Ballin' at Bally's Part 2

For the first time in the history of ever I slept until well past 9am in Las Vegas.

I watched some news, had a meal bar for breakfast, took a shower and then headed downstairs to register early for Event #3 at 11am.

I wish I could say that everything seemed better in the morning, it didn't really.  Well, maybe a little.  I realized that the main thing that had made my brutal exit feel so brutal wasn't the money - it was the glory.  They were awarding these things to the winners...

Out of focus, but still awesome.

Anyways, I was positive enough when I sat down in the 7 seat at a table in the corner of the room.  My back was to the casino so there wasn't much to look at - but thankfully I had two nicer players on my left to chat with.

One was an older cat named Jerry, who revealed that despite his early 60's look and demeanor - he was actually 73.  Jerry was an old school Berkeley type who actually hailed from the east coast.  He regaled me and the other guy (a quiet but friendly school teacher named Matt who didn't look a day over 21) with tales of his poker and non-poker exploits.  He, like me, has played poker with James Woods and also found him to be a swell fella.

I got tangled up in a couple of pots early on, one of which I double barrel bluffed perfectly, all for naught as the old rock was a non-believer and middle pair was more than good to call off a third of his stack.  I say all for naught, but thankfully he stacked off entirely to me about an hour later when I hit a set and three bet his weak lead and he shipped it with top pair 10 kicker.  Well played sir, you are doing it.

So with my confidence high, and my spirits rising thanks to the juicy and friendly folks around me - I proceeded to have the worst run of bad beats I've ever had in a poker tournament ever.

From my twitter feed...

My set of tens got run down by a set of jacks that spiked on the river, after all the money went in on a l0 8 4 flop.

I climbed back up a bit, only to get kneecapped about an hour later by a shortish stack who ripped with 66.  I called off on the big blind with 1010.  Again, my opponent hit a two outer on the river.

So four hours into the tournament, for the third time with a stack just under 20 bigs, I got my money in with a commanding lead.  I flat called the button with a suited A3 and flopped top and bottom pair with a backdoor draw to the nut flush.  Opponent, who I barely had covered let it rip and I snapped. He had a pair of red fives.  A queen of spades on the turn gave me the nut flush draw.  A black five that was NOT a spade gave him the pot.

One outed and utterly crippled, and frankly, fucking over it.

Two hands later I had KK which was promptly called by AA.

Awesome.

I only had one thing on my mind as I departed in haste.  Roast beef, cheddar and horseradish.  Toasted.

The line at Earl of Sammich was twice as long as yesterday, but I didn't mind.  I patiently waited and then ate and licked my wounds, and tweeted out the four monstrous poker hands that I had just experienced.

I meandered back towards Bally's and then crossed into the noise and smoke pit known as the Planet Hollywood poker room.  They had a tournament at 4pm, which was in 5 minutes.  Sigh.  More punishment please.

Thankfully - in poker, as with life, things are often darkest before the dawn.  We had barely played two orbits when he showed up.  Mr. Hollywood Park.  I had never seen this fellow before, but actually I had played with him hundreds of times.  Loud.  Cocky and kind of a cock.  Swarthy.  He of the massive over bet from out of position.   I couldn't help but lick my chops.  I hope he didn't notice.

Less than an hour later I had busted him and all his chippies haz belonged to me.

He had been crazy active, though not with the terrifyingly good timing that sometimes accompanies such maniacal behavior.  I knew that I only need be patient, and I was in perfect position, two players to his left.  With the button I looked down at 88 and three bet his hijack raise, he flatted.  The flop came with a glorious 8.   He led out, as he had done in every pot he had played, with a massive bet 1 1/2 the pot.

Happy dance on the inside.

I three bet him large.  He tanked forever and then called.  A second heart rolled off on the turn.  He checked.  So did I.  Didn't care if the flush hit - I wanted all of his chips.

A third heart rolled off, again he bet massive.  I shipped it, he was committed and called off with bottom two pair.  Rebuy!

Only he couldn't rebuy, he had to reenter, and unfortunately he went to another table.  I didn't see him again until it was final table time.

In a word, my play was flawless.  Again, as is so often the case in these faster and smaller events, I find myself in graduate school with the rest of the class struggling to make it out of kindergarten.   With others raising and calling off a quarter or half of their stacks, and then finding folds - I simply ripped, ripped and ripped again, expertly.

Finally when old Hollywood Park had had enough, he called off with 55 which mercifully did not two out my 1010.  He was crippled, I was phat.  Life was good.

My only stumble came a bit later, I was against a frat kid who fancied himself the table captain.  He ripped a dry board and I had to call with middle pair.  Yes, I had gotten unlucky and he had hit his king.  Upon reflection, since I had such an advantage over him and everyone else I really should've found a fold and picked a better spot.  If I hadn't seen him shoving light so many times I probably could've gotten away.

Anyways, that knocked me down quite a bit - so when old Hollywood Park had crawled back he was the first to suggest a chop at four handed which everyone agreed to.  As the short stack I was ecstatic to get $390 instead of the $180 I would've gotten for fourth.

By the time I got back to Base Camp Bally's it was time to register for the last hurrah.

Once again it was time to rock and or roll.  Unfortunately, at a table full of fishies, I picked the one barracuda to mess with and got tangled up in a catastrophic hand that saw me quickly crippled.  I don't remember the hand very well, I didn't bother to tweet it, but I know it was a disastrous double barrel bluff that ended on the river with a stupendously stupid "hero" call that I somehow had convinced myself was good.

It wasn't.

I was out shortly thereafter and it wasn't even 9pm!  What to do... what to do....

Yep.  I registered as the break approached, re-entering the tournament with 30 bigs and not much hope against a large field.  Even better, the soft players at my first table were nowhere to be seen at my new location.  At least three fellows, and one gal - seriously knew what they were doing.  In fact, the female looked familiar; I googled what I thought was her name and it was indeed her.  Samantha Abernathy, who as you can see here, is a young but formidable poker player who has a gang of recent tournament cashes; and from what I understand (if the pro on my left was to be believed) is fully backed in all of her tournament entries.

So there was that.  But being aware that I was outclassed to my left and right didn't really phaze me much, I'm used to it quite a bit in the larger dailies at Commerce; if anything it makes decisions a lot easier.  No room to get tricky.

I should mention that twice I got my money in behind on my way to the final table.  The big one was running my QQ into AA - but a lady came right in the window.  About time I sucked out instead of getting sucked.  This was quite a bit more than a double up as there had been a raise in front of the guy who had AA.  I four bet shoved, as I had 25 bigs and little choice.  Correct decision, lucky result.

The second occurrence came about an hour later when I three bet shoved with A7 sooted over a very active hijack players standard raise.  Felt great about that.  Not so great when the small blind woke up with AK and reshoved.  The flop didn't bring much, but the turn and river ran out runner runner for a wonky straight.  Yeah, I guess I suck, regardless of making the right move and getting unlucky.

Before I knew it we were redrawing for the final table.  Yes, I had outlasted 150 runners, two nights in a row.  Had to feel good about that.

Then came my exit.  Instead of 8th I finished 9th, after this remarkable de' ja vu' hand.  This time, I three bet shoved from the button after the cutoff had opened. He was a rambling drunken hulk of a player, who was nice enough, but clearly thought he was hot shit.  Nice call sir.

So tasty.

Well this time it didn't sting, really at all.  I figured getting my money in bad twice and winning in this tournament entitled me to a massive broom handle.  Whatever.  It was all good, especially the next morning when I really grasped what I had achieved.

I had final tabled two big tournaments in two days - pretty flippin' awesome.

I feel better than I ever have about my game, I more than once knew my opponents cards before they were revealed; once I even said so out loud.  My future in poker is indeed bright.

Can't wait to go back, not sure when it will be; hopefully before the WSOP, but if not - I'm making it back for sure.  In the meantime I have my home game a week from this Saturday, and then we'll see after that.  Pondering doing another satty as we have a couple of big local events on the horizon.  We shall see.

Having a ball at Bally's

For the first time in a long time I drove to Vegas instead of flying.  The drive was just fine, very little traffic as I left on Thursday instead of Friday.  The only congestion to speak of was in L.A., the amazing "Waze" app on my phone guided me out pretty well, and I only spent maybe 20 minutes stopping and going before the freeway opened up.  Then right after I got on the 15 from Pear Blossom it slammed down again - Waze didn't even blink, redirecting me to a frontage road immediately that bypassed the amazing mile and a half back up of cars (there had been a rollover accident).  I zipped by that parking lot in record time and was back on the completely clear freeway in a handful of minutes.  What an age we live in.

Still, even if I had been stuck in that parking lot for an hour or more - the biggest advantage of driving over flying will always be saving monies.  No plane and no rental car = mucho savings.  I got a great poker rate at the Bally's so my 3 night stay averaged well under $100 a night.  That and a suitcase full of Nutri-System food made this by far the cheapest Vegas trip ever.

The one disadvantage of traveling by car - the monochrome open road for over 4 and a half hours with no one but Zack Brown for company.   I left work at 530 and arrived at about 10pm.  I quickly checked in, threw my crap into my room and instead of collapsing on the bed and getting a good night's sleep I hoofed it across the street to the Bellagio and took the tram to Monte Carlo.  About 20 minutes of walking and another 10 minutes of tram locomotion.

And then I was home - my favorite poker room in Vegas when it comes to atmosphere and friendliness.  The tables and chips are worn but clean, and the decor faded but warm and inviting.  The dealers are pretty chill and the clientele, especially in tournaments, is mostly tourist and soft.

Feels like home.

The tournament wasn't very memorable, but it was friendly enough.  The turbo-ish nature of these events demands a certain amount of run-good, and I had none.  Couple that with overall tiredness and an utter inability to pick my spots wisely - and you have about an hour and forty five minutes of fun but ultimately silly pokerz.

I konked out in bed just after 2 in the morning.  My plan?  Sleep in best I could so I could hopefully be not completely exhausted for the Bally's Labor Day Classic Event #1 at 11am the next morning.

Inevitably, I was up at 8am - and hustled a bit to shower and drag my tired but cleaner ass down to the Bally's poker room to play in their normal 9am turbo.  Bally's has the best turbos in Vegas, not because the structures or starting stacks are any good (they're not) but because they come with 1K prize pool guarantees.

Still, I was sleepy enough to be unable to pick any good spots.  That plus being card dead plus playing in a super-turbo meant again no monies for me.  Still, I splashed around and had fun and in my mind didn't really count the tournament anyways.

By 11am the line for registration in the first big event stretched out of the poker room and into the slot machines.  Lucky for me I had registered well ahead of time.

Ah yes, the dreaded seat 10.

I played for well over 4 hours - and by the end was pretty much burnt toast.  I was rather card dead, which in itself wasn't the worst thing; but the combining factors of fatigue and inattention doomed me to the rail in a field that was surprisingly soft for such a large event.  Almost 200 runners, the poker room was filled to capacity and even tables on the other side of the rail next to the bar had filled up.

After my exit, which I don't remember at all - I made the best decision of the trip.  Instead of registering for the Bally's regular 5pm donk-ament, I got in my car and asked Siri where I could get a hair cut.  10 minutes later I was sitting down in a Supercuts chair as a lovely young woman commenced with buzzing my balding head.

Now that's more like it!

It seems absurd, but after an expert cut like this - I felt a weight lifted from my shoulders, both literal and much more so - figural.  My hair had been out of control, especially my gnarly side-burns, which always grow way faster than everything else; for something as silly as this, I felt positively giddy.

Again, I resisted the urge to go a gamblin' and instead headed back to Bally's and then hoofed it over to the always quiet and sedate Planet Hollywood. There I tracked down my new bosses restaurant and treated myself to an amazing diet cheat.

Roast beef, cheddar and horseradish.  Outstanding.

When I say new boss, I don't mean I'm not with my employer of 19 years anymore, I still am.  I am referring to the inimitable Mr. Robert Earl, who is the owner of Planet Hollywood (yes, the whole thing) as well as the Buca De Beppo and Earl of Sandwich restaurants.  He is the host of my company's newest show on the Cooking Channel - "Robert Earl's Be My Guest" which starts airing September 8th.  I am the lead editor on the show and very proud of it.  I'm happy to say that his signature "Original" sandwich at the above establishment was quite excellent, especially when dunked in the fresh tomato soup that I ordered along with it.

So then it was back up to my room for a brief respite.  By the time I had registered and sat down for the Bally's Labor Day Classic Event #2 at 8pm I felt well fed and finally, well rested.

On the third hand of the tournament, this happened.

Bam.

As is the case with all of these 'deep stacked' events that are full of fish, it was a 7 way limped pot.  I generally avoid participating in this sort of thing unless I'm on the button, which I was.  So I limped with K3.  But it was sooooooted!  So sue me.

The small blind popped it big, with a 7x raise.  All but one folded to me.  It's taken me a long time to get it - but now I do.  When an old man fires out an enormous overbet, especially out of position, especially into half a dozen players - his range is super tiny.  I mean, SUPER tiny.  He is basically playing two or maybe three combinations of cards.  It's NOT AK, it is not JJ and probably not QQ.  It's KK or AA, basically guaranteed.

I've learned now, that when a player plays his hand face up, that is, when I KNOW what his cards are - it is a huge mistake not to see a flop.  And so I did.

Bam.  Two pair.  He donked about 1/2 of the pot.  I three bet him.  He shoved, again - a MASSIVE overbet.   My bet which was pot sized, had just been raised about ten fold.  This was actually a very easy call.

As God as my witness, I actually said out loud "You have aces.  I call."  True story.

He had Aces.  My two pair held and my stack ballooned.  Yay me.

Very satisfying to get the gasps of awe around the table.  Very satisfying, the sheepish look on his face when he tabled his cards.  Don't know if I've ever had a more spectacular drive down the 11th fairway in poker ever then that moment.

This double up (actually a bit more than a double up thanks to the limpede pre-flop) boosted not only my ego but my confidence, and I had a GREAT evening.

Still rather card dead, not a premium hand to be found except for a fleeting AK here and there and perhaps JJ once or twice, I nonetheless accumulated nicely for the next four hours.

I didn't get too tricky, I didn't try too hard to 'outplay' anyone.  But at the same time my cards weren't good enough to sit on my hands and try to get to showdown.  I c-bet when the times were right, I bluffed more than a handful of times - and they mostly worked.

I was just over average in chips when to my amazement we redrew for the final table.  It was just after midnight.  150+ runners, whittled down very quickly by a fast but not crazy structure.  I really think I've got this grinding thing down, at least when I'm in the groove and my A-Game shows up.

The final table lasted awhile before anyone busted.  I don't remember who finished in 9th, but I know who busted out next.  That's a not so subtle hint.  Insert smiley face here.

At the table were two drunk buddies, who both had the resulting unfortunate condition of perpetual outdoor voice along with the even more aggravating "Everything we say is HILARIOUS" virus that seems to accompany the first illness.

Not much bother to me, I had my earbuds and my tunes - which I've found to be REQUIRED equipment in any serious tournament, mostly for this exact situation.

Early on I woke up with aces and 3 bet jammed the louder of the two drunks cutoff raise from my big blind.  He tanked FOREVER and finally found a fold, showing his A7 off suit.  I chuckled inwardly and absolutely did NOT show my cards.  This was going to be sweet, I was in perfect position to knock out the knuckle head.

An orbit or two later, same situation - only now he was short enough that he open shoved after two limpers.  Folded to me in the big, AJ - SNAP CALL.

He had A3 and he won.

No joy in Mudville.

In an $80 tournament I was out in 8th place for $120.  First place was $2000.  Yep.

Honestly, all the good feelings that had built since my haircut, all the good will I had for the game, for the fellow travelers around me - evaporated in the cruel hammer of seventh street upon my heart.  I was literally nauseous and couldn't get up for a moment.  I finally hoisted myself, composed enough to snap the pic above, shook hands with the drunk who seemed to not be able to stop saying 'sorry man' over and over and over and over and over again.

I smiled meekly and somehow didn't say anything - not even SHUT THE FUCK UP.

I have been playing this game for a long time, and I do get it - but as in life, poker has a way of humiliating and humbling us at just the right moment; when everything is looking up, when everything is brightest.  That's when the dagger falls.

I collected my paltry winnings and sat an an adjacent table for awhile, and I won't lie and say that tears didn't well up, but by GOD they did not fall.  Eventually, as when I would count to ten as a kid, the anger and hopelessness began to fade.  I succumbed to the enjoyment of watching the other players - still excited, still in it.  The drunk of course sucked out on someone else, his AJ ironically cracking a boisterous Italian's AA.  The Italian was gracious enough in defeat, though he did commiserate quietly with me about what a "fucking luck box cocksucker" the drunk was.   I could only smile and shrug.  I never, not for one second through the anguish, had one negative thought about Drinky McLoud.  He was precisely what this tournament neeeded at the final table to make it very profitable for everyone else - even though the poker gods had other ideas.

Eventually, before it was over, I had to get to bed.  By the time I was up in my room, my muttering to myself down the hallway had turned into a full volume one person conversation.  I was alright, I was good.  Better than good really.  I had just outlasted 140 players, many of them good - I had final tabled and cashed in a Hendon Mob tracked event.  It had indeed been a great day.


Day 2 - coming soon!

Don't worry, make happy.

So far in 2014 my longest streak without a tournament cash has been five events, or rather it had been until I failed to cash in 11 straight events these last 2 months.

Looking at my sparse notes, it's clear that I played OK and ran fairly terrible; never a good combination.

Hollywood Park has recently changed the buy-in and format for their afternoon tournaments.  They are now at 7pm instead of 530, and the buy in shifted from a 50/30 to a 60/60 (meaning initial buy-in and one time only rebuy/add-on).

I have partaken in this event 6 times since the change - it makes it a lot easier for me to get there on the weekend, as I can spend all day with my kid and wife and they're tuckered out by then (or the kid has plans like a sleepover).  I also like that the buy in is a bit higher, the prize pool is up just a few ticks and it's so much better to scoop up $300 or more for a min-cash than merely $100 or so.

So anyways, I didn't cash and I didn't cash and then finally, Saturday night - I cashed!  I finished 6th of 60 runners for $400, a $280 profit after being in for $120.  Very happy to book a win and I have to say I was very happy with my play and my demeanor.

I've really ramped up my energy lately at the table and my willingness to engage in small talk and silly things.  No doubt many, perhaps most, really hate it; but I'm never overbearing or presumptive.  I just like being social and besides making it more fun I think it really has an added benefit; when I'm engaging (and I'm never sarcastic or disparaging) I exude quite a bit of confidence at the table.  I'm very cautious about not crossing the line to cocky.  When I simply concentrate on having fun and make sure not to step on any toes - and I've found that the very good poker player comes out in me more often than not.

My exuberance says "There's nowhere else I'd rather be right now."  And it also says "I've been playing this game for a long time, but I still love it and absolutely no one here is anywhere near intimidating to me."  I think for me, this outward enjoyment and confidence is absolutely key to my no limit hold-em tournament game plan.  It is a friendly way of telling myself and alerting the table that, yes, I'm damn good and I know it and let's have fun.

I did have more than a few "Neo sees the Matrix" moments Saturday night, I can barely remember any difficult decisions or missteps.  I was fairly card dead throughout the tournament but still managed to accumulate.  About 3 1/2 hours in I had found myself with a biggish stack because I had 3 bet shoved my 25 big stack with JJ and gotten called by A10 and 42.  Yes, 42.  It was an interesting fellow who for some reason called every bet I ever made in the tournament, until I busted him.  So there I was for another hour or so with a nice big stack until I stumbled on this hand...

9 handed, about 40 bigs, avg stack a bit below that.  With A7os in the cutoff I raised 5x after the passive rock on my right had limped for the umpteenth time.  The SB who was the chip leader (and had me well covered) defended and it folded back around, we went heads up to the rainbow flop - KQ7.  He checked and I stupidly checked behind.  A blank rolled off and he checked again; I fired a smallish c-bet a bit less than half the pot, he called.   The river was meaningless and he cut out a 2/3 pot sized bet and slid it in.

Sigh.  Tough decision that I made far too quickly.  He was a good player, I knew this.  He had defended his blinds a lot, but he hadn't been wielding his stack as much as I expected so far...  All signs that I should let this hand go.  Alas, I called and he had slow played top pair good kicker.  He gave me a pretty good price to call with my minimal show down value, but I really should find a fold there.

I'm not crazy about my delayed c-bet in this instance; they don't work nearly well enough or often enough against experienced players.  I should have been a man and c-bet the flop and then check folded the turn and river unless I improved.  Bah.  This hand brought me down from one of the bigger stacks to a shortish stack, 20 or so bigs.

The good news was, I was nowhere near crippled - and there were plenty of soft targets for me to still pillage.

Just remembered another good one with the same fellow; this one happened after I had stumbled and crawled back a bit, up to 25 bigs or so.  I raised from the high jack with a middling ace of hearts - and yes, he defended his big blind.  The flop was a dream, a gut shot broadway that was all hearts.  Any heart or any 10 would give me juevos rancheros.  He checked, this time I c-bet the flop and he called.  A gorgeous black 10 rolled off on the turn.  He lead out!  I was free rolling to the nuts, and I had seen him semi-bluff before, so I just called.  The river was low blank.  He again bet about half the pot.  I pondered if I had enough behind to raise sensibly, for value or to get him to call; it seemed like I was a little short for that, so I stuck it in.

He was getting about 3 to 1, and he tanked, and he... folded.   Suck.

Still a nice pot; but my head spun a bit, wondering what the eff he was firing with and what he wouldn't call with when he had called light several times before against other players.  He must have had a draw that missed, maybe 2 pair - but if he had that I think he would've called.  He actually said during his tank mumbling "You hit your gutshot?"  Yeah dude, but I reeeally wish a heart had spiked the river - then all your chippies haz belong to me.

Anyways, as the tournament wore on, he revealed himself to not be as good as I had first deduced.  He made an absolutely HORRIFIC call against an other big stack with one card to come, he was drawing dead to 11 outs which of course hit.   He would later unnecessarily piss his chips away at the final table.

So with my thoughtful jamming, and a bit of luck I found myself short stacked at the aforementioned final table.  Thankfully, some other players had a plane to catch and proceeded to get their chips in light over and over again, including my buddy, he of the "looks good but isn't that good" gang that I have tangled with over the years.

Before I new it, it was 6 handed and there was one overwhelming chip-leader.  He took a pretty good hit a few hands in, and though he was still the chip leader afterwards he suggested a chip chop which the rest of us happily agreed to.  6th place paid $230, but thanks to the ICM calculator I took home $400.  Sweet!

I'm posting this now, because it feels good to book a win and write about it - but I also have poker on my mind as another Vegas bender is imminent.  This time it's labor day weekend - wife and kid have another Girl Scout event on Saturday - and I'm very excited to be playing in what looks to be an outstanding poker series for the fun-seeking but passionate recreational tournament player that I am.

Bally's in Vegas is hosting this, a super low buy in six tournament 3 day series which includes a 20K guarantee main event.  No doubt it will have an overlay (there room isn't big enough I don't think to make the guarantee unless every table is full and I have my doubts) as well as an abundance of recreational players who love tournaments.  I know it won't be as soft as the usual lower buy in Vegas tournaments, but it will still be easier to beat than the average tournament in So. Cal.

For the first time in a long time I am driving in - and I also somehow scored a very good room rate at the hotel itself.  Get up, roll out of bed, walk down to the poker room! Of course if somehow I find myself at 11pm with no poker chips in front of me I may just have to accidentally stroll on over to the Monte Carlo. (Maniacal laugh). I am as pumped up as I've ever been for a Vegas bender, and I know that it will be a blast.

Before this happens, I have a Saturday monthly tournament in my garage - I'm really going to focus and try to go deep as the last two PSP tourneys have been a bit of an indifferent "meh" on my end.  I know I'll play good, just have to hope I run good as well.

Unleashing the Beast

So since my WSOP Academy experience I haven't played that much poker - but what I have played has been MOST enjoyable.

I recently chopped evenly three ways for all the money in one of my home game Sit-N-Go's, and then a week later I finished 6th out of 80 runners at Hollywood Park for $475 after buying in for $80.  But it was last Saturday night, at my home game monthly tournament that the Beast inside of me really let loose.

Let me explain; since my intense two days of training, there has been a percolation of poker knowledge in my brain, just simmering below the surface.  Last Saturday night, it all came together.  You know that scene in the Matrix when Neo finally sees the matrix itself?  Towards the end of the movie when he looks at the enemy agents and sees line after line of green code.  The walls, the ground, all in code as well.   That's how it was in this tournament.

It wasn't as if I was raising every pot and running over the tables - no, there was a lot of folding involved, especially in the first half of the tournament.  But every decision seemed easy, and when it was time to crank up the aggression, to bet big for value or to bluff entirely, I knew just when and how to do it.

Most satisfying of all, I ended up heads up with a very worthy opponent, who has had tremendous results in my game in the past (with three tournament wins in 2013), and I played absolutely perfect poker against her.   Now, let me say of her play - it is a bit unorthodox, but I have a lot of respect for her game because of her results.

But this time, I was able to use all of my knowledge to pick her apart piece by piece.  I know she has some gargantuan leaks, mainly defending light out of position (both her blinds and when she chooses to play a trap hand in early or mid position) - and I was able to use this leak to effortlessly steal chips from her over and over again.

At first glance, she appears to be sticky and tricky, but really, if she entirely whiffs the flop, she will give it up a good deal of the time, especially against an opponent who will keep firing.  She is an emotional player, and if one is attuned to her ebb and flow as I was, it can be used against her.  I knew when she was drawing, both from verbal and physical tells, and I knew when she had a made hand - again, simply by paying attention to her demeanor.   As a result I was maximizing wins from her and minimizing losses - from the moment we sat down at the same table to the end when we battled heads up for the tournament.

A critical hand in this battle - I raised from the button with a red Ax, she defended (which she does heads up probably 90% of the time, as she probably should against an aggressive player like me) and we took a flop which was all black and low cards.  I c-bet 1/2 pot, she defended.  The board then paired - I fired again but big, 3/4 pottish, she hemmed and hawed and even complained that the music that was playing ("Eye of the Tiger") made her want to call.  Wow, really?  She eventually called, clearly agitated and basically telling me she was drawing to a flush or a gutshot but probably both.  Now she had sunk a ton of her chips into the pot, probably a third of her stack.  The river was a glorious red queen.  She checked and I happily shoved, she turbo mucked.  Big ass pot that I won with Ace high that was almost certainly the best hand.

From that moment on the wind was out of her sails and I started raising mercilessly and there was nothing she could do but fold.  I've said it before and I'll say it again, I have a large amount of respect and even some fear for her game, but last Saturday night as her chips dwindled and mine grew the fear was gone entirely.  It was very satisfying.

Finally she rightly shoved with QJ pre-flop and I made the easy call off with KJ.  My mind flashed to a tournament earlier this year in Vegas, a Bally's 1K guarantee where I was heads up at the end and had KJ and the other player had QJ.  A queen hit the river, giving my opponent across from me new life and we ended up chopping.  I wanted desperately to fade those three outs this time, and thank the poker Gods I did!

Best of all, by binking this tournament, I've won a seat in the $1000 guarantee free roll that I'm putting on next January.  There is a lot of cheddar for the winner - and I feel fantastic about my chances!

EDIT: Update; shortly after typing this out, I took down the single table Sit-N-Go in my garage last Friday night!  The Beast knows no bounds!  Again, it was a satisfying heads-up battle against another worthy opponent, Sven, whom I've talked about on this blog many times before.  He and I are poker-buds, that is we do talk about strategy a lot, so it was very satisfying to not only have a commanding chip lead when our battle began, but to retain it and to close out the game with authority for the win.

WSOP Academy

As you know, if you read this blog at all, I am very much a student of the game.  I read books, I watch online training videos, I participate in strategy forums and... well, I write quite a bit about teh pokerz in this blog as well.

For about five years now I have wanted to attend a World Series of Poker Academy event.  I have also considered a WPT Boot Camp.  It seems to me that it would be a great way to get some extra poker knowledge and also have a lot of fun really diving into the strategies of the game, picking the brains of  people who have had amazing results.

But always, the timing was off for me.  Whatever weekend an Academy fell on, I always had something else planned or some kind of obligation.  Last year, finally, I saw an event scheduled in Los Angeles on a weekend that didn't appear to have any conflicts.  Also, the lead pro was to be Brian Rast, a fantastic player with outstanding tournament results and multiple bracelets, including one for the 50K Poker Players Championship in the WSOP.  Sign me up!

I managed also to score a substantial discount, which brought the price down from $1600 to just over 1K for two full days of immersive training.  While at first glance this may seem like a lot, it really is a tremendous value for the amount of time you get with not only Mr. Rast, but his fellow pros such as 3 bracelet winner and onetime WSOP Player of the Year Jeff Madsen, who is hilarious as well as super poker smart, Gavin Griffin - also a bracelet winner with nearly 5 million in live tournament winnings, and two other very capable tournament specialists including the delightful Melanie Weisner, who has been on the international circuit in recent years and is a fun firecracker presence at the table.

I arrived a bit early and got in line to check in, when who should walk past me but one of the semi-regulars from my home game!  Walter was here!  He didn't see me so I texted him in line, we had a good laugh when we realized that the secret was out!  I was glad that I would have someone to commiserate with over the weekend.

Checking in was a breeze, the nice lady at the counter, Lindsay, recognized my name simply because I had corresponded with her so many times over the years.  She was glad I finally made it and made me feel welcome.  Her boisterous colleague Ace got me a huge bag of cool SWAG (hat, patch, pens, water bottle, fun novelty items and a very nice sweater that fits great) and I took a seat.  Walter sat down as my neighbor and we chatted a bit; turns out, this was his second Academy, he went to one in Vegas in 2008.  He told me that it was a great experience, and that even though he already knew maybe 90% of what they had taught, it was that extra 10% that was WAY worth it.

The Academy was broken into two sections - a lecture from Brian Rast and live "hand labs" which was essentially a simulated tournament with an instructor (one of the pros) dealing and critiquing hands.

I felt like I did actually get a lot out of Rast's lecture, much more than 10% of the material was indeed new to me, probably about 20% overall, which was great - but even better than that for me, Rast's talk was absolutely a very satisfying affirmation of my game and my efforts over the past half a decade.  When he would ask a question to the class, I typically knew it - when he would posit a hypothetical situation, I almost always knew the correct line or at least the arguments for it.  Rast was great at being very detailed and at the same time very clear on some tricky topics like hand ranges and combinatorics.

He was also exceedingly patient and gracious with what I thought were some not so great questions - but he always found a way to direct them towards a productive path of discussion, so it never felt that any of the students were wasting our time, which they easily could have.

A couple of things, the new stuff for me - or if not new, at least a new perspective:

One item that kind of blew my mind on the second day lecture had to do with the concept of "blockers" and the value of 3 betting with any ace in position.  When Rast really broke it down, it was illuminating as to why relentless aggression in position reigns supreme in NLHE tournaments.

Another topic towards the end of the first day that was very gratifying to go over - the value of 3 betting from the small blind.  It was a great relief to hear the reasoning behind this, as I thought I was going crazy over the last 2 years seeing so much 3 betting from the small blind; no, it does really exist and there are actual mathematical reasons for it.

Also very satisfying to hear it confirmed, not only by Rast in the lecture, but by the other pros in the labs, that pocket pairs when they hit a set are indeed massively powerful and your only concern (except for the wettest of boards after 4th street) should be getting your chips in.

Related to this, it was EXTREMELY satisfying to hear in the labs, instructor after instructor telling players things like "You need to get it in here. You need to shove.  Why bet so large and then fold?"

This is how I've approached the game for years - I have always seen the big picture of my tournament equity.  My rule of thumb has been, if I am committing 25% of my stack or more with a bet, I should just shove.  I'm not giving up so much and then folding.   Turns out, 25% is too much.  Rast puts that limit at 15%, the other instructors line up with this as well, with only one of them saying that you could push it to 20%.

Player after player in my hand lab would get their bet sizing wrong.  I did too on occasion, but mostly because I was nervous.  In my head I really did know before they even said something if I had done it wrong.  One of the most satisfying moments for me of the entire weekend was with Melanie Weisner, when she was trying to explain to the fellow on my right that why his massive overbet of the pot with top pair good kicker was incorrect - she struggled a little bit in clarifying why it was bad and said so... "I'm not being clear here... your bet means you are...."  she paused, I chimed in  "Winning the minimum and losing the maximum?"  "Yes!" she exclaimed "Thank you!"   This is a concept that I've known for a number of years now, and it made me feel super good to know that I am on the right page with this very common leak.

So yes, if you couldn't tell, the hand labs were my favorite part.  We would play the hand, and players who folded would keep their mucked cards on the rail.  At the end of the hand all of the cards got turned up, and we all learned from the pro what went right and what went wrong.

My lab had one player at the table who was a genuine fish by the name of John.  A perfectly nice person I'm sure, but a Bike regular who I've played with before who has zero clue on bet sizing and typically plays to lose the maximum.  I have seen him accumulate a massive stack only to spew it all off on several occasions; it was interesting to see what he held in this hand lab, as he proceeded to do what he does.

At first I was a bit irritated, as John played nearly every hand, but I took it as an opportunity to think about how to deal with someone so loose, especially when he seems to be hitting most of his hands.  Turns out I was more understanding than the instructors.  Brian Rast on the second day lost it a little bit with John's luck boxing.  He didn't raise his voice, but he was fairly irritated -  "No, this is a bad hand that you shouldn't be playing"  John tried to interject and Brian cut him off "Look, you guys are paying me a lot of money to learn, there is no justification for playing K6 out of position, even with a big stack... it's wrong, it's ugly.  Don't do it."  It was great to hear him go to town a bit, not mean at all, but definitely assertive.  And it was also reassuring that even a LAG like Brian, who is a stone cold killer at the table and strikes fear into the hearts of amateurs like me, does indeed still hold that garbage OOP is inexcusable even when deep or against a table of fishes.

We also had a tournament on Saturday night, about 50 players and prizes for the top 3 including a trip to Vegas for first and a chance to win 5K in World Series buy ins for 2014.   It was a good time, and I enjoyed playing and even talking a bit of poker as I normally would never do out in the wild.  Hey, we were there to learn right?  I might have misplayed my exit hand, but truthfully, at the final table I knew I needed to more than double up to have a chance at 1st place which was the only prize really worth having.  I made a very good read on my opponents, they were super light, and I did get my money in with very live cards as a slight underdog to the one guy with the weak ace.  Oh well.  EDIT: I just ran my hand in an odds calculator, and my hand KQos was actually a tiny favorite when the money went in.  I had KhQd which was 35.11% to win, the other guys had As3c which was only 33.5% and 79ss which was 30.95%.  I RULE.

Overall, for me, this was a great experience.  I would highly recommend it to most of my poker playing friends - especially those who are cognizant of their own leaks and are able to listen and apply what they have learned.  It truly is one of those experiences that you can get a lot out of, IF you put effort into it.  I could very easily see a regular from the Bike or Commerce, arrogant or inattentive or both, zoning out in the lectures and arguing with the pros in the hand labs and walking away thinking that it wasn't worth it; but it would take a special brand of idiot to come away from the WSOP Academy with this attitude.

I am super stoked that I went and very excited to review my notes and apply what I have learned in my next poker session - unfortunately I probably won't get to play for another couple of weeks but oh well.
I had originally hoped to try and satellite into the WSOP Circuit main event at the Bike this weekend, but my schedule is simply too busy.  Hopefully I will be able to partake in a day 1 flight of Mega Millions 9 which runs right after the circuit.

Vegas Bender 2014.01

The wife and kiddo had a Girl Scout weekend camping trip and I wasn't invited, so what's a degenerate gambler to do?  Haul ass to Vegas natch.

Booked once again for four days and nights and the fabulous Harrah's Hotel and Casino right smack dab in the middle of the strip, I touched down Friday morning, dropped off my bag at the bell desk and made a bee line across the street for the Mirage.

Their 11am tournaments are soft but fast, just how I like 'em.  I call their poker room the Time Warp, because after playing with the daily grinders at Commerce, who know how to 3 bet light and bomb the river no problem - it really is like stepping back into another era.

Free diet cokes are also a plus. Too bad I gave them up for my New Years resolution.

The dealers are crusty but capable and friendly enough.  And the competition, oh the competition, is friendly and mostly fishy.

With just 35 runners and only $600 for first place, there was very little pressure and I had a great time splashing around in the early levels.  By the second break I was thoroughly short and ecstatic to get my chips in pre-flop with AA.  Unfortunately they got cracked and I was out, with not even the Aces Cracked promo that the Mirage runs applying to tournament play.  Boo!

Had a bite to eat and headed back to my hotel.  Checked into the room and er... relaxed.  Headed back downstairs just in time for Harrah's 3pm donkament, also $60.

Chipped up quite a bit early on.  I was excited to see that the structure was just fine for the price point and had no antes.  Best of all, they didn't race off the green chips,  they rounded them up!  Just like I do in my garage.

As my stack shrunk a bit and the money approached, I managed to get called by check raise jamming a flop of Qs9s7h holding Js8s by an opponent who had a red Q10.  I blanked and I was crippled.  Happy to get my money in this way with two ways to win (hit or get opponent to fold).  I was a bit of an underdog only because the villain had one of my outs, it was a coin flip otherwise.

With 4 bigs in my stack it wasn't long before I hit the rail.

Ah well, no monies yet.  I had it on my schedule to play the Planet Hollywood 7pm - but walked down there to discover that they had a $1000 guarantee for first and the $500 guarantee for 2nd, which is great but it also meant for sure that much tougher players would show up.  As poker these days is all about game selection, I was pretty tired and for sure knew that I would be negative EV. So I walked all the way back, grabbed a pizza at CPK in the Mirage and signed up for the 7pm in the Time Warp.

Alas, as it was Valentines eve, all the nice friendly tourist poker players were out with their significant others - and the only ones in attendance were degenerates who knew how to play the game in 2014.  I tightened up a bit and went into SoCal playing mode.

I made a great squeeze move against the capable TAG on my right with 710os, my one good spot that I picked to chip up.  Otherwise my timing was off and I was out in less than 2 hours.  I was card dead, but really I didn't see that as THE reason for busting.  It was one of many factors and not even the most important one - that the table was full of capable rec players and 2 semi-pros was really why I headed back to the room early,   Granted, my bust out hand was pretty gross, my 99 losing AIPF to the not quite monster stack with Q9.  Oh well.

All in all it was a fun day, results notwithstanding.  Good decisions just about all, no major mistakes.

I met my homies Sven and Dan the next morning at the 9am Bally's.  The good news was, it was a $65 tournament with a $1000 guarantee.  The even better news was is that there was quite an overlay with only 3 short handed tables.

I was firing on all cylinders and my timing was fairly awesome, picking on the right tight/passive targets and gave the handful of loose/passives a wide berth.  Again I got my money in good several times, and this time my better hands held up.

The money quickly approached, we were 4 handed and Dan was one of the shorties.  I floated the idea of taking $65 off the top for the bubble - the two other players declined as they had both re-bought.  Okay fine.  Needless to say, while I never soft-play a friend, I certainly didn't go out of my way to tangle with Dan as he struggled to hold on.

In the end it worked out for him, he managed to outlast the spewy long haired tourist on his left and was in for some monies.  After he busted the lady across from me offered an even money chop, which I politely declined as she had refused my bubble offer and I also had a 3 to 1 chip lead.

Things were looking great as I wore her down a bit more; she would shove with any decent hand and I could easily fold.  When I had a hand I was willing to go with I would simply min-raise and she would fold.  The latter happened more than the former when I had KQ on the button and min-raised; she finally jammed over the top and I happily called off.

She had KJ and the board ran out harmlessly, until the river when her 3 outer hit.  Sigh.

I was now of course happy to chop as she took over the chip lead.  She stalled a bit on this through a few hands, which I happened to win.  As I dragged my 4th pot she finally caved to my offer of an extra
$25 for her.  She got $450 I got $400.

Nice to book a win and get that out of the way.  Dan tried to persuade us to have a sit down lunch but the stubborn degenerate in me took hold and we kept focus on heading directly to the Aria for the 1pm $125.

158 runners, and many of them half decent.  I have to say overall I played well.  Less than an hour in this hand unfolded.

The table had been fairly passive to this point - I had avoided limping except to check through on my big blind or once in a blue moon on the button.  This has become my general rule of thumb - I have gotten into more trouble speculating from out of position so many times, I've pretty much given it up.

But on one hand I had a suited 65 on the button.  The button in my mind is different, especially if you have inactive blinds, as I did at this table.  On the button you get maximum information and have the best chance of getting away when you are beat.  So I flat called.

The fresh faced young player to my direct right didn't know it, but I had played with him before and I knew he was typically an aggressive and dangerous player, especially if he had chips.  Here he had been whittled down a bit.

With four limpers seeing the flop of 652 rainbow, I was happy to bet half the pot when it was checked to me.  Fresh face was my only customer and a heart 3 rolled off on the turn putting a four flush out there.  He checked again, I did as well for pot control, the flush didn't concern me too much as I had already given the wrong price on the flop to draw for it.  I was also hoping to induce a bluff if the river blanked - which it did.

A black queen hit fifth street and my opponent abruptly shoved.  I had him covered but not by much. It was a line that didn't make sense at all, and I called fairly quickly.  He was too embarrassed to show, though the dealer did flip over his cards as he walked away.  He had complete air and I had dragged a huge pot.

I was surprised that he spazzed out so thoroughly, if he had put out a chunky value bet there was a chance I might have talked myself into a fold, but realistically not a very big chance.

Though I made the decision too quickly, once again - I was very pleased that it was clearly the right one; and it gave me a boost to know that I could snap off such a tricky and aggressive regular.

Nearly 3 hours later I had been moved when this amazing hand happened.

Sitting on 65 bigs, I had AA under the gun, and raised my standard 2.5x.  A shortish stack of just under 20 bigs on my direct left jammed.  The next player on her left re-raised about half of his 60 big blind stack.  Yay.

I took a short hollywood moment, and then slid out my whole stack.  Out of the corner of my eye I could see the player two to my left reach back to shove the rest of his chips in.  I fast rolled my aces too quickly.  He stopped mid-move, his chips clearly behind the betting line.

"Oh shit."  he exclaimed.  The floor was called.  He was allowed to decide.  He folded his kings face up.

A king came right in the window and he groaned.  I was apologetic.  My aces held against the short stacks AJ and I dragged a 50+ blind pot.  I was relieved that things had worked out, but I felt bad for exposing my cards early.  I apologized again and the floor gave me a one round penalty, my first ever in poker!

I had to stand at the rail for 8 hands, but it was worth it to be sitting on over 100 bigs so late in the tournament.  Crazy.

Another hour passed and I was doing okay - thoroughly card dead with multiple aggressive players; a tough spot even with ammunition.  The structure at Aria is great, but it's still a one day event.  I had dipped under 100 bigs when a Euro aggro 3 bet my QQ.  I calmly cut out a hefty four bet and he quickly five bet shoved.  I pondered for a moment, and then decided he had been way too active for me to worry about two hands, I was happy to flip with AK for a chance at big money and would be crushing almost everything else that he had.  I called off, he had aces and they held.

Back down to reality, I managed to nurse my 25 bigs stack for a long while, eventually getting down to 2 tables.  At one point I woke up with KK and they held for a very nice double up.  Other than that it was a lot of folding to a super aggressive and massively stacked table, until my 17 big blind stack found JJ in the small blind and 3 bet jammed, only to run into QQ in the big blind who was now the same Euro aggro who had crushed me earlier with his rockets.

He was very sweet about it and I gladly offered my hand to shake as I made my way to the counter and a $390 payday for 12th place.   Later I heard that the final table chopped at 5 players evenly for $1200 apiece.

I was done for the night as I was mentally spent - I think I did go back to Mirage for their 10pm turbo, but I certainly wasn't going to count it if I got lucky and cashed.  I didn't.

Sunday came early and I dropped by to see Sven at the Bally's 9am, though I didn't play as I was meeting Dan for the 11am Mirage.  Sven did end up cashing I believe.  The overlay at 9am was sick and I vowed to return on Monday morning.

As for the Mirage, it was fun.  I laughed, I cried, I kissed my $60 goodbye.  I made a great call to snap off a bluff early on but got crippled in an ill advised hand against someone who didn't know his ass from his elbow.  When he slow rolled me, I smiled and tapped the table, thoroughly and genuinely unperturbed.  A kid across the table exclaimed "Wow he slow rolled you."  "No he didn't." I responded in a friendly matter.  "That would imply that he knows what he's doing" I said to myself.  No big whoop.

I did make the final table, but I busted in 10th place when my AK lost to KJ aipf.  If it wasn't for luck I would win them all honey.

Dan had busted earlier so I joined him at the 2pm Bally's along with Sven.  I was out in under an hour, so I made my way back to Harrah's for the 3pm.

Again, I played pretty awesome.  Very soft and friendly table - plenty of chances to pound with big three betting and aggressive c-betting.

Three tables quickly became one and I found myself in a massive pot, AIPF with AA.  Miraculously my rockets held against AK and KK and I had a monster stacken.  We played for another hour or so until it was three handed and we were all about even.  I was happy to take a 3 way chop for first, $350 into the wallet and another great time in the books.

Finally the evening approached - I returned to CPK to dine by myself on some pesto pasta.  Dan was done for the day and for the weekend with teh pokerz.  Sven was eyeballing the 7pm Aria after not cashing at Bally's.  He was a bit tilted in his texts to me about being "the worst player ever" so I talked him out of the Aria tourney.  It is not an event to enter if you're not feeling good about your game.

Unfortunately he took this to the next level and then hopped on a jet to go back home.  Dan also flew back to L.A., but he had always planned to do so.  Now I faced being alone on Monday.

After I busted the very friendly and fishy 7pm Mirage, I got back to my room and simply collapsed.  I was burnt toast and didn't wake up until some drunk asshole in the hallway decided to have a one person conversation at four in the morning.

After he left, and I didn't have a chance to do something stupid like confront him, I showered.  The prospect of a full days grind without Sven wasn't all that appealing.  On top of this, my girls had sent me pics of their camping trip and I was genuinely sad about missing it.  Even worse, they had gotten back Sunday night; when I booked my trip I had just assumed they wouldn't be back until late on Monday as it was a holiday.

So missing them terribly, knowing they were just an hour away by air - I packed my bag, checked out, returned my car and ate the hundred extra bucks (which happened to be covered by my poker winnings) to get back home.   A great +EV decision all around.

Speaking of great decisions - I really think that that was what this trip was all about.  Primarily in game selection.  I went after the softer targets, with the one exception of the Aria, which is a great value not because of the competition but because of the prize pool and the structure.  I have to say, when approaching the game these days, it really is all about choosing the right targets.

The learning curve has steepened more than ever before; if you enter a big event, with a lot of money at stake, you're going to not only get semi-pro regulars, but also serious rec players who are nearly as good.

The trade off is of course, if you stick to smaller events you will likely get weaker players, but you'll be faced with much smaller prize pools and much shittier structures.  In other words, you have to get a lot luckier to have a chance at winning smaller amounts of money.

But I really do prefer this - primarily because the game is a lot more fun for me if I genuinely feel like I'm one of, if not the, best player at the table.  I get to do so much more and get a lot more creative and have a lot more fun if I know I'm not going to get outplayed.    Simply put; folding all the time until I wake up with a decent hand is not a fun time for me.  I'd much rather play more hands, tangle and be challenged a bit, putting my skill set to good use against opponents who don't quite grasp position or stack sizes.

Come the summertime though, I'll be looking to dip into the WSOP - a much larger and more challenging arena.  This vast event is it's own reward for the experience, even though it likely will involve a whole lot of the aforementioned and dreaded folding and waiting.

With any luck I will bink one of the satellites in my garage.  This year I plan to have one for a bracelet event and one as a satellite for a satellite into the Main Event.  It has been a long time dream now, percolating in my brain, to sit down in the greatest poker tournament on earth, and a Step 1 satellite is a great way to try and do it.

In the meantime, it will be the occasional home game, and maybe a WSOP Circuit event at the Bike in March if I get the time.  If I do, you can bet you'll be able to read about it here.

Going for the jugular.

I have a leak in my game.  In a poker tournament, especially in the early and early-mid stages; I typically play very well, and often (especially lately) I have found myself making very good decisions and dragging big pots.  The problem though is the mid-mid and later stages; my play is okay, but mentally I psyche myself out.  Really, I wimp out.

Case in point - in the absurd LAPC event #1, the $75 coinflip, I mean... er Facebook tournament; I made two plays against the same opponent to take a big portion of his stack.

Hand 1 - I raised 3 limpers big (6x I believe) with Ah6d from the cutoff.  This was a soft table overall, and all 3 limpers were passive; I would have been happy to isolate one of them.  Instead I got heads up with the small blind who had a gang of chips and decided he was going to be the poker sheriff.  Everyone else folded.

I was reading a lot of heat off of him, so when the flop came ragged with an Ace I checked behind to induce; he obliged nice and chunky on the turn which put a third club on the board, I called.  The river of course was a fourth club and he barreled again, a good sized value bet.   Instead of insta-folding, as is my usual course of action, I actually went into the tank and replayed the hand in my head from the beginning.  I also considered what I had seen from him so far at the table.  He was rather pathological in his defense of his blinds and had twice failed with wonky bluffs out of position.

I cut out the chips I would need to pay him off.  My stack was still viable.  His story was rather credible, but something just didn't smell right.  I tossed in the chips and waited for him to show.  He didn't want to.  I quickly turned up my naked pair and he disgustedly mucked.  Gasps around the table. I dragged a substantial pot.  I did see out of the corner of my eye that he had turned up 2 low red cards, complete air.

Hand 2 - My memory is a lot hazier on this one.  It was a couple of orbits later, he had been very active since our tangle, winning and losing a few pots.  He raised it up UTG+2.  All folded to me on the button, I defended.  This is a habit I've gotten into, and I think it's a good one - I defend my button a whole lot more than I defend my blinds.  I'm especially happy to do so if someone is a donator, which so far this fellow was.  My cards didn't matter too much, but for the record they were 108.

Flop came ragged with a king, he c-bet, I floated.  Don't remember what the turn was.  He checked and I bet half the pot.  He folded, clearly rattled and flustered, muttering under his breath.

I dragged the chips again, but I couldn't lift my head and look him or anyone else in the eye.

THIS is my leak.

I'm afraid of making people feel bad.  I'm afraid of being confrontational.  I just want to be anonymous at the poker table.

This is wrong.  I should embrace being intimidating.  I've had more than one person that I didn't know confide to me away from the table that I CAN be a bit scary.  This is okay.  Not mean or nasty, not rude - but people should be more than a bit afraid of tangling with me.

But there I was, self-doubt enveloping me.  I had completely outplayed this guy now, twice.  He was not a good player - he had somehow stumbled into a big stack, but now he was in the business of getting rid of it.  He played way too much out of position, his bet sizing was kooky - he massively over bet a lot, which insured he would get minimal value with made hands and zero bluff value with air if his opponent had hit their hand.

I should have been going out of my way more often to get into pots with him - as well as several others.  But as the tournament continued, and I was now flush with a big stack, I began an internal monologue that was very unhelpful.

"Did I deserve that first pot?  Did I play it right?  Am I just a calling station that randomly caught someone bluffing? Better shift gears and wait for a premium now that everyone thinks I'm a maniac."

WRONG.

Everyone thinks I'm a maniac - this is great.  Keep the pressure on.  That's right bitches, this is MY table.  Hi there, how are you?  Good, glad you're having fun.  I'M ALL IN.

I need to let go of my fear, fear of being ostracized or looked on askance or whatever.  I must never lose my friendliness - but it's okay to have that edge of intimidation, to strike a little fear into peoples hearts when it comes to the cards and the chips.

I really need to work on giving myself credit when I make one of my "lucky" decisions - as I've been making more and more of them lately.  These aren't necessarily lucky, I've worked very long and very hard in developing the skill set of reading people.  It is starting to pay off and I need to have faith that even if I can't quite put my finger on why I made the correct decision, I HAVE made it, and it almost certainly wasn't just dumb luck that I did.

Two tournaments ago in my home game - I was going to quickly muck my second pair on the river, but then I hesitated.  Something about my opponents bet just didn't seem right.  I thought for about 30 seconds, and then finally talked myself into folding.  He showed the bluff.  Fuck.

I need to listen to that inner voice more often - as lately it is usually correct.  My first instinct is sometimes right sometimes wrong, but in taking time to rethink the hand is where I almost always get on the path to getting it right.

So to plug this leak of intimidation - this leak of uncertainty; I need to do two things much more often.

1.  TANK.   As much as I hate tankers, I need to become one, in bigger tournaments in big pots.  STOP.  TANK AND THINK.

2.  Embrace the beast.   It's okay to be a force at the table.  I've worked hard at it.  I deserve it.  This is a tournament.  I'm not taking mortgage money.  I'm not taking food off of their kids plates.  They're going to go hit the cash game after they bust.  I'm providing a service.  Tournaments are all that I do.  This alone gives me an edge against a lot of recreational players.

As an exercise, the very next tournament I play here is what I'm going to do.

As soon as I drag a big pot, the VERY NEXT HAND, regardless of what I have, I'm coming in for a raise no matter what.  Either opening the pot, raising limpers big, or three betting a raiser.  That's what I'm doing.  Now if I have trash I'm of course shutting it down if I whiff completely and am out of position.  But if I connect in any way or have position, you better believe I'm fighting for that pot.

I must shake this nonsense idea that I'm not good enough.  Against most amateurs I'm more than good enough - and that's what these low buy in big guarantee events are full of.