not. Any thoughts here would be appreciated.

Less than 20 hands later, it's amazing how good KJo looks when you go through a streak of 85o, 52o, etc. So, I jam and get called by Hoy who has AK and that's when it was over for me. Such a disappointing end to what could have been a nice little fun in the BBT series.

Personally, I loved the BBT and so to all those involved in making this happen, thank you so much. I just wish I actually paid attention and knew the prize structure (I literally did not know about the top 5 thing until like the last week of this BBT). I know there were discussions about changing the points thing. I think ROI is probably a good measure because if it's just a total $ won, it would skew the tournaments in terms of the big ones being weighted more heavily. But there would obviously have to be like minimum events played or something because you don't want someone to go on a rush early, win a few and then sit out for the rest of the season and pretty much have the top spot locked up. I don't know. Either way, I look forward to Season 2.

After that though, there was no more poker for the next few days. We hung out at the beach where Mrs Recess became Mrs Lobster... she apparently missed her entire upper legs so she's red as lobster and in a lot of pain. Aside from that though, we had a good time with the family, hanging out, enjoying each other's company, good cooking, doughnuts in the morning, ice cream in the evening... One morning, I woke up very early and so I decided to go for a walk on the beach to enjoy some alone time... Though I missed playing poker, it was nice to enjoy some peaceful time. And I leave you with this picture that I took from my camera phone. Nothing like a sunrise over the ocean... So beautiful...

Blogger Pimpage!

Alright, before I start my general "I love talking about myself" blog entry, I have to do some blog pimpage for others. I kinda assumed that everyone knew but in case you missed it (ie, in case you live under a rock), Hoy cashed in the WSOP Event #12 6 max event which his specialty! Also, another blogger made some noise at the WSOP! And I know her in person! Lana, again, congrats on cashing in the WSOP Ladies Event! I'd like to think that us meeting before your trip gave you the good karma. Yes, I realize I had nothing to do with it but I'll take credit for it anyways - I mean it IS my blog after all. :) I'm sure she'll do a more detailed write up but check her blog here.

Ok, some more pimpage. First off, let me say this to all my nonblogger, poker-playing friends that the blogger tourneys are not exclusive to bloggers. It is open to everyone and more the merrier. Just to summarize, MATH (Mondays at the Hoy - password hammer) is on Mondays (never would've guessed) at 10pm EST, Mookie on Wednesdays (password vegas1) at 10pm EST, and Riverchasers on Thursdays at 9:00pm EST (password Riverchasers). So, if you guys want to play, feel free to do so. And, more importantly, BuddyDank and InstantTragedy are teaming up to bring some quality entertainment through your Media Player (I use RealPlayer but you can use Itunes or WINamp also). Seriously, it's freakin awesome and if you want to know the details, click HERE. They'll take requests, you can talk all the shit you want (Buddy, you lucky donk) and seriously, it's just a great great time. Now some of the music played can be considered questionable but it's all by request so if you don't like some of the songs, blame the other bloggers. And no, I did NOT request ABBA. That was all InstantTragedy.

But in all seriousness, the BuddyDank & IT radio is awesome. So, go check their websites out! Plus, personally, I love Buddy's banner. Never gets old. :)

Ok, well, I need to catch up on the zzzzz's so I'm gonna leave you with this interesting hand that came up.

Full Tilt Poker Game #2659589534: Table Karina Jett - $2/$4 - No Limit Hold'em - 21:26:19 ET - 2007/06/13
9 handed - my stack is up to $554 and the villain has a full buy-in ($400)

I'm in the SB with 79o and it's folded all the way to me.

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RecessRampage [7s 9c]

RecessRampage raises to $12
Villain calls $8

*** FLOP *** [7d 5c 9d] <--- BOOM!
RecessRampage checks
Villain has 15 seconds left to act
Villain bets $18
RecessRampage raises to $56 <--- kind of a draw heavy board so check raise a decent amount
Villain has 15 seconds left to act
Villain calls $38
*** TURN *** [7d 5c 9d] [Jd]
RecessRampage has 15 seconds left to act
RecessRampage bets $100
Villain has 15 seconds left to act
Villain raises to $332, and is all in
RecessRampage has 15 seconds left to act
RecessRampage has requested TIME

Ok, so clearly, I am in a very interesting situation that I pretty much created for myself. I flop top two on a draw heavy board, a 3rd diamond comes on the turn which is clearly a scare card and yet, I somehow manage to donk bet $100 into this pot that had $136 before my bet. The strong bet was to show that I wasn't afraid of the diamond and to take down this sizeable pot. Then the villain thinks about it and pushes... It's $232 more to call with a pot that is now $568. So, it's serious thinking time.

What are your thoughts here? I raised preflop and he called. But granted, it's only from a SB so I could have anything, even though I think I had a generally tight image. Does he have a set? Catch a straight on the turn? Or did he hit the flush? I gave it some good thought and this was my thought. If he had the flush, he has no reason to push considering I've shown enough strength that he could probably reel me in. He could easily have a set but if he flopped it, I think there would've been a little more action on the flop considering the draw heavy board. Did the J on the turn give him the set? Or... And honestly, this is what I thought. Maybe he has a hand like TT with one of them being a diamond so he has a solid overpair on the flop, and now, with the scare card, he's trying to scare me off (which I played like I have an overpair) and if I call, he has outs. Honest to god, that was my exact read. And this is what happened:


RecessRampage calls $232
Villain shows [7c Ts] <--- wow, worse than I expected... not even a diamond draw
RecessRampage shows [7s 9c]
*** RIVER *** [7d 5c 9d Jd] [As]
Villain shows a pair of Sevens
RecessRampage shows two pair, Nines and Sevens
RecessRampage wins the pot ($797) with two pair, Nines and Sevens

So, it ends up that he was really doing this with air, believing his read (?) that I had maybe like AK. But honestly, with as much action as he saw from me, there's no reason for him to go to war with a hand like that.

This was a key pot for me because this actually brought me back to even after a brutal night where my AA and KK were slashed three times tonight, fortunately by relative short stacks but at these tables, the relative short stacks still have like $160 so believe me, down $500 early in the night with those suckouts hurt. This definitely brought me back to being even for the night... thank god.

Oh and the Mookie? I didn't do well tonight... I donk played (errr, slow played) AA and it cost me early... couldn't get much going with my short stack and eventually busted when I lost the race with AK vs 88. Online poker is so rigged.

MATH recap

The Battle of the Blogger Tournaments enter the final home stretch with I think 10 tournaments (maybe 9 after MATH) left and yours truly right in the middle (6th) of a grueling battle for the top 3 (measly 83 pts separate the 3rd place spot, currently occupied by NewinNov and the 7th place spot, occupied by jeciimd). After a weekend of decent showings in the MTTs I played in (which I know is very few compared to other MTT players), I was fairly confident that I was gonna do well. Well... I did... sort of. Early on, I was able to chip up thanks to a good mix of good cards, decent reads and decent aggression. Having good hands when it went to showdown helped me steal some pots in position. And by doing so, I was able to build a big stack and I was in the top 3 for a long time as I look to really take over this tournament. Well, I started losing focus because what I also wanted, along with winning was also knocking out the others who are in the top 7 points to ensure that I could make up some ground... and because of that, this was the first hand where I knew it was going to be a bad move and yet, I donk-raised...

There were 6 of us on the table with NewinNov as the shortstack and I really wanted to knock him out. He starts with T2,870 in chips and the blinds are 150/300 ante 25 (so the pot starts with 600) and he minraises from the CO. That screamed a big hand... my gut instinct was he has a big hand. I am in the SB, look down to see 44. I tell myself he's got a big hand. And next thing I know, I'm shoving my 19K+ stack into the middle, now hoping for a race... well, it was a race that I was losing badly as he showed JJ... Nothing like doubling up the one guy that I wanted to bust mainly on a donkish move by me.

Well, I didn't let that affect me and just kept up my aggressive ways and I started targeting the other big stack at the table... wwonka69, thinking that he wouldn't want to go up against the other big stack at the table without a good hand. So, every time he posted his big blind, I put in a raise from the CO. I think I went 3 or 4 orbits in a row where I did that... and then this came up...

FullTiltPoker Game #2643750853: Mondays at the Hoy (19464466), Table 1 - 200/400 Ante 50 - No Limit Hold'em - 0:00:48 ET - 2007/06/12
Seat 3: RecessRampage (19,362)
Seat 4: bayne_s (9,260)
Seat 6: wwonka69 (10,720)
Seat 7: leftylu (14,526)
Seat 8: NewinNov (4,340)
RecessRampage antes 50
bayne_s antes 50
wwonka69 antes 50
leftylu antes 50
NewinNov antes 50
leftylu posts the small blind of 200
NewinNov posts the big blind of 400
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RecessRampage [Ah Qc]
RecessRampage raises to 1,650
bayne_s folds
wwonka69 raises to 5,800
leftylu folds
NewinNov folds
RecessRampage has 15 seconds left to act
RecessRampage raises to 19,312, and is all in
wwonka69 calls 4,870, and is all in
RecessRampage shows [Ah Qc]
wwonka69 shows [6d 6h]
Uncalled bet of 8,642 returned to RecessRampage
*** FLOP *** [Kd 8h Ts]
*** TURN *** [Kd 8h Ts] [Th]
*** RIVER *** [Kd 8h Ts Th] [2s]
RecessRampage shows a pair of Tens
wwonka69 shows two pair, Tens and Sixes
wwonka69 wins the pot (22,190) with two pair, Tens and Sixes

Man, why couldn't the river be K, T, or 8, or A, or Q.... so many outs... And honestly speaking, when I reraised all in, I thought this was a case where he finally felt like he had enough so I thought he would reraise me with a hand like AJ, AT (of course, with also hands like AA, KK, AK, QQ, JJ, TT - all of which beats me).... Now that I look at this, it almost seems lucky that I was just a dog on a coin flip. This was clearly the turning point. If I take that pot, since we went to the final table during this hand, it would have been down to 8 players and with 30k+, I would have been a dominating stack. Instead, I was down to approx 9k and then I went card dead... and my stack was a little too short to make any moves aside from pushing all in... eventually, I did, actually right after I made sure NewinNov busted and I end what could've and should've been a monster run at the MATH in 8th place... that was a shitty finish to an otherwise well played tournament by me. Couple of questionable moves by me jeopardized my stack and eventually, I forced myself into a situation where I had to push with J9o... That sucked. Well, at least there is the Mookie tomorrow.

I broke the seal!

Finally... I started the year with approx $800 and my goal was to run it up to 5 digits... I was off to a quick start and then May came around and I stalled big time. I was able to lock in another 4 digit profit month but barely and I was pretty upset about my results in May. By April, I was definitely on pace to hit 5 digits so May was supposed to have been the month but I crossed over at one point but by the time I cashed out of the table, I was in the "close" territory. Well, I finally did it. Today, I went past the 5 digit mark and hopefully, will never look back.

I played ok on the cash tables but I had two tournaments that I played in today. One was the Ironman Freeroll and the other was a $69+6 buy-in, $12,500 guarantee tournament on FTP. I always said that Ironman is your typical "rich gets richer" scheme. For the bronze and the silver levels where they are easy to achieve, I think you get a fair number of entrants. But for the gold and the ironman level, there's a lot less. This month, there were only 205 runners in the Ironman level and top 90 gets paid. Yeah, Top 90. That's an insane ratio where almost half the players get paid. Seriously, you can fold to the money (one guy literally did. He never signed on but won because right before he had to go all in, the money bubble burst). I ended up in 53rd place and got $120... which was unfortunate because 45-90 all got paid $120. I could've been conservative and gone for the money bump but that's not why I play, right?

In the other tournament, I played fairly well. I was able to build up my chip stack rather early when I was able to exploit some of the weak tight players at the table (and you KNOW they are weak-tight if I can exploit them). So, I actually tripled my buy-in and was sitting pretty when this stupid hand came up...

I was raising from late position as I was frequently doing but this time I have pocket kings. All our money goes in on the flop when I see this...



Online poker is soooooo rigged. Fortunately, I chipped up early so even though this hurt, it brought my stack down to T2000 which was only slightly below average. Well, one thing I'm definitely good at is that I rarely tilt. I moved on like nothing happened and continued to play solid poker.

As the second break was coming up, I was doing fairly well.



As the bubble approached, I wanted to make sure that I didn't tighten up... except all of a sudden, I went card dead. And other big stacks were raising before me so I couldn't make a move. I slowly dwindled down until I decided to just attack the guys who were raising almost every time. Fortunately, that worked and one key hand where I was able to win the coinflip propelled me into top 8 with about 18 players remaining. I tried to remain aggressive but in the end, I got picked off when we saw the flop four handed, I pushed with an open ended straight draw and a guy who had me barely covered called with TPTK. Unfortunate end to a decent run. Having said that, it's always nice to see these messages pop up...



And believe me, I was pretty happy finishing 13th out of 258 runners even though, I can't help but think what could've been... And this one for the ironman challenge...



In all honesty, finding this blogging community has been the best thing that's happened to my poker life. By reading others' blogs and playing in the BBT, I know that my tournament skills have improved immensely over the past couple of months. Before, I felt like I could eventually win one of these things. Right now, I feel like it's a matter of time before I take one down. I know I have a few more things to learn for sure but I know I can get there. And hopefully, that will be sooner rather than later.

PS. Schaubs, thanks for the email. I'll have the password for future references! And don't worry about not getting back to me in time. At least I had a good excuse for not being in the 4 man tourney... :)