Hmm…getting closer, but still not far enough. Finished 13th of 180 in my third try. In the money, so nothing much to complain about, but it could have been a better tourney.

Short summary: Got off to a good start and was the table captain for most of the first hour, building a nice stack in the process (peak: 2nd in chips). After the first break I was literally card dead for almost exactly 55min (7 high, 6 high, 4 high, 5 high, for a straight 55min)…so I almost didn’t make the money at all. The last hand before the 2nd break doubled me up though…and I was back in the game, but when it mattered most I couldn’t catch anything (AJ vs KQ – King on the turn and IGHN)…so close to the final table, yet again… 😉

Tried a three-table 5$ SnG to finish of the day of playing poker and it all came down to my beloved and hate hand of Pocket Rocket, Bullets, AA, whatever you would like to call it. I play really tight for a few orbits not seeing a flop for the first ten hands. Some other ten hands in I hold AA in the BB, cheers Stars. EP min-raises, LP raises to 10xBB…as he’s a relative maniac I don’t even think about it and push (remember my announcement that I’m so All-In preflop with the next rockets I hold?). Sure enough he calls and shows A10…the rest can go with the old saying: a picture is worth a thousand words…

Crippled and on mega-tilt I didn’t even survive the next hand…I guess I gotta readjust my tactics when holding bullets: If there’s any raise before the flop, ponder about calling if it doesn’t mean I’m commited, then on the flop if there’s any possible draw – fold.

j/k 😉

So, I gave the 4$ 180SnG on Stars another whirl and I cashed. 17th / 180….so nothing major (just under doubled the buyin), not really +ev for 2.5h of poker, but at least I play some good poker again. Early on people (aka Donkeys) bet every flop and sometimes you just got to trust your gut feeling (e.g. the first time I was All-In was holding AhJh on a flop with all cards lower than ten…some donkey pushed and I was sure that I was ahead…call…he shows KJo (aka “the donkey”) – wtf?). Picked my spots after that and was hovering around twice the average at all times (peak: 4th avg: 6th-12th). Then just at the bubble I sealed my finish.

Situation: BIG stack raises every hand and is successful with it as all the other players are shorstacks and I don’t get any cards higher than 8 for 1.5 orbits, this time I reraise to 6xBB with AQo though, all fold…he calls…board is all undercards…check…bet…call…turn is another undercard…so the board is all rags…he pushes…now at this point I’ve commited around half my stack…up: I think he might be holding overcards too; down: he might as well hold Ax, Kx, Qx…so chances are high that his kicker is playing….I fold…now I’m stuck in the nirvana of mediocrity with just under 7k in chips (top 10 all > 20k)…so I decide to fold into the money and take it from there…success and I’m at the final two tables…third hand: I hold 8d5d in the BB three limpers, I check…flop comes down 6d-6c-5h rainbow…I bet 1200…call call….turn is Kd…I bet 1200 again….push fold…action on me…now I’m sure that he holds Kx, but I’m desperate and 11 outs (9 diamonds and two fives) justify the call…if it hits I’m back in the race, if not I’m out….K on the river seals my fate…

I guess I’m going to play those cheapos a little bit over the next few weeks…a final table cash (especially top 3) would really help my bruised bankroll at Stars…

…when someone is sitting with 90$ at a 0.05/0.10 NL HE table…

Hand that put me over the edge:

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Ingoal [8h 8c] …
*** FLOP *** [8d 9h 6s]
Ingoal: checks
tulsabrian: bets $2
tulsabrian said, “uh oh”
tulsabrian said, “whatchu got meads”
Mieds: raises $4 to $6
tulsabrian said, “i smell something bad”
Ingoal: calls $3.70 and is all-in
tulsabrian said, “chit”
tulsabrian: raises $4 to $10
Mieds: calls $4
*** TURN *** [8d 9h 6s] [Ah]
tulsabrian said, “5 7”
tulsabrian: bets $80.05 and is all-in
Mieds: calls $1.60 and is all-in
*** RIVER *** [8d 9h 6s Ah] [5d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
tulsabrian: shows [5h 7d] (a straight, Five to Nine)
Mieds: mucks hand
tulsabrian said, “ahahhaahha”
tulsabrian collected $15.05 from side pot-2
Ingoal: mucks hand
tulsabrian collected $10.55 from side pot-1
Ingoal said, “omg”
Nethor: shows [Ad Jd] (a pair of Aces)
tulsabrian collected $2.35 from main pot
Ingoal said, “trip 8s no good”
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $29.35 Main pot $2.35. Side pot-1 $10.55. Side pot-2 $15.05. | Rake $1.40
Board [8d 9h 6s Ah 5d]
Seat 1: Ingoal (big blind) mucked [8h 8c]
Seat 2: Nethor showed [Ad Jd] and lost with a pair of Aces
Seat 3: tulsabrian showed [5h 7d] and won ($27.95) with a straight, Five to Nine

Apart from that a little grind at some other tables and over at Absolute Poker, not much joy though…especially when you’re sitting at another donkey table with two players seeing the flop 75% and 78% of the time…and connecting time after time….even cracking your bullets…be damned! I guess playing with lots of cold medicine is really -ev for my game and costing me more nerves and money than usual…

Sidenote: bullets cracked by runner runner straights or flushes in the last few days: 3, I’m so All-In preflop the next few Aces I hold 😉

So, as the late brackets didn’t fill up in time, I jumped at the chance to play in the TiltMonsters bracket (Veneno, Jordan and Papi Justify). The first matchups were Veneno vs Jordan and Papi Justify vs Me. I took an early lead with some nice flops, but in the end couldn’t hold on as there’s not much point in hangin in pots where you missed everything and holding on to a x high (x < 10). The end came when my 5s6s ran into slowplayed AsKs on a 3 spade flop....damn! Out in 3rd as Jordan had already eliminated the commish herself, Veneno....So that's the HUC3 for me....dang....way to go...at least it wasn't all that expensive...wait, it was (15$ for the pool, 11$ for the early hiccup tourney, 10.75$ for the real deal)...ah well...at least I participated!!! I'm looking forward to the rest of the matches, as a railbird. Sidenote: Jordan lost to Papi Justify too....he will advance to round two. Congrats! Played in the HUC3 - Lounge game afterwards and promptly busted out early...today just isn't my day...with that said: almost 5am again...yikes...time to get some sleep... Edit: Just received a mail from FullTilt Support…11 bucks have been credited to my account…nice…I guess that’s for the early HUC3-hiccup-match?! No comment about who initiated the transfer in the mail, so I’m wondering if that’s directly from FTP?