Long Day of Pokah (Long... Blog) |
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Posted Fri Mar 24, 2006 5:47 am GMT by xDiamond_CutteRx
The girlfriend left this morning to spend a few days with her family, so my only friends for the next few days are my right hand (to toss chips and click the mouse), and left hand (for reasons I won't get into). Since yesterday was my last day with her, I obviously didn't play much Poker, except for the three or so hours she was at her meeting.
I deposited my $600 on Full Tilt, eager to work my way up to that juicy 100% bonus, and set off to multi-table a bit. The first table I sat down at was a full $3/$6 limit game that seemed pretty tight. My impression was quickly changed, because that table was TOUGH, not just tight. I really had to elevate my game to hang in there. I then sat down at a second table, this one a $200 NL full-ring where Paul Wolfe happened to be sitting (I had been on the wait list). Paul is a really funny guy who was more than willing to crack jokes at the table, and he was nice to all us low-stakes fishies. That table had fairly interesting action, with any pot with Paul in it attracting big action. I actually won a $100 pot when I went all-in with my Queens and Jacks on the turn when he folded. I won a pot from Paul Wolfe. I'm cool.  Meanwhile, on the $3/$6 table, it was slow-going. I won an occasional small pot, and lost an occasional small pot. I was up $10 on the table. Big whoop. So I decided to try a different $3/$6 table. Not much luck there either, as the play seemed pretty similar. What can I say, Full Tilt is tough. I took a nasty spill on the NL table when Paul bluffed me out of a big pot when I held top two pair with a n open 4-straight on the board. I'll get him back for that one day.  By the time my girlfriend got back, my account balance had gone up a measely $12. But hey, I got FTP points, and I'm on my way to that bonus.
Today, after she left, I headed over to the Lucky Derby club in Sac to peek in on that juicy Omaha 8 game, and sure enough, there was a $6/$12 table going with 6 senior citizens. Most of them didn't seem to have a great knowledge of the game, and they were splashing around in a lot of pots, except for one guy, who I'll call Doyle (because hey, he was cool and he was old). I sat down at the table with $200 and another $200 in my wallet just in case--they looked at my like I had breasts or something. They don't usually get anyone under 40 in a non-Hold'em game. Things progressed fairly normally, with me playing tight, and winning the low half of the pot a lot of times with A2 or A3, making me a slow but steady profit. Only two hands of note really came up. In one hand, I was on the button with K  Q  J T . The pot had been raised in front of me, and I 3-bet (not a move I'll make all the time, but if my high hits, I'll probably scoop). I got two callers, and the flop came A J 9  , giving me a lot of outs, and weakening a lot of low draws. First position bet, MP called, and I raised. Both called. Turn came the Q , giving me the nut straight with a royal re-draw, and shutting out the lows. Curiously, first position bet again. MP called, and I of course raised. Both called again. The river came the 8 . Both players checked, I bet, and both called. I turned over the nuts and scooped the pot, with the player in first position shaking his head. "You're gonna go broke playing those cards, son," she said. "How so?" I asked. He replied, "Playing hands with no low potential. Not smart. You'll learn when you're older." To this guy, "low potential" meant any two card under 9, even if they were 87. I smiled and nodded, and looked over at Doyle, who winked at me as if to say, "easy money kid." The only other interesting hand wasn't too good for me. I raised from LP with A 2 9 T , and got 4 callers. The flop came 8 7 6 , giving me the nut straight, nut low, and two backdoor flush draws. I was psyched to make a big run. A bet and a call preceeded me, and I raised. The button re-raised, and the original bettor capped! It was a dream come true, as another player in the middle called. The turn came the 7  , which didn't make me especially happy, but I still had the nut low and could make a good profit even if I got quartered with this action. There was a bet and a call to me, and I raised, hoping to sandwich a weaker low and build my profit on the hand. The button called, the original bettor re-raised, MP called, I capped, and everyone called. The river came the 2 . D'oh! Counterfeited! First position bet, MP called, I grudgingly called, and so did the button. I was horrified to see first position turn over Q977 for quads (what a hand for Omaha 8!), and MP turn over A3 for the new nut low. My plan had worked perfectly to sandwich the weak lows, but getting counterfeit on the river hurt bad. As it turned out, if no 2 or A had come, I would have won a full half of the pot, as the button turned over 45 for the low end of the straight and a crappy low. That was a bummer that set me back big time. The game broke up around 7:30 to make way for the Hold'em junkies (we were down to 4-handed by that point so they asked us to convert). I decided to stay for an extra hour or so to avoid rush hour. The new game was $4/$8 Hold'em. Not much happened there, but I did win a decent pot when I flopped the nut straight with KQ. Despite the loss of the big Omaha pot, I was still up for the day thanks to a few small scoops and big half-pots. I counted my winnings at a pathetic $30. Less than 3 big bets; after gas, it didn't add up to much. I'll probably give that game another shot on Monday, unless I happen to be in Reno playing the WPT.
When I got home around 9:15, I helped myself to a nutritious meal of Ramen and mashed potatoes, turned on the TV, and fired up the net again. I logged onto both Full Tilt and Pokerstars. On PS, I decided to enter a 3-table $20 tourney that was almost full, and I decided to give the limit tables another crack at Full Tilt... since I'm a glutton for punishment, I decided to try $5/$10 instead of $3/$6. The next hour and a half saw ups and downs. On the plus side, I came in 2nd in the PS tourney, pocketing some nice cash. On the negative side, I was getting beat up in the Full Tilt game, and was down a little over $100. On PS, I saw a $160 WSOP Double-Shootout was registering, so I figured, what the hell, I'll give it a shot. I won my first table with all-out aggressive play, making some moves that might make Gus Hansen raise an eyebrow. When it got down to 3-handed play, I was up something insane, like 10k to 1k to 1k. I pushed almost every hand, and won two coin tosses to move onto round two. I was assured of getting my buy-in back once the first guy was knocked out. The WSOP qualifier was getting tense when I found myself 2nd in chips with only 4 players left. I literally started sweating bullets thinking about that juicy $12k prize package. In a flash, someone got knocked out when his JJ ran into KK. I was down about 2-to-1 in chips behind the leader, who turned up the heat with an aggressive pre-flop style. On the button, I picked up AQ and raised, only to find myself re-raised all-in by the leader. By the odds, I didn't figure him for a big hand and saw a golden opportunity to double up, take the lead, and get one step closer to my WSOP dream. I called, and he turned over A8. I was ecstatic until the flop hit A98. The turn came a 10, and I knew I would need a 10, 9, or Q to keep my dream alive. Alas, the river was the 2 , and my dream will have to wait.
I logged off both sites when I started this entry, and counted my overall winnings today as $89. Not bad, but not great considering how long I played. I was so close to qualifying for the ME, but there's still plenty of time. For now, it's time for bed and much more Poker tomorrow.
Sorry the long entry all. Cheers.
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Posted Fri Mar 24, 2006 6:04 am GMT by Jernej Zorec
well written 
but one thing, am i the only one who doesnt see any 20$ 3 table SNG's on PS ?
Posted Fri Mar 24, 2006 12:21 pm GMT by Gunslinger
Great write up!
Keep trying, man, you can do it. 8)
Posted Fri Mar 24, 2006 3:13 pm GMT by TxShadow
Nice post. Sounds like an eventful day.
Man I woulda been all nerves getting that close to winning a WSOP prize package. Keep on tryin'.
Posted Fri Mar 24, 2006 3:27 pm GMT by xDiamond_CutteRx
| Jernej Zorec wrote: | well written
but one thing, am i the only one who doesnt see any 20$ 3 table SNG's on PS ? |
Typo. I meant $10. Keys start to run together at 3am.
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