Played two 180SnGs at once this afternoon, one went fairly well the other was horrible (out rather quickly 121st or something) – can you spell outkicked at all times…in the first one I was able to survive quite long and when it came down to get some more chips (I was hovering quite a bit below average – I hold KhQh, min raise preflop…one other caller, so we’re looking at the flop three-handed…Ah xh Qs, I check, original raiser fires out 400 (= 2xBB), other caller comes over the top…I ponder
for a while and think that 9 outs seems to justify the chance to triple up…the other player calls…turn is blank, river is Jc…so no help for me…they both held AJo…out in 49th)…

Edit: Another 180 SnG this evening…almost three hours played and I bust out in 12th place…66 vs QQ ouch… :-( 😉

After today’s exam, which went fairly well to say the least, and an afternoon of hitting the books for friday’s exam, I decided to play another 180SnG…no boring hand histories…long story short: I played well, had some good cards in tight spots and even sucked out once (at the final table, Ax vs KK, Ace on the flop)…first final table in these buggers…came in third. W00t!

No poker tomorrow (or later on today to be precise) as I gotta hit the books one last time for friday’s exam – my last one at uni! Wish me luck… 🙂

…as I’ve got my second to last exam at uni tomorrow. Only poker I played today was a relaxing 180SnG at Stars…played tight…when we were down to around 50 players I look down at AcKc…loose cannon infront of me pushes All-In (he would push with any Ace)…I shove…to my surprise one caller behind me…loose cannon shows As9s (lol)…caller behind me shows KK…K on the flop and IGHN…overall I’m still happy with the play though, I would have busted the loose cannon and with a little bit of luck (namely an Ace and no King) I would have tripled up – which would have been at top 5 position at that time…

Alrighty…I’m outta here…gotta get up rather early tomorrow and write the exam…wish me luck 🙂

Head on over to Jordan’s blog, Trip’s blog or the new DADI blog to find out all about it (there will be added prices donated by PSO and PokerOnAMac). Check the following banner for the vital infos:

…making bad decisions because of it or along with it (- as in “trying too hard”) is a whole other matter. I don’t know if it’s the fact that I’m running bad or if it’s just that my game is off atm, but I caught myself doing some pretty stupid things tonight: I have to get up early tomorrow, so only a short session (1 Shorthanded SnG at FullTilt, 1 180SnG at Stars and some ring games)…and I caught myself “taking shots” more often than I needed to – we all know that you will have to win some coin-flips (and/or touch hands) in order to reach the top of a poker tourney, but only if the situation is in your favour (or if you’re desperate or if you truely feel that you’re ahead…): so I catch myself calling a hand down with nothing but TP and sure enough the paired board made trips for someone…now this isn’t bad luck, this is stupidity! In another hand I call off my stack with AQ high…running into a small pair in the process…
I think I should get my game straightened out again and focus on playing better…it’s hard these days with my last exams at uni coming up (next wednesday and friday) and the corresponding stress-level rising…so the question is if I should be playing atm at all…I guess not really, but a little game here or there won’t hurt so I’ll focus on playing some micro ring games and no tourneys/SnGs until the exams are over 😉

…so this post is all about moaning – if you’re running good don’t read any further or my “bad luck” might rub off on you 😉
No matter what I touch these days, it all turns into crap. Played a Stars 180, flop my broadway, get crushered by a runner flush – out 148th. Nice way to start off a session. Change of scenery and game: FullTilt PLO8 ring game, I’m prepared to shout “Scoooop”, but either my hand get’s counterfeited or I even lose the whole hand (4 to the wheel on the flop, …no low)…sweet, bye bye 3 Buyins…

Back to Stars, another SnG, single table as the cheapo 180s aren’t running…J-9…flop 8-9-9…sure enough some CB holds A9…Ace on the turn (not that he needed it – just for good measure..) …damn!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! [And yes I know that calling his big bet at the river is/was questionable…he might as well have had a crap flush already made on the turn which would have had me beat…but I did put him on Ax…which was true, didn’t think it was A9 though…]

Alrighty…enough moaning for today…off to watch the latest episode of Las Vegas… 🙂

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… 😉

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 😉

After I heard about the new “cheap version” of Stars’ 180SnG (4$ + 0.40$) I thought I’d give it a shot. Nothing spectacular to report…half-way through the first hour I flop TPTK, turn is blank and my opponent fires…I ponder and think that there are basically four possibilities:

1. He’s trying to buy the pot
2. He’s holding two pairs
3. He’s holding a small set and is afraid of being outdrawn on the river
4. He’s trying to make me think that 1. is true

2. Is possible, but I don’t think so…3. Doesn’t make much sense either, why would you overbet the pot so much? …so I think it’s 1. and I call his push (he has me covered)….as he flips his pocket sixes to match the flopped 6 I see that it’s a mixture of 3. and 4. – nicely play, dastard! 😉 Out in 111th…