Friday, September 30, 2005

Blogger Championship!!!

Poker Championship

I have registered to play in the
Online Poker Blogger Championship!

This event is powered by PokerStars.

Registration code: 9665423




How cool is this!!
I know I have the requirement for time down as I'm pushing 2 years. Since I only post when I have something to say, I hope I meet the frequency requirement. That would completely suck if they didn't let me play because of that.

Friday, September 16, 2005

pissed....yeah, pissed is a good word

Last night was the ultimate in self destruction.

I haven't been updating so as a quick recap, I'm still trying to do my best on the Bluff Poker Tour. In fact at the present time I have the points lead. I have two wins and a few money finishes so I'm up by about 40 points right now over second place.

Last nights event had the makings of a good one for me as anyone who could catch me in the points race went out fairly early. I was playing a very good game and held the chip lead for quite a while. My problems started when we were down to 16. Since only 101 players had signed up for the event I needed to get a top 10 finish to pad my points lead.

Dealt AQ suited on the button I raised it up 3x the BB when it's folded to me. The small blind calls and we are heads up to a flop that comes Jack high. The SB checks so I make a 1/2 to 3/4 size pot bet and I'm called again. At this point I'm worried he's hit the Jack. An Ace on the turn belays my fears. He checks again so I bet the pot and he calls again. Now I'm done with the hand. We both check the blanked river and he shows me AK. Why he didn't bet this hand is beyond me, but I make a mental note for future reference and now I'm down to about 5th in chips.

Fast forward to 13 left and now I pick up pocket 10's on the button. I make the 3x raise and again the SB calls. Were heads up and the flop comes rainbow w/ 9 high. He checks, now remembering what happened last time I decide to take it down now and I overbet the pot. Just as last time, he calls. The turn is another small card and it's checked to me.

Based on my previous dealings with this player I know he will let me lead the whole way. I feel that I have to bet my overpair in this situation. I still can't, after thinking about it, decide what the correct course of action would have been for me to do in this situation. I decided that the best thing to do was put my opponent all in. He made the call and beat down my hand w/ pocket Queens. I'm not sure I could have seen this coming, perhaps I played it wrong, I just don't know.

Moving on. I'm now the short stack and there are 12 players left. I need to make the top ten but I don't have the chips to do it. The cards provide me with a few survived all-ins and I'm now in 8th chip position and should be able to squeeze in.

Proceed with self destruct sequence. As a little background the player on my immediate right has been a pretty fast and wild player. He should have busted several times but always managed to stick around. Im in the BB and it's folded to the SB. He bets enough to put me all-in and based on his previous play I believe he could have any two cards. I have K 6 offsuit. I know, the hand of champions. Anyway, as soon as he bets, instead of thinking it through, I instantly think double up and a shot to win the tournament. My call is met by pocket 9's. "I have an overcard", I think to myself as a 9 hits the flop and I'm gone in 12th.

Not my finest hour. I was so stupid that it has continued to bother me the next day and that rarely ever happens. Writing this down has helped though so maybe now I can get on with my day.

Saturday, September 10, 2005

Bold Moves, Good Laydowns, and Lucky Catches

That pretty much sums up the progression of play I went through as I captured my second title on the Bluff Poker Tour.

I know I haven't posted in a very long time, but since no one noticed, I'll assume I wasn't missed. My progession as a player has been coming along and this week I took the step up to the 5/10 limit game. I've only had two sessions so far and I'm up about 3BB's. Nothing to get excited about but at first glance the play isn't much different than what I was experiencing at 3/6. The aggression is turned up a notch but I'm also seeing more fish and maniacs than I'm used to.

I'm going to give it a week or two and then post more about my thoughts on the new level.