Glenn : So Wayne, I hear you're putting on some kind of concert. That's good. People need to be entertained, they need the distraction. I wish to God that someone would be able to block out the voices in my head for five minutes, the voices that scream, over and over again: "Why do they come to me to die? Why do they come to me to die?""Wayne's World 2"
As a humble blogger...hang on, I proclaim to be the "World's Greatest Poker Blogger Ever", so I can't really say I'm humble. As an over-exhuberent poker blogger, it is my duty to send a shout out and a link up to "MtDewVirus" for taking out the latest bloggers tournament. One day ,people, one day I will make it to one of these tournaments and find out what every one is talking about.
So here we are, two posts since the dreaded whinging post, and what have I done? Again, as I did last time I had problems at the tables I listen to my fellow bloggers and took their advice. Damn, you guys are awesome. I have to say though, I am probably not going to buy any more books as this would seriously dent my bank roll (I know, I know - it will pay off in the end, speculate to accumulate and all that), and I am seriously pissed off at limit play. Here is how the weekend went.
Signed up for a low limit SNG, I think it was $2.50 or something. No probs, the table is almost full so I will jump in for some immediate action. How many people have made this mistake? On about the 7th hand, I get the rockets and go to make a bit of a raise. What's that? I raise $20? No, I want to raise $400! I can't raise $400, and by now you have all guessed the answer as to why not, it is a limit tourny! Yah, my demon hath spiked me again. To be honest, I can't remember much about the tourny at all but I managed to win it some how for a profit of about $6 again. Ok, woo hoo, maybe the limit monkey is of my back? Are my fortunes turning around? If the Poker Gods were listening to me talking to myself, I no doubt that the formed a huddle and said "Wouldn't it be funny to really fuck with him now?". And so they did. On the 8th Day the Poker Gods toyed with Heafy, and they said it was good. From now on in this post, the Gods will speak in this colour and in italics.
I then proceeded to drop about $30 in SNG and ring games, proving that when it comes to limit games I still have no clue and I really won the SNG from good cards and very tight play. Mt entire bankroll is under $75, the lowest it has been in a long time and about 40% what it was just a few weeks ago. Saturday was not good to me, so the distraction and I got drunk, ordered pizza and watched movies - "2 Weeks Notice" would you believe (I must have been drunk.).
Early Sunday, I am awake before my distracting half and I know she has a day full of study in front of her (it's an accounting qualification thing, post degree) so there is a cnahce I will be down stairs by myself for the mourning at least. Poker? I thought so.
I tried one more SNG and it was no good, out in 9th when my top two pair gets out kicked. But one blogger, much wiser than I said "Stick to the MTT at Pacific, you seem to go well in them" (I can't recall the exact words, but it was something like that wasn't it JW? There was a $10 pot limit tournament starting in under 10 minutes, why the hell not? It's not like anything else is working for me, may as well go down in flames I say. Oh no, the distraction is awake and has decided to study down stairs today. This can't be a good sign. The Poker Gods are now laughing their collective ass' off. 258 of my closest friends and I start our little game at about 9.00am Sydney time.
Early on I am dealt to rockets, I make a big pre-flop riase and I win the blinds. Damn it, too strong, I needed that win. The next hour or so was very dry. The hands are a blur, just the same old cold cards I have been seeing for all of October. I start to think how my next post will go when I tell everyone that it is all over. Then I get one hand, holding AKh, the flop brings 2 hearts. There is a fairly large bet in front of me, and I call - which was a pretty silly move as it should have been raise or fold on that draw at this stage of the tournament. The turn is another heart, giving me the nut flush - but there is a pair on the board. He goes all in, and I am forced to call and put my entire stack on the line. The river is a rag. He shows me his Queen high flush, and I am finally above average. In short order, I take out another shorter stack and have a look at the leader board - 5th out of 230 or so. Hey, perhaps the God's have forgiven me. Hey Ken, come over here, want to bet I can make this shmuck cry?
I win a few pots, fold a heap more. I am getting sick and tired of folding crap like J9 and seeing a flop come of T89. Fold 23o and see A22. I know you will always see yourself folding wat would have been the winning hand some times, but this was like every 3rd hand at an 8 handed table. Far too often it seemed but I just keep folding. And folding. And folding. I think in 90 minutes my biggest pot win was 3BB and I saw maybe ten flops. I go from 5th out of 230 to 41st out of 56 by the next break. One player in particular has rivered me 3 times, and others at the table another 3 times. Damn chaser, I hate how they are chasing so many draws and hitting each and ever bloody one. This is just too funny. When is the bubble? I have an idea.
I had not noticed, but the ditraction had decided to take a nap and now had awoken. She asked how it was going and I told her my early dominance was now a distant memory. Well, I used far less words than that, in fact I think I used just one: "Shit". She delcined to ask any more questions. As it was still before 11am it was too early for beer during this tournament break so I grabbed a glass of milk. My stack was $1500, largest was $25,000 and the average was around the $4000 mark. This was it, I am ready to leave the poker world. Oi! What are you guys doing? Give the poor sucker a break or I'll asign you both to the nickel and dime tables and Aloha for the rest of the year!
How it happened, I can not recall totally. My trips were standing up, I hit a few straights, when it was 5 people in a pot I was able to split it with just one other. Sure, there were a few bluffs and stuff, but it was very nerve racking though as I never once had the nuts for the entire tournament. But when my ATd got over an all-in from a small pocket pair, I found myself above the average again for the first time in a long time. The bubble was approaching, and now I am coming 12th out of 32. If I make it to 30th, at keast I get my money back plus $1. I have fought and crawled my way to table chip leader, and when two small stacks go all in ahead of me holding The Helmuths, I raise to isolate. The board showed nothing over a J and I knock out both of the final two to head into the money and am currently in the top ten! I have a look at the payouts, and 10th gets $30, while 7th is just over $100. that is my target, at keast 7th for a big $100 win that will put me back where I was before October began. Mind you, first was over $700 which would be nice... He's looking at the prize money now...let's wet his thirst a little.
Don't you love how after the bubble all the guys that were waiting 20 seconds before folding are now looser than drunk chicks on prom night? I felt liek Jack Bauer in season 2 of "24" - taking out people all over the place. i wish I kept tabs on how many people I knocked out, because it was seemed that if anybody got knocked out on my table, it was me doing it. I seem to take this stance a lot though, and it usually back fires. Before long, my stack is up to $19,000, in second place behind $27,000 for first. I hover here for a while, then take out another player who was in the top ten when I had a full house to his straight. $30K+, and first position out of 20! Now I am guaranteed to at least double my buy in, but I am still focused on 7th.
We are down to two tables of 8 (This tournament doesn't allow anymore than 8 to a table), and four of the five biggest stacks are stiign along side me, including the one guy who led for most of the tournament. I noticed the "chaser" from earlier busted out in 33rd. YES! Justice is alive and well. I didn't like her anyway.
Out people go, by my hand usually, and I leap up to $55K, the first player to break the $40K and $50K mark. I also have more than 25% of the chips available. Can you tell I had the calculator by my side? I think this is important for online poker, well it helps me anyway. Finally, we are down to 8 and the other table comes to join us when we are half way through a pot. I have Q9, and the flop is Q9A rainbow. The second place person and I get into a bit of a bettign frenzy, and I loose my way slightly. He goes all-in and by this stage I already have $39K in the pot of mine, I hold my breath and call. He flips over Q9 also, and I breathe a big sigh of relief. Heh heh, I've still got it!
What to do, what to do? How often do you make it to the final table? And how often are you the chip leader in such an occurance? Should I just limp through and let the others take care of each other? Oh, The Rockets, guess folding isn't an option here. I take out 10th place when I hit my Ace on the flop. The actino is quite good, with pre-flop raises usually getting respect, and re-raises getting LOTS of respect. 9th goes, and then 8th - I have made it! I am guaranteed $100 and back to where October began. Now the distraction is in full mode and sitting with her feet on my chair. She has offered several times to leave but I some what foolishly say no, she can stay. I guess it was because I was guarnateed money now. I look and see that third is where the money really starts, $259 to be exact. Another player takes over the chip lead by knocking a few out and we are down to four. I am dealt KTc, and make a pre-flop raise for one caller. Flop comes KQT, Queen is a club. I open the betting, and the other player makes a big raise - pot limit even. Shit, what is going on? Could it be the straight? I ask my distraction what I should do, and she does not comment. I think about it all the way down, and decided that since I have him out-chipped I can loose here and still be in it. What a stupid thing to do, as I looked and saw he had "only" another $5K - I didn't conside the $40K he had bet in front of him. I call, and the turn is an 8. Naturally, he bets his final $5K and I call. The river is another 8, and I show my two pair. He shows the Hiltons. Fuck. When we play home games, I always chastise Serena for betting two pair big, and here I was in front of her doing the same. It was the lack of action from everyone else that made me want to force something, and when he did not raise pre-flop with them i thought I might have still had it. I am left with $6K, or 2BB. What the hell? I don't even get to do it, this guy does it to himself! I'll show him damn it!
A few hands later I get pocket 3's, make my all in bet and get kicked out when KJ stands up. Out in forth, and very disapointed. Fourth paid me $192.25, which puts my bank roll at an all time high - but it should have been higer, which i recall the last time I won some money in a MTT the same thing happend. I finshed fourth on a bone headed play and it should have been more - that makes it twice and soemthing that while it is kind of a welcomed "problem", I should be making more of it than I am. I decide that maybe the Poker Gods have forgiven me, and I try a heads up game for $10 later in the day. About 2 seconds in, once again I realise it is limit. Dumb ass! He chases a straight draw on the very first hand and hits when I can not scare him off with my trips. I never recovered, and to be honest I can say it was unlucky to loose as he had me outkicked 5 times. 5 bloody times, two pair, top pair or trips was beaten by a Queen kicker, King kicker or even a bloody nine kicker! Fittingly, that was how he won, pair of Jacks with a queen kicker to my Jacks and a 7 kicker. That will teach him to ruin my fun - I still got it baby!
So my bank roll is at an all time high of $257.65, and I am considering using the Party Poker re-load bonus of REAL$100 that I had emailed to me. In the mounring I fully considered throwing it all in, and now it looks like I might have bought myself some more time. Thanks to everybody for their positive comments before, I do think they helped me. And congrats to anybody who read that massive write up - but you must understand where I am coming from. Hope this continues, and best of luck to all at the tables!
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