Due to the massive network outage of FullTiltPoker Waffles’ birthday bash has been moved and rescheduled. New venue is PokerStars, it starts in less than an hour (9pm ET) check the private tab…password is: wafflesrocks

Side note: So I bit the bullet and reloaded on PokerStars…and I’m in…16 20 22 26 players so far…should be fun…

Side note #2: Couldn’t think of a cool bounty, so I’m not putting one up for this one…sorry 🙁

Edit: Nothing much going my way…card dead…then I look down at 99…push…two callers (TraumaPoker 10h-10 and STeelerJosh K-10)…four heats on the board and IGHN…17th place of 26. So my PokerStars “hotstreak” continues…back to grinding it out I guess….nontheless a fun game…and HAPPY BIRTHDAY WAFFLES!

In case you missed or forgot it already: DADIII is tonight…so get your lazy behind in gear and sign up!

Password: BlogsAreGay

After busting out of the HORSE tourney, I decided to play the WWdN…

Was nice starting with Wil again, unfortunately he didn’t really last long as his pair of queens (KQ) ran into a set of 9s. So he was out first. My next table featured CJ and Sires.

My end came when my pocket nines ran into AK…sure enough the flop featured a lovely Ace and a King…so I’m crippled and All-In in the next hand…where I turn a pair, just to be rivered by a King…out in 21st of 54…

Tonight’s the night of the first WWdN European Friendly version…starting time is 13:30 ET = 19:30 GMT+1 (18:30 UK). So if you’re looking for a good time, get into gear and sign up!

You can find the tourney via the PokerStars Lounge -> Tourney -> Private

The tourney number is 19345283, password is the usual (monkey)…cya at the tables. For more infos check Wil’s post about the tourney.

Update: So, I played the first ever WWdN euro friendly tourney. 27 players entered, some known faces (CJ, Sires, obviously Wil, …) and some “newcomers”. As there were only 27 participants only the top 3 payed and as it was time to approach the final table (after the 1st break), I got a little impatient and pushed with K-10o which lost to an Ace high (a lovely A-7o). Only thing really newsworthy: I had KK three times within the first three orbits – good thing one might think, it might have been if I didn’t chicken out of the first one post-flop (in my defense: Q high with straight and flush draw)…didn’t get anything else than the blinds with the other two so I couldn’t really take advantage…ooh well.

At the final table the weirdest thing ever happen, change100 sucked out on CJ to bust him out in 4th place ( = bubble-boy)…then we all witnessed a damn fine HU game between change100 and Zen Taff…back and forth the action went and in the end Zen Taff came out on top to “defend europes honor” (lol)…he’s from Wales and the winner of the first ever WWdN Euro friendly, cool!

Started the day with some nice going PLO8 SnG action – went into heads up down roughly 1:2 in chips and won the whole thing in two hands. Awesome way to start a session, but it wouldn’t last all that long as I kept running into nuts hands (when I thought my hand was the nuts). Example? I hold A-3-8-8, flop comes down 8-5-5…so I’m in good shape with a flopped boat and the second nut draw…turn and river are blank and sure enough I’m out in 10th of 10. How come? Another player flopped quads (5-5-x-x) and another one was holding A-2…too bad…

Things didn’t improve in the following 2 SnGs so I switched to the NL HE ones…took down 3rd and busted out in 10th of 10 again as my flopped trip 10s were rivered by trip queens:

Nothing exciting in MTT play either…Limit just isn’t my game (anymore). At least I finished the session on a high note…in preparation for DADIII – The HU Championship – I played a HU match on Absolute Poker and totally owned my opponent. I’m so looking forward to play DADIII!

Two totally different sessions today – day session: w00t, night session: argh!

I guess I shouldn’t have played the night session, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I started the day with some SnG action. One NL HE which was totally -ev and two PLO8 ones which were totally cha-ching! Finished 8/10 in the NL HE one, 1st (woot) and 2nd in the PLO8 ones. The 2nd place finish was sort of unlucky two. We’re about even in chips and I hold A-Q-J-10, not a particular groovy Omaha H/L hand as there’s no chance to get the low pot, but after all you need to qualify first for it, so let’s see a flop which comes down K-8-10 rainbow…hmm…nothing much so far but a pair of tens, but it seems that there’s going to be no low…so let’s start the action, I fire out the pot-sized bet and he reraises All-In…hmm…whatever…call…(I’ve got him covered by the huge amount of 48T$)…he shows K-8-A-x…fair enough…he’s in the lead, but I’ve got outs (four nines, three tens, two aces…etc)…sure enough turn and river are blank. Too bad, but I can’t complain….one 1st, one 2nd out of 3 SnGs. I leave to go to footie training and once I return I want to continue the run. No joy though as I bust out early in 3 PLO8s…

Evaluation: It helps if you stick to playing solid hands (any combination of a 3 wheel card hand (best including A-2, but sometimes A-3-4 etc will do), but there’s still some situation where you can’t limit your play to that (apart from the fact that you’re in no man’s land when three faces show up). So I’ve seen the joy of losing set over set etc more than once….but hey…it happens.

Note to self: There’s been a quite drastic difference between the day session’s players and the night session’s players (day: loose, night: tight)…a coincidence? Maybe, but I’m sure as hell trying to get back some dough tomorrow morning 😉

I won’t be playing the WWdN (which starts in around 30mins) tonight as I’m just too tired and don’t feel like playing. I did my share of playing for the day already, too…with not much success either (4 SnGs: 1x3rd), busted out rather early out of the Stud and NL HE MTT…so I guess there’s no point in donking off another 11$ 😉

Have fun all and I’m looking forward to read some transcripts/recaps tomorrow…cheers 🙂

Update: Wow, it seems I’ve missed a quite nice showing by Waffles who took down 1st place, w00t!

…or the case of the accidental hammer clash (more about that later).

After running bad the last few days it was time to get back into shape or back in the saddle of the donkey, so that’s what I did. Played some SnGs (NL HE 3$+0.40$) and was ITM in 3 of 4. The total is: 1x1st, 2x2nd, 1x8th (donkey chasing and connecting) – on a side note: I was down roughly 1:3 in all of the heads up finishes. Was able to turn it around once, although I did well in the other heads ups too…I came back to around even and even took the lead for a while, but just couldn’t finish my opponent…

Apart from the SnG action I played some MTTs, too. Nothing spectacular to report from the PL Hold’em tourney, busted out pretty early. Then I played a Fixed Limit one and the funniest thing ever happened. This poker episode is entitled “The accidental hammer clash”: I’m UTG+3 and look down at the hammer (7c-2d), folded to me and I decide to limp in, flop comes down 7d-Jd-7h…BB leads out, I raise, he reraises, I cap…turn is the 10c…back and forth again…river is the Js…full house baby…back and forth again…showdown (see pic below):

The funniest thing: I correctly shout “hammer time, nh!” in the table chat and I can feel that most of the table is thinking “WTF?!”. The BB asks me: “Why did you call with 72o?” I answer “It’s the hammer, you gotta trust it! … (poker blogger insider)”…he smiles…nothing funny after that and I bust out rather quickly again as I just can’t catch anything.

Then I decided to complete the evening with a NL HE MTT (3$+0.30$). I play some good poker and after roughly two hours of play (already ITM) I bust out in 288th place with Ac-Qc vs As-9c when Mr. BigStack calls my All-In and catches his nine…. not a perfect way to end the evening, but at least I had a good rush today!

Sidenotes:

1. I never had so many AA and KKs in a single day…which is nice, as most of them held up too.
2. The whole single table SnG thing with lots of heads up action today was good training…or at least it should be…I better get in shape for DADIII (see below)

Pimpage:

Be there or be square!

Went on a good run of bad luck early on today. It was so bad it was starting to get funny again. Ever had a time where you were in the wrong place at the right time, all the time? That’s what my SnG and MTT play in the first three attempts was like. Played the Turbo NL SnG (3+0.40), sure enough I push with 10-10 on the button, just to be called by J-J…we both don’t improve and I’m cripple…add another bad timing to it and I’m out in 8th of 10 (I push again with 9-9 this time in LP) and get called by BB, he shows 10-10…you know the drill, no help…

After that I was slightly on tilt and questioning the poker gods, so what can you do? Right, make up for the loss and play a 6+0.50 NL HE Turbo…I dub this one the A-x is the new nuts…nothing more to say about it 😉

Then I go ahead and play a nice NL HE MTT (3+0.30) and I don’t get many playable hands…so after the first break I’m still kind of short-stacked, but not really in need to force things. I pick up some small pots and then I look down at A-K sooted, sure enough my push on the 2-2-4 gets a caller and he shows A-A…what did I say about bad timing earlier on?

Just finished playing my last game for the night, another 3+0.30 SnG. This was the total opposite of the first SnGs or the MTT for that matter. Didn’t get many hands, so I stuck to my tight play and waited for the fun to arrive. It did when we were down to six handed. I look down and find Ad-Ac, w00t…I raise preflop and find a 4-5-2 all clubs, the SB bets I call…the turn brings me the nuts…another club hits the board and it’s the 3c..straight flush, baby!

Two hands after that I got bullets again and pick up another nice pot and we’re in the money.

I donk off some chips before we’re down to heads up – and I’m 1:2 in chips. Sure enough I win a big pot early on in heads up and we’re back to even…a few hands later I’m all-in with Kd-9d he shows K-10 which wins with a 10 on the board…so two bullets and one straight flush wasn’t enough to win the thing…tells you that today isn’t my lucky day 😉

Alrighty…enough poker for the day…off to watch the rest of the Superbowl…

No matter what I played today, I sucked at all of the games…or the cards I got sucked…whatever…I played a Stud H/L MTT (busted out early), a Omaha H/L SnG (bubbled), two NL Hold’em MTT (busted out in the first hour in both)…argh!

I guess there’s no point in playing anymore today…better luck tomorrow I guess…or not…we’ll see…