They call this a streak?

Billy Madison: Whoa whoa whoa, Miss Lippy. The part of the story I don't like is that the little boy gave up looking for Happy after an hour. He didn't put posters up or anything, he just sat on the porch like a goon and waited. That little boy's gotta think 'You got a pet. You got a responsibility.' If your dog is lost you don't look for an hour then call it quits. You get your ass out there and you find that fucking dog!

"Billy Madison"

Had a read of a very popular blog over at Stripper by Night - just a warning, the blog is more poker than stripper. Don't get caught like I...I mean like so many others have before. Anyway, the reason for bringing it up was a 31 game streak of in the money in SNG's. Not a bad little effort there. Currently my streak is 6 and Ultimate Bet, which pales in comparison but hey it is something to shoot for. Besides, the last four have been 1st place finishes, it's hard to be disappointed at the moment.

Last night I (thought) I had a few hours before any distractions came home, so I fired up UB and Pacific to see what damage I could do. The MTT at Pacific we're too far away, so I thought I would register for a cheap ($2.50) SNG to keep me occupied. At UB, I sat down with 9 friends for another $10 SNG.

My goal was just to stop making bone-headed moves and play properly for the entire game. That lasted all of ZERO seconds, as on the second hand I was dealt pocket tens and I went to raise as any good little boy should. I think a raise of 3BB is in order...Guess what happened? For about the millionth time, I realized it was a limit tournament. Shit. I hate limit. But would you know it, I hit a ten on the flop. There was a flush and straight draw, but I didn't care so I kept jamming the pot. Capped, we went to the turn where someone must have been happy with the straight draw. We rammed the pot till it could take no more yet again (just me and two others now). I really didn't care if I lost out, it was a cheap tournament in a format I hate - what is there to loose? Well the river paired up and my boat was good enough to cut two stacks from the staring $800 down to below $300. I had nearly tripled up on the first hand I played. It was unbelievable the cards I was getting - and the draws I was hitting. I won the next 4 hands, then folded when holding A3 on a board of AQT8, which was won at showdown by a pair of queens. The numbers went in time, and then we were in the money with three of us left. One was playing tight, the other was raising pre-flop regardless of what he held. I guess he called it aggression. Problem was, I was on one of the great runs of all time. He raised from the small blind, so I re-raised with 79h. He called. I now knew he wasn't as strong as he would like - probably KJ or QJ. The flop came T99, very good for me. He bets, I raise, he 3-bets and I cap. What more could I ask for? How about a 7 on the turn? Thank you. Same betting pattern, it is capped again. On the rag river, he only got to two bets before he called for the showdown. No idea what he had, but I hope he liked it because he just would not let it go. Eventually I finished in second when my pocket pair were beaten by a flopped two pair, but it was great fun winning so easily. It's nice when the cards fall your way for a change.

On UB, I did care about this SNG. It was for $10 (still a lot to me, damn it), it was NL and it was to continue my ITM and winning streak (at 5 and 4 respectively). I took out one of the smaller stacks in 9th when my Aces held up. I didn't slow play them, but I certainly didn't ram the pot with them either. A minimum raise pre-flop as we we're already heads up on the small and big blinds. That move must have got me a lot of respect though, as I took down about 4 big bluffs. I normally wouldn't bluff that much, but when they kept getting respect I thought I should keep going. I folded a few when I was re-raised, so I guess they were not exactly folding the nuts or anything. I was not getting great cards, so I was spending most of my time watching the other SNG where the flops were amazing. When I switched back, the 8 players that were here had dwindled to 3 - I'm already in the money! After some back and forth action, my Aces knocked out third and then when heads up against the massive chip leader, I was not afraid to push against his initial raise with any two picture cards - JT, AT, KQ: he folded to them all or saw the flop then folded. When he went all in on a flop of KQ9, two clubs, I thought about it. I had T3 of clubs, so that's a straight and a flush draw - about what, 13 outs or so? I called (seeing as I was now the chip leader) and got a club on the turn. All over my dear, and the money went to the only Australian at the table. I hope I can keep the streak alive.

That put my bank roll at an all time high of over $500, something I was very proud of. But it's funny when you reach a "milestone" like that. $500 was always a mark I could not reach, and at one stage was even 6 cents short. Now that I have reached it, it doesn't seem like the massive amount I thought it was. I think my next milestone of $1K will be a bigger deal - that or $780 because that would mean AU$1000, something I have to take into consideration because of the mounting wedding costs already.

Tonight though will be poker free, as the Harlem Globetrotters are in town and they are putting on a NBL (our national basketball league) game after it - The Sydney Kings (2 time defending champions) vs The Western Sydney Razorbacks (only 4 years old). I've seen the Globetrotters once before and it was pretty cool, and my fiance (still sounds funny to say that) got cheap tickets through work so all is good.

Have fun with this "turkey day" I keep hearing about.