It was a long weekend

Ok, hurdle 2 down, home game done. Turned out to be a decent night though it didn’t start that way. Was down a buck in the first 90 minutes. I rarely go down that much the whole night unless I get coolered a time or two. After all it’s only a quarter/half game. This time it was mainly bleeding though I did payout a few bucks I shouldn’t have. Twice I had the nuts on the flop only to have a guy catch up on the turn and both times I knew he had. Not just knew it in the sense that I figured it by the call and the card that hit but literally knew it because he telegraphed it when it did hit. Tells aren’t my strong suit but a blind man could have seen these. On one he literally jumped when it hit the board.

Took a time out to slip in a political commentary. Usually avoid such, mainly because they do no good any more. Not going to enlighten anyone, they already know every thing, so why bother. This time however after listening to all the bullshit about healthcare lately my ire was sent over the top by an email I received from a good friend, passing on some ridiculous bit of propaganda, supposedly based on something from a FOX News commentator and full of half truths and distortions, I just had to vent. My friend, whom I love like a brother even if we don’t quite see eye to eye on our political views, has the habit, as do a lot of folks, of passing on email that fits his preconceived notions without checking to see if they are factual or not. Most times I don’t worry about it, maybe send back a link debugging the myth if it is such or maybe a chuckle if what he sent was true and I enjoyed it but this one, on top of the other crap just made me have to vent. So I did. Now back to poker.

What part of turbo don’t people seem to understand? Normally I don’t play turbo. While I play quickly I don’t like to be rushed and I’m much more comfortable with longer levels. I’m not an action junkie so I don’t need the rush but these things are popular so I guess a lot of folks are. Sites must love them as they clear tables quicker. Anyway somehow I got persuaded to play the mini-FTOPS on Tilt for a buck with the 5 minute blinds. You would think people would kind of move along but most of them just mosey along as if there was all the time in the world. So why play turbo if you are going to play at snail’s pace? Just another reason I don’t like turbos. Just got knocked out. Won $6 so it wasn’t a bad ROI although that 9 grand first would have a lot nicer. Considering it was a drop down to an all in situation, double up and play some more the whole time I was in it I guess I can’t complain. Still in the OFC which started while the mini FTOPS was underway.

Started the OFC fast then rode the rollercoaster for a couple hours. Made the money but not a whole lot. Wound up in the 3rd level of the cash but again I couldn’t get much traction after the first couple of levels. The weak aces killed me. People just won’t let them go but they are afraid to bet them also. They kill me in these low limit buy ins. I bleed chips betting second pairs when everyone checks around.

Finished up a long weekend of poker with the first game of GFN’s forum wars. As I stated earlier I made the team as a result of the staff vote so didn’t want to fall flat on my face here. Wanted a decent showing if for no other reason than to prove they didn’t make a mistake in thinking I was good enough to help the team. This month’s games are played on Power Poker and boy was it an experience. Again I got off to a hot start which should have been hotter. Third or fourth hand I turned the nuts and check raised my opponent. I then value bet the river when it showed a blank and got called. If I had known he was holding second nuts I would have shoved. Could have used the extra chips. Added a few chips here and there and was chip leader early on. Disaster hit in the form of a bad card when my K-K ran in to A-K and the A hit the turn. Left me very short just as the tourney took a crazy turn. The blind structure of this tourney was ridiculous. Once past the third level it became a lottery. One guy remarked he was in the top 5 and had only 17 BBs. Not a good time to be a short stack. For me it became a game of wait for the moment and shove and then cross your fingers. Somehow I crawled out of the hole and got myself back up to the chip leaders by doing a good Greg Raymer imitation winning almost every race that came down the pike. The few I lost weren’t major so I stayed among the leaders and when I got lucky by sucking out of a dominated position I hit the final table in good position. Looked good for the forum I was playing for as we had 3 runners at the final and when we got down to the last 4 it was two from our forum and two from another. To cut it short the other forum went 1-2. I wound up 4th. Tried to get tricky with small pockets and made a misread and wound up donking most of my stack to a slightly higher pocket pair. Was left with a couple hundred chips with humongous blinds but actually doubled up 4 straight times before finally meeting my fate. As a capper to a long weekend of poker it was a rush. Congratulations to the members of the Suited Pockets forum for the 1-2 finish. Good game.

Can’t say I like that 4th place finish but guess I can’t complain too loudly either considering that this game took me entirely out of my comfort zone. I prefer to grind my way through a tourney rather than go for the quick kill. With this structure though that wasn’t happening. I found myself shoving hands that I would normally take my time with. The 8-8 was my friend yesterday. I shoved that combo at least 7 times yesterday counting all the tourneys and it came through every time. Add in the fact I was very short at level 3 and I guess I’ll have to live with the 4th and plan to do better in the next 3 tourneys. It’s gonna get interesting.

Well I never thought the day would come when I would say these words but after a long weekend of the game I am finally pokered out. It was hectic to say the least and I have to recover quickly as there is another buy in league game tonight. Normally I might pass on the game to catch a breath but right now I have a lead to protect. Guess I’ll relax with a book for awhile. Thanks for the listen.