A fun Night

Well I beat exactly half of the people who entered the WWnd change100 tournament last night by taking 49th place out of 98 entries. Not the best result but it was great to play against some very good players. My staring table had Mean Gene, Boobie Lover, and Hermwarfair as well as a few others that I’m failing to recall. In one the first hands I re-raised a bet by Hermwarfair and folded to his all-in. I had to see where I was and he answered the question. My top pair was probably no good. I tried to keep my head above water and got back to starting chips after I re-raised what felt like a continuation bet. I moved up to higher levels and tried to steal some blinds but it was hard to grow my stack with some of the aggressive play in front of me. I saw mean gene get sucked out on two times only to have a reversal of fortune later on to become the table chip leader. When the blind were at 100/200 + ante I was dealt pocket 33 from the big blind. The button raise to 600 in what felt like a steal so I push with my 1300 chips and lose to his K9. I played a little tight but got respect from my raises for the most part. I could have won my last hand if I would have had fold equity but alas I had none.

After this I played a few SNGs, winning one and taking third in another. The one that I won was a marathon session that saw the Blinds reach 1000/2000. As we approached the end I was chastised by one of my opponents for calling an all-in bet from the BB for 153 more chips. I already had 2000 chips into the pot at this point. He expected me to fold? Any I called with 42 and lost. Later on I was in the same situation with the bitchy player and called 257 more with 53 and hit the 5 to knock him out. I am a donkey. With a 4/1chip lead I made short work of the final player to take the win.

I had read an article some place about pushing with specific hand when heads up and used this strategy to my advantage. The other two players were passively waiting for the other to be busted and thus let me steal blind after blind until they had to call. Good times.

After this was over I played some $25 NL and doubled up very early in the session. I was dealt pocket queens UTG and raised to .75. UTG+2 re-raised me to $1.75. It was folded to me and I re-re-raised it to $6 and he called. I don’t have a read on this player but my assumption is that he has a large pocket pair. I may be behind but he could be over playing any other possible holdings. The flop is Q55 and I check, he bets $5 and I cold call. The turn is the case Queen and I check again and call his all-in bet. He had pocket kings. Great flop for me. I played a little while long without much action.

At this point I go back to Noble Poker to work on my quest and sit at a $10 NL table. I busted one guy for about $2 dollars with a set of tens over pocket fours and immediately get involved with him on the next hand. He re-bought for $10. I look down at QT in late position and call with about five limpers. The flop hits me square in the face as a J98 come out. He bet I called. Turn x and he bets, I min raise, he comes over the top and I call. He had jack high.

I was a good night until I gave away some of my winnings on a donkey move a little later. I didn’t raise it before the flop and let the BB see one for free. I lose to his full boat of 5s over 7s with my two pair, Aces and jacks. Heehaw, heehaw.

I think that my game as a whole is better then when I started this quest but the bankroll constraints are killing me. I know that I can play at higher level but I’m not willing increase my risk of failure. At this point I have 3 buy-ins for the $10 NL tables. These tables have the ability to increase my bankroll by leaps and bounds but can also kill me at any time. The .01/.02 limit tables are the place I should be playing by the tedious grind of river runners and slow increases drive me crazy. I know that I preached staying within my means but it is frustrating work. And this shouldn’t be work.

What I rally need is one big tourney win to give me some breathing room. 3 place in a .50 tourney doesn’t do it. I need a bigger break.