And it looks like there's a very good chance that I WON'T be going to Vegas for the WSOP after all.
Life has just been too hectic, both work and play and family, and I'm perfectly fine with that. The good news regarding poker though, is that my game has been sharp and I've had some nice results recently.
Two weeks ago I played the 6pm $65 daily at Commerce. I love these turbos. There's no rebuys or re-entries and there's a $2500 guarantee. Best of all, you get 10K in starting chips and they rarely go past 5 hours. Unlike the endless Quantum Reloads at the Bike. This means I can play for a thousand bucks and still be home before midnight, as opposed to playing to 2am for $400 or less.
Alas, too much time has passed for me to recall specific hands, but I dimly remember that I played well and made mostly good decisions. I'm still battling to stay away from limping, it sure is tempting when everyone is doing it at the table. I don't mind once in a blue moon to set mine, but I really have to lay off the calling with a suited queen crap. If it's in position okay, but there's really no excuse for me to do it anywhere but the button or the cutoff.
Thankfully, I am still keeping meticulous track of my results - and my spreadsheet says I finished fourth in chips out of 60 for $440. I do remember that if we hadn't chip chopped 5 handed and I had busted out in fifth place, it would have been just over $200, so I was happy to double my guarantee.
Five days ago, Memorial Day, I managed to get away in the early evening, to once again play the same event.
This one I remember quite a bit more.
First, the nasty bad beats. I have KK in the cutoff and a healthy stack. Two limpers, I raise it up 6x and all fold but the medium stacked BB who defends.
Flop is xKA and he donk jams. I snap and he turns up A9. Turn A. River 9.
The table about had a conniption fit, I was fairly placid and calmly counted out nearly half of my chips and slid them over.
Until this point I had been playing very well and gotten the better of several regulars, who clearly thought that they were the shit. I was happy to prove them wrong by smashing flops and letting them hang themselves by betting air.
On one hand, that I am just now recalling, I check raise jammed a four flush board with two good overs. The super awesome regular tanked and tanked and finally called with the better hand - middle pair. He was ahead, I was the favorite, and when I "binked" one of my 15 outs he was incredulous and heavily steamed. Ship it.
Anyway, post nasty bad beat I got fairly zen - reflecting on how well I had played and how this small tournament was what I was doing for fun. It was no big whoop were I to go out after a couple of hours. $65 is a small price to pay for such a good time.
Our table broke and I was a shorty. I sat and watched, card dead, some truly dreadful play as a doddering old guy cracked a young hot heads aces. The hot head was soooooo angry, that had I been a much greener player I would've guessed he had barely played. Alas, I have enough hours at the table now to clearly recognize a full time grinder, and that's what he was.
It seemed clear that the dodderer to my right, and another geezer to my left (who sounded Russian) were my bestest greatest hope for a climb back. Now flush with chips, the dodderer indeed became my salvation.
First, I watched his game closely as he "shifted gears" - meaning, he got super spewy. He loved to stop and go jam, often very light. He did it again against the hot head, who laid down bottom two pair, and then he showed his bluff. Sticking the needle in, but giving the rest of us confirmation that yes indeed, he had very little self control with a lot of bullets.
No, it wasn't a crafty codger who was bluffing to get paid off later - this guy was a knuckle head who couldn't take his foot off the gas.
I was in the big blind with JJ. From the cutoff he raised small, just under 3X. I had been paying attention and knew that he didn't have what I had, that is, an overpair. He had overbet with JJ, QQ and AA. He had raised smaller with AK and with suited broadway cards. I knew this because he loved to show.
The board came all low cards, I checked, he jammed. I snapped, because I had been paying attention and had seen him rip with air several times, once with AK and he had hit a K on the river. Sure enough, he turned up AK.
The turn was an Ace and he fist pumped and exclaimed in triumph. The river was a Jack and the rest of the table whooped for joy. I was calm as a milk pond.
He was hurt but not crippled. I had more than doubled up as the antes and blinds were so large. Best of all I had gotten it in way ahead and was pleased to see that there was indeed a bit of justice in poker.
The very next hand he shoved with 1010 and I called off with QQ on the button and busted him.
Now I was healthy again, but time was short and stack after stack open shoved. There was little I could do without cards.
Finally I was in the SB with A10 and it was folded to me. I eyeballed the Russian's stack to my left in the BB. He had about a third of my stack. Easy shove. He tanked and tanked and tanked. Uh oh, he has a hand. Finally he called with A4. 4 in the window which held.
Sigh.
Oddly enough, this one for some reason really stung. Not because the buffoon did a fist pump and whoop almost identical to the dodderer, but because it was such a God awful call and I had him at almost a four to one dog. I didn't mind getting beat earlier with KK when I was a 98% favorite, but for some reason this one rattled me.
Thankfully, I was card dead enough not to just dump it all in afterwards. I managed to climb back as we got to a final table, but using expert timing and experience for my jamming. Having the occasional QQ didn't hurt either, which is what I got called with after shoving by TWO players, one the original guy who beat me with A9 earlier. He had AQ, sayonara. The other fellow, a monster stacken had Q10 and he almost got there with an 8 and 9 on the flop, but thankfully a nasty jack did not appear on the river this time.
As the players fell one by one, and we all finally agreed to a safety for the bubble (paying 9 instead of 8) I managed to stay healthy and by the time the last nub busted I was barely third in chips out of the 4 good little children that remained. The guy behind me had maybe 2/3 of what I had. The other two fellows probably had twice my chips each. I suggested we run the numbers for a chip chop and the dill-hole who was second in total chips (with a whopping 16 big blinds) poo-pooed the idea.
Fine, I thought. Clearly you are just too awesome at super short stack play. Clearly I suck at variance.
The next hand I woke up with AA in the small blind. Dill-hole raised from the button and I ripped, he snapped with A7. GG sir, you're doing it.
Now he was crippled and thankfully didn't have the stones to suggest a chip chop. I was the chip leader for one hand until the other monster stack busted dill-hole with a bigger ace which held, AIPF.
Once DH had departed I turned and smiled to the slightly bigger stack than myself. "Well, you and I are both under 20 bigs and the blinds are set to double. Should we run the numbers?"
I could see the wheels turning in his degenerate brain, but finally he put it together and agreed to look at the figures. He stood to take home $1080, I was due $1008 and the Russian $875. I could tell the chip leader wanted more, but he was smart enough to agree, especially after the Russian saw that the number was double his guarantee should he exit. $1008 was 400 more than the 2nd place payout as well, so I was thrilled when "big" stack agreed. Plus, I reminded him, he got the title! Big whoop.
So happy to take down four figures for the second time in 2013, and I'm also happy to say I'm up over 2K overall this year as well, cashing in almost 40% of the tournaments I've played in.
So I'm a little sad that Vegas is looking unlikely this summer, but happy enough to be providing for my family and spending more time with them as well.
My game is good, but my life is even better.
