Living in New Hampshire, I count on online poker to fill in the gaps between my trips to play live poker.  Up here our only live poker is charity poker or traveling to Connecticut to Foxwoods or Mohegan Sun.   Once I made the decision to go back to school, I relied more on online poker.  Pokerstars obliged with starting up the women’s poker league.  This gave me a scheduled game to play each night of the week and playing against many of the same players each night.  Beyond the nightly tournament prize there were monthly prizes for top finishers in the league.  The league started in August and continued through the end of the year.  Each month I made the leaderboard with a few months coming in the top ten.  I also made the yearly leaderboard and because of all this was able to build my bankroll up from $70 to over $500.  They stopped the league at the end of the year and didn’t start it up again until I was already sick.  I didn’t play poker for over two months while I was sick and had just started back to playing when black friday happened.

Like everyone, I received my money back from Pokerstars but never received a dime back from Fulltilt.  It wasn’t a ton of money but it was enough for 6 buy-ins at a live tournament I like to play.  I then didn’t play online for a couple of months.  I finally asked a friend to transfer me some money on Carbon Poker where I tried grinding it away at the $.11 6 player sngs.  I finally got sick of this and asked for a bigger bankroll to be transferred so I could try $1 tournaments instead.  I’ve been grinding it away at the $1 double your money stts and have built my bankroll up a few dollars.  It is slow work but it is getting my poker game back in to shape.

Since I do not want this blog to be ten pages long I will move forward to what happened at Foxwoods last week.  I took my mother there for the day so she could play video poker.  She is getting on in years so I don’t leave her side anymore and play video poker alongside her.  Luck shined down on us this day and I hit a royal flush on a quarter machine where I was playing the standard 5 quarter max bet but was also playing 1 extra quarter for a bonus of X times pay.  When I hit the royal, my bonus was at 5x pay so I won $5000 which I split with my mother.  To make a long story short, most of the money went to bills but I set aside a few hundred for poker at The Poker Room in Hampton Falls, NH.  It is charity based but I don’t find the rake to be any worse than Foxwoods so when I don’t feel like traveling to Foxwoods I head there.

Sunday, my husband and I went to play in their 1pm tournament.  It is a $50 buy-in, you start with 12k in chips, and features 20  minute rounds and there was 172 players with 18 being payed and $1800+ for first.  We both played and neither of us cashed unfortunately.  I have no bad beat stories to tell, but did run in to some weird bad luck.  I started off on a roll with flopping a set of queens twice to gather some chips but then as the tournament got to the half way point my luck was changing.  I had AA twice and got no callers to my small raise preflop (2 1/2 times the bb).  I had KK twice.  The first time I raised 2 1/2 times the bb UTG.  Next guy calls and woman after him double raises.  She has been a very active player so I put her on AK, AQ, maybe QQ or JJ at the most.  A couple more people call her raise so I bump it up to isolate.  Everyone folds but her who smooth calls.  This put my senses on high alert.  The flop came with an Ace and I continue bet a small enough bet that I can fold if needed.  She bumps up my bet by 5 times.  I quick fold my KK face up and she turns over AA.

My second KK hand happened to be my out hand.  I was at a new table but had seen about 5 or 6 hands. This one guy sitting two to my left seemed to be in every hand so far.  I’d seen him call all-ins with A8 and AJ and A9.  He seemed like a loose cannon.  So I look down at KK utg (this should have been my omen ha) and raise 3 times the big blind.  Guy next to me calls and loose guy raises me.  I’ve seen him bully the other girl at the table so I put him on Ace crap.  It comes around to me and I count out my chips and see that if I fold I’m left with just over 8 times the big blind so I move in over the top of him.  He snap calls with his AA and I’m out.

Hubby went out about 12 before the money, he had no real hands all day and struggled to last that long.  I was very impressed with his play and knew if he’d gotten any cards he’d have made the money.  I tried a $40 stt after and went out on the bubble.  I never saw a pocket pair, never got a straight, and the only flush I had a guy rivered a boat to beat me.  I’m not going to cry and complain…my first day back at live poker was successful mentally and that is what mattered to me at the end of the day.

Day one…nlhe mtt, $150 buy-in, 30 minute rounds, 15k in starting chips, 109 entrants.  Can you say card dead?  In 6 hours of play I saw KK, QQ, AQ x2, and THAT IS IT!  I spent the day stealing, bluffing, and sitting patiently hoping for a hand.  I never got above the starting stack of 15k, hovered around it most of the day just from stealing blinds/antes.  I went out when there were about 32 players left.

Day two…nlhe mtt, $200 buy-in, 30 minute rounds, 20k in starting chips, 105 entrants.  Okay…can you say card dead day two?  Again, I saw absolutely no big pairs…this time I really saw no big pairs.  I lasted about 4 hours and made it to about 5 tables left again mostly from stealing/bluffing.

Day three…nlhe mtt, $200 buy-in, 40 minute rounds with antes not kicking in until 600/1200 level, 16k in starting chips, 107 entrants.  Can you say getting hit in the head with cards from hand one?  I spent the first two levels seeing AA, KK, QQ, JJ, AK, AQ and the list goes on.  I built up a nice stack the first two levels only to lose back to about 20k from a weird blind hand.  I had 3,5 in bb and tapped table.  Flop came 5K5…sweet I flopped trips.  We all check.  Turn comes with an A…I bet out this time and get one caller.  River comes a blank.  I bet out again and caller (who is 2nd UTG) double raises me with a shaky hand.  I think…AK or AQ with his position.  He was a limper and not a raiser so he had something but being in 2nd UTG I couldn’t place him with a 5 in his hand but to be safe I just called.  He flips over K,5 lol.  He had played K5 in 2nd UTG and was rewarded.   Okay, I move on from that but remember him for later.

Over the next few rounds I’m hovering around 20k to 30k in chips and am seeing no hands.  Two dealers are at my table and they are making it hard to steal as they are both playing very aggressive and keep playing back at me.   A person moved in on button with AK and I’m in bb with QQ.  I isolate him and knock him out.  Then I make a move on button, first in with AQ and bb moves all in (this is K5 guy).  I call as I have him way covered (thank goodness for that) and he turns over 2,3 lol.  Flop nothing, turn nothing, river TWO.  I double him up but promise to move on.  Two hands later I am first in and have AK of spades.  Agressive dealer number two is in bb and is steaming from donking off a bunch of chips.  I move in on him and he snap calls with AJ off and I take him out.

We get down to two tables and I’m short again.  I move in with 72 suited one hand when sb who was also short limps and flop comes A, J, 7…he checks so I moved in and took down a hand.  Then I’m in bb again next round and big stack raises me from cut-off and I re-raise all in with A9 clubs…he calls with J, T off and I’m sitting pretty now with about 80k in chips.

I get moved to other table and all hell breaks loose.  First hand I’m in bb with AK suited.  Big stack 3x raises (first one in in cut-off) and sb who only has like 30k moves in.  I had played with him at an earlier table and knew him to be loose.  I moved in to isolate him (now is time to make move, blinds are 4000/8000 with 500 ante) and money is still 8 spots away and I can’t make it without making moves.  He flips over QQ and sees my AK and starts whining away that I should have folded (hellooooo…I have 10x the bb not counting the freaking antes every hand).  Flop nothing, turn K….he flips out starts running around ranting and raving.  River…QUEEN.  Now he starts dancing around the room and acting like an ass.  Okay fine, I’ll deal with it…I still have about 50k in chips and still need to make a move.  Nothing has changed.

We get down to 15 and guy who took my chips with QQ asks for 15th and 14th to be paid by spreading the prize pool from first and second.  Not a lot of money, just those two places getting their money back to speed up the game.  We all agree and move on.  Few hands later a big stack takes a dive with a mediocre hand and is out in 15th.  I move in a couple hands later with AJ and take blinds/antes.  A couple rounds later and I’m SHORT.  I’m in bb and decide no matter what or who raises I’m all in blind (I have about 6x the bb).  Button raises and I move in with K3 suited.  He flips over KJ suited (sigh).  Flop comes with a 3, turn comes with a blank…river is a JACK.  Yep, once again the river has killed me.  That is three hands I’ve lost now on the river and this one is my end.

I wanted to go farther but I am not upset with my play.  For 9 hours I made all the correct moves and made no major mistakes.  I got my money back and was last woman standing and so far only one to cash in any of the events (this will definitely change before the 9 events are out, there are some fierce women players at Seabrook).  I’m also happy to note that a poker friend of mine won the whole thing!  I feel like he avenged me by him winning!

Weird side note to the three days…the first two days I was seated at the same exact table in the same exact seat and during tournament #3 I was seated at the same table but two seats to the left.  Everyone felt it was some kind of an omen, I just think it’s a freaky coincidence.

Hubby tells me I should try one $60 satellite to the clsc and I do.  I was overtired and should have peeked at the starting chips before I signed up.  You only started with 1200 in chips but I decided I could deal with that.  I was doing okay, stealing when I needed to, playing my hands well, moving my chips around well.  It got down to 4 and the button made a move on my bb.  We were the two short stacks at the table so I felt she was making a move against me.  I had KJ sooooted and decided this was a good place to call and hope to double up.  She had Ax and it held up and I was all in in the sb the next hand and went out on the bubble.

Next day was the LIPS tournament and again I wasn’t paying enough attention and didn’t check the structure before it started.  A lesson I learned and a mistake I don’t plan on making again.  The LIPS tournament had a very fast structure, 4k in starting chips, 25 minute levels, with antes kicking in starting at 100 ante somewhere around the 5th level.  My first table held two great players and I spent a lot of time watching and learning and fighting to gather chips.  I did well at that table and when our table broke my momentum broke too.  I got moved again and I moved in with I don’t even remember what just trying to double up because the blinds and antes were so high.  I went out with 6 tables left and about a 1/2 hour later someone told me there were only 3 tables left that is how fast the structure was.

Next day was the CLSC and it had a much better structure.  5k in starting chips, 30 minute levels, and antes kicked in at only 25 and moved up a lot slower.  My first table was good to me.  Me and the eventual winner of the event spent a lot of time gathering chips and both left our table when it broke in good shape.  I got moved to a table with a few great players (not scared of them but definitely kept their play on my radar) and one card rack.  This woman could not lose a hand and eventually went on to win the most money (they did a chop) but went out in 3rd place.  I was getting short in chips and made a move on the button against the bb which didn’t end up working because she was hiding KK.  I was fine with that though, I was getting short and had to double up or go home.  Next hand I moved in with J8 and flopped two pair against card rack’s Q9 and the river brought the dreaded T to knock me out.

I wasn’t unhappy with my play though even with the move I made on the button.  I didn’t want to get blinded out and if the move had worked I would have been in position to make it deep in the tournament.  I went out about 15 before the money started but I’m not complaining because I hopped on a 3/6 table that hit a bad beat jackpot and I got a nice table share out of it.

Last day was the charity event which was a tag team event.  Half limit holdem and half limit omaha h/l.  My husband played the holdem part and I played the omaha part.  The first couple rounds we stayed around our starting chip stack (we took both the dealer bonus and add-on) of 4500 chips.  The third round hubby lost 1/4 of our stack and the next level I almost doubled our stack.  From there we slowly built a chip stack but eventually the levels went from 30 minute levels to 20 minute levels and blinds creeped up fast.

When there were about twenty left he got upset with himself, he made a bad judgement in a hand and lost half our chips.  He was hoping they’d let me finish the tournament alone because he felt if it hadn’t been for him I would have cruised to the money.  We played two more levels and then my next round up when there were 12 couples (or singles as some played both games) an even chop was proposed and we all took it and then fought it out for the trophy.  Hubby and I went out in 7th place, I thought it was cute as he was the last man standing.  He definitely felt pressured playing with all of us scary-good women poker players.

All in all it was a successful weekend.  I met so many wonderful people, I played a lot of live poker which I don’t always get a chance to do, and the whole trip only cost us our airfare because of our chop and my bad beat jackpot share.

I didn’t keep track of my chip stack along with the levels because they announced no cell phones out at the table at all and I normally use the memo feature on my phone.  I could have used a structure sheet to write on but I like to use my youngish naive look to my advantage and keeping close watch on how I’m doing doesn’t do anything for this.  I mostly just remember each table I was at and how I played.

There were 51 entrants to start, I had been hoping for more as I was thinking the Sunday $200 would be light on players because of the Patriots game but I was off on that thinking.  My first table was pretty soft, I was able to pick up chips using bluffs, steals, semi-bluffs, decent hands, etc.  I remember making one large laydown with JJ when a person smooth called my raise preflop and then bet out on a Queen high flop.  I had too many chips and it was too early for me to go getting silly with Jacks.  I knocked out one person with AA when they moved in with AK against me.  I also gathered some chips against a very loose female player (obviously loose in the poker sense lol) when we were in the sb/bb (me the bb) and I flopped two pair and she flopped trips and I rivered a boat…she almost blew a gasket but she gave me a free flop and bet small on the turn and I honestly felt I had the best hand at that time. When they broke my table I moved to the next table with around 31k in chips.

At this time there were 4 shortish tables left (about 35 or so players).  I had a player two to my left who I knew was a good player, he is a friend of a friend and I know he had some great cashes under his belt and mostly relied on poker to pay his bills.   I steered clear of him unless I had a hand.  The blinds were starting to get up there but I still had plenty of chips to play with until this happened.

I had AA in mid position and UTG raises 2 1/2 times the big blind (which was 500/1000 at the time).  I’d seen this player get silly with some idiotic hands so I was hoping to isolate him and take his chips.  I re-raised another 5k on top and it was back around to him (he honestly looked like he was 12 and I’m guessing he was just 18 which is NH’s legal poker age) and was unsurprised when he re-raised another 7k to put himself in and to commit a ton of my chips to the pot.  I totally expected when he re-raised that he had JJ, QQ, or KK.

He flips over QJ off and there was a collective gasp at what he re-raised me with since this was my first hand at the table since I’d sat down about 20 minutes before.  The flop came K92…dum dum dum…turn T….river blank and he’s got over 1/2 my chips in his stack.  This man to his right freaked out on him on my behalf while I just sat there silently steaming.  Two hands later I look down at K3 off and think that would be a great hand to put almost 15k in the middle with and decide I need to go for a walk.  I come back recomposed and steal the blinds every round to keep my stack even.

Eventually it is down to two tables and I’m looking for a hand to make a move with.  With 19 players left, I am in the bb with K9 of diamonds.  A player in mid-position limps (he has a ton of chips) as does the bb (who has a decent amount of chips).  The flop comes Kxx (2 diamonds on the xx).  The sb bets out a min bet and I move all in for my remaining chips (I had about 9x the bb at that time).  The big stack folds and the medium stack snap calls 3/4 of his stack with Ax of diamonds.  Turn comes with a diamond and I’m out.

I played so well this day, I really felt as if lady luck had been smiling down on me on the AA hand I wouldn’t have had to make a move with the K9 or at least would have had chips left to continue playing.  I definitely plan on playing this tournament again, it is a really good structure for me.  I had to laugh because one of the dealers saw me and was like “why are you playing nlhe, you are a mixed games player and there is an omaha h/l tournament going on and you aren’t in it”.  I thought that was cute, that he remembered I liked to play the omaha/horse/etc tournaments.

I don’t remember specific hands but I do remember a steady climb through the first break with things going downhill after.

Level 1 – 25/50 blinds and I ended the level with 6450 in chips

Level 2 – 50/100 blinds and I ended the level with 6950 in chips

Level 3 – 75/150 blinds and I’m still making small strides ending with 7450 in chips.

Level 4 – 100/200 blinds and I end with 9800 in chips.  This was a good level.  I didn’t get many good hands but I did get one scooped pot which helped a lot.

Level 5 – 150/300 blinds, win a couple high hands and end with 11,300 in chips.

(this is where the downward trend begins, I stop picking up hands and lose my way)

Level 6 – 200/400 blinds, play no hands really and end with 10k even in chips.

Level 7 – 300/500 blinds, end with 9200 in chips.

Level 8 – 300/600 blinds, end with 8900 in chips.  I’m doing a good job of hanging tight and not losing patience.

Level 9 – 400/800 blinds, end with 11,700 in chips.  I had a good level, split a couple pots.  I’m feeling good at this point and still have confidence I can win.

Level 10 – 500/1000 blinds, down to 9000 in chips just from paying blinds.

Level 11 – 500/1500 blinds (these blind levels are weirding me out lol), I pay my blinds and then get moved to a new table (2 tables left) and get moved in to the bb and by the end of the round after losing a big hand I am down to 3500 in chips.

Level 12 – 1000/2000 blinds I go out in 11th place and they do a 7 way chop a few victims later.

I played well I felt, it was only my 2nd Omaha h/l tournament.  The first time I played in one was at Foxwoods and I was the true bubble and just missed the cash and one person out of the 5 left refused to pay the bubble.  I really enjoyed this tournament and kept a good attitude throughout.  A couple of the dealers commented on recognizing me as a mixed game player which I thought was funny as I play more holdem than anything.

We started with 6k in chips and the rounds were 30 minutes if I remember correctly.  I wrote down everything on my memo on my phone except the blind length, oops.  The first few rounds until the break were eh, too many players playing and I watched my stack dwindle a bit.

Level 1- 25 ante, 25 bring in, 50/100 limits ending the level with 5450 in chips

Level 2 – 25 ante, 25 bring in, 100/200 limits ending the level with 4925 in chips

Level 3 – 50 ante, 50 bring in, 150/300 limits ending the level with 4975 in chips

Level 4 – 50 ante, 50 bring in, 200/400 limits ending the level with 4475 in chips

Level 5 – 75 ante, 100 bring in, 300/600 limits ending the level and going to break with 4225 in chips.  They raced off the green chips during break and I came back to 4200 in chips.  I’ve never gained any momentum up to this point and was hoping after break would be better.

Level 6 – 100 ante, 100 bring in, 400/800 limits and end the level with 3400 in chips.

Level 7 – 200 ante, 200 bring in, 600/1200 limits (where did 500/1000 go darnit!) and end the level with 3800 in chips.  I finally finally won a hand woohooo!

Level 8 – 200 ante, 200 bring in, 800/1600 limits ending the level with 2ooo in chips.  There are nine left at this point and this level was a very bad level for me.  I was the bring in almost every hand and it really affected my already dwindling chip stack.

Level 9 – 200 ante, 300 bring in, 1000/2000 limits and this is the level I went out in with 8 left.  I had the best hand until 7th and he hit a 75 low to beat my first five card made 85 low.  He was running well and the last card was kind to him.  After I and 7th place got knocked out (same hand) they did a 6 way chop.

This was a hard tournament for me.  I was considered to be a solid razz player and either one of two things would happen if I entered a hand.  If I raised or showed agression at all everyone would fold to me and if I slowed down and checked or called or just bet and got called I would get chased to 7th street and would lose the hand.  I just could never find a good balance in this mtt but was very happy to get to try a Razz tournament.

When I signed up there were 18 other players.  I was fine with that, it’s like playing a 3 table sng.  In the first level we were up to 24 players for 3 full tables.  By the end of the 2nd level they’d added another table which I thought was weird.  40 minutes in to the tournament and they allowed a full third table to start with full starting chips.  I got over that quick though lol.

Started with 6k in chips, 20 minute levels, blind structure a bit strange but ended up working towards my style of play.  After the first holdem level (25/50 blinds, 50/100 limits) I had 7150 in chips.  Our first level of play was short handed and my play was getting respect.  After the omaha h/l level (25/50 blinds, 50/100 limits) I had 7250 in chips.  In the next level, razz (25 ante, 25 bring-in, 100 complete, 100/200 limits), I didn’t have a single playable hand until the last one and ended with 7550 in chips.

The next two levels, stud and stud 8 or better (25 ante, 25 bring-in, 100 complete, 100/200 limits) I didn’t do much of anything except pay my ante and bring-in and went to break down to 5675 in chips.  After a ten minute break we came back to holdem with 100/200 blinds and 200/400 limits.   I picked up KK in ep and raised and the guy to my left (very loose and already mentally moved on to the next tournament starting) cold-called and the blind called.  The flop came Q, 9, 2 rainbow and I bet out.  The guy to my left raised me and the bb folded.  Because of how loose this player had been playing and the fact that I know he is ready to go play in the 4pm nlhe mtt I don’t put him on a huge hand.  I feel that if he’d had a pair preflop he would have raised which he didn’t.  I put him on two face cards with a Q.  I still chose to cold call to see the turn and get a raise in there.  The turn came with a ten and I checked and he bet and I raised.

He flipped out saying that I obviously was running around with the Seabrook nuts which happens to be KJ and that I very obviously hit my straight.  He called anyway.  The river came putting 3 spades on board and I fired out a bet and he bitched and moaned for a minute and then called.  I turned over my KK and he turns over….Q2 offsuit lol.  He says that he had to call the river because there was too much money in the pot.  I say I understand but that I don’t understand why he called my raise preflop.  His answer…oh I was just trying to donkey off my chips so that I can take my seat in the 4pm tournament.  Well gee thanks for that, sigh.  After this level I am down to 2250 in chips and there are still 32 players.

After the next omaha h/l level (100/200 blinds and 200/400 limits) I am down to 1175 in chips and am feeling despondent.  One of the dealers comes up behind me with a tray and tells me I’m being moved to another table because one of the other tables lost 2 players.  He said that it’s probably a good thing for me and he feels my luck is going to turn around.  I start at the new table at the beginning of the razz level (50 ante, 50 bring-in, 300 complete, 300/600 limits) and I get down to 800 chips and I pick a hand and move in with it and double up.  Next hand I have another low to start and I get my chips in the middle with another short stack and knock him out.  I end the level with 4225 in chips.

Stud and Stud 8 or better (50 ante, 50 bring-in, 300 complete, and 300/600 limits)…I lose about 1000 chips during stud and gain another 1000 during stud 8 or better ending that HORSE round with 4400 chips.  Still struggling but managing to stay in.  At this point I honestly felt if some luck would enter my side I could make it to the money.  The next holdem level (200/400 blinds, 400/800 limits) I end with 4200 chips and we have 16 players left.  Omaha h/l (200/400 blinds, 400/800 limits) was rough for me and I end with 3100 chips (a miracle that I even had that left).

I end the razz level (100 ante, 100 bring-in, 500 complete, 500/1000 limits) around 2600 chips.  Stud hi (same antes,bring-in, complete, limits) I end with 2100 chips.  My last level was stud 8 or better (same antes, bring-in, complete, limits)and I decided I had to go now…double up or get out.  I got my chips in while holding A, 3  in the hole and had 7, 7, 3 up.  I got called by a guy with no low possibility and a pair of kings.  His last two cards, 5 and 5 to knock me out since I never improved my hand.

I lasted 15 levels, I managed to fight back after getting muckled with a full field of players still left and I’m actually very proud of how I played and of my attitude.  I only had one bad moment right after that one hand and I got myself right back together.  I felt that this tournament was a very strange but good structure for me because I was able to last a long time fighting with a small amount of chips.  Next week they are holding their very first razz tournament ($100 buy-in, 6k in starting chips) and I think I’m going to go play.

Anyway, I’ve been playing on ft because of the challenges I’ve been doing.  A few days ago I was reviewing my play from recent times and decided that I thought I was on my game and playing well.  I decided to deposit a little more money on ft so I could stop playing $1 and $2 tournaments (unless there was one I wanted to play) and play a little higher (I’m big on bankroll management).  So off I went depositing more money and then went off to play in my favorite $6 turbo nlhe stts that I used to play when I did have a bankroll on ft.  I soon found my bankroll severely lacking hahahahaha.  In the first two days I lost over 1/2 of what I deposited (insert D’oh here).

Soooo, off I went reviewing my notes, blogs, journal again.  I started noticing that I did well in multi-table satellites (either sngs or mtts) and I also did well in multi-table sngs.  Sooooo off I went to start plugging away at all of the above lol.  Slowly I started regrowing the bankroll I’d lost.  I won some money in some satellites (missed the seats but won some money so okay).  Funny enough all the satellites I chose to play were $1.50 or under lol…so much for needing to deposit more money (D’oh).

I decided to try a few $3 ninety player ko nlhe deepstack turbo sngs (yep say that one fast lol).  I used to do pretty well at these and usually if I made the money I’d get into the top 4 or 5 where the money was better.  The first one I tried, went out 3 before the money…second one I tried, went out 3 before the money pfffft.  Third one I tried, won 4 bounties and came in 2nd (yay).  I ended my night like that happy to have gotten back a good chunk of what I’d been losing. (see blog about this below)

Next day, tried a couple of them and one I went out three before the money (hahahahahaha).  I started realizing though that this was a good format for me.  I may not get in the money every time but I almost always won some bounties before going out and I was getting very close to the cash almost every time so I knew I was capable.  I think it is the fact that it is deepstack and when it is multi anything my patience tends to come out to play.  Last one I played last night I collected 4 bounties and went out in 4th place for a decent cash to add a bit  more back to my bankroll.

Tried one again today and went out about 20th or so but not discouraged.  I saw a satellite starting for the $200k double deuce.  It was $.75 + .15 to enter and first got a $20 + 2 seat and 2nd and 3rd got a little bit of cash.  It was a 36 player sng and was 6-handed and a shootout to boot.  No pressure there hahahaha.  I had just been saying to hubby last night that I didn’t feel I did well at shootouts.  It is so hard to come in first on your table multiple times.  Not one to shy away from a challenge though I started plugging away at the first table.

What always happens when I am involved in either a heads up match or a shootout match is my table is almost always one of the last tables to finish.  That was the case with my first table.  By the time I’d won my first table, every other table was done and waiting for me.  The last match started with 6 people so three to the money and 5 to the seat.  We started back with 1500 chips and 15/30 blinds.  The first two people went out quick, one at my hand and one at anothers.  Once we got into the money the short stack soon went out leaving me heads up.  I get in this heads up situation a lot where the prize is a seat and 2nd is a little bit of points/cash and much of the time I end up with the points/cash.

This time I just wore him down and I ended up with the $20+2 seat.  I was very proud of this win, I turned .90 into $22 in tournament dollars.  Yep, tournament dollars as I actually won’t be home tomorrow to play in the tournament.  I just wanted the shootout practice and I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it. On top of it all with the tournament dollars it’s brought my bankroll back up to where I started with my last deposit.  Now I can go back to trying to build my bankroll using my new thoughts about playing only multi table sngs/mtts both cash and satellites.

It started out not so well…the first 9 tournaments I tried I only cashed in one and that was a 3rd place finish in an stt.  I was ready to throw in the towel but hubby wouldn’t let me.  He said just keep playing and eventually it will work out for you.

I ended yesterday down about $60 from my new deposit and was heartbroken but determined to try again today.  Again it started off not so great with the first 3 things I played in, no cashes.  The next tournament I tried was an omaha h/l satellite for a mini ftops.    It cost $1.50 and top 5 got a seat and 6th and 7th got cash.  I was chip leader with 12 players left and then I made a donkey move and lost most of my chips and ended up going out in 7th place and winning $5.75 with bounties instead of winning a $24+2 seat.

I tried another mini ftops satellite and went out 4 before the money, sigh.  This time I got it in with the best hand and got 2 outed, nothing you can do about that.   I then tried five $6 turbo nlhe stts and only cashed in one of them, $16.20 for a 2nd place finish.

I’ve also been trying the 90 player nlhe deepstack turbo ko sngs (say that ten times fast lol).  I used to do very well in these and was looking forward to trying them again.   I tried a $6 one and went out about half way through.  I tried two $3 ones and finished in 12th in both of them, missing the cash by three people but winning some bounties to make up the difference.  The last one I played was very interesting and quite a roller coaster ride.  I was determined to cash in this one.  I had AA twice, once I got all my money in just to find out I was up against…AA, sigh.  The second time I doubled through the person.  I ended up finishing in 2nd place after the turd burgular outdrew me when he called my A8 suited all-in with K7 off and hit a 7, sigh.  Overall I’m very happy to have cashed and it brought quite a bit of my lost money from the day before back into the fold.

I just need to get used to not playing $1 and $2 tournaments anymore and gaining back my confidence so I can keep moving up in levels.

I didn’t play yesterday so decided to make an evening of it today.  I started with a couple of small buy-in satellites and did much of nothing.  I tried two $2 nlhe stts and came in 2nd in one and nothing in the other.

I played in a $.50 +.10 rebuy satellite for a seat in a $10 rebuy mini tops mtt.  I didn’t want the seat since it’s a rebuy tournament, I wanted to win the tournament dollars which would total $11 with the rake.  I rebought right away and added on as well and ended up winning $11 tournament dollars for a $1.60 investment as well as completed part of an ftops challenge they are running.

At the same time I also decided to spend 200 ft points and play in the daily dollar.  I love the fact that I can use my points to buy in to it.  It once again did not reach the 10k guarantee mark as ONLY 7018 entered haha.  After a couple of well timed double ups and well timed suckouts, I ended finishing the tournament in 268th place winning $5 for my 200 point investment.

I’m very happy with the day, I felt like I made a little progress with my bankroll and thought I played well and luck was mostly on my side when I needed it to be.