Today I mixed it up a little, inspired by Smokkee’s SnG run, I switched from HU to single table SnGs. As I haven’t been playing full games in a while, only HU and shorthanded, I thought it would be best to not start too high, so I settled for the 5$ ones and I plan on playing those for a while. I guess I’ll try to hit 100 of them and then see how it goes. The start was brilliant. I two-tabled and soon enough we were ITM in both of them. I just played the cards I was dealt and sometimes the players, but only if they had shown that they could fold a hand. That worked out pretty good. Then it was time for the first major suckout against me…on the turn I hold Aces up…and I move in…I got the other player covered by about 1.5k, so I’m pretty save…he calls All-In with a king high flush draw (two spades on board)…river…ding ding ding….oh well…down to 1.5k…I don’t let it get to me though and I battle my way back. Soon enough I knock out the third player and we’re heads-up, I’m still behind 2:1 in chips though. Some twenty hands later I won though as he payed off two big hands for me. Nice. As heads-up is winding down in tourney one, we’re still three-handed in the other one. Then a major pot develops and I get my money in on a paired rag board…good that I had a free look in the BB…I triple up into the chiplead and never look back. I take out both of the other players within the next 30 hands and another W hit’s my SnG sheet. 2 for 2. Not bad 😉

Then it’s time for the WWdN and things are looking good early on…I even win a nice pot with the hammer from UTG…then I lose a hand with Jacks…I can’t think that they’re good anymore after a K hits the flop against two players. Oh well…as I’m down to around 1k I decide to defend my SB against the BB raise preflop. J10o…flop J98…good enough to double up…I check…BB bets…I push…he calls…shows KQo…no K, Q or T…and I double up. Nice…

As we head into the first break we’re down to 29 players and I’m sitting in 11th with 2530 in chips…

After the break I look down at QQ…the blinds are at 75/150…and MP puts in the standard raise (450) to open the pot…I think I’m ahead here…so I push on the button…all fold to him…he ponders…he calls All-In…shows Ah Jh….s0000ted 😉 … flop AxJ…ty very much…turn K…a little hope…river 5…d’oh. So I’m down to 350…damn…my assessment of the situation:

Scenario 1: I’m ahead and he’ll fold…all good…I’m up to 3.xk

Scenario 2: I’m behind (AA, KK) or slightly ahead (AK)…all good…let’s flip it…

Scenario 3: I’m ahead and he’ll call (probably with Ax)…good…he’s drawing to three outs…if I win I’m up to 4.xk…if he get’s lucky I’m crippled…
Scenario 4: I flat-call on the button to see a flop…as the flop comes down AJx…I he leads at it…I give it up and my stack drops to around 2k…

I thought I had the best hand, I did, he got there, too bad. In retrospect, maybe I should have flat-called to see a flop – what’s he likely to raise with preflop (basically any Ace or pair unless he’s on a total steal) – so…if I just flat-call and the A or K hits…I can get away…what about the scenario where the flop is J high (or lower)? Maybe he spiked a set then…how am I going to get away from it? Tough tough…oh well…I went with my feeling, I was right, it didn’t work out. Next time I move in is with 66…weak calls from the BB…not a bad call…he has the mook…T8…he’s getting 2.x : 1…he’s got a major stack…flop comes down AA8…oh well…gg me…

So…from middle of the pack to out the door with two pocket pairs…too bad I couldn’t spike a single set there…can’t feel too bad though…enjoyed the WWdN, as usual and rocked the SnG tables…I’m off…

Played a nice little session at PokerStars tonight and boy, the cards and chips were in the air and luck was swingy, swingy, swingy. I started the session with some HU play and everything started on a bad luck trip. Lost the first match to an absolute fish who couldn’t even spell poker, lol, good for him that his cards could everytime he needed help, he got it. Not good. The next match was similar, although I can’t blame my opponent for that one, I blame myself and the deck. Some serious set over set on an all-rag flop etc and I was in a deep hole early. Fought my way back, just to run into another cooler. Not good either. The next to matches were better. Won the first one by value-betting my hands to death and the calling station was more than happy to pay off hand after hand. He did get lucky once or twice, but in the end I won it. The fourth one was similar, bet bet bet bet bet…win.

After that I tried out some 6-handed action, after all this whole “strictly HU” isn’t going to cut it in the long run. In the monetary sense it probably could as my winning rate is currently at 55% (it was higher, but due to some bad luck recently, it’s dropped quite a bit) – so after rake I’m still up, but considering the time spent on the tables, it’s not really good…apart from the fact that all those luckboxes sucking out on me is taking it’s toll (for those of you following my adventures, it was kind of the same at bodog, where I played HU matches with a vengeance and totally kicked ass…then the winning rate started to drop into the 5x-60%ish area and all the sucky sucky stuff made me pause my play there). So, I kicked some ass in the short-handed game, too. Down to headsup (ITM) and I’m sitting in the chiplead. It is a real push-fest early on and I fold fold fold. Once I pick up a decent hand I go with it, no chance. Same game again, no chance. Then I go into push modus myself and I can’t catch anything either. So I finish second. Not bad, but not really groovy either considering the 65% / 35% payout structure. Oh well, can only play what the cards give me.

After that I considering calling it quits for the night, but I didn’t. I saw that a 15+1 WSOP turbo DS satellite to sunday’s 650$ qualifier was about to start, so I jumped in. The full hundred players entered, so to advance to the final table you had to get through 9 players. I did well early on, won some small pots and waited for a good chance to double up. I tried to with AQ from the cutoff, no such luck…BB wakes up with Aces…they hold up. So I’m sitting on 250…and as the blinds are already up to 100/200, there’s no point in waiting for the next monster. I get the coveted 74o, 92o etc in the next hands though, so I wait for the next best spot. It comes once I’m UTG…I think that my A7 s00ted should be good enough to win a hand…although there are three callers…not really surprising with the blinds at 100/200 and the winner takes all format. I’m happy to win the main pot once I rivered a third seven. Sucky sucky, outy outy. I likey! *lol* So that’s when my luck started to turn around. I got good hand after good hand and took down pot after pot, knocking out player after player in the process. Once we’re down to three-handed, the other “medium to big”-stack knocks out the third player though, so he enters headsup with a 3-2 chiplead. It all comes down to two hands. He plays his hand perfectly with Kx…he pops it preflop…I call it with my A7o…flop comes down K7x…he bets…I call…turn is another blank…and he pushes…now I’m stuck…either get the money in and hope to be ahead/suck out, or fold and play the next hand blind with the blinds at 400/800 about to go to 600/1200 the chances of “playing” with a 2.xk stack isn’t all that great. So I push in and he flips his Kx…then something out of the ordinary happens….7…ding ding ding, slot-machine 7-7-7, boom headshot! I sucked out big time. Wow. Feels great, now I know why all the others are always that elated when the suck out on me, it feels great. Getting lucky is the new good these days, lol. So I’m up 5-1 in chips and in the next hand it’s all over…I hold an A6…poor opponent pushes in with his 44 and the aces on the flop is all it took. Wow again…I won a coin-flip in a crucial pot and that after sucking out BIG TIME the hand before that. Wow.

I like! So…I wait until the last table finishes and we’re off to the races at the final table. Top 2 will receive their entry (or 650T$)…third and fourth win 72$, 5th 56$…6-10 is out of luck. The table starts off with a bang, the very first and people are shoving like crazy…I’m a little surprised to see 78o win against 910o…well played sirs..*lol*…so we’re down to nine handed and we got an early 2-1 chipleader. I wait and wait and fold and fold and people are playing like crazy…I wonder if I should sit back and let them shoot themselves in the foot…before I can think about it though, it’s all over…A8 vs AK…no miracle for me…and I finish in 8th…the luck-cycle has indeed come full circle in this one…bad luck (AQ vs AA)…good luck (coming back from 250 chips to win the first table)…to bad luck (A8 vs AK)…oh well…what can you do? Now that I’m writing this I’m really a little confused. I guess it all comes down to strategy here. As it’s a turbo, you can’t wait for the nuts till eternity, so you need to get your move on sooner or later, but was A8 s00ted really worth risking all the chips? I guess not really as I watch the table after I bust out, it becomes pretty obvious that at least four of the players have (a little more) shootout experience. Two of those four are firing relentlessly, every second or third hand they’re in there mixing it up. One of them was the early chipleader, so it was pretty easy for him. He picked up small pot after small pot and then some bigger ones when he really had a hand and ppl were tired of being pushed around. I guess he as on the “good side” of luck. The other player firing all the time was similar, he got is money in without looking back and it worked out – and even more important, they were playing for the ticket. The other two sat back and watched the carnage. One of the two was especially clever, he didn’t play a single hand. He just sat there and mucked, mucked mucked. After the bubble burst he laughed about it and said he didn’t have any cards to play, which I doubt. He was just a little more clever than some others, including me. Well, one things for sure, they weren’t really playing for the two tickets, they were more worried about getting the money and then…if it happens…it happens…in this case it didn’t happen as they were not able to come back from such a big chip disadvantage (the two players firing like crazy held a combine 7k of the 9k in play)…but at least they made a profit.

So, am I mad about my play. Hmm…tough question. I would say, yes and no. The spot I picked, was as good as any other. I held a decent hand, folded to me…I pop it, get repopped by a big-stack…which could mean any two cards…I thought I was ahead…I wasn’t…too bad. So, the only thing that I could be mad about is that I got involved in the hand(s) at all. I could have sat back, just like the other one, and watched the carnage for a little longer (with blinds at 25/50 and a 1.4k stack there’s no need to rush it, yet). Then again…tbh I played to win a ticket (read 650T$ to fuel my SnG run), it didn’t work out…so basically it’s the old dilemma…you may want to, but you can’t have your cake and eat it too 😉

Well, I didn’t play all that much today and really, there isn’t much to tell without heading straight down “cold deck street”…one thing’s for sure…Ace rag is the new nuts, no matter at which level you play and even if you hit an Ace…Ace rag will still prevail as it’s such a powerful hand, maybe even more powerful than two s00000ted cards 😉

Anyway…one upside of the junk kickings at Stars today was the fact that I finally cleared the anniversary reload bonus…so the junk kicking is on PokerStars tonight, both figuratively and literally. After that depressing session at Stars (2W 6L), I head over to FullTilt to see if they finally managed to put some of the hog-wild donks back into their stable. Not really is the correct answer. What does it take to beat a really bad player? 1. The bad player must hit at least his TPNK 2. You must catch some cards. If it’s the other way around (let’s say AKs preflop, or 99 preflop, or similar) noone will fold to a 3x or 4x pop, why should they? They’ve got two cards! Two cards! …and if that wasn’t enough, they’re usually s00000ted…and below T…so why not? If you’re happy to flop top two then on a two-gapper-like board, rest assure that mr. donkey has either hit the jackpot, with or without even noticing it, or at least has got something “real players” call outs (usually < 4)...so mr. donkey will call you no matter what you do. Solution to this problem: Wait for the nuts...and while you're waiting...rest assured that if you have the nuts, the donk will have zilk for shizzle-dizzle...and it doesn't matter if you're playing for 1$, 2$, 5$ or 10$, believe me, I've tried them all... 😉 Oh well...enough ranting...I'm done with FullTilt for now (less than five bucks left in there)...so I don't have to worry about their donks anymore (at least for now)...and I sure hope that I can get some better results at Stars over the next few days, as these bad swings really tend to make me wanna slap somebody, lol...good luck at the tables all...

Well, I don’t want to bore you too much today, so only a quick post. Played some more HU today and in the very first hand I got coolered (88 vs KK). Then in the second match I was coolered again…but I sucked out (88 vs 1010…I made an ugly four-flush). From there on out I just went on a total tear and annihilated opponent after opponent, winning another three straight until I headed out for footie training and some drinks. After I came back I managed to squeeze in another three matches (2-1)…so I’m very happy with today’s results and my play…nuff said…

Honestly, I didn’t even want to play tonight. Then I logged on to see if anyone was around. I see that CC’s Thursday Bash is about to start, I hesitate though as it’s early in the morning and I don’t really want to play for long. So I go to my usual feeding grounds, the HU SnGs. In the first match I still feel the effect of yesterday’s session – maybe you know the feeling when you got sucked out on so bad and in such rapid succesion that you don’t know what to do with marginal hands. “Could it be that he got me again on the (turn/river)?”  and other similar thoughts creep up on you. Indeed he did get me sometimes on the turn and river, but you can credit that to some hesitation on my part. Normally I, at least try to, let my opponents dance to my rhythm…controlling the action, keeping pots small with marginal hands or draws…getting the money in with a (near) lock. Today that rhythm was still a little off, so no big deal that I messed up the first match.

In the second match I shook that off and after a long battle, with some nice suckouts on both sides, I was finally able to score the W. I totally controlled the action and I even picked up some bluffs – nothing better to boost your confidence when you pick of a big bluff with Queen-High…

The third match was even better. Not only did I play good, apart from two bad calls, but my opponent was the kind of opponent I would like to see more often. Not because he was weak, he wasn’t. But because he knew how to behave himself without the banter and shit. He played a good game and after a long fought battle of over a hundred hands I finally conquered him. I see a free flop in the BB with 8h2h….we’re almost even in chips and there are 200 in the pot. Flop comes down Ac8c2d…push comes to shove and he shows the A7o…basically no redraw except the 6 outs…none of them hit and I take down the monster pot. I’m up 2700 to 300 and then something unexpected happens. Usually ppl will play a mean shortstack pushing every hand, sometimes getting lucky and doubling up…maybe even more than once. So I wasn’t ready to mark it as a W yet, but my opponent did. He typed gg in the chatbox and folded to my reraise. He then folded the SB. He then folded the BB. In the next hand he was all-in with 50 and we chopped…next hand he was auto-allin and I won the pot and the match.

Now I don’t advise anyone to do that, after all you can get lucky and if you double up with such a small stack, you’re up to 600….one double-up more and you’re back in contention. Still I wasn’t exactly going to stop him from folding 😉

So…I finish the night with 2-1…and I’m ready to hit the tables again…maybe not tomorrow…but I’ll certainly play a match or two once weekend time rolls around…good luck everyone…

Well, I guess I should have seen it coming after being put in the freezer after 30 minutes in the WWdN, but I didn’t. My first and only mistake today was that I broke one of my oldest rules: If you play well and get cold-decked and/or unlucky in the first x matches, log off and never look back. So, basically I should have quit after the first three matches, but I didn’t, so that’s on me, but the hands that went down, unbelievable. This is officially the sickest day I’ve experienced so far. Unless I held the stone-cold nuts, there was no way I was going to win the big ones. The small ones, yes, as my opponents had nothing in those hands, but the big ones? Not a single one of them.

The first two matches ended in similar fashion: jab, grabble…slightly down in chips…let’s flip it…opponent shows 10d-10c….I lose. 0-1. Second match goes down the same way…let’s flip it…opened shows 10d-10c…now I don’t get out my tinfoil hat, but what are that chances of that happening (and don’t even get me started on the “the deck has no memory” crap, ty)?! Result…tens hold up…I lose. 0-2

Third match was quite interesting too. I’m ahead a little (less than 300 chips) and I get my money in…with A10 s00ted on a 10 high board…turn gives me a flush draw…river is blank…opponent shows? 10-10…I can’t remember the suits and I’m too lazy to look it up, but wouldn’t surprise me if it was 10d-10c 😉

Oh well..down 0-3. The next match is the classic freezer. Opponent min-raises…I call with 10-3o…flop comes down K-10-3….opponent bets BIG…now I’m stuck, how can I lay this down? What beats me here…KK…why would he lead with such an overbet (unless he’s an absolute donk)…so I rule that out. AK…more than likely…so I call…he shows? K10o…ty very much…. Down 0-4. The fifth match, just before footie practice is an episode of “I’m on tilt, I know it, but I don’t care, let me just punish this dude and if not, I can always blame the cold deck”…I promptly lose and I’m steaming. Time to head out to footie practice. Now, this is totally unrelated to poker, but as soon as I head out to get in the car I notice that the central locking system isn’t working. Hmm…weird…all digital gages aren’t working…hmm…starter…dead. Nice. Wouldn’t surprise me, but then again I had the same problem last week and I put in a new battery and everything seemed to work just fine for the last week. Not so much today. My resident car guru tells me that it’s probably the generator. Damn! So I’m stuck without a car, but I’m more than happy to borrow my dad’s car. BMW 730i…time to cruise, lol.

After footie training I’m cooled off and after watching the latest episodes of Poker After Dark and High Stakes Poker I’m ready to roll again. My goal is not to get even, but to get back just a little. Finishing this horror day on a high note would be really appreciated. Haha, says the dealer and throws everything at me that he can find in the freezer deck. Despite that I win the first match easily against a player who would make a rock look loose. Nice, so I jump into the second match of the “evening session” and shit hit’s the fan once again. I’ve honestly not seen so many draw-outs since Antonio Esfandiari vs Todd Brunson in the third match of the Poker Superstars III final. We played three bigger pots. I shoved three times with the best hand. He drew out on me three times. How did he do it? Backdoor flush, backdoor flush and flush on the turn with three dominated aces. Nice job sir, fry in hell! 🙂

So I’m sitting there…thinking…quit or try just one more match in an effort to at least finish one session up ahead. It all came down to one big hand again…the hach (73o) vs 10-4 s00ted….flop comes 7-10-3 rainbow…push comes to shove and we get it in…turn 4….river 4…not that he needed it. Thank you very much again sir, I’ll leave now before I crap on your virtual felt.

So…what does this teach us:

1. There’s no justice in poker (Who didn’t know that?)

2. If you’re cold, you’re cold and there’s shit you can do about it.

3. Even the most sophisticated play, even the most solid play, even the biggest advantage can’t win you a thing if you’re not 100% to win the hand.

4. Poker is a game of skill…that’s the skill to stay sane while continuing to play [ in the long run I will get it all back, in the short run shit like this is still hard to take… 😉 ]
This rant has been brought to you by cold-deck 2000, the premier pocket deck-freezer, exclusively used at PokerStars.com and a crappy ass 1 minute photoshop job….*lol*…good night 😉

In the light of recent “anti whine” / “anti rant” comments/posts (you know who you are ;)), I’m putting up a disclaimer: This following post is a mere attempt to revisit some of the hands that went down during the WWdN. If you consider it to be whining, muttering or whatever, feel free to leave now, without reading the post 😉 *lol*

The WWdN started quite nicely for me, AK in EP in the first hand, standard raise takes down the pot. I’m the first chipleader. Wheee. A few hands in I pick up 73 s00ted in the BB…I call the standard raise by Kat who’s in the SB. Flop comes down 732…now I’m hoping she has the hammer, lol, she leads out with 60, I raise to 180 and take down the pot (up to 1730). Next hand I pick up A9o in the SB…limpy limpy…flop comes down AK4 rainbow…I lead out…two callers…turn 5…putting two spades out there…I lead out two callers…river Jc…I bet out…two callers…my Aces are good enough to take down the pot (up to 2110). A few hands later I pick up Aces in MP…Kat standard-raises preflop…I repop her…she calls…flop comes down Ac9c9s….yatzee! Check check….6s…two flush-draws out there….yes!…check check…river Jc…at least one flush got there…Kat checks…I bet 250…she calls…Aces full takes it down…(Kat mucked 10c10s; up to 3130)….20 folds later I pick up KK…Kat is short by then and pushes in for 540…I raise another 1000 to isolate…it works…KK no chance against AQo though….d’oh! (down to 2590) and it’s all downhill from here…*whine whine mutter mutter* if I win this hand I’m slightly under 4000…now I’m at 2.6k…still in the top 15 though…*whine whine mutter mutter*

A few hands later I lose the minimum (which is slightly under 1k) AQ vs AK…kicker plays…oh well…now I’m slowly but steadily in dangerous territory…it get’s worse once my preflop raise to 300 (blinds 50/100) is not only called but punished by weak_player, he shoves and there’s no way I can call with the velvet hammer (s00ted hammer 7c2c)…he shows 88…oh well…under 1k…fold fold fold…I’m in the BB with A6o…3 limpers…hmm…I check and I’m really pleased with the AA2 flop…four checks later we see the turn 8d…EP checks…I bet 200…MP calls…LP folds…checker calls…river 10h…EP checks…I shove my remaining 5xx chips in the middle MP calls…checker reraises…uh oh…LP calls…double uh-oh….EP checks shows deuces full…gg me….

Yuck! Oh well…what can you do? With the heavy action in the hand…preflop-shove with A6o? Would it have made any difference? Who knows…maybe…maybe not. I thought I’ll have a cheap flop with a mediocre hand, flopped a monster, just couldn’t help that another player flopped it’s big brother. Sucks one way or another…out in 36th place…weird how things can start out more than fine (flopping the joint with Aces and getting payed off etc) and then everything falls apart…just how poker is sometimes…I’m outta here…

*lol* Played some nice matches tonight. Played some of my opponents like a fiddle, got played by the deck in the others. Now I’m not one to argue that yeah, paying off, is kind of an error on my part, then again…if I crap my pants with a “monster” shorthanded or headsup I might as well stop playing…so…conclusion: Sometimes you’re bound to lose (your money) and there’s shit you can do about it…still makes me mad when a douche who can’t even spell poker (*lol*) is hitting like crazy and there’s nothing you can do but either pay it off or fold till eternity…
I leave you with my last hand which is presented by the “classic four-handed wheeee your hand was good enough to make the second best hand Inc.” 😉

Oh wheeeeeeee….played good for the most part tonight, just couldn’t help but pay some hands off. This is the ugliest part of poker if you ask me, hands where you just know you’ll have to pay your opponent off. Happened to me time and time again in one of the matches, just couldn’t catch a break. 10-10 vs JJ, AQ vs AK, etc…those are hands headsup where there’s not much choice, especially with heavy raising and reraising, whatcha gonna do? Lose. Oh well, I’ll remember what it feels like next time I hold the better hand in such a spot  😉

The old saying is true, you can’t do more than move your money in with the best. It’s what happened in 90-95% of all hands, still not that much joy. Played seven headsup matches, won 4…lost 3…out of those 3 I would say I deserved to lose 1, in which I clearly overplayed a hand which ultimately lead to my defeat. In the other two losses it was brutal though…dominated hands meant nothing as the three-outers would hit like crazy…oh well…what can you do. The last match was especially brutal….we battle for well over 100 hands, which is quite uncommon. Why did we play for such a long time? Because he just wouldn’t go broke. After a long long battle I’m sitting with around 3/4 of the chips…A10 vs A7…7 is all it takes…throw two coin-flips in the mix (I lose both, haha, no surprise here)….and he takes the match.
I threw another double shootout in the mix, a little torture can’t be bad for character building, lol. This time it filled up pretty quickly, 100 players. So the final table was all ITM with the top 4 claiming a ticket to the sunday million. The table started of like a madhouse. First hand…a player bluffs off all his chips. I’m sitting there cursing him for making such a donkey play as I layed down the winning hand (K9o in EP)…lol…I don’t have to wait long though…second hand…I’m in the BB…MP min-raises…LP calls…all fold…I call…with my powerful 69o…flop comes down 6A9 rainbow…now if he’s got Aces, sixes or nines I’m willing to go broke here….I bet out…MP reraises…LP pushes…I push…MP calls all-in….I show the two pair…MP shows A7o….LP shows 88….my two pair holds up…and I triple up in the third hand. The table is down to seven handed and I’m way out in front. From there on it’s a long ugly drag though…I can’t catch anything and when I do…I catch just enough to lose some chips to a better hand. AQ on a queen high flop….he shows Aces…etc….just nice to see everyone at the table showing their winning Aces one after the other. Weird. Another good 40 minutes of jab and grabble action and I just can’t catch a break. I keep myself in the game by stealing blinds. Nothing more nothing less….I finally go out in the last hand before the break…Ac7c on the button four handed…I’m not exactly laying that down….big stack calls with presto and he shouts just that as it holds up….damn….at least I had fun at the table as we had a really good time after the first three donks were busted, so after the second hand…at least something positive…

Totally unrelated to today’s session: Wheeeee….the AIPS leaderboard just got an update, not that I have any points yet…but at least I’m on it….tied for 30th (= last place) lol… 😉