Horrid start, strong finish

I'm heading to bed shortly but I thought I'd post quickly.

Things actually started really well. I had good stacks on a number of tables close to the final table ... then it all went wrong. I had some awful beats and things just didn't go my way. On the bubble, small blind shoves with 2 5 off and I snap call with kings in the big blind. He of course rivers a straight leaving me now short-stacked and I was out soon after. I finished 5th on another final table and then went on an absolute drought of not cashing (13 straight games).

Near the end of my session I started to have some luck and had some hands hold up finally. I finished the night with two good stacks on final tables. I lost two flips in a row on one and went out in 5th but thankfully got the other won. I was getting run over a bit heads-up but took a stand with king 8 off and thankfully flopped an 8 to beat his king jack and soon after got the win.

The win takes my firsts to 5 already which is a solid start less than half way through the month. I also unlocked the next VIP Stellar Reward so my bankroll is now up to $1160. Yes, my solid finish basically broke me even for the night.

Here's a song I like that's getting a fair bit of airplay on Triple J at the moment. I don't usually like remixes but I'm a fan of the original by MGMT which was also used as the opening song to the movie 21.

A win for the ages

The last day or two has been back to the see-saw up and down that I went through a few weeks back.

Monday I played just 6 games and failed to cash in any of them. Tuesday I came back, played 9 games, got two 3rd places and a 6th. Last night I played for a while longer, 18 games but cashed just 3 of them, 2 min-cashes and a 5th.

I've been sticking mainly to the $3.25 45 man games with a few $2.20 180 mans thrown in. I'm not sure why I bother playing those because I haven't done any good lately. I got close last night in one of the 4 but bubbled going out in 23rd spot.

After work I played 5 of the 45 mans. The plans were to get to the gym and do some cardio before it got too busy but I was waiting for some clothes to dry so figured I would get in some time on the tables.

I grabbed a 3rd in the second game I played, called an over-shove with ace king, he turned over 4 9 and hit a 4 to take down the hand and knock me out. I bubbled the next game when I went to the final table short-stacked and couldn't get a shove-worthy hand and had to defend my big blind and couldn't hit.

My final game of the night is where the title of this post comes from. I found myself in trouble with the blinds at 100/200, I was the big blind with just 540 behind. I had pocket 5's in the big blind and had 2 limpers in front of me. I figured I had to try and get rid of one of them and hope for the best so I pushed all-in but called by both of them. Thankfully there was a 5 on the flop so I survived and tripled up. Next hand I got pocket queens, the chip-leader next to me min-raised so I shoved over the top but he called with king jack suited. I had him labelled as loose before this but this call confirmed it by him. Thankfully my queens survived and I now had a good stack of over 5000 (blinds still at 200) and was the chip leader on my table.

By the time the blinds were at 600 I was down to 3600 in chips but picked up a few shovable hands and took down a few blinds to get a healthy stack again. When the final table formed I had an ok stack of over 6000 but so did most other people. There was some crazy play on the table and by the time a few players had survived all-ins I was soon short-stack with 1 more player to go before the money. With the loose player still on my right, and blinds now at 2000, it was folded around to him in the small blind and of course he raised. I only had 1200 behind and had queen 2 but against him I didn't mind called and he turned over 9 4 off. I hit a queen on the flop, took down the hand and moved ahead of 2 other stacks.

The bubble burst but with the blinds so high compared to my stack I had to get it in soon and double-up. I had 2 limpers to my big blind and I had queen 3 off and checked. The flop came down 8 5 3 and the loose player checked to me. I thought the one limper from early/mid position shouldn't have hit that flop so if I shove I should take it down and chip-up. I push but am called by the limper who played ace 8 off. I'm in trouble but hit runner runner flush to escape and almost triple up.

By the time the hourly break comes around we were down to just 5 players left and I realised I was now in second place. The chip leader had 3 times the chips I did and knocked out 2 players in one hand when he raised and flopped a straight. He then took out the 3rd placed finisher and had a HUGE chip lead 58,000 - 9,500 when the heads-up battle began.

I was more than happy with second and didn't have high expectations facing that sort of deficit and with the blinds at 1500/3000. I got dealt 4 8 off and 6 10 off first 2 hands and folded them both. Considering the state of the game, I probably should've taken my chances with the 6 10 but didn't. So in the big blind with just 1560 behind (chip lead was 62,790 to 4710) I called his push with queen 9 suited. He turned over 5 6 off and I was looking good until he flopped a 6 ... I said "gg" but spiked a queen on the river to survive. Next hand I get queen 9 again and push all-in, he calls with ace 8 off but I spike a queen on the flop and now have a playable stack of over 18,000 (he still has over 45K).

Next hand he raises from the small blind and I have ace queen off in the big blind and shove over the top. He calls turning over king 4 off, neither of us hit so I win and now have the chip lead! I don't complete the small blind on the next hand but a few hands later I'm now in a dominant chip position with 44,000 to 23,000. I complete the small blind with 9 2 suited (spades) and he checks the big blind. Flop comes down 9, 4, 5 but they're all hearts. He shoves for 19K and I call hoping to hold on, he turns over 5 6 off without a heart and I'm now on my feet fist-pumping for the win and do!!

I couldn't believe I had fought back from short-stack with about 25 players left, survived the final table bubble and fought back from the unbelievable chip position during heads-up to take down the win. To top it off I even got a run in at the gym so a winning and productive day.

Good start to the day

I just got up an hour or two ago, didn't feel like breakfast as I ate a lot yesterday. I went to the gym in the afternoon, had a couple of sandwiches when I got home and then went to a friend's place to watch the AFL Grand Final, NRL Semi-Final and I was hoping to catch the first episode of Joe Hachem's The Poker Star but unfortunately that last one didn't happen. As soon as I walked in the door, the beers were cracked and the food started flowing and really didn't stop.

Anyway, I like playing poker on Sunday mornings because its the one chance I get to play in a number of the big MTT's. I late registered for one about 50 minutes late, normally I wouldn't but there was over 6000 players in it and it was only a $1 buy-in. Nothing exciting to report there, registered for another $1 buy in one and didn't do much better there either.

I've been wondering what to do with my FPP's and decided to play in a satellite to the nightly 50K guaranteed (normally an $11 buy-in). It was only 70FPP's and it was a turbo satellite which I really didn't take in to account in the early rounds. Thankfully I got some hands at the right time, picked a few other good spots and was right back in the game. There was 190'ish runners, 19 of which would qualify for the 50K. Being a turbo the blinds were high late and an ace high shove from the small blind held up and I was well in contention. The table was very tight unless they had a big hand so I was pleasantly surprised when everyone folded to my blind instead of making me taking a stand around the bubble. I used my time bank in the right spots to slow our table down and it worked well enough to get me through. The 50K starts in just over an hour so hopefully I can do something in that.

While playing that I also won a $1 45 man game. I was in a good position all the way through and despite being last in chips with about 4 to go, got some hands, took down some blinds and got out of the way when the big action started. I went in to heads-up facing a large deficit but took down a big hand or two to even the ledger. We then went back and forth for a while until he went card dead and got too passive. He was folding way too many hands when short-stacked and I was able to take advantage of it.

Worlds collide

It's so annoying planning for a night of poker only to find out PokerStars are doing their weekly reset of the server. Its weekly (I think) but it never seems to be on the same night, there's no announcement so you can never plan to be elsewhere.

Before the reset I was doing really well, chipped up in two 45 man tournaments with a good chance to cash both. I went a bit card dead in one and by the time final table formed I was in 8th or 9th place. I pushed all-in early and chipped up a little when I took down the blinds but was still short-stack. I picked up ace king off and pushed that all-in only to get called by the short-stack in the big blind who had pocket 6's and found a 6 on the flop. I then had pocket 5's under the gun and decided to put it in. I got called by a big stack in the small blind with ace ten off and the big blind who had ace 3 suited. Not a terrible spot for me until a ten hit the flop and the turn and I didn't improve, going out on the bubble.

On the other table I was in a good position, decent stack with a few short-stacks on the table. One or two went out and I found ace king in the small blind. The table folded around to me so I pushed all-in and got called by the big blind for 2/3 of his stack. He showed queen ten suited and turned a flush to knock me out in 7th. Frustrating as if I take down that hand I easily make top 3 and have a good shot at the win. Oh well, I now play for the win so I have to accept that sometimes.

I had another bubble later in the night to end what has been a very ordinary week in terms of profits (in other words losses) and statistics.

I was going to post this video clip as music and poker go well together. This is probably my favourite song at the moment, not because its Jay Z who gets plenty of love ... but because of the alto sax and the old-school groove. I watched the official clip for the first time today and saw it also includes a quick poker scene as well as LeBron James which is where the "Worlds collide" title comes from. Click here to see my other life.

Friday night poker

I may have mentioned this before, Friday night is a great night for staying at home. Back to back games of NRL and two consecutive hours of poker on OneHD. That's some quality TV time if you ask me.

Another very quiet day at work yesterday and while I was productive for most of it, I finished the day with two quick sit'n go games. I loaded up a $3.40 18 man turbo and despite playing well ended up a very frustrated bubble-boy. I was fairly card dead on the final table and ended up pushing all-in as short-stack from the button with ace 7 off-suit. The big blind thought for a moment and then called turning over king 2 suited. First card out ace, GREAT ... but it was the ace of clubs, another club on the flop and then one more on the turn and I was done. Top 4 get paid, I finished 5th.

The next sit'n go didn't go anywhere near as well and I was sent packing fairly early on. I planned on going to the gym last night but it was way too cold so that idea got vetoed and I ended up playing more poker.

The night didn't get any better from home as I failed to cash in the next 5 games. I was playing a mix of $1 90 man turbos, $2 90 man non-turbos and $2 180 man turbos. I was hoping I could overcome my recent poor form in the $2 games but that wasn't the best start. Suck-outs all over the shop and I wasn't getting close to the money at all.

Thankfully my luck turned half-way through and I managed to scrape in to the money of a 180 man tournament finishing in 16th. $2 drought over!! And from there, the floodgates opened ... somewhat. I final tabled the next 180 man finishing a frustrating 7th and got in to the money again on the next 180 man finishing in 10th (bubbling the final table).

The night ended with a strong performance in a $2 90 man game. I chipped up early and maintained and built my stack throughout the tournament. I was never in trouble and stayed in the top 10 stacks down to the final two tables. I took a beat inside the top 16 but quickly got back in to the top stacks heading to final table.

I played a really good final table and felt in control. I made one mistake when I raised with ace jack in early position, got called by the big blind and when first to act he shoved all-in on a low board. I felt it was a move but still folded ... he showed ace ten off ... groan. I recovered from this miss-step and sat in the top 3 stacks as players were getting knocked out. In the big blind I had ace king suited when the short-stack shoves from early position. I played on this guy's table for the last hour so I knew I would be in good shape. He turned over ace 5 off but the first card out was a 5 and while I hit an ace it of course did me no good. That hurt and I found myself in trouble for the first time but I managed to take down a few pots and fought back up to a reasonable level. The player to my right who had just taken a bad beat shoved from the button and I called all-in from the small blind with ace queen suited. He had me covered but I knew I was ahead and wanted to take a shot at the win and couldn't wait for a better situation than this (as the blinds were already high). He turned over king ten off which was what I expected ... unfortunately the first card out was a king and my hand didn't improve. Gone in 4th spot which was disappointing as I knew I was the best player at the table, things just didn't go my way.

So after a horrible start to the night with the $3.40 sit'n go's and then failing to cash in my first 5 MTT's, i finished the night cashing in 4 of my final 5 tournaments, final-tabling 2 of them. I didn't managed to get a win or a top 3 finish but the bankroll still improved to US$380. The best news tho was that my $2 drought was over!

I've mentioned it before but I tend to find the weekend games particularly ugly on PokerStars and my bankroll grows midweek and falls on the weekend. So with this in mind I'm likely not going to play this weekend ... plus I have work to do. We'll see how I go tho ...