I had an appointment with a urologist this evening. He didn't have much to offer, other than saying that most of today's kidney stones are caused by the excessive consumption of salt and meat, coupled with not drinking enough water. The stone that I've passed is going to be analyzed, and it'll take three weeks to get any conclusive results. In the interim, the doc said to conduct life as normal - bearing in mind that it might be a good idea to drink lots of water and stay away from too much salt or meat.
Shortly thereafter, Theresa and I headed to Chili's for dinner. I had a tasty Cajun Ribeye Steak, mashed potatoes, and three cokes. I suppose that this menu contradicts the urologist's recommendation for a good diet, but I was hungry. It had been exactly one week since I last had a soda, and the three colas I drank sure tasted good! All told, the meal (including tip) cost exactly $40.
When I got home, I quickly joined a $33(3) Sit 'n' Go Tournament on Party Poker and found no success. I caught some marginal hands, but my starting stack of 2,000 chips eventually bled down to 550 chips. Then, dealt QQ, I went "all in" and was dismayed to find myself battling another player holding KK. Per usual, I wasn't able to come from behind and I was eliminated in 6th place.
Frustrated by that performance, I thought I'd visit the Blackjack tables to see if I could win the $33 back. After all, the Party Poker Customer Service team did sign my Sketchbook's Guestbook a few weeks ago and confessed that Blackjack is "the most forgiving game on the site." How could I lose?
For whatever reason, however, I couldn't log into the Blackjack program. I don't know if there's something wrong with my aging computer, but something was definitely screwed up. Regardless, the software kept saying that it couldn't recognize my login, so I'm inclined to think that the software was screwed up - and not my aging computer.
Unable to play Blackjack, I decided to visit a 6-man $5/$10 Omaha Hi/Lo table. I quickly lost $70 and was cursing the fact that I couldn't play Blackjack, but I hit a nice pot shortly thereafter and got back to even. Then, I hit a few more good hands and I eventually left the table up exactly $73 - in just 15 minutes of work.
Offsetting the $33 I lost in the earlier tournament, that meant that I was up exactly $40 this evening. Coincidentally, that's the exact price of tonight's dinner. So, in the end, I guess I won myself a free Chili's dinner as a result of playing on-line poker tonight. All is good in my world again! :-)
Daily Sketch: Up $40
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $104.20
February 27, 2006: A Glorious Day
At approximately 1:15pm, I gave "birth" to my very first kidney stone while at work. Enough people have compared this entire process to childbirth, so I guess I'll go with the flow. Regardless, I feel much better and I'm on the road to recovery. Woo hoo!! Without doubt, however, I've learned that the term kidney "stone" is a gross misstatement. I'd say that the phrase kidney "grain of sand" would be much more appropriate. In fact, after passing the stone, I wasn't sure that anything special had occurred, especially when I saw the product of all my recent pain. My "stone" resembled a simple grain of sand.
My initial reaction: "It's so small! How can something so tiny cause so much pain?" After comparing notes with people at work who know about kidney stones, I finally convinced myself that I had, indeed, passed a stone. If nothing else, I immediately felt better. For a good part of the morining, I experienced a solid stitch of pain in my abdomen. That pain almost immediately subsided when I passed the stone. Considering the fact that I had nightmares about the impending discharge of the stone (and what it might involve), I felt very relieved!
Tomorrow, I've got an appointment with a urologist, so I'll probably learn the reasons for this stone. I have a feeling that my daily diet of (at least) 3 sodas may have played a role in this ordeal. Unless I change my diet, odds are good that this won't be the last kidney "grain of sand" that I encounter. Regardless, the stone is currently sitting in a small container, awaiting a urologist's expert inspection. Maybe the urologist will explain that my frequent overindulgence in green vegetables contributed to the problem. Hmmmm . . . that's probably wishful thinking . . .
Anyway, that's enough about that. The Sketchbook, unfortunately, has no activity today. I had to run some errands with Theresa this evening, so I didn't get a chance to play poker. Regardless, it was still a glorious day!
Daily Sketch: $0
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $64.20
My initial reaction: "It's so small! How can something so tiny cause so much pain?" After comparing notes with people at work who know about kidney stones, I finally convinced myself that I had, indeed, passed a stone. If nothing else, I immediately felt better. For a good part of the morining, I experienced a solid stitch of pain in my abdomen. That pain almost immediately subsided when I passed the stone. Considering the fact that I had nightmares about the impending discharge of the stone (and what it might involve), I felt very relieved!
Tomorrow, I've got an appointment with a urologist, so I'll probably learn the reasons for this stone. I have a feeling that my daily diet of (at least) 3 sodas may have played a role in this ordeal. Unless I change my diet, odds are good that this won't be the last kidney "grain of sand" that I encounter. Regardless, the stone is currently sitting in a small container, awaiting a urologist's expert inspection. Maybe the urologist will explain that my frequent overindulgence in green vegetables contributed to the problem. Hmmmm . . . that's probably wishful thinking . . .
Anyway, that's enough about that. The Sketchbook, unfortunately, has no activity today. I had to run some errands with Theresa this evening, so I didn't get a chance to play poker. Regardless, it was still a glorious day!
Daily Sketch: $0
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $64.20
February 26, 2006: A Quick Update
I'd like to take a moment to thank everyone who has wished me well during this "process" of passing a kidney stone. I'm amazed at the volume of people who actually read this Sketchbook regularly. Here's the latest update - strange as it may seem.
Friday evening, I started to feel a bit better. The pain in my abdomen subsided to a dull throbbing, and by Saturday morning I felt like I simply had a stitch in my side. Compared to the pain I felt on Wednesday and Thursday, I thought that I was in heaven! I stopped taking the vicodin, and I was able to survive without the medication. Determined to get out of the house (I had been cooped up in the apartment since Wednesday), I even spent a few hours playing ping pong with Chris, Ty, and Jared and enjoyed some Golden Tee later in the night.
The doctor can't be sure what's happening, but I'm scheduled to see a urologist on Tuesday. The doc says that I can carry on with "normal" day-to-day activities until then, but I was advised to keep my supply of vicodin nearby. I continue to urinate into a small strainer, which is quite interesting.
The stone has probably settled in my kidney and is currently not moving. It's also possible that it's sitting in my bladder - waiting to be expelled. It's also possible that the stone has broken up and essentially disappeared - although that scenario isn't likely. The stitch that I feel in my side may simply be the residual affects of the entire ordeal, but who knows? In all probability, the stitch that I feel is the stone, and it isn't causing intense pain because it's stationary and not blocking anything. When the stone starts to move again, that's when I'll feel pain again. Woo hoo! I can't wait!!
I won't have a final prognosis until Tuesday afternoon - when I visit the urologist. Until then, I guess that I'll go to work and pray that a sudden surge of pain doesn't overcome me during an important meeting. As of now, it's a rather anti-climatic conclusion to this saga, but I have a feeling that it's not over. I've seen some of the remedies for stationary kidney stones, and none of them look appealing. I'll spare this Sketchbook the details, although some of you may be able to guess what these remedies involve.
In the interim, I've done very little gambling the past 48 hours. I played with the $25.60 I had in my Absolute Poker, and it's grown all the way to $29.45. So, the Sketchbook sees a modest profit of $3.85.
In addition, when I logged into my Party Poker account this evening, I was delighted to learn that I had been credited with $10 into my account. Basically, the message said something like, "Steve, we know you like to play blackjack, so we've given you a small surprise." Here's how I spent the $10:
Hand #1 ($3 wager): I'm dealt 19, The dealer is dealt a blackjack. I'm down $3.
Hand #2 ($3 wager): I'm dealt 7-3 and the dealer has a 4 showing. I double-down, and I'm given a 7. The dealer flips over a 5, takes a ten, and I'm down $9.
Hand #3 ($1 wager): I'm dealt 18. The dealer is dealt A-5. He takes a 10 and a 3 and I'm down $10.
Thanks for the bonus, Party Poker.
Considering the fact that I can type this entry without the help of vicodin, however, I feel like I won a lot this weekend.
Daily Sketch: Up $3.85
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $64.20
Friday evening, I started to feel a bit better. The pain in my abdomen subsided to a dull throbbing, and by Saturday morning I felt like I simply had a stitch in my side. Compared to the pain I felt on Wednesday and Thursday, I thought that I was in heaven! I stopped taking the vicodin, and I was able to survive without the medication. Determined to get out of the house (I had been cooped up in the apartment since Wednesday), I even spent a few hours playing ping pong with Chris, Ty, and Jared and enjoyed some Golden Tee later in the night.
The doctor can't be sure what's happening, but I'm scheduled to see a urologist on Tuesday. The doc says that I can carry on with "normal" day-to-day activities until then, but I was advised to keep my supply of vicodin nearby. I continue to urinate into a small strainer, which is quite interesting.
The stone has probably settled in my kidney and is currently not moving. It's also possible that it's sitting in my bladder - waiting to be expelled. It's also possible that the stone has broken up and essentially disappeared - although that scenario isn't likely. The stitch that I feel in my side may simply be the residual affects of the entire ordeal, but who knows? In all probability, the stitch that I feel is the stone, and it isn't causing intense pain because it's stationary and not blocking anything. When the stone starts to move again, that's when I'll feel pain again. Woo hoo! I can't wait!!
I won't have a final prognosis until Tuesday afternoon - when I visit the urologist. Until then, I guess that I'll go to work and pray that a sudden surge of pain doesn't overcome me during an important meeting. As of now, it's a rather anti-climatic conclusion to this saga, but I have a feeling that it's not over. I've seen some of the remedies for stationary kidney stones, and none of them look appealing. I'll spare this Sketchbook the details, although some of you may be able to guess what these remedies involve.
In the interim, I've done very little gambling the past 48 hours. I played with the $25.60 I had in my Absolute Poker, and it's grown all the way to $29.45. So, the Sketchbook sees a modest profit of $3.85.
In addition, when I logged into my Party Poker account this evening, I was delighted to learn that I had been credited with $10 into my account. Basically, the message said something like, "Steve, we know you like to play blackjack, so we've given you a small surprise." Here's how I spent the $10:
Hand #1 ($3 wager): I'm dealt 19, The dealer is dealt a blackjack. I'm down $3.
Hand #2 ($3 wager): I'm dealt 7-3 and the dealer has a 4 showing. I double-down, and I'm given a 7. The dealer flips over a 5, takes a ten, and I'm down $9.
Hand #3 ($1 wager): I'm dealt 18. The dealer is dealt A-5. He takes a 10 and a 3 and I'm down $10.
Thanks for the bonus, Party Poker.
Considering the fact that I can type this entry without the help of vicodin, however, I feel like I won a lot this weekend.
Daily Sketch: Up $3.85
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $64.20
February 24, 2006: Three Sit 'n' Gos
Another day of $30(3) Sit 'n' Gos began at exactly 9:52am when I jumped onto a table named Pencil Rain. I don't know how Party Poker names these tournament tables, but so be it. Things were going relatively well - until we got down to four players. Then, I suffered through two consecutive bad hands and was eliminated one spot from the money. On the first hand, I was one card from eliminating a player, but my opponent hit a river ace to stay alive. Then, on the very next hand, my KQ didn't stand a chance against another opponent's AA. I hate finishing in 4th place! Simply put, there were too many aces at the end of this tourney. Ugh!!
At 10:54am, I joined my 2nd Tournament and was seated at a table named Money Maker. The name of this table proved WAY OFF, as I was eliminated in 8th place. In this tourney, I made a bluff at a pot while holding JK. Unfortunately, I was called by another player holding 99, and I didn't get any help. Ooops!
Down $66 for the day, I joined a table named Summer Ugly. Yet again, I found no luck and was quickly eliminated in 9th place. In this tourney, I went "all in" (preflop) while holding pocket Jacks. A player holding AK and another player holding QT called my bet. Quite naturally, the worst hand (QT) ended up scooping the pot when a queen appeared on the board.
I'm going to blame today's horrendous showings on the kidney stone. Obviously, the anticipation of passing this thing is affecting my game!
Daily Sketch: Down $99
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $60.35
At 10:54am, I joined my 2nd Tournament and was seated at a table named Money Maker. The name of this table proved WAY OFF, as I was eliminated in 8th place. In this tourney, I made a bluff at a pot while holding JK. Unfortunately, I was called by another player holding 99, and I didn't get any help. Ooops!
Down $66 for the day, I joined a table named Summer Ugly. Yet again, I found no luck and was quickly eliminated in 9th place. In this tourney, I went "all in" (preflop) while holding pocket Jacks. A player holding AK and another player holding QT called my bet. Quite naturally, the worst hand (QT) ended up scooping the pot when a queen appeared on the board.
I'm going to blame today's horrendous showings on the kidney stone. Obviously, the anticipation of passing this thing is affecting my game!
Daily Sketch: Down $99
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $60.35
February 23, 2006: Still Waiting
As I continued to wait for my kidney stone to pass, I spent quality time on Party Poker today. All told, I played five different $30(3) 10-man Tournaments and finished in the money twice. In order, I placed 5th, 1st, 5th, 3rd, and 5th. I spent $165 on the five tournaments, and I won back $210. So, I netted a modest profit of $45. If I had only been able to squeak out something a bit better when I kept placing 5th, it would have been a good day for the Sketchbook. Instead, it was an average day.
At the same time, I continue to wait for this ridiculous stone to pass. As long as I continue to keep up with my medication, I'm not feeling much pain. However, when I woke up in the middle of the night last evening, I was staggered by the pain in my abdomen. A quick run to the medicine bottle provided relief, but it certainly reminded me of the pain I'd otherwise be in. Thank God for vicodin!
So, it looks like I'll be taking another vacation day from work on Friday. Now I know why I carried five PTO days over from last year.
Daily Sketch: Up $47
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $159.35
At the same time, I continue to wait for this ridiculous stone to pass. As long as I continue to keep up with my medication, I'm not feeling much pain. However, when I woke up in the middle of the night last evening, I was staggered by the pain in my abdomen. A quick run to the medicine bottle provided relief, but it certainly reminded me of the pain I'd otherwise be in. Thank God for vicodin!
So, it looks like I'll be taking another vacation day from work on Friday. Now I know why I carried five PTO days over from last year.
Daily Sketch: Up $47
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $159.35
February 22, 2006: Waiting to Pass a Stone
Today was an interesting day . . .
Early this morning, I experienced severe abdominal pains while at work. After being driven to a clinic (thanks Chris!), I learned that I'm passing a kidney stone. Ugh! For the next 24-72 hours, I'm confined to my apartment, as I await the "excitement" of passing the stone. Yay for me! The nurses told me that the pain associated with passing a kidney stone is similar to going into labor. Obviously, I'll never feel that pain, but I will say that I was in severe pain before the doc finally gave me some drugs this morning.
Loaded up on Vicodin, I'm still able to play online poker - so there's no reason to panic for my loyal Sketchbook readers. I suppose that it may not be the smartest thing to play poker while drugged up, but there's very little that I can do otherwise. The doctor has ordered me to stay away from work until I pass this thing, even though I don't feel half bad with all these drugs in me!
Here's how my day of gambling went:
First, I joined a 10-man $20(2) Tourney on Party Poker. I finished in a dismal 8th place - well out of the money. My pocket 10's weren't enough to beat another guy's A-5.
Down $22, I decided to visit the Blackjack table. In a matter of a few minutes, I won back exactly $22 - so I was back to even for the day. It felt pretty good to claim $22 from the evil blackjack gods.
Next, I joined another 10-man $20(2) Tourney. This time, I finished in 7th place - still well out of the money. I don't remember how I went out, but I'm confident that it was a bad beat. :-)
Down $22 (again), I went back to the Blackjack table (again). I won exactly $22 - so I was back to even (again). The blackjack gods seem to like me right now.
Next, I joined another 10-man $20(2) Tourney. This time, I finished in 3rd place and won $40. This netted me a modest profit of $18 for the day.
I was getting a bit sleepy and decided to take a break around dinnertime. The next time I joined the poker world, it was to play in the recurring ESPN 1510 multi-table tournament on Absolute Poker at 8pm. The drugs must've hit me hard, 'cuz I did terribly. I finished in 362nd place - out of 587 entrants and was done playing by 8:45pm. That, my friends, is awful!
Oh, well. At least the Sketchbook shows a modest profit today. Of course, I'd gladly trade the $18 for the quick passing of this stone, but beggars can't be choosers
Say an extra prayer for me! I believe that I drank 12 glasses of water/juice this afternoon in an attempt to speed this process up. Unfortunately, it hasn't helped - yet.
Time to head back to the men's room . . .
Daily Sketch: Up $18
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $112.35
Early this morning, I experienced severe abdominal pains while at work. After being driven to a clinic (thanks Chris!), I learned that I'm passing a kidney stone. Ugh! For the next 24-72 hours, I'm confined to my apartment, as I await the "excitement" of passing the stone. Yay for me! The nurses told me that the pain associated with passing a kidney stone is similar to going into labor. Obviously, I'll never feel that pain, but I will say that I was in severe pain before the doc finally gave me some drugs this morning.
Loaded up on Vicodin, I'm still able to play online poker - so there's no reason to panic for my loyal Sketchbook readers. I suppose that it may not be the smartest thing to play poker while drugged up, but there's very little that I can do otherwise. The doctor has ordered me to stay away from work until I pass this thing, even though I don't feel half bad with all these drugs in me!
Here's how my day of gambling went:
First, I joined a 10-man $20(2) Tourney on Party Poker. I finished in a dismal 8th place - well out of the money. My pocket 10's weren't enough to beat another guy's A-5.
Down $22, I decided to visit the Blackjack table. In a matter of a few minutes, I won back exactly $22 - so I was back to even for the day. It felt pretty good to claim $22 from the evil blackjack gods.
Next, I joined another 10-man $20(2) Tourney. This time, I finished in 7th place - still well out of the money. I don't remember how I went out, but I'm confident that it was a bad beat. :-)
Down $22 (again), I went back to the Blackjack table (again). I won exactly $22 - so I was back to even (again). The blackjack gods seem to like me right now.
Next, I joined another 10-man $20(2) Tourney. This time, I finished in 3rd place and won $40. This netted me a modest profit of $18 for the day.
I was getting a bit sleepy and decided to take a break around dinnertime. The next time I joined the poker world, it was to play in the recurring ESPN 1510 multi-table tournament on Absolute Poker at 8pm. The drugs must've hit me hard, 'cuz I did terribly. I finished in 362nd place - out of 587 entrants and was done playing by 8:45pm. That, my friends, is awful!
Oh, well. At least the Sketchbook shows a modest profit today. Of course, I'd gladly trade the $18 for the quick passing of this stone, but beggars can't be choosers
Say an extra prayer for me! I believe that I drank 12 glasses of water/juice this afternoon in an attempt to speed this process up. Unfortunately, it hasn't helped - yet.
Time to head back to the men's room . . .
Daily Sketch: Up $18
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $112.35
February 21, 2006: A Fan of the New Structure
When Party Poker made improvements to their software last week, they also made changes to the format of 10-man Sit 'n' Go Tournaments. The biggest change involves the number of starting chips everyone receives. Previously, tournaments costing less than $50 started with 800 chips, and the higher-priced tourneys started with 1,000 chips. These days, it appears that all tourneys are starting with 2,000 chips.
With a bigger stack of chips, Party Poker also bumped the blinds up a bit. Proportionally speaking, they aren't any larger, but it seems to be affecting the way people play. When you start with 2,000 chips, a bet of 150 chips is proportionally equal to the "old" bet of 75 chips. However, after only playing a couple Sit 'n' Go Tournaments under this new structure, it's amazing how many people will fold to the 150 bet - whereas they would have called the 75 chip bet.
Joining a $30(3) 10-man Tournament, I found success again tonight. About 25 hands into the tournament, I found myself holding 2♠ 4♠ while sitting in the big blind. Five different players limped into the pot, and we all saw a flop of Q♠ 3♣ J♠. Thannan99 bet a modest 200 chips, and I made the call while holding the spade flush draw. The turn was a magical K♠. At that moment, Thannan99 went "all in" and I quickly called his bet. He flipped over A♥ A♠ and he lost the monster pot.
This, my friends, is a classic example of how NOT to play a hand with pocket Aces. Do not limp into a pot and witness a flop with four other players! Odds are good that one of them will catch something and you'll be sitting in a vulnerable position. Had Thannan99 made any sort of preflop raise, I would have mucked my 2♠ 4♠. Instead, I hit my flush and took a big pile of chips from him.
In an attempt to train this monkey, I typed "You can't limp into a pot holding AA" to which he responded "thanks expert." I guess he didn't appreciate the advice.
Needless to say, Thannan99 did not recover from this beating and was eliminated shortly thereafter.
At the same time, I quickly became the chip bully. I steamrolled over pots and eliminated player after player. Admittedly, I got very lucky several times. More than once, I bluffed at big pots and watched everyone fold. The few times someone did call me, I was actually holding good hands and knocked them out. If nothing else, I'm really enjoying making bets of 200 chips and watching everyone fold to my ugly 2-4 (offsuit). I really like this new structure!
I single-handedly eliminated six players in this tourney (including Thannan99) - which is a remarkably high number. By the time we got down to two players, I had exactly 14,184 chips and my only remaining opponent (Rsg251) had 5,816 chips. I was the overwhelming favorite!
Then, disaster struck. Whie I was holding 88, my opponent went "all in" and I quickly called preflop. Unfortunately, he was holding AA and that evened us out when I didn't get any help. The rest of the tournament became a battle that I kept losing. Time after time, my opponent outkicked me and I sadly watched as my stack of chips declined. Eventually, I went "all in" after flopping an open-ended straight and top pair, but I lost when my opponent flipped over a pair of jacks (which was bigger than my pair) and I didn't get any help on the straight draw.
For finishing 2nd, I won $90 - netting me a profit of $57. However, considering the lead I had when we got down to two players, I felt disapponted to miss the $150 top prize. Oh, well. The Sketchbook sees another nightly profit. After placing in my last two events, I feel a bit better about my Sit 'n' Go abilities.
Daily Sketch: Up $57
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $94.35
With a bigger stack of chips, Party Poker also bumped the blinds up a bit. Proportionally speaking, they aren't any larger, but it seems to be affecting the way people play. When you start with 2,000 chips, a bet of 150 chips is proportionally equal to the "old" bet of 75 chips. However, after only playing a couple Sit 'n' Go Tournaments under this new structure, it's amazing how many people will fold to the 150 bet - whereas they would have called the 75 chip bet.
Joining a $30(3) 10-man Tournament, I found success again tonight. About 25 hands into the tournament, I found myself holding 2♠ 4♠ while sitting in the big blind. Five different players limped into the pot, and we all saw a flop of Q♠ 3♣ J♠. Thannan99 bet a modest 200 chips, and I made the call while holding the spade flush draw. The turn was a magical K♠. At that moment, Thannan99 went "all in" and I quickly called his bet. He flipped over A♥ A♠ and he lost the monster pot.
This, my friends, is a classic example of how NOT to play a hand with pocket Aces. Do not limp into a pot and witness a flop with four other players! Odds are good that one of them will catch something and you'll be sitting in a vulnerable position. Had Thannan99 made any sort of preflop raise, I would have mucked my 2♠ 4♠. Instead, I hit my flush and took a big pile of chips from him.
In an attempt to train this monkey, I typed "You can't limp into a pot holding AA" to which he responded "thanks expert." I guess he didn't appreciate the advice.
Needless to say, Thannan99 did not recover from this beating and was eliminated shortly thereafter.
At the same time, I quickly became the chip bully. I steamrolled over pots and eliminated player after player. Admittedly, I got very lucky several times. More than once, I bluffed at big pots and watched everyone fold. The few times someone did call me, I was actually holding good hands and knocked them out. If nothing else, I'm really enjoying making bets of 200 chips and watching everyone fold to my ugly 2-4 (offsuit). I really like this new structure!
I single-handedly eliminated six players in this tourney (including Thannan99) - which is a remarkably high number. By the time we got down to two players, I had exactly 14,184 chips and my only remaining opponent (Rsg251) had 5,816 chips. I was the overwhelming favorite!
Then, disaster struck. Whie I was holding 88, my opponent went "all in" and I quickly called preflop. Unfortunately, he was holding AA and that evened us out when I didn't get any help. The rest of the tournament became a battle that I kept losing. Time after time, my opponent outkicked me and I sadly watched as my stack of chips declined. Eventually, I went "all in" after flopping an open-ended straight and top pair, but I lost when my opponent flipped over a pair of jacks (which was bigger than my pair) and I didn't get any help on the straight draw.
For finishing 2nd, I won $90 - netting me a profit of $57. However, considering the lead I had when we got down to two players, I felt disapponted to miss the $150 top prize. Oh, well. The Sketchbook sees another nightly profit. After placing in my last two events, I feel a bit better about my Sit 'n' Go abilities.
Daily Sketch: Up $57
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $94.35
February 20, 2006: Won and Done
After taking a one day vacation away from the on-line poker tournament world, I decided to jump back into the fray. Joining a $50(5) 10-man tournament, I tested my luck on Party Poker this evening.
Very early in the tournament, I got very lucky when my pocket 6's saw another 6 appear on the flop. As it turned out, my opponent was holding pocket Aces, and I doubled up when he went "all in" after witnessing the seemingly innocent flop. My opponent didn't make a very big raise preflop, and he paid dearly for that misplay. He didn't hit an ace on the turn or river and lost to my set.
Playing with a big stack, I did my best to bully my way through the table. Several players were noticeably tight, and I started to make significant raises whenever they were the big blind. It didn't matter what I was holding, 'cuz I knew they'd fold unless they were holding monsters. I specifically remember raising while holding 3-7 (offsuit), and was rewarded when everyone folded to my big stack. Ha ha!!
I'd write about other specific hands I played, but this new version of Party Poker isn't saving my hand histories like the old version. I may hafta click a box somewhere in the software to make that happen, so I don't have any information from today's tourney. Ooops!! I was dealt pocket Kings consecutive times near the end of the tourney, and that certainly didn't hurt my chances.
After all was said and done, I coasted to the title. On the last hand, I was dealt AK and my opponent went "all in" holding AJ. I don't believe that I ever lost a hand after being ahead with my chips in the middle. That's a minor miracle!
For taking first place, I was awarded $250 - netting me a quick profit of $195. That puts me back ahead for the month, so I decided to retire for the night.
Won and Done!
Daily Sketch: Up $195
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $37.35
Very early in the tournament, I got very lucky when my pocket 6's saw another 6 appear on the flop. As it turned out, my opponent was holding pocket Aces, and I doubled up when he went "all in" after witnessing the seemingly innocent flop. My opponent didn't make a very big raise preflop, and he paid dearly for that misplay. He didn't hit an ace on the turn or river and lost to my set.
Playing with a big stack, I did my best to bully my way through the table. Several players were noticeably tight, and I started to make significant raises whenever they were the big blind. It didn't matter what I was holding, 'cuz I knew they'd fold unless they were holding monsters. I specifically remember raising while holding 3-7 (offsuit), and was rewarded when everyone folded to my big stack. Ha ha!!
I'd write about other specific hands I played, but this new version of Party Poker isn't saving my hand histories like the old version. I may hafta click a box somewhere in the software to make that happen, so I don't have any information from today's tourney. Ooops!! I was dealt pocket Kings consecutive times near the end of the tourney, and that certainly didn't hurt my chances.
After all was said and done, I coasted to the title. On the last hand, I was dealt AK and my opponent went "all in" holding AJ. I don't believe that I ever lost a hand after being ahead with my chips in the middle. That's a minor miracle!
For taking first place, I was awarded $250 - netting me a quick profit of $195. That puts me back ahead for the month, so I decided to retire for the night.
Won and Done!
Daily Sketch: Up $195
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $37.35
February 20, 2006: Playing Multi Accounts
This has very little to do with my own gambling, but I thought I'd share this story . . .
Every Saturday, Party Poker hosts a $215($15) tournament that's guaranteed to pay out a total prize pool of $500,000. This is - by far - the biggest regular tournament I've seen in the internet world. On February 12th, 3,500 people signed up to play and the winner was awarded $140,000. Can you imagine sitting in your house and winning $140,000 in a single afternoon. Yikes!
Anyway, as I said, the winner was awarded $140,000. As it turns out, he's a well known tourney player who is currently ranked #5 by Pocketfives.com list of top online tourney players. After winning the tournament, he started posting messages on the internet claiming that he took over for his grandmother after he was eliminated earlier in the tournament using his own screen name. Here is his story:
"To understand my scenario, you must first understand my day. I picked up my brand new expensive computer from a computer store today (I tried to build it, without knowing anything abotu CPUs, I suck!). I got home about an hour before the MTTs start, and it was very hectic, and I was stressing out a ton. My Grandparents come to the house every weekend. My Grandma is an absolute poker fanatic, and I try to teach her how to play just due to her sheer enthusiasm. I stake her occasionaly, as much -EV as it is. I'll be honest, I do not conserve money the best. I staked her to play the 500k at Party. A few hours later, I bust out of Party, and am only playing 1 MTT. Finally, I am relaxed. I see that she has amassed a decent stack. I start coaching her every hand. Once she got to about 10k in chips, I took over, still talking to her. When I got to 100k (tripled from 33k), I asked her to leave the room, and she could watch me on the laptop. I do get nervous and emotional when I get deep, and I figured I had a real shot at it. Of course, my grandma being the kind soul that she is obliged. Before I know it, I won the thing. I am thinking of buying her a new car, but I haven't put much thought to it.I didn't really realize people would make that big of a deal of it until 10 people started IMing me telling me to prepare for shit. Curse at me, hate me, flame me. I can't say that I do expect less.
But, I just won 140k! Not even all this flaming can take away the amazing feeling I have right now."
Basically, this guy said that he took over for his grandmother after he busted out of the tourney. This brought to light the whole idea of playing multiple accounts. There was heated discussion in a lot of the forums, especially pocketfives.com since he is a regular. People chimed in on both sides of the issue, but I think the overwhelming theme was it was cheating.
A few days later, Party Poker sent out the following message to people who had played in the tourney:
On Sunday February 12th, 2006 you participated in our $500k Guaranteed $215 Buy-in Tournament. After the tournament concluded, our investigations team conducted an investigation into two of the accounts that had participated in the tournament (ABlackCar and JJProdigy). After an in-depth investigation, the investigations team; in conjunction with the poker manager, legal and management, made a determination that, based on the evidence, the two accounts had played in the $500k Tournament from the same IP address and both from the same computer. A decision was made to disqualify both accounts from the tournament and redistribute the prize money accordingly.
One of the accounts placed 1st in the tournament while the other placed 2,162nd (out of the money). In addition, both accounts have been suspended and will no longer be allowed to play at PartyPoker.com. Each player that placed in the money has been moved up one spot, including the player that had previously finished 401st (one spot out of the money). Although there is no perfect way to rectify this situation, we feel that this was the best way to redistribute the money.
If you have any further questions, comments or concerns, please contact us at alerts@PartyPoker.com and we will be more than glad to assist you.
Regards,
Investigations TeamPartyPoker.com
Wow! From what I've read, this guy would have never been caught if he hadn't started bragging about his victory on the internet. His brashness cost him $140,000. That's rough!
A few days after this all hit the fan, the player posted this apology on the internet:
Alright, so here it is.
The account 'ABlackCar' was not made for multi-accounting. It was intentionally made for my grandma for her birthday present. However, it was never given to her. So, I had an extra account. Yes, I multi-tabled. Yes, it is incredibly easy. Yes, many people do it was . You really have no idea about the situation.
About 2 months ago, I thought it was just a really bad idea like everyone else. A lot of my friends did it, and i always gave them a hard time for it. But, I had a conversation with a player where we decided it would be a lot of +EV to not be known when you are playing MTTs. So, basically, I had a spare account with tons of +EV in it. So many poeple did it with no reprocautions. I know someone who had over 10 accounts in a recent million guaranteed. Party has no idea.
So, back to the day of the win. When there was about 30 left, I started telling all these people I was in. I was too much caught up in the moment, and it was a really stupid thing to do in hindsight. It slipped out, and everyone knew. The account was in the name of my grandma, and it was intended for her to play in, so that was the easiest excuse for me. I apologize for lieing to everyone. I really do. When such a large amount of money is on the line, it's really tough to be loyal to morals.
The next morning, both accounts were close. Today, they took away all the money. The roughly 40k in JJProdigy, and the 140k in ABlackCar. The following is what I was e-mailed by Party:
Josh,
The PartyPoker.com investigations team opened an investigation on accounts JJProdigy and ABlackCar relating to suspicious activities during the February 12th $500K Guaranteed Tournament. The investigation was initially triggered by the investigations team as a result of a ýcommon informationý alert, IP and computer. Although the investigation was initiated internally, customer service began receiving complaints/concerns regarding this situation starting on February 13th.
With this investigation, the complaints and alerts pointed to multiple accounts being played from the same location in the same tournament.
The accounts involved in the investigation:
Account JJProdgy was created on November 4th, 2004.
Account ABlackCar was created on December 31st, 2005.
Note: The account ABlackCar was not created until December 31st, 2005, therefore all previous data was not used in the investigation unless found to be relevant.
When investigating the location of where an account is played from, there are two identifying factors that are taken into account.
A specific computer is traced by a unique computer identification number.
An Internet Protocol (IP) address is the address that an internet service provider uses to identify and trace the location of a computer.
From December 31st, 2005 until February 11th, both accounts only used the IP address xxxxxxx, which traces to xxxxxx, CA. Both accounts only used a computer with the same identifier. These are referred to as the xxxxxx IP and computer.
Account ABlackCar was created from the Home IP and computer on December 31st, 2005. On dates of January 1st, 3rd, 5th, 15th and February 6th, 7th and 9th ABlackCar logged into the Home IP and computer and registered and played in a total of nine tournaments. All of these tournaments had a buy-in of $100 or more.
Account JJProdigy was logged into from the Home IP and computer on the same dates and registered and played in the same tournaments.
Both of these accounts were played from the same computer and the same IP address in the same tournaments.
The tournament in question took placed on February 12th. At 13:54 ET account JJProdigy logged into a different computer, but from the Home IP, and registered for the $500k Guaranteed Tournament. That account then logged out and back in on the Home computer at 15:18. $215 was transferred to account ABlackCar at 15:27. At 15:32 account ABlackCar logged onto the Home IP and computer and registered for the same $500k Tournament.
Both accounts started playing the $500k Tournament from the Home IP and computer.
Summary:
This indisputable evidence led to the conclusion that both accounts had played several tournaments together from the same computer located in the same location.
Account ABlackCar, although registered in a different name, is believed to have been created with the sole intention of playing multiple accounts in the same tournaments. Both accounts were consistently logged into at the same time and show a consistent pattern of being played by the same person.
Conclusion:
A decision has been made, in consultation with the Poker Room Manager, Legal and Management, to close both accounts and confiscate all funds. Funds gathered by this deception will be refunded to the players that were affected.
Regards,
Francis Hamilton,
Investigations Team
alerts@PartyPoker.com
PartyPoker.com
Every Saturday, Party Poker hosts a $215($15) tournament that's guaranteed to pay out a total prize pool of $500,000. This is - by far - the biggest regular tournament I've seen in the internet world. On February 12th, 3,500 people signed up to play and the winner was awarded $140,000. Can you imagine sitting in your house and winning $140,000 in a single afternoon. Yikes!
Anyway, as I said, the winner was awarded $140,000. As it turns out, he's a well known tourney player who is currently ranked #5 by Pocketfives.com list of top online tourney players. After winning the tournament, he started posting messages on the internet claiming that he took over for his grandmother after he was eliminated earlier in the tournament using his own screen name. Here is his story:
"To understand my scenario, you must first understand my day. I picked up my brand new expensive computer from a computer store today (I tried to build it, without knowing anything abotu CPUs, I suck!). I got home about an hour before the MTTs start, and it was very hectic, and I was stressing out a ton. My Grandparents come to the house every weekend. My Grandma is an absolute poker fanatic, and I try to teach her how to play just due to her sheer enthusiasm. I stake her occasionaly, as much -EV as it is. I'll be honest, I do not conserve money the best. I staked her to play the 500k at Party. A few hours later, I bust out of Party, and am only playing 1 MTT. Finally, I am relaxed. I see that she has amassed a decent stack. I start coaching her every hand. Once she got to about 10k in chips, I took over, still talking to her. When I got to 100k (tripled from 33k), I asked her to leave the room, and she could watch me on the laptop. I do get nervous and emotional when I get deep, and I figured I had a real shot at it. Of course, my grandma being the kind soul that she is obliged. Before I know it, I won the thing. I am thinking of buying her a new car, but I haven't put much thought to it.I didn't really realize people would make that big of a deal of it until 10 people started IMing me telling me to prepare for shit. Curse at me, hate me, flame me. I can't say that I do expect less.
But, I just won 140k! Not even all this flaming can take away the amazing feeling I have right now."
Basically, this guy said that he took over for his grandmother after he busted out of the tourney. This brought to light the whole idea of playing multiple accounts. There was heated discussion in a lot of the forums, especially pocketfives.com since he is a regular. People chimed in on both sides of the issue, but I think the overwhelming theme was it was cheating.
A few days later, Party Poker sent out the following message to people who had played in the tourney:
On Sunday February 12th, 2006 you participated in our $500k Guaranteed $215 Buy-in Tournament. After the tournament concluded, our investigations team conducted an investigation into two of the accounts that had participated in the tournament (ABlackCar and JJProdigy). After an in-depth investigation, the investigations team; in conjunction with the poker manager, legal and management, made a determination that, based on the evidence, the two accounts had played in the $500k Tournament from the same IP address and both from the same computer. A decision was made to disqualify both accounts from the tournament and redistribute the prize money accordingly.
One of the accounts placed 1st in the tournament while the other placed 2,162nd (out of the money). In addition, both accounts have been suspended and will no longer be allowed to play at PartyPoker.com. Each player that placed in the money has been moved up one spot, including the player that had previously finished 401st (one spot out of the money). Although there is no perfect way to rectify this situation, we feel that this was the best way to redistribute the money.
If you have any further questions, comments or concerns, please contact us at alerts@PartyPoker.com and we will be more than glad to assist you.
Regards,
Investigations TeamPartyPoker.com
Wow! From what I've read, this guy would have never been caught if he hadn't started bragging about his victory on the internet. His brashness cost him $140,000. That's rough!
A few days after this all hit the fan, the player posted this apology on the internet:
Alright, so here it is.
The account 'ABlackCar' was not made for multi-accounting. It was intentionally made for my grandma for her birthday present. However, it was never given to her. So, I had an extra account. Yes, I multi-tabled. Yes, it is incredibly easy. Yes, many people do it was . You really have no idea about the situation.
About 2 months ago, I thought it was just a really bad idea like everyone else. A lot of my friends did it, and i always gave them a hard time for it. But, I had a conversation with a player where we decided it would be a lot of +EV to not be known when you are playing MTTs. So, basically, I had a spare account with tons of +EV in it. So many poeple did it with no reprocautions. I know someone who had over 10 accounts in a recent million guaranteed. Party has no idea.
So, back to the day of the win. When there was about 30 left, I started telling all these people I was in. I was too much caught up in the moment, and it was a really stupid thing to do in hindsight. It slipped out, and everyone knew. The account was in the name of my grandma, and it was intended for her to play in, so that was the easiest excuse for me. I apologize for lieing to everyone. I really do. When such a large amount of money is on the line, it's really tough to be loyal to morals.
The next morning, both accounts were close. Today, they took away all the money. The roughly 40k in JJProdigy, and the 140k in ABlackCar. The following is what I was e-mailed by Party:
Josh,
The PartyPoker.com investigations team opened an investigation on accounts JJProdigy and ABlackCar relating to suspicious activities during the February 12th $500K Guaranteed Tournament. The investigation was initially triggered by the investigations team as a result of a ýcommon informationý alert, IP and computer. Although the investigation was initiated internally, customer service began receiving complaints/concerns regarding this situation starting on February 13th.
With this investigation, the complaints and alerts pointed to multiple accounts being played from the same location in the same tournament.
The accounts involved in the investigation:
Account JJProdgy was created on November 4th, 2004.
Account ABlackCar was created on December 31st, 2005.
Note: The account ABlackCar was not created until December 31st, 2005, therefore all previous data was not used in the investigation unless found to be relevant.
When investigating the location of where an account is played from, there are two identifying factors that are taken into account.
A specific computer is traced by a unique computer identification number.
An Internet Protocol (IP) address is the address that an internet service provider uses to identify and trace the location of a computer.
From December 31st, 2005 until February 11th, both accounts only used the IP address xxxxxxx, which traces to xxxxxx, CA. Both accounts only used a computer with the same identifier. These are referred to as the xxxxxx IP and computer.
Account ABlackCar was created from the Home IP and computer on December 31st, 2005. On dates of January 1st, 3rd, 5th, 15th and February 6th, 7th and 9th ABlackCar logged into the Home IP and computer and registered and played in a total of nine tournaments. All of these tournaments had a buy-in of $100 or more.
Account JJProdigy was logged into from the Home IP and computer on the same dates and registered and played in the same tournaments.
Both of these accounts were played from the same computer and the same IP address in the same tournaments.
The tournament in question took placed on February 12th. At 13:54 ET account JJProdigy logged into a different computer, but from the Home IP, and registered for the $500k Guaranteed Tournament. That account then logged out and back in on the Home computer at 15:18. $215 was transferred to account ABlackCar at 15:27. At 15:32 account ABlackCar logged onto the Home IP and computer and registered for the same $500k Tournament.
Both accounts started playing the $500k Tournament from the Home IP and computer.
Summary:
This indisputable evidence led to the conclusion that both accounts had played several tournaments together from the same computer located in the same location.
Account ABlackCar, although registered in a different name, is believed to have been created with the sole intention of playing multiple accounts in the same tournaments. Both accounts were consistently logged into at the same time and show a consistent pattern of being played by the same person.
Conclusion:
A decision has been made, in consultation with the Poker Room Manager, Legal and Management, to close both accounts and confiscate all funds. Funds gathered by this deception will be refunded to the players that were affected.
Regards,
Francis Hamilton,
Investigations Team
alerts@PartyPoker.com
PartyPoker.com
February 19, 2006: 6-Man Action
This past week, Party Poker conducted a serious upgrade to their software. The tables (including Blackjack) have an entirely different look and there are a fair amount of new tables available. Among the new tables, they are now hosting 6-man $2/$4 tables. Previously, Party Poker only hosted $1, $3, & $5 6-man tables.
Needing a break from tourneys, I decided to play a lot of $2/$4 today. I did relatively well, and won exactly $44.50. It's not a mountain of cash, but it's a serious upgrade from this past week's terrible performances in tournaments.
I'm still going to keep concentrating on tournaments, but it was nice to take a break from the tourney world.
Daily Sketch: Up $44.50
Month-to-Date Sketch: Down $157.65
Needing a break from tourneys, I decided to play a lot of $2/$4 today. I did relatively well, and won exactly $44.50. It's not a mountain of cash, but it's a serious upgrade from this past week's terrible performances in tournaments.
I'm still going to keep concentrating on tournaments, but it was nice to take a break from the tourney world.
Daily Sketch: Up $44.50
Month-to-Date Sketch: Down $157.65
February 18, 2006: Marquette 84, Pittsburgh 82
I've personally witnessed three Marquette basketball games from the luxury of the US Bank suite this season. After seeing Marquette beat #9 Pittsburgh tonight, I'm now 3-0. Coupled with previous victories over #1 UCONN and #17 Georgetown, my beloved Warriors are doing quite well when I'm in attendance.
I didn't have any wagers on the game - so it has no affect on the Sketchbook. Unfortunately, my online success this afternoon didn't match Marquette's success.
I played two $20(2) 10-man Tourneys on Party Poker and couldn't place in either. In each event, I got down to the final five players, but I couldn't catch anything and bowed out in 5th place each time - two spots out of the money. Ugh!
At least Marquette won. It's looking likely that we'll playing in the Big Dance next month. Woo hoo!!
Daily Sketch: Down $44
Month-to-Date Sketch: Down $202.15
I didn't have any wagers on the game - so it has no affect on the Sketchbook. Unfortunately, my online success this afternoon didn't match Marquette's success.
I played two $20(2) 10-man Tourneys on Party Poker and couldn't place in either. In each event, I got down to the final five players, but I couldn't catch anything and bowed out in 5th place each time - two spots out of the money. Ugh!
At least Marquette won. It's looking likely that we'll playing in the Big Dance next month. Woo hoo!!
Daily Sketch: Down $44
Month-to-Date Sketch: Down $202.15
February 17, 2006: NASCAR Pool
With the opening race of the NASCAR season set to start on Sunday, it's time to enter my annual NASCAR pool. For $40, I get to pick 12 drivers amongst four different groups. Somewhere around 75 people will join this pool. Considering the fact that $40 covers the entire season of 35 races, it's very cheap entertainment. Here's my team:
Stewart, Biffle, Kenseth, Edwards, Kyle Busch, Jarrett, B. Labonte, Mears, Marlin, Hamlin, Truez Jr., & Sorenson.
Other than that, there wasn't much excitement in the gambling world tonight. I joined one 10-man $50(5) Tournament on Party Poker and finished in 5th when I was horribly bad beat while holding pocket J's. I didn't have a ton of chips, but a guy holding 7-9 called me and hit two pair. Ugh!
Daily Sketch: Down $95
Month-to-Date Sketch: Down $158.15
Stewart, Biffle, Kenseth, Edwards, Kyle Busch, Jarrett, B. Labonte, Mears, Marlin, Hamlin, Truez Jr., & Sorenson.
Other than that, there wasn't much excitement in the gambling world tonight. I joined one 10-man $50(5) Tournament on Party Poker and finished in 5th when I was horribly bad beat while holding pocket J's. I didn't have a ton of chips, but a guy holding 7-9 called me and hit two pair. Ugh!
Daily Sketch: Down $95
Month-to-Date Sketch: Down $158.15
February 16, 2006: Marquette 57, Georgetown 51
I personally watched Marquette defeat Georgetown at the Bradley Center this evening. Before heading over to the arena, however, I played 5 minutes of blackjack on Party Poker. Starting with $20, I was able to double my money in those 5 minutes - and I quickly logged out of the system with a tidy little $20 profit. Woo hoo!! I've won money the last two times I've played blackjack. It's a miracle!
At the basketball game, Chris and I wagered $10 on the outcome. Since the game was a pick 'em, I wasn't getting any points (even though Georgetown is ranked in the top 25). Thankfully, I didn't need the points and Marquette came out victorious.
I don't think that Marquette has lost this season when I've been at the Bradley Center. My winning streak will be tested again Saturday night when the Warriors play Pittsburgh.
Daily Sketch: Up $30
Month-to-Date Sketch: Down $63.15
At the basketball game, Chris and I wagered $10 on the outcome. Since the game was a pick 'em, I wasn't getting any points (even though Georgetown is ranked in the top 25). Thankfully, I didn't need the points and Marquette came out victorious.
I don't think that Marquette has lost this season when I've been at the Bradley Center. My winning streak will be tested again Saturday night when the Warriors play Pittsburgh.
Daily Sketch: Up $30
Month-to-Date Sketch: Down $63.15
February 15, 2006: Bad Cards, Bad Luck
I did not have a good night of cards this evening. At 8:00pm, I was scheduled to play in ESPN 1510's 2nd freeroll tournament on Absolute Poker. A total of 495 people signed up to play, and the top 49 players won entry to the final tournament scheduled in a few weeks. Before that tournament started, I "warmed up" with three $30(3) Sit 'n Go Tournaments on Party Poker.
In the first tournament I was dealt 4♣ 6♣ while sitting in the big blind very early in the tournament. The flop came K♣ 8♣ 4♥. One of my opponents went "all in" and I decided to take a chance and called his bet - praying for another club. As it turned out, my opponent was holding pocket 8's. Unfortunately, I didn't get another club and I was promptly eliminated in 9th place.
In my next tournament, I found myself holding AK after we had gotten down to 6 players. Two of us witnessed a flop that showed King high. My opponent went "all in" and I called his bet. As it turned out, he had flopped two-pair, and I was again eliminated way too early.
It was obvious that the poker gods weren't on my side, but I trudged forward. My next tournament ended when I was dealt pocket 5's and saw a 5 appear on the flop. As it turned out, however, my opponent had pocket 6's and another 6 had also appeared on the flop. Ugh!!
Down $99 for the evening, it was time to join Absolute Poker's freeroll. Very early in the tournament, I found myself holding Ad Qd and made a significant raise. One donkey on the other side of the table decided to raise me "all in". I thought about it a moment and decided to call his bet. He flipped over A-3 (offsuit). Whew! I had made the right decision!
The board ended up showing two more threes, however, and I was rudely eliminated from the tournament. I doubt that I cracked the Top 400. Considering the fact that 495 people were playing, that's poor! Why someone would go "all in" with A-3 is beyond me. I guess that happens when you're playing a freeroll.
Daily Sketch: Down $99
Month-to-Date Sketch: Down $93.15
In the first tournament I was dealt 4♣ 6♣ while sitting in the big blind very early in the tournament. The flop came K♣ 8♣ 4♥. One of my opponents went "all in" and I decided to take a chance and called his bet - praying for another club. As it turned out, my opponent was holding pocket 8's. Unfortunately, I didn't get another club and I was promptly eliminated in 9th place.
In my next tournament, I found myself holding AK after we had gotten down to 6 players. Two of us witnessed a flop that showed King high. My opponent went "all in" and I called his bet. As it turned out, he had flopped two-pair, and I was again eliminated way too early.
It was obvious that the poker gods weren't on my side, but I trudged forward. My next tournament ended when I was dealt pocket 5's and saw a 5 appear on the flop. As it turned out, however, my opponent had pocket 6's and another 6 had also appeared on the flop. Ugh!!
Down $99 for the evening, it was time to join Absolute Poker's freeroll. Very early in the tournament, I found myself holding Ad Qd and made a significant raise. One donkey on the other side of the table decided to raise me "all in". I thought about it a moment and decided to call his bet. He flipped over A-3 (offsuit). Whew! I had made the right decision!
The board ended up showing two more threes, however, and I was rudely eliminated from the tournament. I doubt that I cracked the Top 400. Considering the fact that 495 people were playing, that's poor! Why someone would go "all in" with A-3 is beyond me. I guess that happens when you're playing a freeroll.
Daily Sketch: Down $99
Month-to-Date Sketch: Down $93.15
February 14, 2006: Happy Valentine's Day!
I didn't play a lot of poker tonight. Since it is Valentine's Day, Theresa and I spent a good part of the night bonding in our cozy apartment. However, I did have a little time to dabble on Party Poker. :-)
I started my night by joining a 10-man $30(3) Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo Tournament and something happened that's never happened before. I played exactly 33 hands, and I didn't win any of them. Considering the fact that Omaha Hi/Lo is a split pot game, it's pretty hard to play 33 consecutive hands without ever claiming a portion of the pot. That's weird.
The weirdest part of my losing streak, however, was the fact that I actually placed in the money in this crazy tournament. I didn't win a single hand, but I played well enough to finish in 3rd place and was awarded a $60 prize - netting me an easy profit of $27 - all without winning a single hand!
To put it mildly, the table was very loose and people kept getting knocked out. All the while, I kept folding my mediocre hands. Next thing you knew, I was down to the final four players and I was way behind everyone else. I expected everyone to play conservatively, but two guys subsequently went nuts on the 29th hand of the tournament and I backed into third place.
Four hands later, I found myself holding a decent hand and went "all in" before the flop - and I lost. So, despite the fact that I didn't win a single hand, I finished in the money. Like I said, I've never seen that happen before.
Confident that I was playing well (ha ha), I joined another tournament. On the very first hand of the tourney, I found myself holding A-3-K-K and was delighted to witness a flop of 2-4-6 (rainbow). One of my opponents started making big bets and the two of us were "all in" after a meaningless 9 fell on the turn. As it turned out, he was holding 3-5 (the nut straight), so we were well on our way to splitting the pot . . . until . . . an ace fell on the river. That conterfeited my nut low and I was eliminated from the tournament on the very first hand. Ugh!
So, I played a total of 34 hands of Omaha Hi/Lo tonight and won exactly zero of them. To only lose $6 this evening is probably a nice accomplishment.
Daily Sketch: Down $6
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $5.85
I started my night by joining a 10-man $30(3) Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo Tournament and something happened that's never happened before. I played exactly 33 hands, and I didn't win any of them. Considering the fact that Omaha Hi/Lo is a split pot game, it's pretty hard to play 33 consecutive hands without ever claiming a portion of the pot. That's weird.
The weirdest part of my losing streak, however, was the fact that I actually placed in the money in this crazy tournament. I didn't win a single hand, but I played well enough to finish in 3rd place and was awarded a $60 prize - netting me an easy profit of $27 - all without winning a single hand!
To put it mildly, the table was very loose and people kept getting knocked out. All the while, I kept folding my mediocre hands. Next thing you knew, I was down to the final four players and I was way behind everyone else. I expected everyone to play conservatively, but two guys subsequently went nuts on the 29th hand of the tournament and I backed into third place.
Four hands later, I found myself holding a decent hand and went "all in" before the flop - and I lost. So, despite the fact that I didn't win a single hand, I finished in the money. Like I said, I've never seen that happen before.
Confident that I was playing well (ha ha), I joined another tournament. On the very first hand of the tourney, I found myself holding A-3-K-K and was delighted to witness a flop of 2-4-6 (rainbow). One of my opponents started making big bets and the two of us were "all in" after a meaningless 9 fell on the turn. As it turned out, he was holding 3-5 (the nut straight), so we were well on our way to splitting the pot . . . until . . . an ace fell on the river. That conterfeited my nut low and I was eliminated from the tournament on the very first hand. Ugh!
So, I played a total of 34 hands of Omaha Hi/Lo tonight and won exactly zero of them. To only lose $6 this evening is probably a nice accomplishment.
Daily Sketch: Down $6
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $5.85
February 13, 2006: 0 for 3
I played three Sit 'n' Go Tournaments tonight, and I didn't finish in the money in any of them. The first two tournaments cost me $33 apiece. The last tournament cost me $11. So, all told, I lost $77 this evening. Sadly, I don't think I played poorly - the cards just didn't want to work out. I guess that happens sometimes.
In my opening tournament of the night, I couldn't seem to catch anything and watched as my starting stack of chips slowly dwindled. Still, I made it to the final 5 players and was delighted when I saw JJ come my way. Declaring myself "all in", I crossed my fingers when my only opponent flipped over Ad 2d. My delight turned to agony when a 3-4-5 appeared on the board and I lost to the straight. Ugh!
I was caught in a precarious situation in my 2nd tournament. Holding pocket 10's, I made a significant raise relatively early in the tournament and got two callers. The flop came 5-7-2 (rainbow). The first player to act went "all in" with a stack of chips a bit larger than I. The 2nd player called the bet with a much smaller stack. Then it got to me . . .
I thought about it for a long while. After much thinking, I put the first player on AK and wasn't overly concerned about the short stack. So, I made the call.
The first player flipped over pocket 5's. He had hit the set. The 2nd player flipped over pocket 9's. At least I was beating him - although that meant nothing. Per usual, I got no help from the turn or river and was rudely eliminated from the tourney in 8th place. Ooops!
Disgusted by that effort, I went down to an $11 tourney. Very early in the tournament, I got dealt pocket Kings. Wouldn't you know it, though? Another player was dealt pocket Aces on the same hand and I was quickly eliminated in 9th place.
Satisfied that it wasn't going to be my night, I retired for the night.
Daily Sketch: Down $77
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $11.85
In my opening tournament of the night, I couldn't seem to catch anything and watched as my starting stack of chips slowly dwindled. Still, I made it to the final 5 players and was delighted when I saw JJ come my way. Declaring myself "all in", I crossed my fingers when my only opponent flipped over Ad 2d. My delight turned to agony when a 3-4-5 appeared on the board and I lost to the straight. Ugh!
I was caught in a precarious situation in my 2nd tournament. Holding pocket 10's, I made a significant raise relatively early in the tournament and got two callers. The flop came 5-7-2 (rainbow). The first player to act went "all in" with a stack of chips a bit larger than I. The 2nd player called the bet with a much smaller stack. Then it got to me . . .
I thought about it for a long while. After much thinking, I put the first player on AK and wasn't overly concerned about the short stack. So, I made the call.
The first player flipped over pocket 5's. He had hit the set. The 2nd player flipped over pocket 9's. At least I was beating him - although that meant nothing. Per usual, I got no help from the turn or river and was rudely eliminated from the tourney in 8th place. Ooops!
Disgusted by that effort, I went down to an $11 tourney. Very early in the tournament, I got dealt pocket Kings. Wouldn't you know it, though? Another player was dealt pocket Aces on the same hand and I was quickly eliminated in 9th place.
Satisfied that it wasn't going to be my night, I retired for the night.
Daily Sketch: Down $77
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $11.85
February 12, 2006: A Variety Pack
I joined a wide variety of on-line tournaments today. However, despite my attempts to spice up the day with some variety, the final result of today’s action was pretty boring.
Starting my day on Absolute Poker, I joined a free Multi-Table Hold ‘em Tournament sponsored by Wanna Talk Poker. A total of 163 people signed up to play. When I first registered for the tourney, I thought that the first place prize was $50. As it turned out, I was wrong. The total prize pool was $50, of which $10 went to the winner. 2nd thru 9th places won $5.
With the prize pool so tiny, I wasn’t overly inspired to play. Still, I gave it a decent effort and ended up finishing in 30th place – which wasn’t too bad. Of course, I didn’t win any money for my accomplishment and I wasted 90 minutes of my life, but so be it. I watched NASCAR qualifying for the Daytona 500 while playing in the free tourney.
Next, I went back to Party Poker and joined a $30(3) 10-man Tournament. To put it mildly, I didn’t do well. In fact, I finished in a dismal 9th place. I made a foolish bluff very early in the tourney and it cost me dearly.
Then, I tried my luck at a Speed $10(1) 10-man Tournament. The blinds went up crazy fast, but I played relatively well and finished in 3rd place. That was good for $20 and a whopping $9 profit. I got horribly bad beat on the river on my final hand, but that’s what happens when you play cheap $10 tourneys. Your opponents play some weird hands.
Finally, I decided to visit the Mini-Steps and spent $6 to join Level #1. I finished in 6th place, and won back $4.
After all was said and done, the Sketchbook shows a modest loss of $26 today. I was very tempted to take some cash to the Blackjack Tables to see if I could win back today's losses, but ultimately decided that it wasn’t a good idea.
Daily Sketch: Down $26
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $88.85
Starting my day on Absolute Poker, I joined a free Multi-Table Hold ‘em Tournament sponsored by Wanna Talk Poker. A total of 163 people signed up to play. When I first registered for the tourney, I thought that the first place prize was $50. As it turned out, I was wrong. The total prize pool was $50, of which $10 went to the winner. 2nd thru 9th places won $5.
With the prize pool so tiny, I wasn’t overly inspired to play. Still, I gave it a decent effort and ended up finishing in 30th place – which wasn’t too bad. Of course, I didn’t win any money for my accomplishment and I wasted 90 minutes of my life, but so be it. I watched NASCAR qualifying for the Daytona 500 while playing in the free tourney.
Next, I went back to Party Poker and joined a $30(3) 10-man Tournament. To put it mildly, I didn’t do well. In fact, I finished in a dismal 9th place. I made a foolish bluff very early in the tourney and it cost me dearly.
Then, I tried my luck at a Speed $10(1) 10-man Tournament. The blinds went up crazy fast, but I played relatively well and finished in 3rd place. That was good for $20 and a whopping $9 profit. I got horribly bad beat on the river on my final hand, but that’s what happens when you play cheap $10 tourneys. Your opponents play some weird hands.
Finally, I decided to visit the Mini-Steps and spent $6 to join Level #1. I finished in 6th place, and won back $4.
After all was said and done, the Sketchbook shows a modest loss of $26 today. I was very tempted to take some cash to the Blackjack Tables to see if I could win back today's losses, but ultimately decided that it wasn’t a good idea.
Daily Sketch: Down $26
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $88.85
February 11, 2006: A Lengthy Multi-Table Tournament
In keeping with the theme of the month, I decided to join a Multi-Table $30(3) Tournament on Party Poker this morning. If nothing else, I figured that I'd attempt to parlay last night's profits at Tom's house into something bigger while playing online today.
When I logged into the software, it was 10:07am and I saw that a tournament was already seating players. Barely making the registration deadline, I joined a tournament that had 410 registrants. The first place prize was a whopping $3,075 - with the top 50 players winning something.
Beginning well enough, my starting stack of 1,000 chips was up to 2,875 chips just 26 minutes into the tourney. Dealt AA, I knocked out a pair of opponents holding KK and A7. They both went "all in" before the flop and I scooped the monster pot.
Shortly thereafter, I checked the tournament's home page and saw that the overall chip leader had accumulated 4,700 chips. Another player at my table (Friendch) had nearly 2,800 chips. Theresa walked into the room and I joked that I could take the tournament lead if I simply took all of Friendrch's chips.
Exactly four minutes later, my dream came true. Dealt Qd Qh, I raised the bet to 100 chips. Friendrch called my modest raise and we witnessed a flop of 2d Qs 7h. First to act, I checked and Friendrch went "all in". My opponent was holding Jc Qc and he watched all the chips slide in my direction after watching me make the easy call. Exactly 31 minutes into the tournament, I was the overall leader with 5,670 chips. Woo Hoo!!
Of course, we still had 291 players alive, so there was bunches of work to be done.
The next 29 minutes were rather uneventful. I used my large stack of chips to bully my way through some smaller pots and, when we reached the 1 hour break, I had exactly 6,375 chips. I had lost my overall lead, but I was still sitting in a good spot. We were down to 195 players and only three of those players had more chips than I. The tournament leader had 8,515 chps.
Amazingly, after 60 minutes of play, I hadn't been the victim of any bad luck. A few minutes into the 2nd hour, I was moved to another table. I wondered aloud if my streak of good luck was about to end. Quite naturally, it did.
On my 2nd hand at the new table, I was dealt pocket 10's. I made a nice raise and was called by one player (Beyrouti). The flop came 3-5-6 and I went "all in". Beyrouti had a smaller stack and called my bet. Then, he flipped over pocket kings and I was suddenly down to 4,190 chips. Ugh! That's bad luck!
The average stack was 2,500 chips. I was still well above average, so it wasn't time to panic.
Apparently, the chip leader at the 1-hour mark did panic. Ninety minutes into the tournament, he was eliminated in 98th place. I guess that the 8,515 chips he accumulated during the first 60 minutes weren't enough, ehh? At the same time, I tightened my game considerably and started to tread water. I won a few small pots, and when we got down to 90 players, I had 5,415 chips.
At that point, I felt relatively comfortable. The average stack had 4,700 chips, however, so the field was catching up to me. Still, I was only 40 spots from the money - so I felt pretty good.
When we reached the 2-hour break, my confidence had waned a bit. Instead of winning a few small hands, I had lost a few small hands during the previous 30 minutes. Coupled with the rising price of the blinds, I was in trouble. We were down to 59 players, but my stack had been whittled all the way down to 2,665 chips. Unfortunately, it appeared that I was going to be limping to the finish line. There were 15 people with less chips than I, but none of them were at my own table. That was unfortunate, 'cuz I was the easy target where I sat.
Still, when the 3rd hour began, I was the dealer, so I wasn't going to feel the pain of the blinds for another 10 hands. Playing conservatively, I thought I might squeak into the money if I simply survived for 15 minutes. Admittedly, it's not an exciting strategy, but 50th place did pay $67.65 and I didn't want to throw away the oppportunity to win that money by playing stupidly. If I actually got to 50th place, then I'd go for it!
After the blinds went through me, I was down to 2,065 chips. More importantly, we were down to 54 players. I knew that if I simply folded every hand the rest of the way, I'd probably finish in the money. Is there anything more boring than that strategy?
Thankfully, I didn't need to employ this strategy very long. For whatever reason, the tables suddenly loosened up and three people were eliminated in the blink of an eye. Just like that, I was in the money. Woo Hoo!
It was time to start playing some cards!
When the big blind got back to me, I was dealt a pair of Queens. Another magical Queen appeared on the board and I proceeded to triple up. Just like that, I was up to 6,195 chips. I was back in the game! The average stack had nearly 10,000 chips, but I was in a position to play some hands. Whew!
I caught an A-Q shortly thereafter and got up to 7,795 chips. For the next 20 minutes, I bided my time. We got down to 30 players and I found myself holding AQ (suited). I went "all in", but I was called by another player (Spectrum109) - who was holding pocket Aces. Ugh! He had me covered and I was finally eliminated from the tournament.
For finishing in 30th place (out of 410 players), I was awarded $86.10. That netted me a profit of $53.10. It's not a mountain of cash but - at the least - I made a decent run for the big bucks. It was a long multi-table tournament and I found myself taking a nap shortly after it ended.
Daily Sketch: Up $53.10
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $114.85
When I logged into the software, it was 10:07am and I saw that a tournament was already seating players. Barely making the registration deadline, I joined a tournament that had 410 registrants. The first place prize was a whopping $3,075 - with the top 50 players winning something.
Beginning well enough, my starting stack of 1,000 chips was up to 2,875 chips just 26 minutes into the tourney. Dealt AA, I knocked out a pair of opponents holding KK and A7. They both went "all in" before the flop and I scooped the monster pot.
Shortly thereafter, I checked the tournament's home page and saw that the overall chip leader had accumulated 4,700 chips. Another player at my table (Friendch) had nearly 2,800 chips. Theresa walked into the room and I joked that I could take the tournament lead if I simply took all of Friendrch's chips.
Exactly four minutes later, my dream came true. Dealt Qd Qh, I raised the bet to 100 chips. Friendrch called my modest raise and we witnessed a flop of 2d Qs 7h. First to act, I checked and Friendrch went "all in". My opponent was holding Jc Qc and he watched all the chips slide in my direction after watching me make the easy call. Exactly 31 minutes into the tournament, I was the overall leader with 5,670 chips. Woo Hoo!!
Of course, we still had 291 players alive, so there was bunches of work to be done.
The next 29 minutes were rather uneventful. I used my large stack of chips to bully my way through some smaller pots and, when we reached the 1 hour break, I had exactly 6,375 chips. I had lost my overall lead, but I was still sitting in a good spot. We were down to 195 players and only three of those players had more chips than I. The tournament leader had 8,515 chps.
Amazingly, after 60 minutes of play, I hadn't been the victim of any bad luck. A few minutes into the 2nd hour, I was moved to another table. I wondered aloud if my streak of good luck was about to end. Quite naturally, it did.
On my 2nd hand at the new table, I was dealt pocket 10's. I made a nice raise and was called by one player (Beyrouti). The flop came 3-5-6 and I went "all in". Beyrouti had a smaller stack and called my bet. Then, he flipped over pocket kings and I was suddenly down to 4,190 chips. Ugh! That's bad luck!
The average stack was 2,500 chips. I was still well above average, so it wasn't time to panic.
Apparently, the chip leader at the 1-hour mark did panic. Ninety minutes into the tournament, he was eliminated in 98th place. I guess that the 8,515 chips he accumulated during the first 60 minutes weren't enough, ehh? At the same time, I tightened my game considerably and started to tread water. I won a few small pots, and when we got down to 90 players, I had 5,415 chips.
At that point, I felt relatively comfortable. The average stack had 4,700 chips, however, so the field was catching up to me. Still, I was only 40 spots from the money - so I felt pretty good.
When we reached the 2-hour break, my confidence had waned a bit. Instead of winning a few small hands, I had lost a few small hands during the previous 30 minutes. Coupled with the rising price of the blinds, I was in trouble. We were down to 59 players, but my stack had been whittled all the way down to 2,665 chips. Unfortunately, it appeared that I was going to be limping to the finish line. There were 15 people with less chips than I, but none of them were at my own table. That was unfortunate, 'cuz I was the easy target where I sat.
Still, when the 3rd hour began, I was the dealer, so I wasn't going to feel the pain of the blinds for another 10 hands. Playing conservatively, I thought I might squeak into the money if I simply survived for 15 minutes. Admittedly, it's not an exciting strategy, but 50th place did pay $67.65 and I didn't want to throw away the oppportunity to win that money by playing stupidly. If I actually got to 50th place, then I'd go for it!
After the blinds went through me, I was down to 2,065 chips. More importantly, we were down to 54 players. I knew that if I simply folded every hand the rest of the way, I'd probably finish in the money. Is there anything more boring than that strategy?
Thankfully, I didn't need to employ this strategy very long. For whatever reason, the tables suddenly loosened up and three people were eliminated in the blink of an eye. Just like that, I was in the money. Woo Hoo!
It was time to start playing some cards!
When the big blind got back to me, I was dealt a pair of Queens. Another magical Queen appeared on the board and I proceeded to triple up. Just like that, I was up to 6,195 chips. I was back in the game! The average stack had nearly 10,000 chips, but I was in a position to play some hands. Whew!
I caught an A-Q shortly thereafter and got up to 7,795 chips. For the next 20 minutes, I bided my time. We got down to 30 players and I found myself holding AQ (suited). I went "all in", but I was called by another player (Spectrum109) - who was holding pocket Aces. Ugh! He had me covered and I was finally eliminated from the tournament.
For finishing in 30th place (out of 410 players), I was awarded $86.10. That netted me a profit of $53.10. It's not a mountain of cash but - at the least - I made a decent run for the big bucks. It was a long multi-table tournament and I found myself taking a nap shortly after it ended.
Daily Sketch: Up $53.10
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $114.85
February 10, 2006: Poker at Tom's
I played in my recurring monthly game at Tom's house this evening. Joining Rob, Craig, Jared, and Al, we all gathered at 5:30pm for a long evening of cards, drinks, and lively conversation.
The gambling didn't have a promising start. In the opening $5 Hold 'em Tournament, I finished in a dismal 5th place. I was knocked out while holding pocket 10's. Al put the nail in my coffin while holding K-7. The flop came K-8-8 and I was finished.
After watching Jared win the tournament (Al went on to finish 2nd), we spent the rest of the night playing dealer's choice games. Most poker games saw maximum bets of $.50, although our various versions of "Guts" saw pots that sometimes required people to throw $5 into the middle.
I consistently found myelf with good cards and proceeded to win exactly $41.75 in those dealer choice games. Playing until 12:45am, I was pretty tired at the end of the night, but I had more money than when I began, so I was pretty happy. Netting off the $5 I had lost in the Hold 'em Tournament, I more than offset the costs of the food and drink for the evening.
Daily Sketch: Up $36.75
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $61.75
The gambling didn't have a promising start. In the opening $5 Hold 'em Tournament, I finished in a dismal 5th place. I was knocked out while holding pocket 10's. Al put the nail in my coffin while holding K-7. The flop came K-8-8 and I was finished.
After watching Jared win the tournament (Al went on to finish 2nd), we spent the rest of the night playing dealer's choice games. Most poker games saw maximum bets of $.50, although our various versions of "Guts" saw pots that sometimes required people to throw $5 into the middle.
I consistently found myelf with good cards and proceeded to win exactly $41.75 in those dealer choice games. Playing until 12:45am, I was pretty tired at the end of the night, but I had more money than when I began, so I was pretty happy. Netting off the $5 I had lost in the Hold 'em Tournament, I more than offset the costs of the food and drink for the evening.
Daily Sketch: Up $36.75
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $61.75
February 9, 2006: I Must be Nuts
Arriving home after work, I immediately jumped into a 10-man $30(3) Tournament. Unfortunately, I found NO LUCK and finished in a dismal 9th place. I got hammered early when my suited AQ lost to another player holding pocket kings. Needless to say, a queen-high flop spelled trouble for me.
Stepping up the ante, I next played a $50(5) Tournament. I got to the final 5 players and found myself holding A-5 in the big blind. A bigger stack raised me "all in" and I thought about it for a moment. This same player had been playing very loose and was raising with garbage quite frequently. Taking a chance, I called the bet and watched as my opponent flipped over 2-5. Wow!!
Continuing my run of poor luck, however, a two appeared on the flop and I lost the hand. I finished in 5th place and two spots out of the money. Ugh!
At this point, I experienced a moment of delirium and took $100 to the Blackjack table to test my luck. What was I thinking?
Regardless of my thoughts, I actually found success. I caught a nice run of cards and proceeded to exactly double my money in 20 minutes while betting $5-$10/hand. Amazed that I had actually won money on the blackjack table, I quickly logged out of the system when I saw my blackjack account hit $200.
So, after all was said and done, I won $12 tonight. Considering the fact that I lost $88 playing tournaments, I feel very fortunate to escape tonight's session with a modest profit. I must be nuts for playing blackjack tonight, but it worked!
Daily Sketch: Up $12
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $25
Stepping up the ante, I next played a $50(5) Tournament. I got to the final 5 players and found myself holding A-5 in the big blind. A bigger stack raised me "all in" and I thought about it for a moment. This same player had been playing very loose and was raising with garbage quite frequently. Taking a chance, I called the bet and watched as my opponent flipped over 2-5. Wow!!
Continuing my run of poor luck, however, a two appeared on the flop and I lost the hand. I finished in 5th place and two spots out of the money. Ugh!
At this point, I experienced a moment of delirium and took $100 to the Blackjack table to test my luck. What was I thinking?
Regardless of my thoughts, I actually found success. I caught a nice run of cards and proceeded to exactly double my money in 20 minutes while betting $5-$10/hand. Amazed that I had actually won money on the blackjack table, I quickly logged out of the system when I saw my blackjack account hit $200.
So, after all was said and done, I won $12 tonight. Considering the fact that I lost $88 playing tournaments, I feel very fortunate to escape tonight's session with a modest profit. I must be nuts for playing blackjack tonight, but it worked!
Daily Sketch: Up $12
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $25
February 8, 2006: A Bad Tourney Night
This evening, Milwaukee's ESPN 1510 radio hosted a multi-table tournament on Absolute Poker. A total of 370 people signed up to play. The winner got $125 and the top 10% (37 players) advanced to the final touranment scheduled for early next month. The winner of that tournament wins $1,000. I will be playing in the 4 qualifying tournaments, which are scheduled to be played the next few Wednesday nights, in pursuit of the $1,000.
I couldn't catch any cards in tonight's tournament. After 40 minutes, I hadn't won a single pot and became relatively excited when I saw something respectable (A◊ K◊) appear in my hand. Unfortunately, the guy directly to my right went "all in" and I decided to take my chances preflop. He flipped over 44, so I thought I had a chance. However, the board produced a lot of garbage and my opponent's small pocket pair held up. I finished in a dismal 177th place. Big Slick is a bad hand when you don't catch any help.
Next, I headed to Party Poker to drown my sorrows in single-table $30(3) tournaments. In my first try, I finished in 5th place. Sitting in the big blind with an average pile of chips, I went "all in" after seeing the small blind make a modest raise. He called my "all in" bet and flipped over A-10. Unfortunately, I had A-9 and (naturally) I couldn't improve. Oops!
My next tournament was ugly. Relatively early in the tournament, I found myself holding 5-6 (unsuited) while sitting in the big blind. No one raised the pot, so I witnessed a flop of 3-4-J (two spades). An opponent made a modest bet and I called. The flop was the magical 2 (no spade) and I raised my opponent "all in" after he made an identically modest bet. He thought for a while and eventually called my bet, holding two spades in his hand. Wouldn't you know it? A spade fell on the river and my opponent scooped the pot with his flush - effectively beating my straight.
I finished in 8th place. I hate it when people risk their tournament lives on draws. Ugh!
I wasn't happy with that last loss and retired for the night - down $66. It was a bad tournament night.
Daily Sketch: Down $66
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $13
I couldn't catch any cards in tonight's tournament. After 40 minutes, I hadn't won a single pot and became relatively excited when I saw something respectable (A◊ K◊) appear in my hand. Unfortunately, the guy directly to my right went "all in" and I decided to take my chances preflop. He flipped over 44, so I thought I had a chance. However, the board produced a lot of garbage and my opponent's small pocket pair held up. I finished in a dismal 177th place. Big Slick is a bad hand when you don't catch any help.
Next, I headed to Party Poker to drown my sorrows in single-table $30(3) tournaments. In my first try, I finished in 5th place. Sitting in the big blind with an average pile of chips, I went "all in" after seeing the small blind make a modest raise. He called my "all in" bet and flipped over A-10. Unfortunately, I had A-9 and (naturally) I couldn't improve. Oops!
My next tournament was ugly. Relatively early in the tournament, I found myself holding 5-6 (unsuited) while sitting in the big blind. No one raised the pot, so I witnessed a flop of 3-4-J (two spades). An opponent made a modest bet and I called. The flop was the magical 2 (no spade) and I raised my opponent "all in" after he made an identically modest bet. He thought for a while and eventually called my bet, holding two spades in his hand. Wouldn't you know it? A spade fell on the river and my opponent scooped the pot with his flush - effectively beating my straight.
I finished in 8th place. I hate it when people risk their tournament lives on draws. Ugh!
I wasn't happy with that last loss and retired for the night - down $66. It was a bad tournament night.
Daily Sketch: Down $66
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $13
February 6, 2006: Super Bowl XL & Poker at Joe's
The $10 that I threw at David's Super Bowl pool went down the toilet quickly. In fact, out of the 54 people that joined the pool, I finished in 43rd place. Ugh!
On the afternoon of the Super Bowl, nine guys gathered in David's home and played 4 $10 hold 'em tournaments in the hours immediately preceding the start of the football game. I did horribly in the first three tournaments, but I was able to win the final tournament. I was awarded $40 for the win, which exactly offset the amount that I paid to play in the four tournaments. So, I broke even. Yawn!
I made my customary $10 contribution for squares, and didn't win any of them. So, Sunday's Sketchbook shows a $10 loss - since the initial $10 that I had put into David's pool has already been recorded.
Tonight (Monday), I visited Joe's house for a night of cards. I started out very well and was quickly up nearly $20. However, the cards cooled off considerably, and I eventually lost $12 for the night. Ooops!
Daily Sketch: Down $22
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $79
On the afternoon of the Super Bowl, nine guys gathered in David's home and played 4 $10 hold 'em tournaments in the hours immediately preceding the start of the football game. I did horribly in the first three tournaments, but I was able to win the final tournament. I was awarded $40 for the win, which exactly offset the amount that I paid to play in the four tournaments. So, I broke even. Yawn!
I made my customary $10 contribution for squares, and didn't win any of them. So, Sunday's Sketchbook shows a $10 loss - since the initial $10 that I had put into David's pool has already been recorded.
Tonight (Monday), I visited Joe's house for a night of cards. I started out very well and was quickly up nearly $20. However, the cards cooled off considerably, and I eventually lost $12 for the night. Ooops!
Daily Sketch: Down $22
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $79
February 5, 2006: Minnows & Poker
After typing yesterday's Sketchbook entry, I visited Jon's house to help celebrate his 30th birthday. Jon had set up some water canals in his basement, and I lost $5 betting on minnows racing down the canals. Unfortunately, my minnow didn't do very well, and Jason was the recipient of my $5.
Jon took some serious time constructing the canals made of disected PVC piping. The fact that we all found it completely normal to bet on the results of these races probably illustrates the fact that we'll bet on almost anything. I believe this is the first time I've ever hollered at a fish to get his tail in gear.
Early this morning, I joined a $30(3) tournament on Party Poker and finished in a disappointing 5th place. I was 3rd in chips when my pocket 5's ran into an opponent holding pocket 9's. The flop had seemed harmless enough (3-3-6), but I lost all my chips on that hand when my 5's never improved. Ooops!!
This afternoon, I'm visiting David's house for a Super Bowl Party. This morning, I submitted my picks for his annual Super Bowl Pool, so that's a $10 hit to the Sketchbook. The afternoon will start with a Hold 'em Tournament, and I'm confident that there will be other wagers placed on the game, so the Sketchbook will see plenty of activity. For now, however, the Sketchbook shows a "hit" of $48 today. Hopefully, I can make that deficit this afternoon!
I'll report on my SuperBowl results in tomorrow's Sketchbook entry.
Daily Sketch: Down $48
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $101
Jon took some serious time constructing the canals made of disected PVC piping. The fact that we all found it completely normal to bet on the results of these races probably illustrates the fact that we'll bet on almost anything. I believe this is the first time I've ever hollered at a fish to get his tail in gear.
Early this morning, I joined a $30(3) tournament on Party Poker and finished in a disappointing 5th place. I was 3rd in chips when my pocket 5's ran into an opponent holding pocket 9's. The flop had seemed harmless enough (3-3-6), but I lost all my chips on that hand when my 5's never improved. Ooops!!
This afternoon, I'm visiting David's house for a Super Bowl Party. This morning, I submitted my picks for his annual Super Bowl Pool, so that's a $10 hit to the Sketchbook. The afternoon will start with a Hold 'em Tournament, and I'm confident that there will be other wagers placed on the game, so the Sketchbook will see plenty of activity. For now, however, the Sketchbook shows a "hit" of $48 today. Hopefully, I can make that deficit this afternoon!
I'll report on my SuperBowl results in tomorrow's Sketchbook entry.
Daily Sketch: Down $48
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $101
February 4, 2006: An Afternoon of $20(2) Sit 'n' Go's
With nothing exciting on my Saturday afternoon plate, I knew that I could play a significant number of Sit 'n' Go Tournaments on Party Poker. That's just what I did!
Due to the fact that I'd be playing bunches of poker today, I went down a level and concentrated on $20(2) Tournaments - rather than $30(3) Tournaments. If nothing else, I figured that the lower stakes would keep me from getting hammered if I experienced some bad luck. In addition, I was hoping to find poorer players at the lower level.
My day started inauspiciously. In the first tournament I played, I was dealt AA very early in the tournament. Another player (OOgambler) went "all in" with pocket Queens, but we ended up splitting the pot when the board eventually showed a 6-7-8-9-10 straight. When you're dealt pocket Aces, you really expect to scoop the pot!
Not much later, I flopped two pair while sitting in the big blind. I was ready to scoop a big pot, but my opponent hit a 3-of-a-kind on the river and that essentially ended my tournament. I finished in an ugly 6th place.
In my next tournament, I played the role of Bubble Boy - as I finished in 4th place. Ugh! When we got to 4 players, the low stack went "all in" with A-10, and he managed to survive, despite the fact that the big stack at the table called the bet while holding A-J and held a decided edge. Naturally, a 10 came out on the board and I was destined to finish in 4h place - one spot from the money.
Down $44 for the day, it was time to continue my trek down this tournament road . . .
I won some money in the next tournament, as I took home the 3rd place prize ($40) and netted a small profit of $18. Down to three-handed, I was eliminated while holding AK. The flop came with an ace, but my opponent flopped 4-to-a-flush, which he hit on the river. Ugh!
In my 4th tournament of the day, I again finished in 3rd place. Unfortunately, I just can't seem to catch any breaks when I get near the end. Two different times, I had the low-stack "all in" with the inferior hand, but he was able to escape each time. Eventually, I was eliminated when my suited A9 couldn't improve against my opponent's pocket 8's.
At that point, I was only down $8 for the day, and I felt pretty good about the way I was playing. If I could only win a race or two near the end of these tournaments, I'd be rolling!
That roll started early in the next tournament. Dealt pocket 5's, another 5 appeared on the flop and I scooped a big pile of chips. Just 6 hands into the tourney, I was the overwhelming leader with 2,560 chips. Riding that momentum, I coasted to the final 3 players. Unlike my last two tournaments, I found a bit of luck and ultimately finished in 2nd place - which was good for $60 and a $38 profit. The ultimate winner of this tournament kept hitting straights, and there was very little I could do to take the title from him. Considering the fact that I didn't finish 3rd, I was content with a 2nd place finish!
As my 6th tournament of the afternoon began, I made my worst play of the day. Holding pocket 6's, four of us saw a flop of 3-5-5. One of my opponents immediately went "all in". I put him on AK and quickly called his bet. He flipped over pocket 8's and proceeded to scoop the monster pot. That crippled my own stack and I was sent packing shortly thereafter while holding A-9. Another player had pocket Aces and I was eliminated in 9th place. Ouch!
At that point, I decided to call it a day. Overall, I played 6 tournaments and placed in three of them. Usually, that equates to healthy profits, but I only made $8 this afternoon - primarily 'cuz I didn't win a tournament and I finished 3rd two different times.
Daily Sketch: Up $8
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $149
Due to the fact that I'd be playing bunches of poker today, I went down a level and concentrated on $20(2) Tournaments - rather than $30(3) Tournaments. If nothing else, I figured that the lower stakes would keep me from getting hammered if I experienced some bad luck. In addition, I was hoping to find poorer players at the lower level.
My day started inauspiciously. In the first tournament I played, I was dealt AA very early in the tournament. Another player (OOgambler) went "all in" with pocket Queens, but we ended up splitting the pot when the board eventually showed a 6-7-8-9-10 straight. When you're dealt pocket Aces, you really expect to scoop the pot!
Not much later, I flopped two pair while sitting in the big blind. I was ready to scoop a big pot, but my opponent hit a 3-of-a-kind on the river and that essentially ended my tournament. I finished in an ugly 6th place.
In my next tournament, I played the role of Bubble Boy - as I finished in 4th place. Ugh! When we got to 4 players, the low stack went "all in" with A-10, and he managed to survive, despite the fact that the big stack at the table called the bet while holding A-J and held a decided edge. Naturally, a 10 came out on the board and I was destined to finish in 4h place - one spot from the money.
Down $44 for the day, it was time to continue my trek down this tournament road . . .
I won some money in the next tournament, as I took home the 3rd place prize ($40) and netted a small profit of $18. Down to three-handed, I was eliminated while holding AK. The flop came with an ace, but my opponent flopped 4-to-a-flush, which he hit on the river. Ugh!
In my 4th tournament of the day, I again finished in 3rd place. Unfortunately, I just can't seem to catch any breaks when I get near the end. Two different times, I had the low-stack "all in" with the inferior hand, but he was able to escape each time. Eventually, I was eliminated when my suited A9 couldn't improve against my opponent's pocket 8's.
At that point, I was only down $8 for the day, and I felt pretty good about the way I was playing. If I could only win a race or two near the end of these tournaments, I'd be rolling!
That roll started early in the next tournament. Dealt pocket 5's, another 5 appeared on the flop and I scooped a big pile of chips. Just 6 hands into the tourney, I was the overwhelming leader with 2,560 chips. Riding that momentum, I coasted to the final 3 players. Unlike my last two tournaments, I found a bit of luck and ultimately finished in 2nd place - which was good for $60 and a $38 profit. The ultimate winner of this tournament kept hitting straights, and there was very little I could do to take the title from him. Considering the fact that I didn't finish 3rd, I was content with a 2nd place finish!
As my 6th tournament of the afternoon began, I made my worst play of the day. Holding pocket 6's, four of us saw a flop of 3-5-5. One of my opponents immediately went "all in". I put him on AK and quickly called his bet. He flipped over pocket 8's and proceeded to scoop the monster pot. That crippled my own stack and I was sent packing shortly thereafter while holding A-9. Another player had pocket Aces and I was eliminated in 9th place. Ouch!
At that point, I decided to call it a day. Overall, I played 6 tournaments and placed in three of them. Usually, that equates to healthy profits, but I only made $8 this afternoon - primarily 'cuz I didn't win a tournament and I finished 3rd two different times.
Daily Sketch: Up $8
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $149
February 3, 2006: One Sit 'n' Go
I played one $30(3) Sit 'n' Go Tournament this evening. After eating a hearty dinner of Chinese delivery, I became a bit sleepy and didn't feel inspired to spend a lot of time online. Thankfully, I found myself seated with some crazy players, and I had no problem finishing in-the-money in the only tourney I played.
My good fortune started relatively early when an 8 appeared on a flop that found myself already holding pocket 8's. After eliminating a player, we were down to 7 players and I was 2nd with 1,545 chips. We had only played 7 hands at that point, and 3 of us were already gone. This table was loose!
Shortly thereafter, I found myself holding A♥ K◊ and witnessed a flop of A♠ 7♥ J♠. My only opponent went "all in" and I was forced to call. He flipped over T♠ 5♠ and I scooped a big pot when another spade didn't appear. Why someone would risk their entire tournament life on a flush draw is beyond me. Still, this type of play typified this crazy table.
I knocked out the 5th place guy when I saw another 9 appear on the flop as I was holding pocket 9's. As we got down to 4 players, I was the overwhelming leader with nearly 4,500 chips. None of the other players had more than 2,000 chips - and I was sitting VERY pretty.
When we got down to 3 players, I was still way ahead. The two low stacks battled and when we got down to 2 players, I had 5,055 chips. My opponent had 2,945 chips. Unfortunately, at that point of the tournament, I entered Bad Beat City.
Shortly after starting heads-up action, I was dealt J♣ J♥ and was elated when my opponent (UplandsChamp) went "all in" while holding 9♥ T♠. The board came A♥-3♣-K♣-J◊ and . . . Q♣. That river queen gave my opponent the improbable straight and prevented me from winning the tournament outright.
Instead, I was down to 1,1910 chips and my prospects of winning were diminished. However, I continued to battle and eventually retook the lead with 4,520 chips about 15 hands later. Uplands Champ became a very tight player, and he folded A LOT of hands to me. That allowed me to slowly (yet surely) win back the chips I had lost after seeing that ugly Q♣ appear on the river.
The very first hand after I retook the lead, UplandsChamp went "all in" and flipped over A♠ 6♣ after I called his bet. I was holding A♠ 8♣ and - again - I had him on the ropes! The board came 3♥-9♥-7♥-2♣ and . . . 6♠. The river 6♠ allowed him to steal another pot from me and, again, kept me from winning the tournament outright. Ugh!!
After that hand, I was really crippled. I only had 1,040 chips and went "all in" on the very next hand. I had J♠ 7♥, but I was delighted to see that I had the lead when UplandsChamp called my bet and flipped over 4♥ T♠. The board came Q♣-T♣-Q♠-5♣-3♥ and I was forced to settle for 2nd place and the $90 prize that came with it.
I was pretty disappointed to miss the $150 1st place prize. Two different times, I was one card away from claiming the top prize, but I became a victim of Bad Beat City. Even on the last hand, I had the lead with all my chips in the middle, but I couldn't win. Ugh!!
I suppose I shouldn't be too upset. I've only played three tournaments so far this month, and I've finished in-the-money two times. That's a pretty good percentage, and the Sketchbook starts the month on a positive basis. Hopefully, I can keep it up! I just need to stop wandering into Bad Beat City!
Daily Sketch: Up $57
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $141
My good fortune started relatively early when an 8 appeared on a flop that found myself already holding pocket 8's. After eliminating a player, we were down to 7 players and I was 2nd with 1,545 chips. We had only played 7 hands at that point, and 3 of us were already gone. This table was loose!
Shortly thereafter, I found myself holding A♥ K◊ and witnessed a flop of A♠ 7♥ J♠. My only opponent went "all in" and I was forced to call. He flipped over T♠ 5♠ and I scooped a big pot when another spade didn't appear. Why someone would risk their entire tournament life on a flush draw is beyond me. Still, this type of play typified this crazy table.
I knocked out the 5th place guy when I saw another 9 appear on the flop as I was holding pocket 9's. As we got down to 4 players, I was the overwhelming leader with nearly 4,500 chips. None of the other players had more than 2,000 chips - and I was sitting VERY pretty.
When we got down to 3 players, I was still way ahead. The two low stacks battled and when we got down to 2 players, I had 5,055 chips. My opponent had 2,945 chips. Unfortunately, at that point of the tournament, I entered Bad Beat City.
Shortly after starting heads-up action, I was dealt J♣ J♥ and was elated when my opponent (UplandsChamp) went "all in" while holding 9♥ T♠. The board came A♥-3♣-K♣-J◊ and . . . Q♣. That river queen gave my opponent the improbable straight and prevented me from winning the tournament outright.
Instead, I was down to 1,1910 chips and my prospects of winning were diminished. However, I continued to battle and eventually retook the lead with 4,520 chips about 15 hands later. Uplands Champ became a very tight player, and he folded A LOT of hands to me. That allowed me to slowly (yet surely) win back the chips I had lost after seeing that ugly Q♣ appear on the river.
The very first hand after I retook the lead, UplandsChamp went "all in" and flipped over A♠ 6♣ after I called his bet. I was holding A♠ 8♣ and - again - I had him on the ropes! The board came 3♥-9♥-7♥-2♣ and . . . 6♠. The river 6♠ allowed him to steal another pot from me and, again, kept me from winning the tournament outright. Ugh!!
After that hand, I was really crippled. I only had 1,040 chips and went "all in" on the very next hand. I had J♠ 7♥, but I was delighted to see that I had the lead when UplandsChamp called my bet and flipped over 4♥ T♠. The board came Q♣-T♣-Q♠-5♣-3♥ and I was forced to settle for 2nd place and the $90 prize that came with it.
I was pretty disappointed to miss the $150 1st place prize. Two different times, I was one card away from claiming the top prize, but I became a victim of Bad Beat City. Even on the last hand, I had the lead with all my chips in the middle, but I couldn't win. Ugh!!
I suppose I shouldn't be too upset. I've only played three tournaments so far this month, and I've finished in-the-money two times. That's a pretty good percentage, and the Sketchbook starts the month on a positive basis. Hopefully, I can keep it up! I just need to stop wandering into Bad Beat City!
Daily Sketch: Up $57
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $141
February 2, 2006: It's Tourney Time!
As another month of on-line gambling begins, I sense that I need some sort of change. In particular, the past few months of poker action have been rather uninspiring. I thought I had found some excitement in Omaha Hi/Lo, but that turned out to be a short-term rush. I've definitely learned that Party Poker's Blackjack program isn't very exciting, so I'll be staying away from that venue.
After thinking about it awhile, I've decided to exclusively dedicate the month of February to tournaments - an area of poker I've stayed away from lately. Primarily, I'm going to focus on Sit 'n' Go's, but I'll probably play a fair share of larger multi-table tournaments. If nothing else, I should be able to avoid big losses in any particular night, since I'll always know exactly how much I'm putting at risk every time I sign up for a tournament.
With a new lease on life, I began the new month with some $30(3) Single-Table Tournament action on Party Poker this evening. For those of you unaware, ten people play in these tournaments. First place wins 50% of the prize pool. Second place gets 30%, and third place wins 20%. So, when you join a $30(3) tournament, the winner gets $150.
Here's how my night went:
Joining Table #67840, I didn't catch anything early. By the time we got to Level 4, I was down to 675 chips (after starting with 800) and only two people had been eliminated. Then, sitting in the small blind (50 chips), I'm dealt 9♥ 9◊ and call another player who goes "all in" ahead of me. He flips over Q♥ K♥ and I'm fortunate to see my 9's hold up. Just like that, I'm up to 1,390 chips and we're down to 7 players.
A few hands later, I'm dealt A♣ A◊ and I'm fortunate to see a player holding A♥ J♣ go "all in " ahead of me. Again, I take him out and find myself as the chip leader when we get down to 5 players. So far, so good . . .
Eventually, we get down to 3 players and I'm still the chip leader. The low stack goes "all in" while holding K♠ 8◊. Sitting in the big blind, I'm forced to make the small call with 2♣ 5◊. I get lucky, however, when another five appears on the board and we're down to the final two players. At this point, I'm guaranteed to win $90.
Although we played for a good 10 minutes, I believe that I always had more chips than my only remaining opponent (thedonkfish). I eventaully took all his chips when he went "all in" holding K◊ 5♣. Considering the fact that I was holding A♣ 9◊, it was an easy call. To put it mildly, I was very happy when I flopped two pair!
So, exactly 43 minutes after the tournament began, I watched as my favorite message appeared on the screen:
Congratulations, Stv_1313! You won $150.
Stv_1313 has left the table.
Table Closed
Up exactly $117 for the night, I decided to test the waters again. Joining $30(3) Tournament Table #67415, I win a couple pots early and quickly climb to 1,200 chips. Then, things dry up. We get down to six players, I'm back down to 800 chips, and I'm dealt J♣ Q♣ under-the-gun. I double the price to play (raise to 200 chips) and everyone folds to the big blind, who calls my relatively modest raise.
The flop comes 9♥ J♥ 3♥. My opponent (TaylorThor) bets 100 chips - and I raise him to 350 chips. He calls the bet and we watch as a 2♣ appears on the turn. That seems harmless enough. So, when my opponent checks, I immediately go "all in" with the last of my chips. TaylorThor calls my bet and flips over 2♥ 8♥. Ugh! He's got the flush and I'm eliminated in 6th place - three spots from the money. I guess I should've made a bigger preflop raise, but what can you do? As it turned out, another Jack appeared on the river, so I finished the hand with 3-of-a-kind. Ugh!
I was tempted to play one more tournament, but decided against it. I think I'll take my $84 nightly profit and live to fight another day.
The month of Tournaments has begun!
Daily Sketch: Up $84
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $84
After thinking about it awhile, I've decided to exclusively dedicate the month of February to tournaments - an area of poker I've stayed away from lately. Primarily, I'm going to focus on Sit 'n' Go's, but I'll probably play a fair share of larger multi-table tournaments. If nothing else, I should be able to avoid big losses in any particular night, since I'll always know exactly how much I'm putting at risk every time I sign up for a tournament.
With a new lease on life, I began the new month with some $30(3) Single-Table Tournament action on Party Poker this evening. For those of you unaware, ten people play in these tournaments. First place wins 50% of the prize pool. Second place gets 30%, and third place wins 20%. So, when you join a $30(3) tournament, the winner gets $150.
Here's how my night went:
Joining Table #67840, I didn't catch anything early. By the time we got to Level 4, I was down to 675 chips (after starting with 800) and only two people had been eliminated. Then, sitting in the small blind (50 chips), I'm dealt 9♥ 9◊ and call another player who goes "all in" ahead of me. He flips over Q♥ K♥ and I'm fortunate to see my 9's hold up. Just like that, I'm up to 1,390 chips and we're down to 7 players.
A few hands later, I'm dealt A♣ A◊ and I'm fortunate to see a player holding A♥ J♣ go "all in " ahead of me. Again, I take him out and find myself as the chip leader when we get down to 5 players. So far, so good . . .
Eventually, we get down to 3 players and I'm still the chip leader. The low stack goes "all in" while holding K♠ 8◊. Sitting in the big blind, I'm forced to make the small call with 2♣ 5◊. I get lucky, however, when another five appears on the board and we're down to the final two players. At this point, I'm guaranteed to win $90.
Although we played for a good 10 minutes, I believe that I always had more chips than my only remaining opponent (thedonkfish). I eventaully took all his chips when he went "all in" holding K◊ 5♣. Considering the fact that I was holding A♣ 9◊, it was an easy call. To put it mildly, I was very happy when I flopped two pair!
So, exactly 43 minutes after the tournament began, I watched as my favorite message appeared on the screen:
Congratulations, Stv_1313! You won $150.
Stv_1313 has left the table.
Table Closed
Up exactly $117 for the night, I decided to test the waters again. Joining $30(3) Tournament Table #67415, I win a couple pots early and quickly climb to 1,200 chips. Then, things dry up. We get down to six players, I'm back down to 800 chips, and I'm dealt J♣ Q♣ under-the-gun. I double the price to play (raise to 200 chips) and everyone folds to the big blind, who calls my relatively modest raise.
The flop comes 9♥ J♥ 3♥. My opponent (TaylorThor) bets 100 chips - and I raise him to 350 chips. He calls the bet and we watch as a 2♣ appears on the turn. That seems harmless enough. So, when my opponent checks, I immediately go "all in" with the last of my chips. TaylorThor calls my bet and flips over 2♥ 8♥. Ugh! He's got the flush and I'm eliminated in 6th place - three spots from the money. I guess I should've made a bigger preflop raise, but what can you do? As it turned out, another Jack appeared on the river, so I finished the hand with 3-of-a-kind. Ugh!
I was tempted to play one more tournament, but decided against it. I think I'll take my $84 nightly profit and live to fight another day.
The month of Tournaments has begun!
Daily Sketch: Up $84
Month-to-Date Sketch: Up $84
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