MissT74

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Too much about me to list here...read my blog...you'll get to know me quite well.

Friday, April 29, 2005

Moving Forward

I am home now, and I had thought about posting a blog about the procedure, what I've been through this past week, but then I decided not to.

I want to move forward, and I want to get past this. I feel comfortable mentally, as Bill has been a wonderful partner to lean on. He's awesome and I love him even more then before, if that's possible.

I wanted to thank everyone for their warm thoughts and prayers, it truly did help my spirits to know that so many people were thinking of me.

So now, it's back to work and back to life, thus back to poker. Thank you again, truly, for all the words, I truly appreciate them.

Wednesday, April 27, 2005

Life Here and Gone....

I wanted to let my blog readers and my poker family know that I have lost the baby.

I experienced cramping, went in for an ultrasound and we discovered that there was no heartbeat.

I am leaving for Vegas for a (possible) two day procedure, called a D & C, and will return Thursday night or Friday AM.

Your thoughts and well wishes are appreciated, but please know that I am doing OK emotionally, as is Bill, my husband. We are, after a few days, at a point where we feel that this is something that we couldn't control and that if it wasn't meant to be, it wasn't meant to be.

I am still keeping my sense of humour through this and I know that I will be just fine with the love and support of my family and friends.

Monday, April 25, 2005

Trivial Bullshit Vs. Life

I played in the $30/$3 R WSOP Qualifier today, 1 seat guaranteed, 2nd-12th = $650 each, 13th = $240. I played my ass off and what did I get to show for it? 3rd place.

I thought 1st place was a lock when I was dealt A, A with 520,000 or so in chips, Player #2 had $140,000 or so and Player #3 had $240,000...give or take. I raised, #2 moved all in, #3 folded, I happily called to see him turn over J, J.

Before I even type it, you know that a J came, but not on the flop or the turn, oh no, it had to come on the river. If I had won that hand, I would have been a lock for 1st place and my first $10,000 WSOP seat. There was another hand too that he ended up sucking out on me on the river, I had him the whole way, but ces la vie. Hey, at least I got $650 to try, try again, right??

Turns out, mere hours later, I could care less. The above paragraphs are what should be, and are to me, considered "trivial", if not even "trivial bullshit". I had kept notes on the last hour of play and was going to type a nice, juicy detailed report, but it's not going to happen now.

If you ever find yourself in a situation while playing poker where you think the world sucks, the poker gods are out to get you, online sites are rigged, too many bad beats, blah blah blah, WHATEVER. Take a look around you, at your family, your loved ones, and I pray that you realize that all that I mentioned above is Trivial Bullshit vs. Life.

Sunday, April 24, 2005

The Lows after the High

Haven't updated the blog recently, but that's because there was nothing worth mentioning but loss after loss after loss. LOL.

I did heed the advice of others, and noticed it myself...those Higher STEPS are hard as hell to crack. You have to place 1st in order to move up, not like the regular STEPS or even the new Mini STEPS. So, I figured I would play the Mini STEPS, for less money, and try to get to STEP 5 and win some cash since the top 5 places pay in these ones, versus just the top 3. I don't find them extremely hard, but was having a hard time getting off STEP 3, kept looping back and forth between 2 and 3 all day yesterday. I finally made it to STEP 4 last night, and saved it for today since it was so late.

Yesterday's (Saturday) log: (MS stands for Mini Steps)

MS #3: 5th = Step 2
MS #3: 3rd = Step 3
MS #2: 5th = Step 2
MS #2: 2nd = Step 3
MS #3: 5th = Step 2
MS #3: 6th = Step 2
MS #2: 10th = $0.00
MS #3: 9th = $2.00
MS #2: 2nd = Step 3
MS #3: 9th = $2.00
MS #2: 6th = Step 1
MS #2: 3rd = Step 2
MS #2: 3rd = Step 2
MS #2: 6th = Step 1
MS #2: 1st = Step 3
MS #3: 2nd - Step 4

I did play a Higher Step #1, that I had won a replay into from Friday night, and was able to come into first for the Higher Step #2, but then I completely bombed and placed 10th....dont ask me how, lol.

So today, Sunday, I started on PokerStars and played there pretty much all day long. I decided that I wanted desperately to play the WSOP $650, so I bought into 3 different SNG's and lost them all, then I played in the final $25/$2 R Turbo to get an entry. I can't remember how many people were in it, but the top 23 got a space and yours truly ended up winning. When it got to bubble time, I was very fortunate and lucky enough to get moved two hands in a row to right in between the blinds, so I was dealt out of those hands and didn't have to put in an ante or anything. I just sat back and waited while others had to play and knock someone out. Luckily, it did happen and I won my $650 seat. Now, if I knew then what I know now, I would have cashed it out and taken the W$, I so regret not doing that.

I started playing the "big" event, and I suffered a pretty big loss in the first level, was somewhat crippled from 2500 chips down to 1200 when my AQ ran into KK with a Q on the board. He never raised or gave me any kind of warning, I was shocked to see KK in his hole when it was showdown. So, it kind of put me on tilt..the scared tilt. I was so scared of busting out, and so I started playing scared money. I choked, big time. I walked away, I had my daughter give me a pep talk, to no avail. I ended up busting out when I had 10,J and the flop came 8, 9,9. I checked, the guy bet, I raised all in, and no hesitation whatsoever, he called me with Kh7h to go with the two hearts on the flop. His heart never came, and my straight never came, and I was out in like 274th or some BS number like that. My heart was pounding and my stomach had that sick feeling in it from the time I lost that big hand to the time I was out. Horrible feeling.

So, now I'm back at PartyPoker to play my Mini Step #4, I also have 2 Mini Step #1's saved up, and will play those after this thread is over, whether it ends in failure or in STEP 5 with some money being won. That would be a nice ending to a pretty shitty weekend, poker wise.

OH, one more think I wanted to mention. I found a strategy late yesterday evening in the Mini Steps, and although it's not guaranteed to work, it sure seems to work so far, for me. I buy directly into a Step 2 or Step 3 and then I sit out until either Level 4, or until the first 4-5 people are gone. This way, I'm guaranteed at least another attempt at the same level, if not getting lucky and then making it into the next level. I come back to a short stack, so then I just start bullying and I never call, I always move all in. I either get called, and get doubled up or lose (but then, I'm in the same level again) or they all fold to me and I get to steal the blinds. This technique is very useful when the blinds are 200/400 and above.

I found that when I didn't use this strategy, I was playing too many hands and that gets me into trouble, as I wind up looping back to the step below vs. the same step. Make sense?

Anywho, I will post again tonight once I'm done playing for the night with the outcomes of my Step quest for the night.

Saturday, April 23, 2005

"I Want To Go Higher"

(...you remember that song??)

Anyways, PartyPoker has brought us something new. To go along with the regular STEPS and the WSOP, they have introduced Mini STEPS and STEP Highers.

Here's the breakdown of the STEP Highers (in order of 1st place and down and abbreviated, but you should understand it or your missing a few screws) (Oh, and please spare me the lectures and talk of the juice on these events, I pay $3 to play STEP 1, if I win I am WINNING the juice to the next step and so on and so on. The juice on these events doesn't bother me. I'm trying to pay $30/$3 to get $100,000, bottom line)

STEP 1 ($30/$3) : 2, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, $25
STEP2 ($100/$10) : 3, 2, 2, 2, 1, 1, 1, $21
STEP 3 ($500/$50) : 4, 3, 3, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 1
STEP 4 ($3000/$300) : 5, 4, 4, 4, 4, 3, 3, 2
STEP 5 ($15,000/$500) :
3rd Place: $20,000
2nd Place: $30,000
1st Place: $100,000

WHAT a payday, if you can make it that far. I played tonight for 3 1/2 hours and this is what I did:

#1: Busted out in 9th place = $0.00
#2: Busted out in 10th place = $0.00
#3: Busted out in 7th place = $25.00
#4: Busted out in 6th place = STEP 1
#5: Busted out in 3rd place = STEP 1
#6: Busted out in 10th place = $0.00
#7: Busted out in 9th place = $0.00
#8: Busted out in 2nd place = STEP 1
(soooo close, I had him outchipped and he sucked out on me twice, bleh)
#9: Busted out in 6th place = STEP 1
#10: Busted out in 6th place = STEP 1
#11: Busted out in 9th place = $0.00
#12 Busted out in 2nd place = STEP 1

I'm calling it a night, it's almost 1 AM and I'm tired. These STEP 1's are murder. It's tough, it's hard. I'm trying to come up with some different strategy ideas, when I find one that works, I will share.

I did have a GREAT idea though......

If one could gather 10 friends together who could actually get up to STEP 5, then you could do a 10 way chop and end up with $15,000 each, just for sitting down at STEP 5. You'd have to trust the "main" persons as they would have to transfer the money themselves since Party won't facilitate chops. But still, I'd give up a STEP 5 that I've won and take a chop of $15K..... how many wouldn't? It's not that hard to get all 10 friends at a table either, because I've noticed late at night that the STEP 5's are empty. The hard part is getting 10 people who can fight their way up to STEP 5. So, keep this in mind, and if anyone is ever interested and gets there, or KNOWS people (and I mean, really, really know and trust) then let's do this. I WILL get to STEP 5, come hell or high water. The first one I would love to chop, just to get the money hungriness out of the way, then I'll play the other ones. Postive thinking my friends!!!

Friday, April 22, 2005

Heartbreaker

$160DS on PS, I never post hand histories, but had to post this one.

PokerStars Game #1567801096: Tournament #7057119, Hold'em No Limit - Match Round I, Level VI (100/200) - 2005/04/22 - 20:23:45 (ET)Table '7057119 4'

Seat #5 is the button
Seat 3: luvforty (5855 in chips)
Seat 5: ngala2 (3390 in chips)
Seat 9: misst74 (4255 in chips)

misst74: posts small blind 100
luvforty: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to misst74 [Ah Ad]
ngala2: folds
misst74: raises 200 to 400
luvforty: calls 200
*** FLOP ***
[3h 7h Qd]
misst74: bets 400
luvforty: calls 400
*** TURN ***
[3h 7h Qd] [2d]
misst74: bets 1000
luvforty: calls 1000
*** RIVER *** [3h 7h Qd 2d] [As]
misst74: bets 1000
luvforty: raises 1400 to 2400
misst74: raises 55 to 2455 and is all-in
luvforty: calls 55
*** SHOW DOWN ***
misst74: shows [Ah Ad] (three of a kind, Aces)
luvforty: shows [5h 4h] (a straight, Ace to Five)
luvforty collected 8510 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 8510 Rake 0 Board [3h 7h Qd 2d As]
Seat 3: luvforty (big blind) showed [5h 4h] and won (8510) with a straight, Ace to Five
Seat 5: ngala2 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: misst74 (small blind) showed [Ah Ad] and lost with three of a kind, Aces

How could I NOT have seen that on the river? I did NOT see the straight, I thought I had the nuts, but even still, even if I HAD seen the straight I still would have called. How could I possibly put him on 4, 5??

4,5????

What a heartbreaker.

Thursday, April 21, 2005

A Drought?

Well, nothing to report from yesterday (Wednesday) I did play in the RGP PLHE and did disgusting, embarrased myself again. I also played two "Bracelet Races" on Full Tilt, one was PLO and the other was PLHE. Lost them both, but did wind up in about 14th place in PLO, Howard Leaderer knocked me out when he called my all in on a flush draw, not even a nut flush draw, and ended up drawing out on me. Bleh.

Turns out yesterday was 4/20 which apparantly has a huge significance to pot smokers across the world. Bill, my husband, knew what it meant, but I was lost. I had to have someone from RGP help me understand that 4 20 meant: Pot Time, Smoke Time, Light it up baby....apparantly from a Cheech and Chong film or something. Anywho, I've never been a big pot smoker. I've done it, used to enjoy it....then I got involved with a man who smoked it 24/7, literally. I lived with him for almost 2 years (2nd fianceee) and the smell just got to me and now everytime I smell it, I get nauseauted. Bleh, can't stand it anymore and I blame him. Full Tilt took advantage of the 4 20 significance and held Pot Limit events all day long. I actually liked that, showed that they were human, and just "one of the guys".

Today, Thursday, I played the "Bracelet Race" again on Full Tilt, Razz this time. Not one single hand came through for me, I was very dissapointed, I felt that I would do well, but what can I say...I just don't "feel" the vibe with Full Tilt. Don't like the site, don't like their RNG, don't like playing there. I'm very, very dissapointed that RGP is going to be holding their private WSOP tourneys there, but maybe with enough complaints, they'll be changed. Of course, beggers can't be choosers, but I just can't stand Full Tilt anymore. I have officially become a PS girl.

I have played several tournaments today with no good results, not even close. I played another $160 DS, this was my 2nd time at the DS and both times I ended up at a table that had the toughest players and went the longest. I ended up getting busted out 6th place at my table, but all other tables were either done or down to 2 players already. I want tables like that!!

I am playing in my last tourney of the day, another $160 DS that I bought into directly using some of the W$ that I earned earlier this week. I do believe I am going to document this tourney, as I haven't done that in a while, and it will help keep me occupied. So here goes:

LEVEL ONE: 10/20, 1500 chips, 10 Players

8h10h, button, I limp in for 20. Flop comes 3, A, A. 4 in pot, all check, I check. Turn is 4, putting 2 hearts on board, bet of 40 ahead of me, I call, others drop out. River is 4, he bets, I fold.

EP, K10, I limp for 40, Flop comes 3, J, 5. BB bets 20, I fold. I'll have to watch the limping. I am going to try and play this like a STEP tourney, and just be super aggressive when I have a hand.

Next hand, UTG +1, AQ, I raise to 120, all fold to me.

SB, 10c4c, I limp in for another 10. Flop is Q, A, 2. All check, 5 in hand. 10 on turn, bet of 40, raised, I fold.

LEVEL 2: 15/30, 1335 chips, 9 players

Qs2s, SB, I limp in for another 15, Flop is 4, 9, 10. Checked all around, Turn is 10, 2 spades on board now, I bet out 90, all fold to me.

On the button, 3, 3, guy before me raises to 120, I call. He's major chip leader, knocked out 3 already, and I think he's using his stack. Flop is 5, 8, 2. He bets out 80, I raise to 220, he folds.

7,7 UTG, I raise to 150, big stack is to my right so it's his BB, but they all fold to me.

Ac3c, SB, big chip stack raises to 75, I call, BB raises to 330, he folds, I call, Flop is 9, 9, 4. I check, he moves in, I fold.

K,5os in BB, all fold to big stack, he raises me (of course) I fold, I'm going to be selective when I fight him.

A, 5os in SB, 3 in pot, board reads 7, 7, Q, 9, 9 I think my ace is good, but guy moves all in for 440 and I don't want to call. I fold.

Next hand, 10, J on the button. Flop is K, Q, 5, both check to me, I bet 60, one guy calls. Turn is A, he checks, I bet 60 he calls, river is blank, he checks I bet 120, he folds.

LEVEL 3: 25/50, 1365 chips, 6 players

AJos UTG, I raise to 250, all fold to me.

Q,8os BB, raised to 150, I call the 100. Flop is Q, 9, 6. I bet 200, he moves all in. I have to fold. I should have bet less as a "feeler" bet.

2nd shortest stack on table now. I may have to just start moving all in. I will be selective.

A, Q I move all in UTG, only because I raised the hand before, and I don't want to be called them thinking that I'm stealing.

7, 7 next hand, BB, heads up, Flop is 10, K, 9. I bet 100, he folds.

A, 8 SB, heads up with BB, I don't raise, an A comes on the flop and I bet out, he folds.

10, K next hand, Flop is 5,8,2, a bet of 50, I call, Turn is 4, a bet, an all in raise, I fold. Big stack takes out another one. He plays very reckless, I KNOW I can use this to my advantage soon.

A, 6 UTG, I raise to 150, all fold to BB, big stack, he folds too. Surprising me by not defending his blinds.

Ks7s BB, 2 call, I check. Flop is 6, K, 6, I check, guy behind me moves all in for 550, big stack folds, I call. He shows JJ and I have more chips now!! Down to 4 people.

5s6s, UTG, I limp in for 50. Flop is 6, 4, 10 I bet out, guy calls. Turn is blank, I bet out, he calls, River is blank, I check, he checks, he shows 7, 7.

Finally, I am at a table that appears it will be the 1st one done. Were down to 4, all others still have 7.

I move all in with A, 8 I get called by K, K. Bad timing, no A for me and I'm out. Sigh.

What a depressing two days after the last weeks wins. I may have to play another tourney to feel better, hopefully, or worse if I lose again. sigh.

Tuesday, April 19, 2005

Success Again...

So I can't help but feeling that each day that draws to an end, as I report on my wins and losses, that this blog is just ending up being some brag book of what I've won, blah blah blah and that some might think of it as pretentious or something.

Well, sorry if you feel that way, I can't help it if I'm winning!!

Played a $3R qualifier to Sundays $650 WSOP event. I can't remember how many people, but I believe around 240-250. Top 2 get seats, 3rd place gets $245 or something like that. I can tell you, when it got down to 3 people left, I did NOT want to be 3rd place. It was a fierce battle, had a lot of people watching, no chatting since it gets turned off. Finally got one guy down to 30K in chips when me and the other guy had 200K+, and he managed to get doubled up by the other guy over and over again until he took the lead and ended up knocking him out. What a come back, I was impressed. I've seen him before, his name is Kev101 or something like that, but he's a good player. So, yes, I wound up in 2nd and won the seat which I then unregistered for to take the $650W$.

I made a withdrawal Sunday night and last night and I am happy to report that I have not, as of yet, been hit with the cash out curse. So I'm pretty happy with PokerStars, and from the past week, I'm sure you can all understand why.

As I type this I am playing in another $3R qualifier to Sundays $650 WSOP event, I have sworn that if I win one more this week then I will, for sure, be playing that event instead of taking the W$. There are 17 players left, and I am in about 5th place in chips, and top 3 get seats, with 4th getting $381.00. I'd be ok with 4th tonight. I've been going up and down, up and down. Made some great comebacks, and am still alive.

I am also playing in a $100/$9 NLHE at the same time. 181 players joined, 87 left, and I am about 11th in chips. Nice payday on this one with 1st place being $5,430.00. Let's see if I can make final table again, and hopefully win some nice cash.

I will edit this blog once the two tournaments are over. Oh, and about yesterday (Monday)....nothing to report, which may be obvious since I didn't post an entry for yesterday. I think I spent $200 or so in W$ and real money, so yesterday was a loss with no wins to report. I did end up practically bubbling in two tournaments, one was the $3R for Sunday and the other was, well shit...I can't remember. LOL, I just know that they were both running at the same time and they kept me up until about 2 AM my time, with nothing to show for it. Ah, the perils of the tournament player.

EDIT:

OK, so the $100 is over and I'm out in about 40th something place, oh well.

The $3R, I made the money. There are four of us left. I was majorly stressing out as the blinds are 10000/20000 and I am the short stack and I'm getting upset because I might bubble, but then I realized that even if I go out now, I still get $381...so although I'd rather have $650W (well, the entry actually), I'm OK with 4th.

All in with 88, called by 99, I get no help, so I am OUT in 4th for $381.00 cash. Bleh. Should be OK like I said before but DAMMIT, I wanted that seat. Well, at least I made profit.

My laugh of the night:
Some guy comes to the table after it's over to see if the other guys want to sell their $650W for $400 cash. LMAO, are there really people that stupid that would say yes??

Monday, April 18, 2005

A New Level Reached??

Is this really just a lucky week for me, or have I passed a level in my poker playing skills?

Is the luck that I've had simply helped me to mentally play better, to play at a different level, or is it real?

I guess time will tell.

Today was Sunday, I'm about to go to bed now and I've had a pretty good day. Of course, you all know about the $1500 WSOP seat won by now, and I am also currently playing a $27/R qualifier for the $650 WSOP Sunday event. I am #1 in chips and there are 8 left, top 2 get seats and 3rd place gets $625. I am not going to play the event, but rather take the $650 in W$, so 3rd place would be AOK in my book. I will keep this blog open, and then post the results once completed.

I played a $10 NLHE MTT on PS, and although I didn't make any "real" money, I did place in about 74th (??) for $30.xx out of 1500+ people. That says something, I think. At least, it does to me.

I guess even if I don't win this current event, I still feel really good about my playing. I have had so many players, and even ones that don't know me from a forum, comment on my play and that really does help the ego a bit. I love it. I have always said that I wanted to be KNOWN in the poker world. I wanted to make a name for myself, maybe that's another reason why I went the tournament route vs. cash games. It's just been an interesting week and I am very proud of what I've accomplished, and the level I've seemed to reach now.

You can count on me to keep it real and stay humble. I KNOW I would be blubbering like an idiot if and when I win a WSOP bracelet. It just means so much to me, personally.

OK, back to the game. OMG...the luck just will NOT stop. So I'm sitting in 1st in chips, and I'm UTG with KQ, one of my fav hands. I raise to 1600, I get called, and the BB moves all in for another $970, so I call as does the guy behind me.

The flop comes 3, K, 7. I checked, because there is an all in. The guy behind me bets 5K, I call. Turn is blank, I check, he bets 5K, I call. River is blank, I check, he checks and sure enough, shows AK. BLEH. So now I'm down to 10K and about 5th place out of 7. I'm doomed...or am I?

2 hands later, I have K 10 and I just call. The BB and I are the only ones in the pot. Flop comes K, 6, 9. I move all in, he calls instantly. Ut oh, I'm thinking...sure enough he shows 6, 9 for two pair on the flop. So I'm praying for a K or a 10 and instead get runner runner J, Q for the straight. Unreal, now I'm back to chip leader position.

2 hands later, I have Ac6c with two callers and the flop comes 6, 3, 4. I check, 2nd player checks, 3rd player moves all in, I call, then the guy behind me calls too. I couldn't figure that one out until the end when he shows two diamonds, he was on the flush draw, it never came and my 6's held up. So I'm at about 48K in chips again, 5 left, and I have a 2:1 chip leader over 2nd place, so I'm pretty much sitting back and hope to float into top 3 with no more major disasters.

OK, so guy gets pretty demolished by another guy, he only has 7K left, its my SB, his BB and I have K, 7 I call, he checks. Flop comes 6, 7, 8 and I bet 1200, he raises me almost all in. I announce that I'll try one time and I call. Turns out he was on a diamond draw and a straight draw and ended up missing. So now there's just 3 of us, and since 1st and 2nd get seats or 650W$, and 3rd gets $625 cash, I see barely any difference in that all and we all agree to go all in on every hand. I end up in 3rd place for the cash which again, will be used for tournaments anyways, so it's all good.

What a day!! Woot Woot!!

Sunday, April 17, 2005

WSOP Anyone?

I have officially won my first seat to a WSOP event on PokerStars through a private RGP tournament. I have decided to use the $1500 won and play in the NLHE event on 6/3/05. The first official event of the WSOP.

I didn't keep a tournament log, so I can't really explain many hands, and to be quite honest, I am exhausted and tired and getting crabby now so I'm just going to leave it at that.

Thanks to all my supporters though. It feels pretty damn good to be respected by other players.

A Recant.....

From an earlier post dated 4/3/2005


http://misst74.blogspot.com/2005/04/taboo-subject.html


I officially recant my statement.

As yes, I have been winning a lot there lately.

Happy?

Saturday, April 16, 2005

Love Those Turbos...

I absolutely adore the Turbo events on PS, I seem to have great luck with them, and my win for today (well, you KNEW there would be SOMETHING won) was the $10/$1 R Turbo Satellite to $350K for tomorrow. I was able to squeak into the money with a pair of deuces. Quack! Quack! I unregistered and am now the proud owner of $215T.

I bought into a WSOP DS ($160) and the cards I were getting were absolutely unbelievable. KK 7 times in the first 3 levels, pocket pair after pocket pair, AA, QQ, you name it, I was getting them and they were holding up. I knocked out the first 5 players. When we got down to 4 players was when the game changed. I had about 8K in chips to their avg 1500 each. That's almost an 8:1 chip lead and I had troubles.

I doubled them all up at one point or another and actually found myself down to 835 in chips with all 4 players still remaining. I was actually able to gain chip lead again, and we finally lost one, then two, and now I'm heads up. He only has about 4K more chips then me and I was feeling OK, just needed to get the cards and sadly...I didn't. So I finished 2nd at my table and was unable to move forward. Sigh. BIG dissapointment especially after all the awesome cards I was getting. I felt like such a crappy player, but I really don't feel that I made any obvious mistakes. You know, the ones that you KNOW was wrong and you berate yourself over and over again after the hand is over. I had none of those, but just couldn't pull it out.

I did play my WSOP STEP 3 on Party and ended up bubbling in 5th place, which sent me back to STEP 2 and I did horrible. I busted out in 9th place.

I played a $50 LHE MTT on Party, and was doing horrible until I was able to double up twice, then I met with disaster when I had AA and the river gave my opponent 3 Q's. Sigh.

I feel that I played crappy today because I am tired. I only slept for 3.5 hours last night, and I wanted to take a nap before I started playing tonight, but time got away from me. I am, however, going to bed feeling much better since I just cashed on PS for that qualifier.

Tomorrow:

The BIG day, The BIG game. RGP WSOP Satellite. I am accepting last longer bets, and I am determined to win. I will be bringing my best game forward and hopefully will have wonderful news to share once it's over.

The Luck Just Won't Stop

So I went to Laughlin last night, Friday, to play at River Palms, the $100/$15 NLHE tournament that I won an entry for on Wednesday.

There were only about 28 people, so I thought I would be a shoe in for the money, top 5 get paid, but I had one of those idiots on the table. You know, the ones that don't really know how to play, and shouldn't play certain hands, but do, then they get lucky and outdraw on you?? Well, my A, 10 met up against her A, 2 and the turn brought a 2 followed by another 2 on the river. Sigh. So I was busted out fairly shortly and feeling a little bummed about it.

So I headed over to the $1 poker slot machines to pass some time and got lucky.

Extremely lucky.

I sat at one machine and hit 3 different jackpots within 30 mins. The first one was 4 Aces with a 2 kicker, good for $2000. Then I hit 4 of a kind good for $250, then I hit 4 Three's with a 2 kicker good for $800. That's $3K from one machine in 30 mins. I was loving life.

I decided to leave and was going to head home, but decided to stop in at Colorado Belle. I played some $5/$10 Omaha H/L, and actually WON $200 while sitting there. As I've said in the past, I'm not a cash game player and I usually lose the money I sit with, but I had 2-3 hands where the pots were monsters, and so I left as soon as I realized that I had actually doubled my money vs. losing it. Nice feeling, I have to admit.

So, I am on my way out the door and decide to play the $1 poker machine, same machine as at River Palms and wouldn't you know it....I hit another 4 Aces with a 3 kicker good for $2K. So, that's a LOT of money won. I gave back some of it, and was able to pay back the money that I came with to Laughlin and still had a good $3K left over. So I deducted my $800 poker bankroll share and handed $2200 over to Bill this morning with the instructions that it was to be spent on a big screen TV.

It has been bought and paid for and will be delivered on Monday. He's way excited. I'm excited. I am on one of those lucky streaks that happens every once in a while and so I will be playing it to the hilt until it's played out. Therefore, after dinner tonight, in about 1 hour, I will be playing some poker on PS and/or Party and we'll see if I can continue this streak and "hit" something for the 4th day in a row.

Oh yeah, last night, when I got home, I proceeded to deposit some money on Party, which I hadn't d0ne in some time and decided to try out the STEP WSOP qualifiers. I bought directly into STEP 2 and won my way to STEP 3 right away. I will play that tonight, and see how far I can take that as well as playing some MTT's. Will report later tonight or tomorrow on how I did.

Also, with the way my luck has been running, I'm a shoo in to win the RGP WSOP qualifier tomorrow on PS!!

Thursday, April 14, 2005

En Fuego!!

Played the $100/$9 MTT on PS, 235 entrants, should have been knocked out before the money but lucked out.

Then got lucky again and should have been out in early money position, but you know me.....

I survived until 6th place. The hand that crushed me was when I raised with As2s and guy moved all in. I had him covered by about 15K, I debated, debated. Then thought back to my earlier post. RISK vs. REWARD and so I called. He had KK, and a K came on the flop.

All in all, I'm happy with what I won, $1057.50, as I really would have been happy with the $399 finish too. LOL.

First place was $6400 though, THAT would have been nice. So, I was playing for 1st and figured if I crashed and burned, at least I have 1K, and if I don't crash then I'm all about playing for first. No guts, No glory.

Thanks to my buddy Welshman for sweating me for a few hours, and to all RGP'rs who stopped by.

A Nice Win...

Well, after Laughlin's win last night of $735, I wasn't planning on winning again so soon...BUT...

My buddy uber_scoob from PS emailed me and talked me into joining him in the $5/$.50 R NLHE tourney on PS around 11:30am. I signed up, rebought twice and did the add on, so spent $20.50, 439 players.

Didn't really do anything spectacular or NOTICABLE until late in the tourney, I think there were about 50-60 players left, top 36 got paid, I forgot the details on the blinds and such but anywho, here's the big "controversial" hand:

I am dealt K, Q os in MP. Player goes all in before me, I have him covered easily, I decide to just call. The BB decides to move all in for another 80K. I have him covered, and I called for time. Here's my thought process.

1. Why did he do that??? We want to get this player out, he should have just checked/called and seen the flop, that moved pissed me off!!

2. If I call, and I lose, I will still have about the average stack in chips left, but if I call and win, I'll be in 1-3 place in chips.

3. I'm sure he has me beat, but maybe I can outdraw him.

I called. Sure enough the 1st all in had Kc9c, and the BB had A, A. Oh lordy, the railbirds were out in full force and when they saw my K,Q, they laughed and started ridiculing me.

Oh, but wait, what's that on the flop?? K, Q, x you say?? Hmmmm seems my 2nd best hand is now in 1st place. Turn BLANK...river BLANK...I win and am in wonderful chip position. I get harrassed for the rest of the tournament with that call. However, I stand by my call and feel that the REWARD outweighed the RISK. This is what having CAJONES means in NL HE. Stupid move had I lost? Maybe. However, I truly feel that to be a great NL Tournament player, RISKS have to be taken. You have to be willing to make moves and hope to get lucky. Noone can win a tournament without SOME luck and I firmly believe in this. Of course, I had to defend myself for the remaining two hours, but nonetheless...

I ended up in 3rd place and netted $1031.00. My second big win in two days, and I get to keep it ALL for my poker bankroll. I'm ecstatic!!

I will be playing some more tonight on PS, and have been granted permission to go to Laughlin tomorrow to play in the tournament that I won an entry for last night. I have my first official OB appointment tomorrow at 11:30 AM, so we will take seperate cars and I will just head over the bridge into Laughlin once the appointment is over. I will report tonight if I do anything great on PS, otherwise, I will post next over the weekend to recap Fridays tournament and the BIG RGP WSOP qualifier being played on Sunday.

Have a great weekend all!!

LIVE Once Again!!

I had a meeting with Tom Thomas, Event Cordinator at River Palms in Laughlin tonight to speak with him about a project I'm working on. Had a lovely dinner in The Lodge, where appetizers cost $15-$20 and entrees start at $20. What a way to be wined and dined!

I then stayed (well, I was 1/2 hour late, but since I was already there..... ) for the Wednesday night NLHE tourney, $20 buy in, $10 rebuys 1st 2 levels, $20 rebuys 3rd and 4th levels, and then a $30 addon at break. There were 68 entrants (down from last week) and yours truly made yet another final table.

This time, however, I was able to make it to a victory and when we got down to heads up, we decided to chop evenly for $785 each and he graciously gave me the $115 seat that goes to the winner for an entry into Friday nights event. I tipped the dealers $40 and came home with a cool $745....Bill was happy, and I think making the money really helped him over any ill will he had towards me staying. Now, I just have to see if he'll be OK with me going back to Laughlin on Friday to play in the event. If not, I will be giving the seat to a local player that I know and taking 50% of his action. I really hope I get to play though, of course!

I feel very proud about tonights win, I feel that I am really improving with my live play as I seem to make the final table more than 50% of the time, and this is the truth!

I failed to report about last nights events on PS, so here it is in a nutshell:

1. I played a $3R qualifier for the Sunday $650 WSOP event, 277 players, ended up in 59th place, spent $9.

2. I played a $5R qualifier for a $160 DS WSOP event, 339 players, left in 266th place as I wasn't "feeling" this event and didn't want to do any more rebuys then I already had, spent $20.

3. I played a $5 Turbo MTT, NLHE, 1392 players, ended up in 72nd place which netted me a cool $13.65, profit of $8.65, woo frickin hoo. LOL

4. I played a $3R qualifier to Saturday's (or is it Sunday??) $350K event, I left in 333rd place, I wasn't "feeling" this event either and didn't want to do any more rebuys, spent $15.00

5. Ahhh...the final one to talk about. I played a $11R Turbo qualifier to Saturday's $350K event, top 21st places would receive a seat OR $215 T money. This is the one I've won twice in the past 2 weeks, and I ALMOST won again. Yours truly busted out in 24th place...damn near the bubble if you ask me. There was no way to stall, I wouldn't make it past the blinds, I had no choices and no help and BAM...out in 24th. Ugh.

So that's it for now, tomorrow is Thursday and I'll be playing online at PS, and I'll be able to report on what I've done and if I'm going to be playing live on Friday in Laughlin. Sunday is the RGP WSOP satellite, and I'm really looking forward to that. Speaking of which...

I am going to try and run satellites either in my home or at River Palms for the WSOP. The casino cannot run the satellites due to Harrah's not allowing them use of the name "WSOP", but River Palms will allow me, personally, to run my own private tournaments where "my" players will know what the prize is, but it will not be announced or broadcast to tourists or people just "curious". Only people who sign up through me will be able to play. This will be people I know personally, or someone who knows someone I know. I will either run these at River Palms, or in my home. If ran in my home, people will sign up and pay in advance, and no cash will be kept at the house, but rather in a safe deposit box. I'm going to work it like RGP is working it and set up satellites for smaller buy in events, instead of just the main event, but as well as the main event if there is interest. Just have to talk to Bill about this and see if he's OK with my hosting poker nights here. It's funny though, because as I type this I have a feeling of de ja vu and I'm wondering if I've posted this, my idea, what I want to do, before. Oh well. I guess that means it's something I really want to do and should get moving on it! I read somewhere the other day that there is only 10 weeks until the WSOP. I better get moving!!

Tuesday, April 12, 2005

Long Time No See...

It's been awhile since I've posted, but I've been away for the past 4 days. I left for Phoenix on Friday and was able to get into town in time for the 7pm NLHE tourney at Fort McDowell.

Buy in is $20, with a $10 optional dealer token and $10 rebuys for the first hour along with a $30 addon after the first hour. I didn't have to rebuy at all, and the addon is a great value at 3K chips, you start with 1500, so I did that. There were 138 entrants and I ended up making the final table, woo hoo! I ended up busting out when it was my BB and UTG moved all in. I looked down to AJos and decided to call. He had me outchipped and I got no help, so I ended up in 4th although I was ecstatic that I made it that far.

On Saturday I spent some time at the Women's Expo being held in downtown Phoenix after taking some time out to take my final test from www.trafficschoolonline.com due to a speeding ticket I received a few months ago. I then headed back to Fort McDowell for the nightly tournament. This time I ended up in 7th place and this was after having to rebuy twice in the first hour..I felt very proud especially since there was a dealer who looked right at me and said there would be no way in hell I would make the final table. I looked for him when it was down to 8, but I couldn't find him.

Spent Sunday at the Women's Expo again and then spent some time with my mom and my grandparents. I stayed the night again on Sunday and got home on Monday around 1 pm. I ended up taking a nap in the afternoon, and then went to bed early to watch the Miss. USA pageant with my daughter on TV and that's all she wrote for Monday.

Today I was able to catch up on some work, emails and phone calls and then I actually went on my 2. 5 mile walk that I had started neglecting. I really, really need to walk everyday. I know I will feel so much better if I just stay on a regular exercise schedule.

I will be playing the night away on PS, so will report on that later tonight or tomorrow.

Friday, April 08, 2005

WSOP Live Satellite

I went to Mohave Valley yesterday to meet with a client, and Bill had to go to Phoenix to meet with a client and would be gone all night, so I crossed the bridge and went into Laughlin to play in a WSOP $1500 event qualifier at Harrah's. I did not win. However, a few things happened that struck me as wrong.

1. The floor could not give a direct answer as to what the payouts would be prior to the event. They had a two table, 21 player maximum and it always fills up. The winner has the choice of choosing a $1500 event OR $1000 cash. If he/she chooses cash, then the other $500 gets disbursed to the other players, and it "usually pays down to 6, but sometimes 4, it just all depends". Hmm..so I ask, what's the juice? Again, no answer. Oh no wait, I get an answer, 40%. I about blew a gasket. HOLY SHIT!! I guess because of the stink I made, he checked again, and "Oh, no, wait, it's 16%...how does that sound?" (lmfao)

2. Harrah's Laughlin does NOT follow TDA rules. I find this strange and interesting as the WSOP follows TDA rules, but here in Laughlin, they don't. The rule that struck me as the worse offender was the being in your seat by the time the cards are dealt. Nope, they wait until the action is on you, and if you can run into the room and say, "Wait, I'm here!" then they allow you the hand. I disagree with that, the cards should be dead by the time the 2nd round of cards are dealt and you are not in your seat.

3. Rebuys. There was 1 rebuy allowed, and to rebuy, you would pay the floor manager, who was walking around with a clipboard, and then the dealer would give you the chips. There was a player who rebought before the hand, she took the money, the rebuy...the chips...should have been in play for that hand. The dealer never gave him his chips. He ended up calling an all in to someone who had him covered AND had his rebuy covered, but since the chips were not handed to him and were not in front of him, he was able to lose the chips he already had, and then got his rebuy chips for the next hand. Now, this player is not "new" he KNEW he had rebought, he knew he was behind T 3K, and yet played the angle shooting role and the floor decision was that it was the dealer's error that the chips weren't handed to him during the hand, so they would NOT play in that hand, but would play for the next hand. IMO, the guy should have been knocked out and the winner of the hand should have recieved all of his chips, including the 3K in the rebuy.

This was my first time playing a tournament at Harrah's in Laughlin, and I was NOT impressed at all. Will I play there again? Sadly, probably..due to their satellites for the WSOP, unless of course I can have better luck online, but I simply prefer and love to play live. Oh, what a quandry.

So I got home early, around 8:30 and proceeded to play some tournaments on PS. I played the following:

1. $6/.50, Turbo 9 player SNG..busted out on the bubble. Typical.

2. $6/.50, Turbo 9 player SNG..busted out in 5th place.

3. $3R satellite to Sunday's WSOP qualifier, seat valued at $650, 2 seat would be awarded. 132 players, I spent W$15 and busted out in 57th place when my KK went against A, 10 and the board ended up reading 10, Q, 10, A, 6. Bleh.

4. My one success of the night: Played the $10/$1R satellite to the $350K Sunday tourney, 165 entrants, top 23 won seats, I ended up being able to slide into the win in about 5th place in chips. T $215 thank you very much, as I unenrolled from the event. When we got down to 26 players, the play was so tight, it was ridiculous and scary at the same time. The all ins kept winning, the antes were 1000 with blinds of 10K/20K. I should have easily floated into the spots, but then all of a sudden it was my BB and I had 11K left after posting. This meant that if I lost this hand, then the SB would take 10K from me on the very next hand, and I would be all in within TWO hands due to the antes and blinds...OMG..I didn't realize this until it was my blind and as the action went around the table and everyone was stalling the full 30 seconds, I was PRAYING that the SB would fold to me, he had enough chips to make 1-2 more rounds, so he could easily fold, He had to fold in order for me to make it into the win, and thank the lord above, he did. To be fair though, we never, EVER saw a flop unless someone was forced all in by the ante or the blinds. Pretty tense for a few minutes there.

Summary:
W$: $1.50
T$: $204.00
Real $: $52.20

So that's it for now, I am leaving for Phoenix in about an hour and will return on Sunday, so no posting until then, but I hope to play at Casino Arizona, so will report on that upon my return.

Thursday, April 07, 2005

It's My Birthday!!

Well, it was, yesterday 4/6. I received this awesome necklace/bangle/earring set from Bill and my daughter. It's heavy silver with mother of pearl opals and turquoise...it is quite beautiful and I absolutely love it. So I was all dressed up, wearing my new jewelery with nowhere to go. Until Bill said I can go to Laughlin for the rest of the day!! What a husband, I love that man.

So I headed to Laughlin and was able to play in RiverPalms NLHE tourney at 6:30pm. $10 buy in, $10 rebuys 1st 2 levels (T 1K), $20 rebuys 3rd and 4th levels (T 2K), $30 add on at break (T 5K). We had 85 entrants, and I got away with spending a total of $70.

The first hour was great, I get getting called by at least 2-3 people when I moved all in and I would win, so I had a very, very nice stack at the breaktime. I had pp 10's about 4 times in this tourney, and they won all 4 times, which was very nice as I always seemed to flop a 10 when I had them, would go all in, and would get called.

At the final table I was probably 2nd or 3rd in chips, but thanks to me, some short stacks got doubled up and I ended up in 7th place with horrible suck outs. A shame too as 1st paid $1300, but you can't win them all. I should have placed better, but there was a brief moment when I was almost down to the felt and thought I was going to go out in 10th place for $189, but ended up lasting a little bit longer and came in7th for $313.

All in all, a very nice birthday. I apologize to RGP'rs for not attending last nights RGP tourney. I had requested Limit HE to Perry, he granted my request, and then I didn't show up. However, given the chance to play live, I'm not going to turn that down, so I'm sure (being poker players) that they can all understand.

The day before (Tuesday) I had played some more on PS and didn't do too well, in fact, didn't win a damn thing and ended up spending more money. I played the following:

1. $5/$.50R, Turbo, WSOP DS Satellite, 338 entrants, I placed 140th, $20.50 spent.

2. $3R, $350K Satellite, 420 players, I placed 158th, $9 spent

3. $10/$1R, $350K Satellite, 114 players, I placed 29th (ohhhh SO close!!!), $21.00 spent

4. $15/$1 Turbo 9 player SNG, placed a dismal 6th.

I will be going to Phoenix for the weekend. There is a huge woman's expo going on at the Civic Center, so I decided to go see some family, go to the Expo and then play a little poker at CasinoAZ. I will give full trip report upon return, but this is probably last blog until Monday as I'll be leaving as soon as I can tomorrow.

Have a great weekend!

Monday, April 04, 2005

Another Day, Another Dollar

This past weekend I got an email from Pokertropolis stating that I had $20 free money in my account. Cool. So I downloaded the site, played a $10/$1 MTT, 26 players, ended in 11th place. Played a little $1/$2 and $.50/$1 and basically lost the $20 in about 2 hours. Hey, free play is free play. I would have liked to have won some cash (of course) but I gave it a go and what can I say, it didn't work for me. I found the players at this site to be very friendly, and if they had a better tournament selection I would probably even make a deposit, but the selection is horrible, so it has already been deleted from my desktop.

So off to Full Tilt for the RGP Challenge, $10/$1 NL HE, I can't remember how many players but I know I busted out pretty early, with probably only 7 players beating me out. Thanks to PMJackson for the loan for tonight, I didn't have time to make a deposit as I am waiting for my Neteller Instacash to be approved.

Next, it's off to PS where I make the stupid mistake of using my W dollars for the $30/$3 R WSOP qualifier. I spent $123 of my hard earned $160 W dollars foolishly as I finished in 100th place out of 261 players. Oh well, live and learn. I have $37 W dollars left and will use it ONLY for a $3 or $5 satellite.

I then played a $3 R for the $350K Sunday tourney. 678 players, I end up in 245th place when my Q,K (hey, I was short stacked) was called by A, 10 and I got no help.

So I decided to play some Turbo SNG's only. Not too bad, I'm thinking this may be where I need to stay right now in order to build up my bankroll to cover the costs of the higher MTT buy ins.

1. $15/$1, Turbo, 9 player: 1st place, $67.50

2. $15/$1, Turbo, 9 player: 4th place, $0.00

3. $25/$2, Turbo, 9 player: 3rd place, $45.00

4. $12/$1, Turbo, 6 player: 4th place, $0.00

So, that's 2 out of 4, 50% success rate, I'll take it! This leaves me with the following summary:

T $: $0.00
W$: $37.00
Real $: $154.20

So, it's a loss for today due to the $30 WSOP disaster, but I still feel like I've won something tonight since I won the two SNG's, so all is right in the world tonight.

Sunday, April 03, 2005

Sunday Poker Report

Hit PokerStars around 7pm and quit around midnight. I played the following:

1. $10/R/AO: 1164 players. I ended in 441st place when UTG raises 3X, I moved all in with K,K and he calls with 5, 5. Presto rules as a 5 came on the flop and as if that wasn't enough, on the turn as well. Losing to quads, what an icky feeling. Total spent: $31

2. $15/$1, 9 player Turbo SNG: 7th place when my A, 10 went against Q, Q and I got no help.

3. $3/R/AO: Satellite to WSOP $615 Sunday qualifier. 197 players, ended getting sucked out on with my 9,9 vs. 8,8 and an 8 came on the turn. Finished in 44th place and only top 3 got seats.

4. $12/$1, 6 player Turbo SNG: 6th place when my Q,J went atgainst A, Q. Yuck.

5. $5/RB/AO: Satellite to WSOP $160 Double Shootout. 298 players, I got extremely lucky in this one when I moved all in with J,J and got called by 2 players. One with K, K the other with A, Q and my J came on the river. I ended up coasting into the top 29 in about 12th place when it finished. Unregistered from the DS though and now have $160 in W money.

6. $6/$.50, 9 player Turbo SNG: Came in 2nd for $16.20, but should have come in 1st. 2 bad beats is all it takes. I had the best hand preflop and he gets lucky, what can you do?

7. $15/$1, 9 player Turbo SNG: Couldn't get many hands, ended up out in 5th place.

SO for today, Sunday, my summary:

T money: $85.50
W money: $160.00
Real money: $43.20
Total: $288.70 for a gain of $53.20.

A Taboo Subject

"Are online poker sites rigged??"

Ahh, that one question alone is enough to drive all online players crazy, not to mention start a slew of flaming posts on RGP. I have always been an advocate of online poker rooms, I have always stood up for them, am pro-online gaming 100%!!

HOWEVER.....

I must comment on PokerStars. I have only played there for about 4-5 days and I must say I have never, EVER, in my online poker career seen so many bad beats, action flops, runner runner, miracle one outers, etc. etc. , then I have in the past 4-5 days as I have on PokerStars.

I have downloaded probably up to 40 poker websites, have deposited, played for money, lost the money or cashed out, and I have NEVER seen what I have seen here. I have played online poker for the past 4 years, with the last 2 years seeing me play online for about 6-9 hours per day, 50-60 hours per week, and I have NEVER seen what I have seen here. I am simply befuddled.

Now, before you go on thinking, "Oh, she's venting, she's been bad beat and whining about it". Acutally, right this moment, it's not the case. I have been the subject of these bad beats, sure, like when my AA all in preflop is called by the 6, 10 os and he gets 4 cards on the board to complete his straight. However, I have also done it to others like when my all in J, J preflop is called by K, K and A, Q.....my J came on the river. I have seen it happen countless times in hands/pots that I'm not even involved with. I have lost some tournaments, but I have won some tournaments.

This is NOT a whining post. This is a post being written very matter of factly with no ill feelings towards PokerStars at all. I just had to say something as I cannot fathom, cannot comprehend, cannot believe the number of suck outs I see on this site. Again, let me remind you that I am an online "pro", I AM an online player so spare me the "Oh, but you see so many hands per hour...blah blah blah" No shit. I play my ass off online, I KNOW about the statistics and every response ever made to anyone questioning the integrity of online poker.

I just don't know if I will ever be able to, in good conscience, make another deposit on this site. I will play out what I have on it, and hope that I can continue my run for awhile and maybe even win a WSOP out of the site, but due to all the action (ie suck outs) I see, I'm not holding my breath. Just too weird for me, and I am not one of those complainers/whiners that bitches about something but then does nothing about it. Due to my questioning of this site, I will have to leave it. At least, once my tournament dollars are used up. A shame too.

I do not question PokerStars integrity at all, or their customer support/service. I feel they're service/support is excellent, however, I just feel something is a little "weird" with their RNG and have never felt this way about any other site, so I feel hypocritical if I stay at a site that I feel is "weird". Maybe my mind will be changed in time, as I'm an open minded person, but for now I'll just say, "We'll see."

3rd Post in ONE day...

You all are lucky today, got lots of reading to catch up on now!

OK, decided not to go to bed after my last post and played a $6/$.50 6 player Turbo SNG, ended up taking first when I won a 4 way all in pot with 6, 6. Then I check my 5, 10 when the flop came 2, 5, 5 and let him move all in with his 8, 8 and now I'm $27 richer! I have to say, I really, really like the Turbo structure at PS.

Soooo here's the plan: I had $215 in tournament money, and I fiddled farted my last $20 on a Limit HE ring game down to $0.00. I'm going to leave it at that. I am going to play that $215 as far/long as I can and see how much real cash I can accumulate in my Cash account once the $215 tournament money is gone. I'm not going to touch any of the money on the cash side until the $215 is gone.

I think it sounds fun, and I'm actually excited to see if I can turn this $215 into something great! I will keep you updated at the end of each blog.

Tournament Dollars Left: $208.50
Cash Account (winnings): $27.00

Saturday, April 02, 2005

Pure Poker Post

Played on PokerStars tonight for about 7 hours.

1. Played the $10/$1, 1 RB, 1 AO. I paid for both the rebuy and the addon, 1020 players, placed 143rd...no money. Hand that crippled me: I had K,Qos in the SB and the button raised 3X, I called and the flop came 4, Q, 8. I moved all in, he thought about it and then called and showed 4, 8. BLEH...he was trying to steal, and look at that flop for him. Blech. The hand that killed me: I had K,10 moved all in, he called with J, 10 and a J came on the flop. Sigh. Total spent: $31.00

2. Played the $2, RB, AO Turbo satellite for the $30/$3 WSOP qualifier that started 3 hours later. 538 players, 100 places paid (with seats). I ended up winning, but there is a player on PS that I am calling out now: Royalsparks. Complete idiot, not a fish, just an idiot and a moron. I can say this now because I don't know who he is and I doubt he'll ever read this blog. LOL. Anywhoo..one hand that really, really got my adrenaline going: We're down to 106 players, top 100 get seats, I get A,A. I raise 4x, and he calls me. The flop came 7, 6, K. He moves ALL IN. OMG...what the hell am I suppose to do? 6 players to lose, I have enough to coast..this is one of those: When do you fold pocket aces? scenarios, however I KNOW this idiot, I've had to endure him for the past hour and I just couldn't put him on a better hand. I had him covered, but I would be severely crippled and could result in a possible bubble finish. I decided to bite the bullet and I called. He showed K, Q. NO Q came and I ended up taking the pot and placing in the top 100. Total spent: $8.00

3. Played the $3, RB, AO Satellite for the $350K guaranteed Sunday tourney. This tourney lasted over 4 hours, 666 players, top 31st places get seat to tomorrows event. This was a very tiring tournament, and I was short stacked about midway through tourney but was able to double up a few times and then I was sitting in first place for a long time when there was about 90 down to 50 players. I then coasted into winning this event in about 11th place. WOO HOO!! I decided to unregister for the event and am taking the $215 for tournament play. Hopefully, I can turn that $215 into something more, but I'll sure get a lot more play out of that in SNG's and smaller buy in events vs. just one event that's tomorrow. Besides, this event has 700+ already registered. Total spent: $12.00

4. Played the $30/$3, RB, AO WSOP Satellite. 1 seat guaranteed, freerolled into this event from earlier win. I ended up lucking out and not having to rebuy, but I did do the add-on. 388 players, 2 seats were being awarded, final table would receive prize award. I just couldn't get any hands in this event. I would go up and down like a yo-yo and ended up staying just below average almost the whole way. I decided to make a move with my Q, Q and moved all in. I was called by K, K and no help to me so IGHN in 85th place. Total spent: $30.00

All in all, I'm quite pleased with today's play. Even though I only "won" 2 events, I was able to place quite high in all the events I played in, OH...except for the www.pscrew.com private tourney. $10/$1, 24 players, and I bombed out in 21st place. In my defense though, I was playing the WSOP and the $350K satellite at the same time so I wasn't as sharp in this event as I could have been.

Now, it's bedtime!

Catching Up

I haven't posted a new entry in a while, I'm going to try and catch up on what I've been doing this week.

I have to ask for people to keep in mind that in my business, the end of the month is the busiest for me. I have to close the month for my clients in order to get paid, so the last 3 days and the first 3 days of each month are very hectic as I want to get paid ASAP, so I have to do my work ASAP. You would think this would leave less time for poker, and normally that is true, but not so this month. I seem to be pretty caught up, the one contractor I have now is working out very well, and she will be taking over a lot more responsibility over the next month. I have also hired one more contractor who will take over some more responsibilities of mine, so the goal (and how it's written on paper) is that by May, I should only have to work about 5-10 hours a WEEK instead of the 50-60 hours I have been doing. Sure, sounds too good to be true, so I'll just have to wait and see how it works out and hopefully, I'll be sitting golden. If not by May, then in a few months as the training gets finished and as I learn to relinquish control of my babies (my clients). I'll keep you all updated at the end of each month as to where I am at and how much I am working. I just know that I have to be smart about my hours working each week, and there's just no way I can work 60 hours a week AND have a newborn. I don't THINK so.

I finally cashed on PokerStars on Wednesday (I think it was Wed...) I cashed the day after I opened the account, and it was only 2nd place in a $10 SNG..but HEY, $$ is $$. It's Saturday night right now and I plan on playing the night away as I just woke up refreshed from a mid afternoon nap, and I'm raring to go! I will post another update before I go to bed tonight giving details on how I did. I'm currently waiting to play a MTT on PS ($10, + 1 RB and 1 AO). I will also play some SNG qualifiers for the $350K guaranteed for tomorrow.

NEWSBREAK:

Last night (Friday) I got to go play LIVE in Laughlin!! I had to go to Golden Valley to p/u a check from one of my clients, and then went into Mohave Valley to see another client of mine, a chiropractor, for an adjustment. I've never been adjusted before, but lately (pregnancy?? who knows??) I've been having an urge to start getting adjusted and hopefully the tightness in my back and neck will go away. Plus, as I've been walking, I notice a pain in my hip joint area, and I really think some chiropractic care can help relive that. Unfortunantly, the traffic was horrendous, the freeway offramp (the only one) was closed down due to road work, so I didn't get to Mohave Valley until about 4 pm and that was too late for my client, so we rescheduled for next week and I drove over the bridge into Laughlin.

I played the tourney at RiverPalms, nothing much to report, tourney started with 37 players, I got knocked out in 15th place when I got a little too aggressive with my pocket 3's, and ran into pocket Q's from the SB. That was just bad timing, as these guys were mostly regulars by this point and they play pretty tight. I feel that when I play agressive against them, they will only stand up and defend if they have a true monster hand. Top 6 hands kind of thing. Oh well, I played slots for a little bit and then headed home. No winnings to take with me, but I had a great time just getting out of the house and socializing with my "casino" friends, you know, the people that you ONLY see at the casino whether they're players or employees. I get along well with almost everyone I meet, and so I enjoy seeing and talking again with these people.

So that's it for now, I'm off to play...wish me luck and I'll post again later!