Last day of the month… March 31, 2008

For many things…last time to rank in the railbird freeroll to make the top 50 of the month, last day of journaling before I can add my totals up for the month to see where things stand…I only add up once a month because I don’t want to be fixated by numbers.

Today’s railbird ranking freeroll was on fulltilt so that’s where I’d be playing all my games for the afternoon.  I also decided to try a couple $2 stts while I was at it.  I played in a $2 turbo omaha h/l stt and was the 2nd one out.  Next up was a $2 stud h/l stt and no exciting hands and went out in 5th.  Tried another one but this time $2 stud hi stt and came in 2nd.  Someone whined after they went out in third that I folded my way to 2nd lol…heads up lasted for another 20 minutes so I guess there was a bit of skill to go with the folding.

The railbird freeroll…sigh, just missed ranking.  Was very short and got all my chips in with AA22 and got called by Q99 and he hit not one but two more 9’s to knock me out 50 from ranking.  Not positive now if I can make the top 50 for the month…will just have to wait and see.

Stud saves the day… March 31, 2008

Didn’t play poker all day because I planned on playing in the railbird freeroll tonight and thought I’d just start my poker day at 9 pm and spend the day hanging with hubby.  Made it over 1/2 way through the railbird freeroll when my QQ ran into KK and I was out, bleh.  Played in a .25 nlhe mtt and made it 1/2 way through.

Played in an omaha h/l turbo $4 tournament and just missed the money by 5 places when someone called my pot size raise preflop with KJ82 (eh???) and the flop came K88 lol.  Played in a $1 razz tournament and made it 1/2 way through again…this seemed to be the theme of the day.

 I tried a $2 nlhe mtt with 1932 playeers and went out in 244th for a small cash.  I decided to try a $1 nlhe 45 player sng to change things up and was 3rd one out lol when someone slowplayed their monster hand against my almost moster hand.

My last tournament of the evening was a stud h/l mtt.  Started with 456 players and I hung on to make the final table and finish in 6th place for a cash of $19 and change.  So stud saved the day for me and made it a slightly profitable evening.  Tomorrow’s last railbird freeroll of the month is a stud one so I’m hoping it saves the day for me there too lol as I’m not sure if I’ll finish in the top 50 for the month without it.

Not even sure how to describe today… March 30, 2008

A few words may come to mind but none are words to mention in polite company lol.  Soooo instead I’ll just blog about my evening and how it was not so pretty.  I got out of work at 5 pm with not much to do as hubby was going out for the evening so I decided to check out fulltilt and play some multi sngs and some mtts.

Let me just give a quick rundown and make it less painful and easy to read rofl!!!

Played in 1 $5 deepstack nlhe 90 person sng…made it almost 1/2 way through the pack when I got knocked out by the sb when I was in the bb when I had A2 and he had A3 and the flop came A23…bleh.  Played in 3 $1 nlhe deepstack sngs and in the first one had AA and after 4 people limped I raised to 600 and one called…flop came Q93 and they checked (they were utg) and I bet 3/4 pot and they moved in….I put them on AQ with their utg limp call and called her all in and she had limp called with QQ and I was out almost right away.  The next one I had AJ and got my money in when short (but not super short and 4 from money) and a mid stack called my all in with A6 off and hit his 6 and I was out.  The next one I flopped top two pair and bottom pair called me and hit a third 8 and I was out 12 from the money. 

I tried a $2 nlhe 18 person sng and made it to tenth place.  I then played in a $3 knockout nlhe ds turbo 90 person sng (what a mouthful that is) and knocked two people out, played good poker and made it to the final table where one of the bigger stacks kept moving all in and I had JJ one hand and a little stack called all in and I thought it was my best place to more than double up to get far in the final table…little stack had TT, big stack had 66…you know the story already lol, big stack hit his 6 on the turn and me and lil stack were on the rail in 8th and 9th place.

I tried a $5 horse mtt hoping a change of game might help….made it to 15 before the money and went out.  I played in a $5 omaha h/l limit mtt…made it about 1/2 way through and went out.  Played in a $2 omaha h/l pl 2 table sng, got all my money in with top set against an overpair and he hit a third one for a better set and I’m out.  Played in a $5 HA pl mtt and went out pretty quick…they were all playing like nutsos, I think most of them only played because Chip Jett was signed up, pfffft.

Played in a $2 turbo nlhe 2 table sng and came in 11th after getting my money in when short with A9 sooooted and got called by K5 soooooted and they rivered a flush.  My last tournament was a $1 rebuy nlhe mtt…436 players, 45 get paid.  I rebought right away and then added on at the break for a total investment of $3.  I fought to get to the money and then right after money broke, I got moved to giant stack’s room and had AK off first hand and I’m pretty short.  Smaller stack moves in, I move in over the top of him and big stack goes all in for 140k lol (blinds were 1500/3000).  He had AA, I had AK, ss had 99 and AA win and we’re both on the rail in 44 and 43.  So a very small profit of $1.65 and an overall $22 loss for the day. 

I made the promise to blog it all so here it is.  I’ve had a bad run on ft lately.  Need to consider stepping down now to $1 and $2 mtt, sng, stt as my bankroll has taken a hit this week.  I could also move over to ps for a few days and see how that pans out.  On the agenda for the next two days is playing in the last two railbird freerolls of the month hoping to maintain being in the top 50.

Friday night at the Full Tilt Corral… March 29, 2008

Friday nights on full tilt always remind me of a western…all the cowboys are out and they are ready to brawl.  We can probably assume a few drunks are thrown in the mix too.   I was in the mood for a deep stack 90 player sng and looked to see if one of them were starting soon.  There was a $5 one getting ready to start and I hopped into it and woohoo, I was off to the races.   It didn’t start off great…didn’t see many hands, lots of 83 off, 94 off, etc but since it was a deep stack sng I had time to find some hands.  While I’m sitting there patiently waiting for some decent hands, I’m watching madness ensue.  Lots of smack talk, many overplayed hands, just your typical Friday night playing online poker. 

 I was one of the short stacks all the way down to 24 or so players.  I was able to raise preflop about once a round and steal the blinds for another round.  I finally get AK and decide to limp since I’d raised the last two hands…folded around to small blind who was short stack and he moves in…big blind folds and I call and our hands flip over and we both have…AK.  We split the pot and move on.  Next round I have QQ utg and raise pot and take the blinds/antes.  Very next hand I have AA in my big blind…folded around to the button who double raises…I re-raise and he calls.  Flop comes J high rainbow and I move the rest of my chips in…he calls with KQ off…he has no draw, no pair, nothing.  I double up which gives me enough chips to cruise to top 18 if I see no more hands.

Which I don’t lol…not a single decent hand after those two big pairs.  15 left and I have K9 suited in bb…I check my blind and it comes K high with two hearts.  I move in (about pot size bet) and get called by T7 hearts and he hits his heart and I’m out in 15th.  Not what I wanted for a finish but can’t complain.

Decided to blow off some steam in a $2 omaha h/l pl turbo stt.  Had a couple good hands but overall saw a bunch of mediocre hands.  Made it to 3rd and was out lol.  I’m done for the night but I’m proud to say I survived Friday night at the Full Tilt Corral.

Time to blog some ugly! March 28, 2008

Had the day off from work today and was all excited to play some poker.  I had checked my railbird ranking last night and saw I’m in 34th place for the month.  They had a ranking freeroll today so I thought I’d play in it to try to seal the deal lol….except I brayed and heeaawed my way to the rail pretty quick.   After I got knocked out, I hopped in a $2 180 player nlhe sng….I was soooo bored with it, it seemed to take forever to get to the money.  I was shocked…over 2 hours in and still not to the money.  There was a big stack in my room who kept moving in every hand…was getting old.  When we finally made it to 18 and the $$$, I was 8th in chips…he was 2nd in chips.

I see KQ diamonds and I’m first one in…so I raise 3x the bb which happens to be 1500 chips….he moves all in from the sb.  I see red lol (bad bad punky) and I quick call…he has 4’s and they hold up and instead of having plenty of chips to go to final table with, I find myself first one out in the money lol.

I decide maybe I’m not on my nlhe game and decide to try some  $2 omaha h/l turbo stts….was first one out of the first one <insert big blush here> and the next one I go to the money as the chip leader and end up finishing in 3rd, sigh.  I decide that it’s time to call it quits for now and find something else to do and hope my head straightens out.

Later, I decide to watch the chix league on ps and play some easy poker.  I hop in a $3 nlhe turbo stt and went out 9th out of 10 lol…hopped in another one and made it to 7th….YIKES!   Decide to go to a non turbo game and play in a $1 nlhe stt…didn’t play my best and quickly donked off over 1/2 my chips lol…fought back and got to 4 players where we all hung on and hung on until I ended up getting my $ in with KJ vs. QT and he hit a boat and I’m out.

The only other hand that stuck out in my mind is this one…I’m in late position with JJ (can you say yuck lol) and 2 limped in, one raised, then next cold called the raise (omg)…soooo i re-raise 15x the bb just looking to take down the money out there at this point.  The sb cold calls my raise and everyone else folds.  The flop comes KQ3 rainbow and sb checks to me…I throw out a bet of about 1/2 pot and he cold calls (ut oh)…turn comes with an Ace and he checks and I check…river comes with a king and he bets out 1/8 of the pot.  I decide to call because at this point it isn’t very much to do so and I’m curious as to what he called me with…he called me preflop with A8 off, and on the flop with….NOTHING lol.

Sooooo…as I promised myself when I started this blog that I would write down the good, the bad, and the ugly…here is the ugly.

File this under…what happened? March 27, 2008

Saw hubby playing on pokerstars tonight (with the ten dollars I’d sent him the other day lol…just call me sucka) and decided to play a couple quick stts.  I signed up for a $3 turbo nlhe stt and played okay and finished 3rd.  No hands stuck out, I don’t feel I played my A game but eh, made it to the money.

I decided to try one more, same game and my computer decides that now is the time to freeze up.  I can see my chips dwindling (I was one of the bigger stacks) but I could do nothing.  The first hand I was able to play, I had AJ in my bb.  Five handed, folded around to the button who is a short stack and he moves in.  The blinds are 75/150 and it’s 800 more to me.  I think he’s stealing because my connectivity is only showing 70% at this point and they obviously knew I was having problems so I decided to call.  I needed to do something myself as I lost quite a few chips while I was frozen up.

He had KT off and I flopped a J and he was out.  I then proceeded to knock out the bubble with AQ (okay okay, I sucked out on his AK but again…thought he was stealing since my connectivity was 80% at the time.  So there is 3 left and I’m chip leader and I’m dealt AQ and raise from the button…bb calls, flop comes ten high and he moves in….grrrrr, have to fold.  Next hand I’m in the bb and the button raises (blinds are 200/400 at this point) and I fold and now I’m not the big stack anymore.  Next hand I have A6 soooooted in sb and I raise 3x bb and bb moves me in and I call…he has 8’s and I’m out in 3rd.  Penthouse to outhouse in 3 hands….what happened there?  I normally don’t bleed off chips like that.

So both games I came in 3rd to make a small profit for the night but I don’t know if I really deserved to make the money…this is why I’m filing it under “what happened” lol.

Monday night poker… March 25, 2008

While watching the new episode of the wpt tonight, I thought I’d hop on pokerstars and play some sngs.  I jumped in a $1 turbo nlhe 45 person sng and first hand flopped a set of twos against a pair of kings and doubled up.  Then I doubled up again when my AA won against QQ.   Since it’s a turbo, the blinds were moving quick and by the time I got to under 20 players, I was one of the short stacks again and had to make a move.  A person doubled raised from mid/late position so I re-raised all in with 77….his cards flipped up and he had KK and flopped a third one and I was out.

I next tried a $1.50 turbo 18 person nlhe sng and was pretty short quick and flopped top pair with my A7 off in bb and got my chips in against bottom two pair 2,3 off lol.  Off to the next $1 18 person nlhe sng and about 1/2 hour in I’m in the bb with 78 off and two people limp in and I check…flop comes A78 rainbow…I bet pot….both call…turn comes with a jack, I move the rest of my chips in…BOTH CALL…both hands flip over and both of them have AJ off lol.  Neither raises preflop and both somehow hit a 3 outer to knock me out and split my chips.

I decide to try a $2 turbo 5 card draw pl stt and was first out when I raised pot pre with AAA and got called by JJ and raised pot again after to set myself in lol and they had hit 888 to go with their JJ.

One last tournament before I call it a night and go bury my head in an ostrich hole…$1.50 turbo 18 player nlhe sng.  First hand…flop a set of 2’s against a pair of kings (deja vu??) and double up.  Then I hit AA vs. KK and double up again.  It gets down to 5, I knock out the bubble, and then 4th and then 3rd.  I’m heads up and have 3/4 of chips in play and raise on button 3x the bb with Q9 diamonds, he calls…flop comes Q high, he bets out min and I raise 3x that, he calls…turn comes with a 2nd heart and he bets min again and I set him in and he calls with J6 hearts and hits another heart on river….grrrrr.  I then get my money in with T6 diamonds and he calls with 53 off and hits a 5 and I’m out lol

All in all, I got lots of practice in and broke even for the night.

Not sure what I could have done different…? March 24, 2008

I haven’t played poker since Saturday night but I had a hand from that night that I wanted to share.  Hubby was sitting with me when it happened and he gave me advice on how to play the hand and unfortunately it didn’t pan out.  I’m not sure if I had played it any different if it would have ended with the same result.

It was the railbirds ranking freeroll and it had just reached ranking 10 players before.  I’d been card dead the whole tournament…lots of crap hands and one big pair…queens.  I quadrupled up with the queens to be able to hang in until ranking.  My second big pair was the hand I wanted to talk about…it happened 10 players into ranking and I was pretty short and it was everyone’s nemesis…POCKET JACKS.

Here is the hand:

Full Tilt Poker Game $200 Railbirds.com Freeroll, Table 108 – 200/400 Ante 50 – No Limit Hold’em – 2008/03/22
Seat 1: (7,092)
Seat 2: (2,581)
Seat 3: (15,660)
Seat 4: (3,012)
Seat 5: (2,185)
Seat 6: (5,072)
Seat 7: (8,248)
Seat 8: ME (1,750)
Seat 9: (4,217)
seat 1 antes 50
seat 2 antes 50
seat 3 antes 50
seat 4 antes 50
seat 5 antes 50
seat 6 antes 50
seat 7 antes 50
seat 8 ME antes 50
seat 9 antes 50
seat 8 ME posts the small blind of 200
seat 9 posts the big blind of 400
The button is in seat #7
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to ME [Jd Jc]
seat 1 folds
seat 2 folds
seat 3 folds
seat 4 calls 400 (has me covered…has 3012 in chips)
seat 5 folds
seat 6 calls 400 (has me covered…5072 in chips)
seat 7 calls 400 (has me covered…8248 in chips)
ME calls 200 (this was hubby’s suggestion…limp in and then move in if it comes 3 random low cards)
seat 9 checks
*** FLOP *** [7s 4c 9d] (there are the 3 random low cards)
ME bets 1,300, and is all in (I have to dodge 4 people calling me lol)
seat 9 folds (yay)
seat 4 folds (yay)
seat 6 calls 1,300 (figured they may have A9, K9, T9…something of that nature)
seat 7 folds (yay)
ME shows [Jd Jc]
seat 6 shows [6c 9c]
*** TURN *** [7s 4c 9d] [6h] (grumble grumble)
*** RIVER *** [7s 4c 9d 6h] [8d] (more grumbling)
ME shows a pair of Jacks
seat 6 shows two pair, Nines and Sixes
seat 6 wins the pot (5,050) with two pair, Nines and Sixes
me stands up

I think after 3 larger stacks calling preflop that even if I’d gone all in preflop for 1700 total, I’m still getting called with the possible same result.  I’m not sure if I could have done anything different besides check fold on the flop which I feel is the wrong thing to do.  Any thoughts?

Interesting poker day… March 21, 2008

I didn’t play much poker yesterday but what I did play was interesting.  I started with the dog eat dog heads up private tournament on ft and finished 3rd.  My two heads up matches lasted longer that anyone elses lol…haven’t quite figured out how that plays into my game.  Is this a positive thing or a negative thing?

I had made a promise to a friend that I would substitute for her in the LIPS league she is participating in on Pokerstars.  The pressure was on as she was in a three way tie for 2nd place and only separated from first place by 3 points.  There is also the added bonus of finishing in the top 3 for the week…if I did so I would not only keep her points up there but I would help her win some of her league buy-in back.

I started out nervous but determined.  I stole the first pot from the button as the sb was a tight player and the bb was late for the game lol.  I took the blinds a few hands later when I raised 3x the bb with pocket 4’s.  I was realizing fast that none of them wanted to be the first out and as I was seated with all the points leaders, there were some steal opportunities available to me.

The next time around I was in the sb with 95 soooooted…I completed the blind (there was one other limper) and the bb checked.  The flop came 678…BINGO!  I bet almost pot as I’m trying to protect against any stray draws out there…bb quick calls and limper folds.  Turn comes with a 3, no flush possibilities…I bet big again and she quick calls.  RIVER COMES WITH A NINE…ARRRRGGGGGH!  I decide to give up the hand and salvage what chips I have left to continue on.  She checked behind me…she had 45 and had caught the low end of the straight on the flop and caught up to me on the river….DOUBLE ARRRRRGGGGGH!

Nothing exciting happens for a while…I take down a couple more small pots and a few people go out and the final table starts (game starts with 12 players).  I’m first in with AJ of diamonds and raise 3x the bb…there are a bunch of shortstacks to act behind me and I’m hoping to get one of them involved in the hand.  One moves all in with a worse Jack hand and she’s out and I have her chippies…whew.

Next thing I know, we are down to 5.  The person to the right of me at the table is stealing my bb all the time (I was quite card dead the whole tournament) but after watching her play for a bit, I caught her rythym of stealing and was able to counteract it and pick up quite a few chips from her.  She was a monster stack though and had the majority of chips in play from about 7 players on down.  Another one gets knocked out and then another and we are in top 3…problem with this week’s top 3 is it’s 2 players who were tied for 2nd and the league leader lol. 

Overall, I ended up in 2nd place earning her some of her buyin back and keeping her at the top of the field in points.  She is now 2 points behind first place and last week she was 3 points behind first place so I’ve made up a tiny bit of ground for her.

While I was playing in that, I was also playing in the weekly sharks tournament…I shouldn’t have bothered lol.  I put so much of my poker energy into the league game for my friend that I was very erratic in my play in the sharks game and ended up going out 7th out of 16.

Drumroll please…. March 20, 2008

The bonehead of the year award goes to…..ME ME ME ME ME ME ME.

Okay, so maybe I don’t deserve a bonehead award but I do need to get this hand out of my system.  I made a decent goof and it is haunting me for a bit and anytime I get a hand stuck in my head I need to release it.  Here goes….

I log on to the railbirds site last night and see that they’ve updated the ranking.  I check my ranking out and see that I’m 64th for the month of March and 768 for the year in the freeroll rankings.  I’m very close to the top 50 for the month and I see there is a freeroll starting soon so I go sign up.

It’s NL Holdem and although I start slow, I start gathering chips.  I’m playing well and not making mistakes.  I’m making great reads and laying down hands when I should and making calls when I should and raising when I should.  I check and I’m 120 in chips out of 480…pretty good as top 195 get ranked and that’s what I am shooting for is another ranking.

Then…da da da da…this hand happens.   YIKES

Full Tilt Poker Game $200 Railbirds.com Freeroll Table 56 – 60/120 – No Limit Hold’em – 2008/03/19
Seat 1: (8,800)
Seat 2: (10,195)
Seat 3: (4,330)
Seat 4: ME (5,310) nice lil stack
Seat 5: (3,840)
Seat 6: (2,505), is sitting out
Seat 7: (6,515)
Seat 8: (8,480) maniac player
Seat 9: (735)
seat 8 posts the small blind of 60
seat 9 posts the big blind of 120 blinds are still very small
The button is in seat #7
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to ME [Kd Kh] yeehaw….cowboys
seat 1 folds
seat 2 folds
seat 3 folds
ME raises to 500 overbet the pot…trying to take it down since maniac in blind
seat 5 folds
seat 6 folds
seat 7 folds
seat 8 calls 440 I honestly wasn’t surprised when he called
seat 9 folds
*** FLOP *** [7d 4s Qs] I like this flop for my kings
seat 8 checks
ME bets 1,120 My bet here says I’m confident I have best hand
seat 8 calls 1,120 maybe my bet should have been more lol
*** TURN *** [7d 4s Qs] [Ad]
seat 8 checks
ME bets 3,690, and is all in here comes that bonehead move I mentioned lol
seat 8 calls 3,690 wasn’t surprised again
ME shows [Kd Kh]
seat 8 shows [As 7c] knew that and still I moved in
*** RIVER *** [7d 4s Qs Ad] [5c]
ME shows a pair of Kings
seat 8 shows two pair, Aces and Sevens
seat 8 wins the pot (10,740) with two pair, Aces and Sevens
ME stands up that actually should say “bonehead stands up”
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 10,740 | Rake 0
Board: [7d 4s Qs Ad 5c]
Seat 1: didn’t bet (folded)
Seat 2: didn’t bet (folded)
Seat 3: didn’t bet (folded)
Seat 4: ME showed [Kd Kh] and lost with a pair of Kings
Seat 5: didn’t bet (folded)
Seat 6: didn’t bet (folded)
Seat 7: (button) didn’t bet (folded)
Seat 8: (small blind) showed [As 7c] and won (10,740) with two pair, Aces and Sevens
Seat 9: (big blind) folded before the Flop

Okay, so here goes…I could have just bet pot preflop since I knew he was calling (he had called all the way to river in previous hand with 49 off to river and steal pot) and saved myself a few chips but I didn’t because I was a nervous nellie that he was calling no matter what I bet.

On the flop I could have moved in but still…I was nervous he was calling.  I should have bet a bit less on flop and again, would have saved me a few chips.  When the Ace hit on the turn, I should have checked right behind him and looked at a free river but nooooo, I let my emotions get the best of me and pulled my 3700 all in bonehead move.  If I’d been smart enough to check behind him I could have folded on the river with my 3700 chips and still been average stacked and on my way to another ranking.

This hand for me was a definite lesson learned.  I know what I did wrong, I knew what I was doing wrong while I was doing it, but I still did it because I let my stubborn emotions get in the way.  I’m hoping this won’t be a mistake I make again.

*UDATE* Hubby fully agrees that I am a bonehead lol.  He said I should have bet pot preflop since it was my standard preflop bet, and I should have bet no more than 60% of the pot on the flop and he says instead of losing my mind on the turn I should have checked right behind other player to get a free river and then fold to any crazy bets.  I completely agree