I guess there are days when you should leave the different PokerSites rest for a day, especially when you’ve been fixing a server melt-down most of the day.

A lesson learned…played one SnG at Full Tilt…running good….sucked out on…then didn’t get it yet, so played another one at PokerStars…we’re down to four-handed…I battled myself to the chiplead…and I’m looking to win this thing (top 3 payed)…A10o on the button…enough to bully around a shortstack in the BB…sure enough he pushes…I call…he shows AA…what else is new? Two hands later I look down at a suited King and push again…huge stack calls…shows his Ace…ding Ace + OESD for me on the flop…no joy though…out in fourth…off to catch some sleep now…good luck to all of you in the WWdN and good fight, good night to Kat and Veneno (2nd match is tonight)…hopefully Waffles will post a recap 😉

Forgot to post earlier on. Just a single token SnG today, finished 6th out of 18…so no token and no joy…got short-stacked….busted out in 6th…rivered by a 7…need I say more?

Hopefully more joy tomorrow in Waffles’ birthday bash tourney aka SirOldMan’s Tiltfest…cya there…

Side note: Just came back from a mate’s 30th birthday party…nice to wait for a cab for like 1.5h just to catch a bus, sit down, see the taxi arrive just as the bus is taking off…then get off the bus at the nearest location to home and walk through freezing cold weather in ankle-high snow…hmm…joy…NOT… 😉

After spending the whole day revising for my first uni exam of the semester (in a series of 4 exams which are my last ones at uni, yeah!) I thought to test the waters of the two table token SnGs again (6$+0.60$, top 4 get a token, 5th gets 4 bucks back). After logging into FTP I check the HE tables first and saw that Mike Matusow was really 4 tabling – 2 full tables, 2 short handed all $10/$20 NL…he was joined by other pros (David Singer and John Juanda)…cool stuff…above my current limit though:

After watching for a while I jumped into a token satellite and I don’t know what it is, but I’m running good atm. Not so much when it comes to card luck, at least not more than usual, but in the way I play. Maybe it’s my reassessment of some aspects of my game and my better understanding of some (crucial) aspects of the game in different settings (including but not limited to: 1. Trust instincts, period. 2. Loosen up just enough to not blind myself down all the time in MTTs/SnGs 3. Switch gears, especially in faster games (SnGs)…etc etc). Whatever it is, it works. No boring hand histories or bad beat stories this time, just some facts and one interesting hand. Most interesting hand of the night: I look down at QQ in the SB…BB+2 pops it up to 2xBB…button calls…I cold call as BB+2 is a maniac and button is a total rock (so that might be KK/AA there)…BB folds…so we’re three handed and looking at a AA7 flop…check all around…turn is another 7…I check…maniac checks…rock on the button bets 800…now I trust my instincts here and lay it down…maniac cold calls…hmm…this is interesting…we’ll see why…river is a J…maniac checks…rock on the button bets another 1k…maniac cold calls (probably feared an Ace too)…showdown…see below…interesting to see three big pocket pairs (JJ+QQ+KK) + AA on the flop in a single hand…crazy…

Second interesting hand (without a screenshot), we’re still sitting 6 handed, I’m 4th in chips and look down at 99 in the SB…folded around to me…I pop it up to 900 (3x BB), BB calls…flop comes down 9-J-x, I check…BB checks…hmm…turn comes another blank I check…BB pushes All-In…I had a feeling that my trips was good there…call for all my chips (he has me covered by over 2k)…he shows A-x…river brings his Ace, but no help and I double up…I’m in the chiplead and cruise into the money (or the tokens ;-))…cool. So I’m 1/2 since winning my last token. Nice!

Now to the latest pimpage: like you might have already read on veneno’s blog or on waffles’ blog itself…Waffles birthday is approaching, so there will be a tourney at Full Tilt Poker in his honor. See the following banner for all the infos…

Apart from the usual NL HE fun with all your favourite bloggers there will be added excitement as there will be bounties and all – I already told Waffles that I’m going to offer a bounty on my head, too. Just need to think of something…so…be there or be square!!!

Not much time to play today as I’ve got a uni exam coming up on friday – so I better get my lazy behind into gear and away from the poker tables. After spending the day with the books it was time for a little poker tonight though….so I fired up FTP and play some NL HE ring game, got my hands on some bucks and went on to try to get my hands on another token. No joy there though as I busted out in 11th place. That officially makes me 1/6 now…I guess it’s time to reassess my SnG play, especially when it comes down to short handed play (either final table or final two tables).

After the disappointment I thought I’d give HORSE another try, but no joy there either. H: uneventful, O: nice, but only 1 pot and even lost a pot with AA double suited when my 78 was the idiot end of the straight on board, R: yuck…no..a King on 5th street doesn’t help me, S: good, but no big pots, E: IGHN…out 8th of 8. Hmm….
So I’m down some bucks again and it’s time to get some of that back, so NL HE ring games it is, again. Not much to report, got back to almost even for the day. Listened to the last Lord Admiral Card Club Podcast in the process – Dr. Pauly interviews Wil, Columbo’s one minute mystery and discussion about Zee Justin’s cheating…a nice episode! Go get it: Episode 64

After I missed the 17ET tourney I started the night with a donkfest (9player SnG with a HUGE buyin of 1$ + 0.25$ fee). I gotta say that this format is the biggest crapshoot I’ve seen in my life. It was really fun to watch the donks draw and draw and draw and hit…unbelievable…I guess it’s safe to say that I’ve never had more fun for a dollar…on another note: I’m never playing that again.

Just as I busted out in 6th place I noticed that one of the 90 player 1$ SnGs was red, so I checked it out and sure enough Andy Bloch played in it. That’s what rocks at FullTiltPoker (affiliate link) – although the pros mostly play higher stakes ($3/$6 and above, mostly above $10 though) they do play in low buyin SnGs and MTTs, too! Name me another site were you can play with the pros for a dollar? Cool stuff!

After the donkfest it was time to mix up my game a little again…so I hopped into a 5$ PLO8 SnG. The main hands I play in PLO8 are the 3 card wheel hands, but you gotta mix it up a little, so I took down a nice pot with pocket Kings which made me a nice full house. Five hands in the board exploded in my face though and I couldn’t hold myself back…sure enough I only flopped the 2nd best boat and yes another player held the nut boat. Too bad…out 9th of 9. But I don’t feel bad about that one, if you think you’ve got the nuts, play’em like that…

After the PLO8 distraction another try at the token front was in order and to make a long story short: after 1h 31m of ups and downs I finished 2nd and won my first 26$ token. W00t!

Sidenote: I know that with 5 tries (1 token, 3 busts, 1x 5th place = -2.6) the 26$ token cost me 30.4$, so not really a good deal – but I hope to win more of these buggers in the long run with fewer tries, so everything should work out

In related news: I’ve changed my avatar from the donkey to the lemur (I think that’s what it is, right?)…I just couldn’t stop laughing at the following pose, so I just had to get this avi..

Argh. Another try at a 26$ token and another bubble boy finish (or bubble boy + 1 as I finished 6th, top 5 paid, but only top 4 get a token). I don’t know what it is, but I can’t seem to get through in these buggers. Side note: Thanks Garth and TripJax for the encouraging comments on yesterday’s post. I guess I just have to try again, although I’m starting to lose confidence and motivation – whatever I do I just can’t win the “deciding hands”, maybe it’s the 5 minute crapshoot format or the poker gods laughing at me, whatever it is it sucks!

Evertime I push my stack in the middle with confidence (and the best hand at that particular time) a donk turns over his crap and connects (i.e. 77 on a Q-10-7 board, i have him covered, he decides to call with J8o and sure enough the turn is a 9; AQo preflop All-In he calls with A-10, and guess what? – see below)

No joy today may mean more joy tomorrow, we’ll see, although I doubt it with a dentist appointment coming up tomorrow 😉

Help a brother out: Please send me some suckout mojo, cheers!

I played my usual NL HE today and was able to finish ahead more than 5 buyins. Nice. Because of that I played another 2 table 6$+0.60$ token satellite (top 4 get a 26$ token, 5th gets 4$). One player at the table had the deck hit him in the face most of the first half dozen orbits and so he busted out 6 players in no time to chip up to 9k (1.5k starting chip count). Wow, haven’t seen that before – although I imagine that this has got to be a cool way to play such a SnG (get cards at the right time or maybe even cards at all time, then just sit around and watch the others bust out as the token is a lock unless you do something stupid). No such joy for me, but I hang in there until we were down to 5 players…at least I was down 2.6$ at most…unfortunately I was a big dog with 1.3k chips to over 4k (places 3 and 4), so I had to get something going with blinds at 100/200. I’m in the BB and look down at AKo…All-In…UTG who tried to limp in calls…the rest folds…he shows Ad5d…5 on the flop…no help for me…so that makes me 0/3 in those 2 table satellites for a 26$ token. Hmm…can it be so hard to get one of those? Not really as I’ve seen bad players hit it big more than once now…I guess it’s just a matter of time until I can catch a break on one of those buggers. Until then I’m going to win the buyin on the cash-tables first and then try again 🙂

Played the usual 17ET tourney, passed the top 50% mark before busting out. So no joy there. More joy at the cash and SnG tables though. I think i’m getting used to the 0.05/0.10 NL HE tables…busted some balls…had my balls busted some times…came out ahead some bucks and cleared the first 10% of my signup bonus! Cool. Finished 2nd in a 5$ SnG (6 Max) for another 5 bucks…not bad…

Now I’m going to log off and relax a little before the NBA All-Star Saturday begins: Go Dirk! Get the 3 Point trophy 🙂

Played two Horses today. The first one was heads up and I couldn’t hit a flop to save my life, so nothing to win there (-5.25$). Then I thought that it would be a good idea to test the donkeys at the 5+0.50 HORSE SnG with 8 players. Same shit different tourney. It’s funny sometimes when you can’t catch a hand and if you get one there’s sure as hell (at least) another player holding a better hand (i.e. J-J vs. K-K vs A-A)…I don’t know what it is, but this really makes me think that I’ve run out of luck somehow…(-5.50$).

After the double horse manure I went back to the normal game (NL HE)…first playing the 1$ tourney at 17ET…nothing spectacular to report, busted out in 127th (of 440), but play a good game. So the last resort were the ring games, so I busted some balls at the 0.05/0.10 NL tables (+10$) to come up almost even for the day…cool.

Now I’m going to relax a little before the DADIII starts…where my last funds at PokerStars will be on the line – don’t expect me to be scared money though 😉

*Caution: Rant ahead*

Hehe…sometimes it’s just not meant to be and you should walk away while you’re not too deep in doo-doo…I decided to do just the opposite.

Start things off with a heads up HORSE match for a fiver. “Donk” off 2/3 of your stack in the H as your opponent hits EVERY single flop while you hit every third-fourth one with middle pair. Great start. Battle your way half-way back in O8b and Razz then let your opponent outdraw you in every hand. Whoop-di-doo…now HORSE but a busted HORS…argh!

Then I thought I should play some of the soft 6$+0.60$ token satellites and to be honest they’re really soft with donks calling all-ins with middle pair etc…unbelievable. Even more unbelievable is the fact that you can’t seem to catch a hand and if you do you get a royal nut-kicking…I’m so mad atm that I could really smash the screen with my keyboard, but I won’t do it…I will log off now in an effort to calm down and get ready for some more action tonight…hopefully with some cards falling my way…(Result of the token SnGs: two 10th place finishes)…

Example hand to show you just how lucky I am today (all money went in pre-flop):

*End rant*