Wednesday, April 13, 2005

Trends that continue

Rob and Amber could not have been too happy about "finishing" the leg of The Amazing Race first last night only to be handed a clue by the host. They've dominated the competition and even have the two gay guys trying to scheme their way into finishing higher (which backfired on them). The POW and Queen are still not getting along, not that I'd blame them. Me and the wife agreed by now one of us would have knocked the other unconscious and left them in Nevergonnagethome, India or something. Its amazing to see how positive the older couple is despite finishing last or close to last place nearly every leg.

Despite staying up for reality TV, I also played a little poker last night. The tournament results good, cash games bad, trend continued yet again last night. My first stop was at Noble Poker to knock down the big deposit bonus I have there. Since it clears faster at higher stakes and no $2/$4 game was going I adventured into $3/$6 and was sorry I did. The players were horrible at best but it didn't prevent a -$100 night. AA twice, first time cracked by Q9o who cold called, PLUS cold called a bet after a T - 3 - 2 rainbow flop, of course Q and 9 came on the turn and river. AK knocked down by K3o when a board of A - K - 2 - 4 - 5 came up despite my raising him every street, except the river. It would have been worse had my second AA not caught a pair on the river to bet someone else's two pair. After the fourth beat in a row I was steamming and spouted off with my tinfoil cap on. Sigh. I gotta keep repeating those words of wisdom that Felicia IMd me a few weeks ago:

"Poker is gambling, we're not playing chess here"

Well stated, each card that comes off the deck represents a potential winner or loser. All you can do is play the percentages to your advantage. Yes, there's room for fancy play like check-raising, stop-and-gos, and re-raising on a bluff. But, should the cards come to a showdown all you are doing is gambling that your hand is of a higher rank then your opponent's. Thanks again Felicia :)

If I did poorly at the cash game, I must have done something right playing tourneys right? At Full Tilt I hopped on a $5 Omaha SnG and finished 2nd, 1st place made a small flush on the river despite me having two pair, an open ended straight draw, and nut flush draw. Oh well, the people playing were fun to chat with and thought originally that we were playing Omaha 8 or better (I admitted that on an early hand I had the nut low, bet the pot on the river and everyone folded despite having nothing but a pair of sevens ). I wanted to rack up some FT points while playing in the SnG but the .50/1 NL tables were all full. This is a good thing to see, more and more people coming to this wonderful site (use bonus code: Drizz99 if you're ready to play!).

Since I wasn't playing any ring games, it dawned on me to try yet another WSOP Steps SnG at PartyPoker. 14 tries, 14 freerolls. Sigh. It did not start out very well, but I found myself in the top 5 once again despite having T350 in chips and the blinds at 100/200. Then, I got lucky. Doubled up with Q3 vs. J9, double up again with 99 vs KT, stole the blinds with Q8s, double up again with AQ vs. A8 (seeing a trend here?). Lost 1/2 of my stack calling a river bet (stupid!) on a board with two aces and no bets with a player who slowplayed everything. I was outchipped 4 to 1 at most points. But at the point where I took a 3 to 2 lead, the card gods were smiling when I pushed Q7o to beat 54o with a board of Q 5 2 diamonds (I didn't have one, he did), blanks fell on the turn and river.... and CONGRATULATIONS YOU DON'T HAVE TO PLAY ANOTHER FRICKIN STEP 1 SNG!

Now I have a Step 2 "token" at Party and a $75 WSOP token at Full Tilt. I know its a long shot, but everyone needs to dream. I just hope my dream doesn't knock me back down to the Step 1 basement of hell.

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