…or how should I say it? I log onto Stars to play a little, find a 5-Card-Draw PL MTT that is just about to start and jump right in. I play my solid game and build the stack. I play a lot of small pots, some bigger ones when I’m comfortable and feel that I have the best of it. Then it happens.

!!!WARNING: EXPLICIT RANTING AHEAD!!!

We’re 1h 45min in and I’m 10 out of 81 (56 ITM; 437 original entrances). Who get’s moved to my table? Yes, you guessed it, the chipleader (I have a 12k stack, he has a 26k stack after coming to the table with a 23k stack and bullying around, raising every hand – big stack poker). I look down at JJ224 in the SB…he pops it 1860 to 2460. Now this could be any kind of hand, I’ve got a powerful hand and still a redraw to a boat. Let’s see what he’s going to draw. I draw one, miss. Hmm…he draws 3. Okay, so he got a pair, most certainly Aces. Feeler underbet. He insta-pops it 7k. Now this would cripple me and I ask myself:

1. Why did I even get involved in this hand? – Correct answer: because I likely held the best hand preflop. His play could be any 5 cards as he’s in steal position.

2. Assessment after the draw: He’s drawn 3, three friggin cards after popping it +3 times the BB…Hmm…so what are his chances…he held a pair of Aces for sure…donk!…trips – 2 outs…drawing a pair in 3 cards – tough one…no real data on this case…

3. So…does this overbet mean that he caught his third Ace? A second pair? Nothing?

So…what did I do? I call as the only way I’m going to lose this hand is if he got incredibly lucky and I got unlucky in the process. – STOP! HAMMER TIME!* – So I call…and he shows AA77T….very well played donkfish mofo…god damn it…I was really undecided whether to puke up my keyboard or go on a tuff_fish-style-rant (TM)…I decided to go with the latter and cursed him out quite nicely in the chat…what a fucking tool. Raising in position with this crap…then I draw crap but I’m like 80/20 sure that I got the best hand** and he get’s TOTALLY lucky on my ass….very well done.

So…I look down at a 2k stack with slightly over 70 players to go and what the hell…the next decent hand I push and another donk shows a better hand (which had happened to me for the really huge number of 2 times before this evening – once against the superdonk chipleader in the hand I just described)…unreal…I still can’t believe it… out in 77th when I should be sitting tight with a 24/25k stack waiting for the bubble to burst…I mean, in the grand scheme of things, this means nothing. So, he got lucky…I crapped on the table (not literally) yet again…oh well…there’s always next time.***

Well….fuck it! Next time…next time…why oh why do the donkeys ALWAYS**** get lucky on me, not in a non-crucial-pot, but in the damn deciding hand. Can you answer me that question? …and it’s not like this has been the first time, or the second or the thirtieth…I can’t fucking get a break in the important hands…just can’t…

Now that this is out of my system, one final thought on MTTs: Yes, “you need to get lucky to win one of those” – me, I would settle for just “not getting unlucky” “one time”…

* I commited only 1/6 of my stack here…and I could let it go. Then again, I feel I have the best of it so I go with my old “trust your first instincts”-plan…it didn’t work out…again….

** I guess another player, not in the hand could have a totally different view on this:

1. You had the best hand. You made the correct assumption that his drawing 3 couldn’t lead him to a better hand in most cases, it could though in some cases. You made your decision, it was wrong.

2. Why didn’t you reraise pre-draw? Why didn’t you bet out more after the draw?

What’s your opinion here?

*** Consolation price: yes, the superdonk chipleader plays like this for a little longer, getting his ass handed to him, busting out in 25th for a hefty 8$ profit on a 5$ investment, very well done sir, hope you never get lucky again in your lifetime. Thank you. *lol*

**** ALWAYS = perception of recent events, surely the numbers are more like “near” the “normal” percentages of outcomes, but still you can’t help but wonder if you can’t win the obvious ones, then catch no break in close ones and get burned regularly in underdog situations…is this really normal? I don’t think so…

PokerStars Game #7888139718: Tournament #39824804, $5.00+$0.50 5 Card Draw Pot Limit
– Level IX (300/600) – 2007/01/11 – 21:17:37 (ET)
Table ‘39824804 56’ 6-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: superdonk chipleader (26120 in chips)
Seat 2: Ingoal (12255 in chips)
Seat 3: xxx (3545 in chips)
Seat 4: xxx (12020 in chips)
Seat 5: xxx (6445 in chips)
Seat 6: xxx (1310 in chips)
superdonk chipleader: posts the ante 60
Ingoal: posts the ante 60
xxx: posts the ante 60
xxx: posts the ante 60
xxx: posts the ante 60
xxx: posts the ante 60
Ingoal: posts small blind 300
xxx: posts big blind 600
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to Ingoal [2d Jh 2c 4d Jc]
xxx: folds
xxx: folds
xxx: folds
superdonk chipleader: raises 1860 to 2460
Ingoal: calls 2160
xxx: folds
Ingoal: discards 1 card [4d]
Dealt to Ingoal [2d Jh 2c Jc] [5c]
superdonk chipleader: discards 3 cards
Ingoal: bets 600
superdonk chipleader: raises 7080 to 7680
Ingoal: calls 7080
*** SHOW DOWN ***
superdonk chipleader: shows [7h Ad Th Ac 7s] (two pair, Aces and Sevens)
Ingoal: shows [2d Jh 2c 5c Jc] (two pair, Jacks and Deuces)
Ingoal said, “luckbox”
F0LD–IT collected 21240 from pot
Ingoal said, “unbelievable”
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 21240 | Rake 0
Seat 1: superdonk chipleader (button) showed [7h Ad Th Ac 7s] and won (21240) with two pair, Aces and Sevens
Seat 2: Ingoal (small blind) showed [2d Jh 2c 5c Jc] and lost with two pair, Jacks and Deuces

That’s the angle my cards made in contrast to yesterday. No chance in hell…5 Card Draw…thank you for making the second best hand at crucial times (incidently it was always a 1-card vs 1-card draw, I hold two pair, my opponent holds a flush or gutshot draw, guess who’s draw get’s there). Same goes for Razz and NL in a token satellite.

Last hope: WWdN…no joy…get Aces early…win small pot…then invest invest invest…no joy…Once I’m down to half my starting stack I bluff off half my remaining stack on a busted nut flush draw…and the rest is history…out in 29th of 44…oh well, at least I had a good time with V and the others at the table…

…at least some of the time – mostly when it counted. Started the session by going totally retro, 5 Card Draw Pot Limit SnG. Wonderful, reminds me of years back, before the NL Hold’em boom…it was our game of choice back then and I still like it, apart from the fact that I ran into some “cold decks” (QQQ vs KKK etc). Still was able to grind back from a 1-6 chip deficit to take it down. Score: Ingoal 1-0 others

After that it was time to come back a little…more new school if you wish…so I played some poor chap in a Limit Razz HU SnG and I kid you not, he was catching like crazy. I on the other hand was in the middle of brick-city, but at least I chat-crapped him good for the next 20 minutes. My favourite set of hands: he caught a 3 and I caught a King of fourth street for five consecutive hands…unreal…oh well…as I had told him it would all come down to one big hand and it did, my 7-5 held up and I was in cruise mode. Doubled him up again, but then busted him for good once he visited me in brick city catching 2A2 to his A275…lol…poker can be cruel sometimes, good to see that it’s not just cruel to me 😉

Score: Ingoal 2-0 others

After that I went straight to the new school for some 4-player HU action, winner takes all. The first table was a true battle and I finally prevailed after a good 60 hands. The second table wasn’t all that hard. He pushes in the first hand. I fold. In the sixth hand I flop top and bottom pair on a two-club board, I overbet, he instapushes…he shows J-high flush draw….turn 10h…river xs…and cya…nice to see that nice outs isn’t always enough against me…thank you.

So…I’m three for three for the night, nice to see those three mails from PokerStars sitting in my inbox…the good ol’ times…even better to see that making correct decisions does pay off, not always or even often…but at least sometimes 😉

So…I’m outta here for tonight…hope you all have a good time at the tables…maybe I’ll try to sneak into the WWdN tomorrow, depends on my sleep schedule…but the chance to make back-to-back final tables is appealing…oh well, we’ll see…