No cash game for me this weekend

I busted out of Dave's tourney early, and decided to head home. I had moved a bunch of stuff into the new place that afternoon, and was pretty whipped, so decided to head home. Too bad, I am sure it was juicy.

So in the tourney, I was out early, but I did manage to pick up a great tell from Julie. I had a strong hunch last week when I almost stacked her, but this week I'm sure of it. I am hoping to get he back at my table for the next one. Unfortunately, this weekend, it cost me my stack in the long run. Earlier, I raised with KQ, flopped a K, bet, and Julie raised. I was certain I had her on the flop, but just called. An A fell on the turn (she plays every A unless there is a big raise, which I only raised small), and I bet out this time, and she pushed. This is where I knew she had hit her 2 pr, and I had to fold, even though her all-in wasn't much more. I got her to show her A7 (2-pr) and was pretty happy about the fold, but I should have raised on the flop. Next time... So anyway, my read seems to be dead-on, so it should pay off in the future. Julie, I know you read my blog...come play the cash game! :)

I went to the rail after hitting my nut straight, which also gave Julie her nut flush. No re-buys...damn.

Had a great night at Dave's cash game last week, so the cash game win streak is at 7 or 8 in a row I think. I'll be checking out Nautica on Thursday this week if anyone wants to join me. TK had a great story about Chan at Nautica this weekend. Maybe he'll post it on the board. Apparently, Chan sat and played tight for a few hours, and the only hands he showed were bluffs with a 3-5, until he finally went all-in with a 9-4 and got called by AA. The bullets held up and Chan lost his stack. NH sir. I cant wait to sit at his table again. He never did get back to me on the heads-up challenge. I am ready when he is.

What a night

Had a great time last night at Dave's...lots of laughs. Had to get this photo up. I'll post about a few hands ASAP and explain the pic.

Nautica...donk-a-licious!!

Chalked up a $200 win last night. Awful hands almost all night. Was down about $300 at one point, then got AK 3 hands in a row and hit a K twice and got paid. All you need is a few decent made hands to hold up there. Later, I took a huge pot when I flopped 2 pr with a K4 from the BB in an unraised pot. Cracked the slow-played AA, who didnt really decide to play the hand until the turn, when he finally raised. By then, there wasn't much of a draw out there, so I put him on big slick and acted accordingly. He put me all-in on the river to double me up and put me back in the black. 2 hands later I won another pot with QJ suited against Q3 suited. Cashed and left. The heater continues, although most sessions will be disappointing compared to the hands I was dealt last week. Wow.

The play at the $1-2 was pretty bad overall. Lots of bluffing, which I had to refrain from after I got called (just after I sat down) by a guy with 3rd pair. Calls a pot sized bet on the turn and river. Oh well, I got it back. I also had a guy call me with zero draw and hit a 7 on the river (K7 he had) to beat my pocket 6's. He was old and a little slow I think, and made string bets every hand. We had to keep him in line with the betting, and he never did quite comprehend it.

Sweet tourney win

1st place at Dave's over the weekend. I got hit with the deck like you wouldn't believe. Pocket pair after pocket pair held up, then people started folding to me just because I was on a heater. Until the final table, every bust out at my table resulted in more chips for me. Gotta love it. I even won a hand with 7-high when my opponent (forget who it was) had a small pocket pair with a 2-pr board. The $310 win puts me back on top of the POY race. I will not be denied!! :)

The heater continued into the cash game. I played every cheap flop I could, playing every suited face card, 2-3 gapper, and generally any 2 cards that added up to 5 or more. I was up about $275 at one point, but finished up $215 after (gasp!) I chased a flush draw that missed.

We played some showdown for $1-2 while everyone was cashing out, and I pulled in about $20 from that as well.

So, poker is much more fun when you aren't getting your ass handed to you. For the record, I never said I was going to completely stop blogging, nor have I ever said I was the best player and actually meant it. I am certainly better than average. Sure, I bitch and moan when things aren't going my way. I criticize people that play some of the same hands I do (I'll play any hand, but not in every situation), and complain when they hit, but I don't brag about donkey moves that I make. On the other hand, every time I win, it isn't pure luck. 2 summers ago when I chalked up 17-18 straight wins was not luck. Winning about 90% of my sessions from Jan-June and turning $700 into $13k+ was not luck. Losing $4k in one hand with a 96% favorite and 1 card to go WAS luck. Bad luck. I play as smart as I can but also play on instinct, and it has worked well for me. You know how you just FEEL that your gutshot is going to hit on the river and you call that big bet? (And if you don't believe in feel/instinct, ask any pro. None of them play by math alone) Over the last few months, while I was getting stomped and nothing was holding up, I rarely had that feeling, but chased anyway. That was poor play. Rebuying in bad games where I had little chance of getting my $$ back was bad play. One thing I have never lost...the guts to put $$ into the pot.

Chili cookoff pics

Misc pics from the chili cookoff...BTW, Meats was the only judge that knew anything about chili.

Also, my chip stack from the casino night I went to down in C-bus while at a conference for work. I started withe 5 black chips and took most of the $$ from 2 tables. I flopped quad 10's at the fisrt table with 10c-7c, and people were betting into me, and re-raising. I took out 3 or 4 people with that hand. You got a raffle ticket for every 1000 chips you turned in. I didn't win a damn thing.

Speaking of Meats, he's been back in the game and doing pretty well. 2 tourney cashes and a couple of cash game wins for him. It's good to see him back, he needs to get outta the house more.

OK, back in the saddle

After taking some serious beats over the last month, I seem to have played through it. I'm up over $1000 this week. No real details, but hopefully the slump is over. I did pretty well at the NLHE/crazy pineapple game last night. I kinda like pineapple, it's donk-a-licious!!

You know you're through the slump when your pairs hold up and your kicker is good. The occasional nut straight on the flop always helps too.

We did have some other interesting goings-on last week at Dave's. Theo shorted the bank $500 (yes, $500) and then claimed he was robbed at knifepoint at McDonald's while returning from the ATM to cover the shortage. Sure he did. WAY too many holes in that story, and he didn't even file a police report. He even claimed he was cut up, and HE DIDN'T FILE A POLICE REPORT!!

The fun part? After stealing from and lying to the group (for the 3rd time that we know of), he will most likely NOT be banned. Unreal.

I will not sit at a table with him, and he will certainly never be invited to any event I ever host. Fool us once, shame on you, fool us 3 times, you should be banned for life. Besides, he needs help. That is a gambling problem. His wife calls his phone all night and he just shuts it off, while he's out spending the rent money. He has 5 kids.

So anyway, we will begin moving into a new place soon. We should be getting the keys this week and have plenty of time to get out of our house. We found a great place on Washington Ave in Elyria, pretty much right downtown. Overlooks the east falls (which have been featured on the news recently due to flooding) and it's 1500 sq ft. 2BR and a den/parlor. Just a block from the park and library, and a few blocks from my mom, brother, and cousin, who all live on 5th and 6th streets. I'll be sending out invites for a house-warming party sometime in early May. I'll probably host a few low stakes games as well.

We're putting the house back on the market for a short-sell if necessary. First offer pretty much takes it. Not a problem, it's way too much house for 2 people anyway, and we're tired of spending every penny we make on the place. There's always something that needs to be fixed/replaced.