Poker Journal

October 2004

October 31
I did not win my seat into the WPT qualifier yesterday. I accumulated a lot of chips in the early stages of the tournament and was in the top ten (during the first three rounds). I was in second place (with a lot of players left) when I took AK against pocket threes and lost about $3000 in chips. I lost some chips in a couple of hands after that and I was knocked down to about 40th (they gave 13 seats away). My chips were down to about $4,000, but I built it back up to $6000 and kept it there for awhile. I knew I needed to get involved in a pot for all of my chips if I wanted to make it into the top 13 places. I finally got dealt AQ in my big blind. One player in middle position raised the 200 big blind to 800 and all players folded to me. I thought I could either move-in and pick up the pot or I could play in what I thought would be a race situation or better. I did not put him on a good hand because of his raise. I liked both options, so I pushed for a total of $5500. He thought for about 20 seconds (which seemed like an eternity) and I was really convinced I had the best of it. He called and showed AK. The flop was A99, so I had plenty of outs. Any ace or 9 gave me half the pot and a queen gave me the whole thing. Neither of them got there.

After I was knocked out, I immediately joined the WPT $150 double shootout tournament. I won my first table with ease. A person who reads my journal was watching me and started talking to me while the other tables were finishing up. I told him my plan was to make it to the top three. I am very comfortable with my shorthanded play and thought this would be my best strategy. That strategy went out the window when I got involved in the first two hands and lost about 1/3 of my stack. The first hand I had pocket nines and the second I had AK. Neither of them worked out for me and I was one of the shorter stacks on the table. While my strategy was to make it to the final three, I was certainly not going to sit back and wait. I needed to win some pots. I didn't need to win a lot, but I had to win enough to give me a shot at beating two players in a shorthanded game. I decided to raise in late position with 76. I am sure whenever my hand gets turned over with hands like this, some people think I am a total idiot for raising with that hand, but most of the time I don't have to turn my hand over. This time I did. The flop was 96x and I led out with a pot size bet and was called by the guy on the button. The turn was a queen, I checked and he checked quickly. I thought he had his "check" in turn button on. The river was a 6. If I made a pot size bet into the pot and was raised, I would call it, so I just moved my chips into the pot. It is always better to be the bettor than the caller. He called immediately and showed pocket nines giving him the full house. I finished 9th. I am determined to win my seat into the PokerStars WPT event, but these double shootouts have not been good to me. The good news is... they started $33/rebuy tournaments and I am ready to win!

October 28
I lost a little at work today, but I was happy with the way things turned out. I played in the $200 No Limit game and got stuck right away. The first hand I played was 64 of diamonds. The pot was raised and there were two callers in front of me. I was getting 3-1 on my call, so I decided to go for it (I was on the button). I like playing these type of hands against big pocket pairs because it is likely that I can take all of my opponents chips if I hit a huge flop. I don't remember the specific flop, but there were no big cards and there was a four. The small blind checked, the original raiser bet a small amount into the pot and one other player called in front of me. I thought I might have the best hand, but wasn't exactly sure. I decided to call and see one more card. The small blind called too. The turn was a beautiful four. It was checked to me and I moved all-in. The pot was worth taking right there. I was surprised when the small blind and the original raiser both called. The small blind ended up having 54 and the original raiser had an overpair (he said, but didn't show). If the river was higher than a six (excluding the original raisers pair), then the small blind and I were going to chop the pot. If it was a 6, 3, or 2, I would win. If it was a five, he would beat me. He had three outs and he got it on the river.

I lost another big pot when I bluffed off a lot of my chips. Lesson for the day is, "Do not try to bluff a moron". I raised preflop in late position with AT and the big blind called. The flop was K74. I made a pot size bet and he thought for awhile and finally called. He gave me the impression that he didn't like his hand. The turn was another four. He checked and I made another pot size bet. He thought about it for awhile again. I was definitely getting the impression that he hated his hand. I figured if I fired one more bullet on the river, he would fold. The river was a blank and I fired again. This time he thought for longer and finally made the call. He had the king with a 3 kicker. One of the other players came over a few minutes later to me and whispered, "What are you doing trying to bluff an idiot?" Mental note to self... Never do that again! After getting stuck with the hands I mentioned, I bailed myself out by staying focused. My loss for the day ended up being very small.

I played in a qualifier for the WPT event, but choked a little at the end of the tournament. I already have my seat for this Saturday, but I thought I would use it for the following Saturday. I had a lot of chips and it looked like I would win my seat (they were giving away 6), but some clown won a big pot at my expense. I flopped a pair of jacks and raised when he bet a small amount. He doubled my raise and I called. The turn was a king and he bet out about 1/10th of the pot. It was such a small bet, I didn't think the king could have helped him. He bet a pot size bet on the river and I called. He showed KT. He had no pair on the flop and got there on the turn. He was my new target at the table. Somebody got to him before I did and my chips were dwindling. I lost a big hand a little while later. I had pocket kings and I reraised the raiser. He flat called me. There was an ace on the flop and I was ready to throw my hand away. I did not need to mess with the pot because I didn't need to finish in first place. I only needed to place in the top six. He checked the flop and I checked behind him. The turn was a four. He checked again and now I knew he didn't have an ace. I moved all-in and was called immediately. He turned a set of fours. I screwed that hand up nicely, but at least I was correct when I told myself he didn't have an ace. I won a few hands, but was finally eliminated in tenth place when I took AQ against pocket tens. I sent PokerStars an email regarding their qualifying events for the WPT. I would love to see them add a $33 with rebuy event to the lineup. This is the same event they had as a qualifier for the WSOP (the tournament that I did so well in). Hopefully, it won't be long before they add it.

October 27
I have done well at work this week, but I haven't hit the huge bad beat jackpot. It is now up to $44,000. I have been dreaming about what I would do with the money. I know I should really be thinking about making a little each day instead of fantasizing about the "big score". Honestly, the easy way is so much more appealing at the moment.

I haven't had much luck with qualifying for the WPT event. The only qualifying event that is going on (beside the weekly $615) is a double shootout and I have totally bombed out. I played a few and was eliminated quickly on all of them. Yesterday, I doubled up on my first hand when I held pocket nines and flopped a set and the guy with pocket jacks called me. I thought I was finally going to do something, but hit a bad run of cards and missed one key drawing hand. I was left with about 1100 in chips. I finally got dealt AK. I raised, but was reraised, and I made the decision to just call. I thought he might have a pair and I wanted to see the flop. The flop was king high and I moved all of my chips in the pot. I was correct that my opponent held a pocket pair. He had pocket kings!

Since I haven't had much luck on the tournaments, I have been playing the No Limit ring games on a variety of sites. I have been doing well on those, so I am going to stick to that for a week.

October 24
I woke up early to play the frequent player point tournament for the trip to Monte Carlo. I set my alarm for 10 and signed on my computer and noticed the tournament didn't start until 11. One more hour of sleep would have been good.

I started the tournament out with a bang when I had pocket aces and flopped quads. I kept accumulating chips and was playing really well and then something came over me. There were about 60 players left and I was second in chips (they gave away two seats) when I donated a lot of my chips. I raised with pocket threes and it got folded to the blind and the small blind moved in. The big blind folded and I sat there and thought for a little while. I thought it might be a race and I decided to go for it. I knew I needed to accumulate chips. As soon as I hit the "call" button, I realized it was much more likely the player had a pair and I would be in big trouble. It was too late and sure enough, he had pocket nines. The next hand after that, I raised with AQ of spades and one player raised a little more than double my bet. I called so I could see a flop. The flop was jack high with nothing working together so when he put out a small little bet, I didn't hesitate to call. The turn was a king and he bet out even less than he did the first time. Either he had a huge hand or he hated that king. I made the wrong decision and moved all-in. He immediately called and showed his set of kings. At least I had four outs, but no such luck. I finished just a short time later. I was disgusted with my lack of thought process (or delay of) and it took me a little while to shake it off. I can't afford to make mistakes like that in next weeks WPT tournament. I have a whole week to think about a few of the mistakes I have been making and adjust them.

I played in the Omaha tournament tonight and didn't do much better. It wasn't that I made a mistake, the cards just didn't go my way. I decided to play a No Limit ring game and one hand kicked my butt. I raised the $2 blind to $6 with pocket jacks, three people called and the small blind raised to $30. I called, the player behind me raised another $14 all-in, the player who only had $6 invested at the time called the $38 cold and the two of us that were left called as well. The flop was T85 with two hearts. I bet $50 all-in, the "cold caller" called again, and the other player folded. The turn was a seven of hearts. Sure enough, when the hands were turned over, the "cold caller" had the flush!! But not just any flush, he had the 23 of hearts. I included the hand history below. I edited out the unimportant stuff.

Seat 1: luckyann ( $44.05)
Seat 3: paluch24 ( $234.88)
Seat 5: cubsrul ( $233.53)
Seat 6: isleofview50 ( $88.10)
Seat 7: Siren ( $94)
Seat 9: cjab82 ( $60)
Seat 10: mingtheking ( $245.47)
cubsrul posts small blind (1)
isleofview50 posts big blind (2)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Siren [ Jh, Jc ]
Siren raises (6) to 6
mingtheking calls (6)
luckyann calls (6)
paluch24 calls (6)
cubsrul raises (29) to 30
Siren calls (24)
mingtheking folds.
luckyann raises (38.05) to 44.05
luckyann is all-In.
paluch24 calls (38.05)
cubsrul calls (14.05)
Siren calls (14.05)
Creating Main Pot with $181.20 with luckyann
** Dealing Flop ** : [ Th, 5d, 8h ]
cubsrul checks.
Siren bets (49.95)
Siren is all-In.
paluch24 calls (49.95)
cubsrul folds.
** Dealing Turn ** : [ 7h ]
** Dealing River ** : [ Qs ]
Creating side pot 1 with $99.90 with Siren
** Summary **
main pot: $181.20 | Side Pot 1: $99.90 | | rake: $3
Board: [ Th 5d 8h 7h Qs ]
luckyann balance $0, lost $44.05 [ Ac 6c ] [ high card ace -- Ac,Qs,Th,8h,7h ]
paluch24 balance $421.98, bet $94, collected $281.10, net +$187.10 [ 2h 3h ] [ a flush, ten high -- Th,8h,7h,3h,2h ]
cubsrul balance $189.48, lost $44.05 (folded)
isleofview50 balance $86.10, lost $2 (folded)
Siren balance $0, lost $94 [ Jh Jc ] [ a pair of jacks -- Qs,Jh,Jc,Th,8h ]
mingtheking balance $239.47, lost $6 (folded)

I play 23 of hearts if I can get in for cheap and I can wipe out some large stacks (getting implied odds), but I just don't understand this guy's play. I suppose that is what makes poker such a unique and great game. After that hand, I played for a little while later, but decided the ring game wasn't working for me tonight.

October 23
I played in a couple tournaments tonight. The first tournament was a qualifier for the bigger qualifier to play in the PokerStars WPT at the Atlantis Hotel in the Bahamas. I won the tournament and my seat into the Saturday qualifier. There should be approximately 150 players with 8 seats given to the top 8 finishers. It is going to be a tough battle, but I figure if I beat 340 players to win my way into the WSOP then I might have a shot.

I played in a couple of Sit N Go tournaments and did well in those too. Overall it was a good night. I decided to sign up for the 6000 frequent player points tournament to win my way to the Monte Carlo tournament. The event starts at 10:00 in the morning and I am not an early riser. Time to go to bed and get a good night's rest.

October 21
I had a great day at work today. I won as much as I lost yesterday. Honestly, most of my money was made during a time when I was getting hit by the deck.

On five consecutive hands, I had pocket pairs and I won four of the five. The first hand, I had queens and won. The second hand, I had kings and lost. I lost when a few players limped and I raised from the big blind. I raised the $3 blind to $20 and I got called in three spots. The board was 994. I looked at all three players chips and they all had shorter stacks than I did. I knew if I made a pot size bet, I would be pot committed because of their stacks, so I just moved in. I got called by a player with 97 of hearts. The next hand, I was dealt pocket jacks and won. The fourth hand, I flopped a set with my pair of eights, and the fifth one was great. I made a $25 raise preflop with pocket tens. The flop was J87. I made a pot size bet, the second player called, and the third player moved in for an additional $16. I bet the flop because I didn't think either player would call my raise with a jack in their hand. If they did, I had some outs. I whispered for a nine and the dealer turned it for me. I got some additional money from the other player on the turn (he flopped a set of eights), but he folded on the river. The next hand I was dealt was 72 and I folded it quickly. Another player came up behind me and was talking to me and when I turned around the hand was over. I told the players at the table, "after all of those monster hands, I was dealt 72 and I couldn't play it". They told me the flop was 772. It was just one of those days. The last big hand I made was when I rivered the nut flush. My opponent flopped a set of jacks and made some big bets, but I was running good and thought I should make the calls (I was getting a little less than pot odds on each street). I actually felt a little bad (but only a little).

I rushed home to play in an online tournament to qualify for the WPT PokerStars event. I hoped my luck would continue, but it did not. I was the second person out of the tournament when my baby flush was beat by a bigger one. This tournament is my new mission. I want to win my way into this event almost as much as I wanted to win my way into the World Series main event earlier this year.

October 20
I went into work today, but was feeling a little tired. I lost today and I know part of it was because of my attitude. Some of it was just plain bad luck. I flopped a set and another player flopped a higher set. I flopped top pair and another player called and hit a set on the turn. I would have had a loss today regardless of how I was feeling, but I think my lack of focus compounded my loss. I need to go back in tomorrow with a fresh attitude and a good nights rest.

I played in one online tournament tonight. It was a $50 No Limit Holdem with rebuys. I was eliminated six out of the money when I took my pocket queens against another player's pocket kings. I thought I had a good chance of making some money, but I am never upset when I think I played well and tonight I think I did.

October 17
I went to The Bike to play in a new No Limit tournament they just started. They will to have a $300 buy-in tournament for six weeks. If you participate in at least two of the events you can play in the final tournament with a $10,000 added prize. I figured it would be a good one to play in because the field would be small and if I played in two events, I could play in a small event with $10,000 added. There were only 32 players and I played one of my best games ever. I made correct laydowns in correct situations and pushed the pot when I could win it. I ended up making it to the final five.

There was a big glitch in the tournament (at least in my eyes) that I did not understand before I paid my entry fee. When we made the money, they converted the tournament chips for real dollars and we were free to pick up our chips at the time of conversion. The problem was the chip leader did not have a choice to pick up their winnings and I was chip leader!!! If any player wanted to play the chip leader in a winner take all situation, then the chip leader had to play unless he/she made a deal to convince him otherwise. I had 10,700 in tournament chips which converted to $2,675. Second place had 10,700 which converted to $2,625. The tournament director asked the second place player if he wanted to cash out or play, he decided to cash out. The third place player also cashed out. The fourth place player said he would cash out if I gave him $500. The tournament director told him there were no deals being offered at the time, he could play or not. He decided to play. The fifth place player cashed out after we each gave him an additional $50. Now it was down to the two of us. We could play it out in a winner take all situation or make some kind of a deal to stop the tournament. I told him I was not giving him $500 and he finally agreed on taking $350. After giving $400 of my winnings away, I ended up with less money than the second place finisher. I was so mad that I worked so hard to be chip leader and I felt like I was punished for it. I was even more mad when I got home and I thought about how I had the perfect opportunity to take this guys money. He agreed to play and he could not change his mind in the middle of the heads-up match. I would have destroyed him (he told me he never played heads-up after the deal was already made). I went home and told my cousin, "I am sure you can't tell by my attitude, but I won."

When I got home, I played the $200 Omaha Hi Low tournament online. Cards were falling for me and I was one of the chip leaders when we got to about 30 players. An example of the cards falling for me was when I held A2JJ and the flop came J85. I had about three of those no-brainer hands and I won nice pots with them. I finished in fifth place after I made a huge mistake on one hand. The pot was raised preflop with three players in the hand. I flopped a pair with a backdoor low draw. There was a flush draw on the board (I did not have the flush draw). I check, called the other two players. The turn was a low, I check, called again. The river paired the board. The bettor bet again, the player behind him folded and I decided to fold my hand too. I flopped bottom pair so I didn't have much, but I did not think the whole hand out. If I had thought about it a little while, I would have realized he could have been bluffing his busted flush draw. I might have been willing to call off the rest of my chips with my baby pair. The player decided to show us his busted flush draw and I was mad at myself for not making the call. I was eliminated a short time later. One of my friends told me, "you know you have had a good month, when you place in two tournaments in one day and you are upset about it." That made me feel a little better, but only a little.

October 13
I played in the $200 No Limit Holdem Shootout tournament at The Bike last night. I finished in 5th at my table, but I was pleased with the way I played. I had some chips after the break, but lost a lot of them in a race situation. I had pocket sevens and the other player had something like AJ. I made a big comeback starting with doubling up with A9. I moved all-in on the button (all other players folded) and the big blind called with QT. I doubled up with AQ a short time later and was almost back in the hunt. Finally, I got dealt pocket aces in the blind. The player in first position raised the $100 big blind to $300. It got folded around to me and I made it $700 and he called after some thought. The flop was K94 with two clubs. I bet my last $575 and he called immediately. He turned over pocket fours and I said, "I have two outs!!". The turn was a blank, but the river was a lovely ace. One of the players on the table told me that I really only had one out because he folded the other ace. Lucky me. The next hand, one of the guys went all-in with Q8 and the big blind called with J9. The big blind flopped a nine, turned a nine, and rivered another nine. We were all amazed at how the cards were falling. I was eliminated after I lost two hands. I was in the small blind with A5 of hearts and it was folded to the guy one off the button. He doubled the blind and I thought his raise was a little fishy. He usually raised about 4 or 5 times the amount of the big blind. I decided to call and see if I could hit a flop. The flop was 765 with one heart. I made a small bet to see where I was at and he moved all-in. It was an easy fold for me because of his raising patterns and because I know this player well. He said he had pocket aces and I believe him. The final hand was when the player to my left raised the $200 big blind to $600 and I moved in for about $1300 with pocket tens. The original raiser called after everyone else folded and I knew I was in trouble. He was too eager to call. He turned up pocket aces and I said, "I have two outs!!". This time it didn't work for me.

I went into work today and the No Limit section was really slow. We started the game with four props (including myself) and one of them was in such a good mood. One of the girls said, "you are chipper this morning" and he replied, "yes, it is my Monday". He said he had a nice weekend, but was glad to come back to work. I made the comment about how I always like to back to work after my weekend too and all the other props agreed. I love my job. I love my job even when I have bad days like I had today. I was preoccupied when I went into work today and it totally affected my game. I left work three hours early because I was making bad calls and not playing my normal game. One example of my "bad calls" was when I raised the $3 blind to $12 in early position with AQ of diamonds. I was talking on the phone at the time and another player asked if I was allowed to talk at the table. I told him, "yes it is. Not in tournaments, but in the cash games a player can do it." After I told him that, he raised to $100. The action was back on me and I made some dumb comment about either gambling with the hand or calling with the best hand because he might have been raising because he was mad I was on the phone. He showed me pocket aces. I gave him two totally different reasons for why I called. I hadn't concluded (to myself) why I wanted to call before my chips went in the pot. To make matters worse, I had no information on the raiser because I had just done a table change and was new to the game. I was definitely not in the game and left after another similar situation.

I played in a few sit n go tournaments tonight and did well. I played in a $200 one-table and lost, a $100 two-table and finished fourth and a $500 one-table and finished first. I never play the $500 sit n gos. I don't know what possessed me, but I was happy with the first prize of $2,250. A little while later I looked at the sit n go's to see which ones were about to start and I saw another $500. I did not sign up for it and decided to call it a night.

October 11
I won a little money today at work, but I made a couple of mistakes that cost me. I played T8 of clubs for a small raise and thought I struck gold when the flop came 88x. It was checked to the player to my right and he bet $10. I called and everybody else folded. The turn was an ace. The player bet $20, I raised to $50 and he moved in for an additional $45. I play with this person a lot and I know he likes to trap with big hands (he just called the $6 preflop). I thought there was a strong possibility he had pocket aces and if he didn't have that hand, he could have easily had me beat. I thought for a minute and did a little talking out loud. I said, "See what my raise started" and "I guess I started it, I should finish it" and then I called against my better judgment. Sure enough he had aces. One of my friends was standing behind me and said, "I thought for sure you were going to lay that hand down." I was mad that I didn't follow through on my read. To make matters worse, I did the same thing fifteen minutes later. One player raised to $12 in early position and I called with KQ of clubs. The flop was queen high with two hearts and after a $25 bet from him and a call from me, all other players folded. The turn was a blank and he bet another $25. I thought he probably had a flush draw because he bet such a small amount, so I called again. The river was a low heart. He bet $70 (all-in) and I thought for a few, then called him anyway. He turned up KQ of hearts. I got up from the table and took a walk. I needed to clear my thoughts and give myself a pep talk. If I am making reads, then it is important for me to follow through with them.

There was a $200 No Limit tournament tonight, but I decided to pass on it and work my full eight hour shift. I was surprised to see some of the people that showed up for the tournament. It was like celebrity night at The Bike. Mimi Rogers, Lou Diamond Phillips, Fred Savage, Steve Lipscomb, and some other guy from the Reading Rainbow and Star Trek were there. I am not sure why so many of them showed up tonight. About an hour into the tournament, Lipscomb, Savage and the Reading Rainbow guy helped start a new $100 No Limit game, but I wasn't able to join them. I would have liked to take a pot or two from Steve Lipscomb. It might jolt him into the idea of having me on the next World Poker Tour Ladies Invitational. :)

October 9
I went to The Bike today to play in the $200 Omaha Hi/Lo event, but I should have stayed home. I made a few errors and I was not happy about it. I checked the best hand in a few situations where a bet was in order (I was short stacked) and it ended up costing me. I never like walking away from a tournament if I feel like I made a mistake (in this case a couple), but I can honestly say I learned a few things. I won the pots where I took control of the situation and lost the hands where I didn't.

I got home and decided to play in a $100 No Limit tournament with rebuys. I was in the top fifteen as far as chip counts when we took the break. I left my computer to go do a couple of things and came back when they were dealing. I realized I forgot to do the add-on and that didn't sit well with me. Instead of being in the top fifteen, I dropped to about 25th place. I managed to win a pot right away and kept the lead (or top three) until we got to the final table. There were 8 players left when I was dealt pocket kings and I took all of my chips (I was second at the time) against the player who was third. He had aces and won the hand. I was left with only $1,500 and I was the big blind the next hand. I was dealt AQ and it held up. I worked my way back and lasted until there were three players. The player to my right kept pushing his chips in and I saw a few of his hands. I knew I needed to take a stand with any ace and doubled up against his K8. I did it again three hands later, but it was not successful. He moved in for $68,000 and I was in the big blind for $4,000. I called with A5 of hearts and he had KJ. The flop was AK7, the turn was a 6, and the river was another king. If I had won the pot, the player would have been eliminated (I had him outchipped by 12,400). More importantly, I would have had about $165,000 to the other player's $151,000 and I would have been in a heads up match which would have made me happy. I mentioned in yesterdays journal entry that I am confident in my heads-up play. What a difference a river makes. I received a little over $3,000 for my third place finish.

October 8
I played five online tournaments today and made money in two. I started the day out in a $50 No Limit tournament, but did not do very well in it. I only made it through 2/3 the field. I started the tournament out with a bang when I called a raise with 63 of clubs and flopped a full house. The other player involved in the hand could not get away from his aces and I doubled up. It is amazing how players can criticize me for making a call with that kind of hand. I will make that call all day if it doesn't damage my stack and I think I can take my opponents whole stack. The criticism should have been directed at the player for playing his aces that way. I suppose it is good for me that many players are not able to see how their play explains some of my hands.

I played a $50 Omaha event after the No Limit event, but never got anything going. I also played the $10 No Limit with rebuys and didn't do much in that either. I decided to play in the $33 No Limit with rebuys because I usually do well in that tournament. For some strange reason, my track record is so much better in the $33 with rebuys than the $10 with rebuys. Both of them are small rebuy tournaments so I don't really know why I do so much better in one. I played the tournament and did not have many chips after the break. I had too many chips to do a rebuy, so when I did the add-on, I only had $3900. I played awhile and did not win many hands, so I signed up for a $300 one table tournament. I won the one table tournament after I made a huge suck out. I got pot committed and trapped with K9 when my opponent had aces. I flopped the king, I bet, and he moved all-in. I was forced to call because of the pot size and was relieved when another king came on the river. I was really happy when I got heads up because I am so comfortable playing one on one.

I definitely would not suggest playing two games at one time, but I am guilty of it occasionally. I really thought I did not have much of a chance to make it far in the $33 event, but I did. I finished seventh. I was the second smallest stack so I moved in with QJ of spades. The player behind me pushed all of his chips in as well and all I could say was "uh oh". He had pocket queens and I knew I would have to hit perfectly. I flopped a flush draw, but did not get there. I was very happy with my performance in all of the tournaments today and even more happy with the $$$$.

October 6
I played in the $100 No Limit with rebuy tournament at The Bike and finished four out of the money. There were over 350 entries with more than 600 rebuys and a first prize of $37,000.

After the second break, I had a lot of chips. I never had a strong hand and was proud of myself for accumulating what I did. I moved to another table a little while later and lost a lot of my chips. The first hand I played, I raised with KJ and another player moved in. I was getting 3-1 on my call and I figured I was in a 60/40 situation so I called. My opponent turned over AT. I was happy I made the correct read (and call), but unhappy with the outcome. After that hand, I got nothing but cold cards. For two rounds, I couldn't find a playable hand or find a situation to pick up any chips. I finally got dealt pocket tens which looked like a monster to me, so I moved in and doubled up. I picked up a couple more blinds after that. When we got down to forty players, I was one of the shorter stacks. I could wait it out and sneak into the money or I could try to win. I chose the latter and got in trouble. Rusty Mandap just switched tables and was the big blind. I know Rusty as a solid player and I thought since he was just sitting down that I'd be able to steal his blind if he did not have a big hand. All players folded to me in the small blind so I moved in with 96 offsuit. He called and turned up pocket aces. I was a little disgusted with myself, but that didn't last long. I was there to win the tournament. It was unlikely Rusty would have a big hand in the big blind and the move would work probably 90% of the time. It just didn't work out (this time!)

October 2
I got back from Atlantic City today and am totally exhausted. The Borgata is absolutely beautiful and I will definitely go back next year. I did not do well in any of the tournaments I played, but I won a lot in the live action. I already discussed what happened on the first tournament and the second one was even less exciting. I never got any momentum going and I didn't many chips after the first round. I managed to double up twice with pocket kings and I picked up a few blinds, but still never accumulated enough. I finally made a stand with pocket eights and my opponent had AK. He flopped the king and I was finished. Both of the tournaments ended up with a coin flip and I did not win either of them.

I played in two smaller tournaments at the Borgata ($50 No Limit and $100 No Limit both with rebuys). The first one, I finished in 13th, but they only paid one table and the second tournament I was eliminated at three tables. I faced one decision that I am still bothered by. I raised (standard raise) with pocket kings in early position. I wanted to face one player and hopefully double up. I got two callers instead (one of them was in the small blind. The flop was 955. The small blind checked, I bet $4,000, the next player moved in for $5,900, and the small blind also moved in for almost $10,000. I thought for awhile and even made some comments about neither player being able to call my preflop raise with a 5 in their hand. The call was a little easier because the first person to move over the top of me would do that with any decent hand because he thought I was a bluffer. The first raiser turned over A9 and the second player turned up pocket fives. It never crossed my mind that the second player might have flopped quads. I have replayed the event in my head and the call was probably correct given the blind structure and the pot size, but I am still upset with myself for not even considering all possible hands.

The live action games were great and I met some nice people. One night, we had a table full of young guys and I knew the table was going to be an easy one. It was amazing how some of the calls I made were so easy and in another situation, I wouldn't even contemplate a call. One example was when a player moved in for almost $300 with a board of king, rag, rag. I called with KQ because I had seen him overvalue his top pair with bad kickers. He had done the same thing earlier in the evening with top pair, ten kicker. He turned up ended up having K7 and I stacked more chips on the mountain in front of me. Another time, I called a $100 bet with ace high. The game was juicy, but even better than that, all players were having a great time. We stayed and played until five in the morning.

After the tournament on Friday, I played in another live game and the same rang true. There were a couple of players who looked absolutely disgusted when I turned up my garbage hands, but I was the person stacking the chips. Some players don't understand "situation" and think you are a bad player because you turn up J6. The player I am referring to is one that I saw overvalue his aces on a horrible board. I knew if I made a small call ($15) on a future hand, I could get all of his chips with the right flop. I did make that $15 call with J6 of hearts and did get all of his chips (about $300) when I flopped two more sixes.

In the few days I was there, I lived and dreamed poker. I had a great time, but am glad to be home.