Without Bad Luck......

OK we have all heard that saying before. Tonight was just another night of living the dream. It contained bad luck and bad judgement all though I guess I'm ok with the decision.

Let's start with HUC6. On to round 3 tonight and playing the guy that handed it to me last time, Mr Alan RecessRampage . Like I said, my matches are usually pretty quick. So, of course Match1 lasted only 51 hands. The one hand that got me on the wrong side of the tracks was fairly early on.

Blinds still 10/20. Alan does a stand 3x and I call with 85o. I flop second pair on T82 flop and I bet out 60 into a 100 chip bot and Alan just calls. Turn comes a 2. (meanwhile something happens in SNG that I am playing. More on that later). I bet out 250 and again a call. River was a Q and I throw out 3rd bullet and get called. He had 52o. Nothing wrong with what he did. Just bad luck for me and I didn't slow down. Alan really dominates from there and I got caught bluff pushing preflop to his raise. My K6s was no match for his TT.

Match 2

A whopping 14 hands. Sometimes, you just truly run bad. I lost the 4th hand when my AK was no good against 76. Had to let that one go on turn. Final Hand

FullTiltPoker Game #5348941880: $10 + $0.50 Heads Up Sit & Go (40684264), Table 1 - 10/20 - No Limit Hold'em - 22:30:43 ET - 2008/02/21
Seat 1: willwonka (1,160)
Seat 2: RecessRampage (1,840)
willwonka posts the small blind of 10
RecessRampage posts the big blind of 20
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to willwonka [6h 8c]
willwonka calls 10
RecessRampage raises to 60
willwonka calls 40
*** FLOP *** [9s 9c 7s]
RecessRampage checks
willwonka checks
*** TURN *** [9s 9c 7s] [5d]
RecessRampage bets 90
willwonka calls 90
*** RIVER *** [9s 9c 7s 5d] [2c]
RecessRampage bets 220
willwonka has 15 seconds left to act
willwonka raises to 575
RecessRampage raises to 1,690, and is all in
willwonka has 15 seconds left to act
willwonka has requested TIME
willwonka: wow... if you boated...
willwonka calls 435, and is all in
Uncalled bet of 680 returned to RecessRampage
*** SHOW DOWN ***
RecessRampage shows [7d 7c] a full house, Sevens full of Nines
willwonka mucks
RecessRampage wins the pot (2,320) with a full house, Sevens full of Nines
RecessRampage: sry
willwonka stands up
RecessRampage stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2,320 | Rake 0
Board: [9s 9c 7s 5d 2c]
Seat 1: willwonka (small blind) mucked [6h 8c] - a straight, Nine high
Seat 2: RecessRampage (big blind) showed [7d 7c] and won (2,320) with a full house, Sevens full of Nines


Hit my gin card only to find out that he had Gin much early. Good going RR. I'll be pulling for you to take her down this time. He's got another good rematch next go around. So, for the second year in a row, RR wins 2 straight against me. I need to get on the other side of the bracket from him... lol.


Also played 1 SNG while I was waiting for Alan. I won't go into much details as I finished 6th; but here is how I run:

AA early on. All in against maniac that has been splashing his chips everywhere. He has 88. Guess what comes on turn.

A little later. KK. 4 handed. 3 of us (including 88 guy from above) get all in.. runner, runner gives the board a straight and we chop 3 ways.

Death blow. QQ All in against AQ.. Ace on flop and IGHN.

The first two beats were followed by me chipping back up; only to give them back.

I love poker.

Throw all of that in and then add this. Thanks to ice storm going on in ST Louis, our 7AM flight to Disney has been cancelled already (as of 3PM previous day). This was a direct flight which is obviously the way to go especially when you are toting 2 little wonkas (4 yrs and 1 1/2). So our flight is now tentatively scheduled (yes, ice still coming down and more over night) to leave at 2:30 and fly to Miami where we have a little over an hour lay over and then into Orlando. So instead of originally getting into Orlando at 10:30ish AM. We will be getting in at 9:30PM. Bad Beat!!! So, we more or less lose a day of fun and sun. Bad Beat!!!

Oh Well,

Have a good week!!!

No Luck in Mook and HUC and Lucky You

76 Runners in the Mook tonight. Obvously, this number goes way up way quick due to:





See Al's Blog for more details. I'm not sure how much again I will be able to play in this one which is too bad for everybody else as I am just a donator. Well, no Knock Artist for me tonight. Things didn't go my way. When I did get the hands, I didn't hit the flops hard enough and had to fold to pressure. I fianlly went out when Surflexus 65s outsed my KJo. I was short. The blinds were just 120 and I (1495) was in the BB. Surflexus (7,479) 3x raises to 360 and I push for remaining 1495. He did not insta call; but finally did call and hit 2 pair to put me out early in 39th. Any thoughts, is that pretty much an insta call?

I played one SNG and finished 4th... dang.. Does everybody make this call with AQ? The bubble had lasted a long time. (by the way SNG Wiz says to fold... DOH!!! I almost did)

Full Tilt Poker $10 + $1 Sit & Go No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t120/t240 Blinds - 4 players

The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

SB: t1685
Hero (BB): t1520
CO: t9595
BTN: t700

Pre Flop: Hero is BB with Qs Ac
2 folds, SB raises to t1685 all in, Hero calls t1280 all in

Flop: (t3040) Qh
6s
Kd

Turn: (t3040) 5c

River: (t3040) Kc

OH well, I did and I bubbled.


I finally got a chance to play my 2nd round match in the HUC6. Myself and thepokergrind had been trying to get togehter for awhile. I was thinking that tonight wouldn't happen either as he was playing in the 55K but unfortunately he lost with he ladies... twice... So Anyway, we were able to get a match going.

Oh, by the way, I did play a token race and finished 26th... 23 got token... DOH!!!! I definitely let myself blind down too much in these.

Match 1

This match lasted 35 games which isn't too far from normal from me as my matches seem to be a little quicker than others. I don't know alot about pokergrind other than he is a solid MTT player. He was saying how he hated HU.. Just in case, I wasn't falling for it and I took it pretty seriously.

In these things you can usually point the match to just one or two hands (not counting the last one). In this match is was the 19th hand. I was more or less even (he was up 1530/1470). I'm in the BB with J9d. He calls and I just check. I had been raising a bunch so I wanted to mix it up a bit. Blinds were still 10/20 flop came 8d9c3d which about as good as a flop as you would want. I check, he bets 20 and I raise to 65 and he calls. Turn comes 3h... I bet 150 and he calls. Turn was Qh and I bet out 370 and he min raised me. I should have been able to get away from this as it was pretty obvious I was beaten; but I called and he showed the 3. DANG!!!

I finally went out with Q9o on a flop of 966... I check raised again; but this time he 3 bet and I was forced to call. He had K9o for a better kicker. The bad thing here was the turn was an Ace so we would have split it except for the King that came on the river.

Down 1 after 1 match.

Match 2

This one only lasted 18 hands.

The big hand here is where I had AQ and peeled a flop bet by him on a 724 board. I got lucky and caught my Q on the turn and I just let him bet away. He put me all in on the River and I really thought I was beat. The flop peel was a little questionable; especially since I was down in the match. A few hands later I won with A8 vs 98 on a flop with an 8 on it.

Tied at 1.

Match 3.

39 games. I picked an early lead on this one (almost 2-1); but then he picked up the aggression and pulled back even. We went back and forth for a bit. The big hand is where I hit my flush on the river and he put out a big bet and raised him all in and he folded. He must have been on a pure bluff as he folded with just 165 chips. I finished the deal a couple of hands later to move on to Round3.

I think my lucky streak ends here as I will be playing the guy the elminated me last year, nothing other than the commish himself. We'll see how it goes.

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I have hardly played in poker this week as caught the flew bug hard that had been going around my house. I was pretty down for the count for 3 1/2 days. I played a home game on Friday night and hardly remember the end. I finally getting over it even though my cough is still lingering a bit. The Wonka Family leaves for Disney This Friday so it will be a welcome break from work. Any place to poker down that way Cmitch? or do you have to go to Tampa or something? Who am I kidding, I don't see the wife (and in-laws) letting me escape to go play cards. I am bringing my laptop along; but don't plan on playing much poker other than the Mook. I really want to take the time to catch up on Stoxpoker Videos. They have upgraded their search screen along with now a rating system so things are much better. Lots of stuff going over there so if you haven't been by lately, it may be worth a gander.

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Finally, I watched Lucky You the other day. This was a poker movie that had Eric Bana and Drew Barrymore. I did not go into this movie with very high expecations as most poker movies have really disappointed me. This one, however, did not. I'm not saying it was great, but I did enjoy and would reccomend it to any poker/movie enthusiast. I will give it 3.5 out of 5.

That's it for now..

Have a great Week!!!

Another Wednesday, Another Mook - Knockout Artist

Well, it seems that I am on a weekly posting pattern. It is certainly not intentional. Before I get started, there should be one hard and fast world (non poker related).

Moms should not be allowed to get sick!!!!

Enough said and of course, I wish Mrs Wonka a Happy Valentine's day. She is feeling much better today so hopefully it is all good; but when you have a wife and two kids all of which are sick at the same time makes for a pretty unpleasant couple of days and certainly a reminder of how much for granted I take the status quo.

Too bad the Mook wasn't a bounty tournament last night. Hmmm maybe we should try that. I must have knocked 4 or 5 people last night which is certainly not my MO.

Knockout #1. Shortstacked (535) limped/ pushed with A5h and I called with A9 and won although with 2 aces on flop, I was sure it was going to be a split.

Knockout #2. This was a little suspect (preflop). I'm (2325) on the button with A9s and WiredAces77 (1470) raises to 175 (30/60 blinds) and I call. A little suspect on the call; but with position, I play it passive this early in tourney. Flop gomes 9cJd6d which is about as good as I could realistically hope for. WiredAces throws out a pot sized 440 bet. I wait a bit and push. He calls with pocket Queens (with Q of diamonds). I'm not sure who is out there; but I have plenty of outs. Looks about 50/50 assuming about 13 outs. Anyway, I hit a 9 on the turn and win the hand. Thoughts?

Knockout #3. OH wait... never mind. My AQ lost to ATs. Again, enough said.

Knockout #3. OK, I'm even as I called a preflop raise Blind vs Blind against Chitwood. I got lucky and hit a K and was an easy call to his all in bet on flop with AQ. We all know that you have to win races and win some 60/40s along the way.

Knockout #4. This was against non other than the non Mook winner, Hoyazo. We'll call this one a gift because it was just a pretty awful shove. I (1965) raise UTG (blinds 60/120) with AK to 600. Hoy (1280) then shoves with A4o. Obviously, no way I am folded getting over 3 to 1. That ended yet another Mookie for him. I won't go off too bad as we'll see how mine ended. Did he really think I would fold? Did he think he was ahead? My guess is that he was just ready to go. Thanks Hoy! By the way, I noticed he shoves alot... at least in this tourney.

Knockout #5. Loretta8 (2896) (blinds 200/400/50) pushes with 87d after one limper. Easy call for me (4870) with Queens. I avoided 134234234 outs on the river and won the hand

Knockout #6. Gscott (4110) (200/400/50) raises UTG with AJs and I push with KK and avoided the ace. Nothing spectacular there. Just got lucky to have a hand at the right time.

After that we found ourselves at the final table. I was 3rd in chips. And this is where it went all wrong.

I had DonkeyPuncher immediately my left. I think he may have been a little bitter to me beating him in HUC6.

It is folded to me (12716) (250/500/50) in the SB and look down to 64o. Now, let me tell you, that is a powerful hand and what do you do witha powerful hand. Push, I say. Donkeypuncher (4435) made a very loose call with AA and somehow sucked out on me.

I think just one orbit later still 9 handed I (8181) (250/500/50) get a sooooted hammer and of course raise to 1600 which has been my normal raise here. DonkeyPuncher again just flat calls me. Flop A99 and we both check. Ace on turn and I bet out 3200 and again the smooth call. & on the river which of course does me no good and I check and he bets and I fold. He shows 99 for flopped Quads. Yet another suck out.

That more or less did me in as I lasted a little while longer. I even got KK but no callers. I eventually pushed with JackAce from EP and got called by AK. I had some outs; but missed them all and I am out on the Bubble! Dang!!!

That is pretty much a clinic on how to blow all of your chips.

Meanwhile, while this is going on, I managed to play over 1300 hands of 1/2 limit for a grand total of $4.75. NH me. I'm wondering how a heart attack feels? This was my chart from the night. pretty much says it all.

Have a nice Day!!!!

Gravity

Short post today.

I sat down at FTP to work off some bonus that they threw my way. Just $75; but bonus is bonus and I'm going to play anyway. So on FTP, I really only have enough to play 1/2 Limit. So I sat down at 2 tables (was on waiting list on others waiting on good tables per TableRatings.com). Anyway, everything was going great. It was one of those sessions where you just happened to be sitting in the right chair. BB specials, Hitting your sets, etc etc... and after 100 hands I was up $100 which is really, really good for 1/2 limit. I won 59% of the flops I say.. 80% Showdown wins. You get the picture. I've posted about many hit and run sessions that I have done and have vowed not to do that if the tables were still good. Well, nobody had left my tables so I stayed.

I have to tell you though my confidence wasn't high. I kept thinking that this was a mistake. Truthfully, though, I don't think I played any different. But then it happened/started. KK on a 58J flop... I never slowed down and Q5 hits a Q on the river. A few hands later Mr Flush hits against my flopped set, missing the strong draws.. etc.. etc... enough said. So 150 hands later I have given back the $100 plus $60. Unbelievable... I ended up down about $25 aftr about 650 hands plus some bonus which more or less make it break even; but man oh man. Good Times!!! So Yes, Gravity.. What goes up, must come down.

We'll keep it going and see how it goes.. I'm starting to get an itch for NL (especially after reading another great post from RecessRampage ). I started at Micro NL. Built my bankroll through Micro NL and NL tourneys. Why I ever switched to Limit, I'll never know. I do love the limit game though so that is the downfall.

Have a good weekend.

Mookie Time, HUC6 and no Review and Fracture

Wednesday night and again it is time for the Mook and what do you know, Mook made yet another final table; but his pocket QQs weren't good enough as he was 4 straighted against KT. Perhaps, it really is a curse. I'm thinking the curse may just be lifted sometime in the near future. Speaking of Pocket Queens, I played the role of donater tonight as I was the 4th one out. I believe I put out an early position raise and got a call and then Rakefeeder pushes all in. At the time I was playing a couple of Heads Up matches and I must not have really thought that through; especially with somebody else behind me.

Wait... This just in. Rakefeeder limped from UTG and I raised someone called and he pushed. Had I known that or should I say had I been paying attention, that was an extremely easy fold. At the time I think I thought he was BB and was just putting in some strange squeeze play. Dang, I deserve to lose there. Unfortunately, he didn't take the nice early double up to the final table. I hate it when my chips die in vain. LOL.

Now, Speaking of Heads Up Games, I decided to join in the fun with the latest installment of the Heads Up Challenge. It's hard to believe that we are to the 6th one of these. More information can been found on the official HUC6 website. As a former champion (HUC3), I decided I might as well donate knowing clearly that I would be a huge underdog to the players that were signing up.... including the person that I drew in the first round, Bone_Daddy. Truthfully, I don't/didn't know alot about him other than he knows how to play the game and I read his blog regularly.

The problem with HU matches (as I'm sure everybody will attest to) is just getting the game started. I made the call to just play $5 tourney and we just couldn't get together. We both ended up in matches against other people while trying to sqaure off. We went to $10 tables and finally got hooked up. This is definitely something that Ultimate Bet has going for them. You can actually challenge somebody there. At least now Full Tilt has a rematch option.

1st game only lasted 31 hands as I got down early. The 2nd hand I flopped 2 pair; but lost to a rivered 4 flush and there were a couple of hands where I lost on a busted flush draw (who knew that this would be opposite foreshadowing) and I hand I called down; but didn't need to. I then went card dead and got a lucky double up. The final hand was interesting. At the time, I thought his call was kind of iffy; but turns out he was the favorite and it surely didn't really cost him a whole bunch of chips. Any thoughts?

Full Tilt Poker
No Limit Holdem Tournament
Blinds: t20/t40
2 players
Converter

Pre-flop: (2 players) Hero is BB with :ks :9h
SB calls t20 (pot was t60), Hero raises to t120, SB calls t80 (pot was t120).

Flop: :7s :jc :ac (t240, 2 players)
Hero is all-in t580, SB calls t580 (pot was t820).

Turn: :6d (t1400, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: t1400)

River: :4c (t1400, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: t1400)

Results:
Final pot: t1400
Hero showed Ks 9h
SB showed 3c 5c

Anyway, he double whammy'd me on the river getting both the straight and the flush. gg. I overbet as I would have been pretty much committed to any c-bet. Maybe checking and pushing on Turn?


Game 2 went much longer, 62 hands. The big hand here was where we went all in preflop. He had the glorius JackAce and I had Queens. He flopped and OESD; but luckily I won the hand. I then proceeded to give back chips as I normally do and then I won a big race with a suited JackAce against his 77. It just always seems to go to down to races, doesn't it. I then put it away with A5 vs Q3s.

The rubber game lasted 43 hands and again I find myself down early... like the 1st hand. I get QQ again and reraise him. An Ace on the flop but I still c-bet and fold to his push. He showed ATs so that took almost 1/3 of my chips. The big hand here is where Bone_Daddy also had a busted flush draw and bet and I made a tough call. For whatever reason, the bet amount didn't seem right. The final hand was pretty much a no brainer and just bad luck for him. In an unraised pot. I flopped 2 pair with T6 against his Q7. Queen on the river and he paid me off.

Do you ever get the feeling during a match that you are getting outplayed big time? That is how I felt. It seemed like everything I tried, he had the answer. He was able to call down some of my bluffs and not call my value bets. Anyway, I feel very fortunate and lucky to move on to the 2nd round.

I never did get around to doing my reivew of January. Mostly because February has already been a huge downer as I already find myself down over $400. I stopped to play some SNGs and today the Mook and HUC; but plan on getting right back to it the rest of the week.

Finally, I watched the movie Fracture and thought it was a good movie. I watched it late so I may have missed some spots; but overall, I thought the ending was good which is good enough for me to give it a thumbs up. I'll go 4 out of 5.