Where Does the Time Go?

Really. I blink and almost an entire month goes by.

At least I'm treading water with poker and not going under. Actually took first (technically) in a $5 HORSE MTT on Full Tilt. Found myself heads up with only a tiny lead so instead of playing god knows how long we agreed to a chip chop that had me take in a little bit more money than the other player. Also final tabled a $12 x 180 Turbo SNG on Stars to get me off of life support there. Dabbled in a few NLHE ring games too--$100 on FTP and $25 on Stars--without losing my shirt, which is saying something given my history.

A couple of funny hands along the way where people were not at all happy with me.

I can't remember exactly what event this was in; an FTP MTT with a buyin no greater than $10, IIRC. I'm in the CO and getting ready to limp with 5s6s after a couple of AP players have limped ahead of me, when the player to my right shoves for about half of my stack. On the way to the fold button my arrow moved over the call button, however, and without clicking a mouse button I somehow called the raise. The button folds and now one of the blinds overshoves for most of the rest of my stack. Since at this point I'm getting something like 4.5-1 to call, I figure I'm priced in thanks to the misclick. Two spades on the flop and another on the river and I'm being accused of cheating. Comedy gold.

Then, last night at a $100 NLHE table on Tilt I've been playing fairly tight and showing down strong hands, so I decide to steal with a 3x raise from the CO or the button with 85o after it folds around to me. Unfortunately, one of the blinds calls and I'm once again reading the fold button. The flop comes 67x, however, and I make a slightly incorrect call when he leads out. Blank on the turn, but he lets me off the hook with a free card and it goes, check, bet, raise, shove when a nine hits on the river. I cashed out up by 1.5 buyins a short time later, more than offsetting a lackluster MTT performance.

Some tournament calling ranges continue to flummox me. I run a stop and go from the SB with A9s, for example, shoving for about 1.25x the pot when the flop comes all undercards and gives me a couple of back door draws. AKo calls me for at least half his stack. Do you call with AKo there? I haven't been at the table for more than an orbit or two and haven't played any hands to speak of, so I'm not sure I call in his situation. Neither one of us improves, however, so meh. On another I lead out pre flop in LP with 66 and get called by the button. I check raise all-in for a little more than the pot after a ragged flop with one paint card and he calls with TT. This time I spiked a 6 on the turn to win the hand. Again, it was a situation where I hadn't been at the table very long and even if he had stats on me, I rarely check raise without the mortal nuts so a call couldn't be that good a play there.

Of course I'm a huge donkey, so what do I know.

Beer

I am working on an actual substantive beer post. It's my long awaited review of my favorite American IPAs. I would have gotten to it sooner, but I always seem to find time for more research, such as it is.

Upside Down Night

Boy howdy, if all you had to go by in judging how to play solid poker were my results from last night, you'd get your junk cut right off over the long term. My 4-1 favorites, like KK vs. Q9s all-in pre-flop, were getting dusted off right and left, but whenever I got in a lower pair vs. a higher pair I was rivering sets like crazy. I even managed to win a short-stack desparation all-in call with 42s vs. two over pairs with a 2 on the flop and a 4 on the river, thank you very much.

After bubbling in two of the three tournaments I played and crashing out early in the third, the true crowning glory of the night came when I cleverly spent 45 minutes at a $100 NLHE ring game. I chucked a whole bunch of junk hands, stole the blinds a couple of times and whiffed on several flops, then hit TPTK on a J-high flop and got it all in against a flopped set of 4s. Hah! These 49-1 dogs are no problem, apparently, as I went runner-runner for Jacks full of Aces and doubled up instead of getting stacked.

Seriously.

Couldn't have played it worse and my reward is a profitable night putting me a step further away from what once seemed an almost inevitable return to bankroll oblivion.

I guess that's poker.

The Glory That Was the Hammer

Every once in a great while, a hand comes along that reminds me of what used to be in the poker bloggerverse.



And he shoved into me on the river.

This lead to a fairly deep run--not to the level of the two $3 MTT FTs I pulled in the last week--until I made the huge tactical error of getting AA in vs. AKo, which of course leads to a KKx flop.