Back in the saddle again

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!!! Time to get back to the tables this week. As a tune up we played a home game (I use my personal money for home games) at Anthony's. I went out fairly early in the first game but won the second game and the $75 first prize. I figured I would see how my luck was holding up by going to Palomar on Friday morning. Met up with Peter there (he actually was seated just to my right) and played pretty well. I ended up in 10th place, not bad considering I only played about 3-4 hands the whole time I was there. After several early rebuys Peter actually played down and chopped with one other player.

Looking forward to getting going this week and hopefully putting together a bit of a win streak ... more later. :)

Wow...deja vu

Ok so Wed morning I decide to go to Oceans and I am feeling pretty good about my game. I even get a great table and a great seat (table 40 seat 6)... I start of like a house on fire including an early triple up when I called a raise with AJ and flopped a full house. Somehow I got two guys to go all in and went from 3000 to just over 10,000 in a flash. I even commented I should leave the table and come back later so as not to donk of my chips. I did lose about 1/3 of my stack when I got an AK and flopped top pair but the board had three hearts and when two guys went all in I had a feeling someone had flopped a flush but there was too much money out there and I had to call. Sure enough I had one guy beat but the other had the flush. No problem, still had plenty of money and shortly after that I doubled up when my KK held up against AK. Then things went south. I had 10/10 and put in a decent raise and got one caller. The flop came 5/5/3 with two of them suited. I put in a big bet and the other player went all in (I had about 2500 more chips than he did). I thought about it and knew he didn't have a 5 and thought he either had a pair like 66 or 77 or had two big cards with a flush draw so i decided to call. He turned over JJ and I my stack was severely depleted. To make matters worse the next hand I had AJ suited and a slightly smalled stack went all in. I called and lost again. The next hand I went all in with 400 and was cracked on the river. From big stack to out in three hands. Now I know how Scottie Wynn feels.

Flash forward to Friday morning at Pechanga. Again I was playing fairly well when I looked down at 10/10. The blinds were 50/100 and I raised to 350. I got one caller and believe it or not the flop was 5/5/3. I bet out 800 and he snapped raised me all in and I sat and thought about it. If he had a 5 he would have wanted me to play but I couldn't stop thinking about the Jacks and eventually I laid it down. I had a pretty decent stack and didn't want to go out that early in the tournament. He showed and A2... so he did have some outs but I had the better hand and should have played. He eventually got knocked out by people calling his bluffs after they saw his hand against me and I eventually went out in about 40th place. But I could not believe I got almost the exact same hand (the suits might have been different) in back to back tournaments.

I will probably be playing a very light schedule during the Thanksgiving holiday but we do have a couple of home games (I use my own money for those) tonight and Thanksgiving night. I also have all of you to be thankful for this holiday season. You have given me the opportunity to pursue a dream and I can never thank you enough for the opportunity. We are still a little behind but plenty of money and plenty of time to go. My immediate goals is to get us in the black by years end :) Everyone have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!

Lost weekend

Sorry for the lack of updates the last few days, it was kind of a lost weekend. Went with Lisa, Duane and Michael to Pechanga on Friday for Lisa's birthday... all that needs to be said on my part is I had pocket 5's three times in the first twenty minutes and didn't win with any of them. I was out at the break and Duane lasted the longest coming in 23rd and they were paying 20. Was not able to play Saturday so I decided to go to barona on sunday morning. It was a cheap buy in and hoped going somewhere new might change my luck. made it about 2/3rds of the way through when I just called a hand with AJ. Two other players just called and the flop came AK4 rainbow. I had top pair and figured no one else had an Ace so I pushed all in with about 8 times the big blind. One guy folded right away and the other thought about it before calling. He turned over AQ... ooops he was slow playing also. I actually hit my jack but the board matched a K and it forfeited my jack and he won with his Q kicker. Last but not least was Palomar this morning... first hand I had AQ and called a raise to $350. The flop came A/10/7 and I pushed all in. the original raiser called with 89 suited for an up and down straight draw which he hit on the river. A few hands later I had JJ and a guy went all in blind before me. I went all in to keep it to just the two of us when a late player also called and turned over KQ offsuit... and of course he hit his queen and king. I managed to stick around until only two tables left but that was it. I have been fighting allergies (or maybe a cold) and didn't feel great playing yesterday or today. Can't play tomorrow because I have to stay home for the repair guy I thought was coming last week. I might try again on Wed. depending on how I am feeling. Otherwise might not be a bad idea to take a few days off and see if my luck changes.

Mid Week Update

Just a quick midweek update... didn't play on Tuesday since I had to wait around my apartment for a repair guy... see the poker life isn't always glamorous..LOL Didn't play again today because I wasn't feeling well. I did however go to Oceans on Wed. for their AM tournament and was feeling really good about making the money. As a matter of fact I won the first 5-6 hands we played before going cold for a while... as a matter of fact at the end of the first hour I had the exact same amount of chips I had when I started (3000). After a couple of table moves I managed to get my stack up to about 6500. When they broke us down to 4 tables (149 players, paying 14) I had the 6400 in front of me and the blinds were 400/800. I wasn't there for more than a few hands when I looked down at QJ spades under the gun. I decided to just call and see if I could look at a cheap flop when the guy to my left raised to 2400... everyone else folded and it was back to me. I thought about it for quite a while and decided just to call (even though I knew it was marginal and could probably have thrown it away) figuring that if I blanked on the flop I could still toss it and have 4000 to play with but if I hit any part of it I was probably pot committed. The flop came A4 spades and the J diamonds giving me middle pair and a big flush draw... I pushed all in figuring as long as he didn't have AA I at least had some outs. Sure enough he turned over AK giving him top pair but I had lots of outs (9 spades, any Q or any J, for at least 12 outs not to mention back door straight draws).... all I remember about the last two cards they were small and red and I was done. I gotta cash in this tournament pretty soon... I am basically one hand away :) Heading to Pechanga Am tournament tomorrow with Lisa for her birthday... wish us luck!

PS If you are one of my non poker playing partners and would like me to explain any of the term i use here or any posts, feel free to leave me a comment and let me know.

Sometime you gotta hate poker...

OK so i played the Palomar morning tournament... again played very well... was up... was down and back up again. Finally got down to 11 players (paying 7 today) with the blind 500/1000. I have about 10,000 or so in chips and a very aggressive guy (with more chips than me) in front of me bets about 6000... I look down at KK and go all in... a guy to my left (also with more chips) goes all in also and the original bettor thinks for a minute and calls. The guy to my left turns over QQ and I tell him I have him dominated with KK... finally the original bettor turns over 66. I am just asking the deal not to match any ones hole cards and the flop comes 349 rainbow... the turn is a five... and the river a 2. The original bettor runs a four card straight on the board and instead of my being the massive chip leader, I am on the rail. Gotta love (I mean hate) poker sometimes...

Twice in a row...almost

I had some good results at the Pechanga Friday AM tournament last week so decided to give it another try this week... 200 players started and they were paying the top 20. I was playing pretty well as I have been lately and before I knew it we were down to the final four tables when the key hand took place... i had been down to about $3000 in chips and tripled up to $9000 with an A3 suited that held up. The very next hand I looked down at QQ and decided to push again... this time I got two callers (one with the exact same amount as me and one with a little less) and they both turned over AJ offsuit... sweet, they had each others cards. the flop came 356 rainbow (all different suits)... looking good... the turn was a 4... ok still good... the river a 2 for a board straight and a 3 way chop... so instead of having 20,000+ and cruising into the final table I had just over the 9,000 I started with. Soon there after I had gotten my stack to about 11,000 and they broke down to 3 tables with the blinds at $1500/3000.... a couple of hands later I caught an AQ... the guy before me bet 8000 and I had to decide to lay it down and try to limp in to the final table or hope he had something like AJ, A10 or a pair lower than JJ so I had at least two over cards. I finally called and to my surprise one other player also called...oops I thought... the bettor turned over KK and the second bettor had QQ... well at least I had the ace but no go... no aces and that was it for the day ending in 23rd place, two off the money. Turns out I should have tried to limp in but still i feel good because I am playing well and getting deep in the tournaments... hopefully better finishing luck next week :)

A Random Update

I was looking at the numbers today and although we are still behind a couple of hundred bucks, my tournament cash ratio has stayed the same or even gone up a little since before bringing on investors. To date I have played in 28 Tournaments and cashed in 7 for a 25% cash rate. I was running closer to 20% before. I guess because I am playing some slightly higher stake tournaments, I will need to hit a couple of those to really pump up the profits. For instance, I have played in the Oceans 11 Wed. morning $60 buy in four times now. I have never finished in less than the top 50% and my best finish was 16th and they were paying 12. Which means based on my average cash rate I should cash in that tournament soon. Quite often the pot gets up to $5,000-6000 with first place paying upwards of two grand. One or two good finishes in that tournament and we have some profit to work with.

What I would really like to do is hit the tournament bad beat jackpot at Oceans. Currently it is at $92,000. You must loose with quad 7's or better. The losing hand gets 40%, the winning hand gets 20% and everyone else at the table splits 40%... now that would be a nice pay day :)

Just a random update. Talk to you soon

Midweek Update

Well until today it was a pretty uneventful week... came in 11th at Palomar on Monday (they were paying 6) but never had to rebuy. Tuesday went with Lisa to Pechanga for the 2 for 1 Tuesday special and although won a couple of hands early, was short stacked heading into the first break and pushed with AK figuring I either chip up or at least don't have to sit through the break just to go out a few minutes after...ended up losing to AQ when they hit a Q. Wed. was the $60 buy in Am tournament... was doing fairly well with the key hand coming with about half the players left and I had a small to mid stack... I raised with AJ and one player (with a few less chips than me) called. The flop came a J of diamonds with two smaller diamonds. He pushed all in and after thinking about it I didn't put him on diamonds so I decided to call. Sure enough he turned over 77 and I was way ahead.... until the turn and the river ended up being diamonds for a chop pot. So instead of chipping up I was still about the same position and ended up going out with a little less than 4 tables left. I stayed to play a little cash but ended up losing $40.

Finally this morning went back to Palomar and it was crazy early so I just tossed hand after hand. Finally caught one big hand before the break and was feeling better and as it turned out never had to rebuy. Not much after that and my stack kept getting smaller... they finally broke up our table and I had about two blinds left... several double ups later I was 3rd or 4th chip leader when we went to one table. They were only paying 6 but everyone wanted to chop 9 ways. I fought it for a while but since the guy who says no always ends up losing I finally relented and we chopped for $160 each at least to getting me back to just above even for the week. I may end up staying close to home for a while since I certainly seem to win more often at Palomar even if it is for less money than some of the other tournaments.

Monday Monday

Not a whole lot to report today, family stuff kept me from playing this weekend but decided to run over to Palomar this morning. Once again it ended up being close but no cigar. I was catching a lot of hands early and got my stack up to about $10,000. Shortly there after the cards went dead and i wasted a few chasing some hands I would have hit earlier. Finally got down to two tables (paying 7) and I was getting short stacked with about $5500 when I looked down at AQ off suit and decided to push. Unfortunately for me the woman to my left called my all in with about 1800 less than I had and she turned over QQ. No aces and missed a straight draw on the board to end my day in 11th place. Tomorrow will be playing the Oceans morning tournament and cash afterward in and effort to get us back to even :)