500 Hands of Progess



Nothing extraordinary, but it feels good to have some sustained progress. First the cash at Mohegan last weekend, now some wins after moving back up to full ring NL100. I feel comfortable despite playing 4 times higher than I have for the last few months. I think my playing style is more suited for full ring vs 6 max, but it seems that some of the extra aggression needed at 6 max has carried over to full ring. Not that I'm playing like a maniac, but definitely more aggressive than I have in the past.

It's only 500 hands over 6 short sessions, and I still need to work on my hand-reading and thin value betting, but it's a step in the right direction.

My First Day Two

Just wanted to jot down some highlights & oddities from this weekend's $150k Guarantee at Mohegan Sun ($300 buy-in):

- got to see a flop from the big blind with 4-2 sooooooted in a multi-way pot, flopped the flush, and actually won a decent-sized pot
- limped under the gun with 3-3, flopped a set, and actually won a decent-sized pot
- guy in Gehrig pinstripes called a 4-bet with Q-Q for 3/4 of his stack, folded the K-J-x flop, and then proceeded to get a chair massage while ordering food from room service...quite the spectacle watching him eat a massive steakburger at the table...room service cart at his side, replete with linen tablecloth, vase/bouquet, and three glasses of ice water
- "You can't do this at Foxwoods!" he bellowed, which got a laugh from the room
- 12k starting stacks, 16k at first break
- 3-bet with K-K, got called, got it all-in vs Q-Q after a raggedly flop & turn, doubled up to 32k
- 3-bet with A-K, got called by steakburger (who was now over 30k), got it all-in vs A-A on a K-8c-7c flop, and spiked the King on the river! Someone had folded a King, so the one-outer saved my bacon...up to 75k
- folded to me in the small blind, I peeked at an A & raised, called by the big stack in the big blind...flop was K-x-x, now I had to squeeze out the other card...Ace! Got him to call all three of my bets with some type of pocket pair that never improved, and I was up to 100k & double the average chip stack
- some guy moved to our table with a smallish stack, and about a dozen room service-sized jars of mayo & mustard?! Turned out to be a uniquely funny guy - who also took down a monster pot when he raised with Kc-4c and turned trip 4's - and kept our table chuckling for the rest of the 12-hour day one
- finished with 96k, average was 71k

- Sunday was not as fun as Saturday
- blinds were up to 3k/6k, guy to my right shoved for 55k, I squeezed out A-K and shoved over him for 85k...another guy hemmed & hawed before finally folding (supposedly a decent pair), shorter stack also had A-K & we chopped
- big stack to my right had been bullying the rest of the table with lots of pre-flop raises, so I shoved over his 17k with K-J on the button for about 80k total...big blind put in his last 22k, big stack agonized before folding (my guess: A-T)...blind had Q-T and spiked a Ten on the flop...turn gave me a gutshot & flush draw to go along with my two overcards, but I whiffed on all 17 outs
- 499 entries, paying 55 spots, mayhem ensued when we reached the bubble...a few guys started lobbying for everyone to chip in $10 to pay the bubble, tourney director stopped the clock, and money is collected...10 minutes and $504 later (??????), the clock was re-started
- blinds up to 4k/8k, I shoved 55k with K-J again, called by short stack in SB with As-Ts, he hit an Ace on the turn
- Luke stopped by to say he was out 47th
- shoved my last 21k after looking at an Ace, big stack raised to 40k..."I hope I have something good to go with my Ace," I said as I flipped over Ac-Jc...he had A-A, nice...Ace on flop, and then running Jacks to rub salt in the wound
- out 46th for $584
- dealt a grand total of SIX pairs during the entire tournament: A-A, K-K, J-J (won blinds & antes), 6-6 (won blinds & antes), 3-3, and 2-2 (won small pot without showdown)...that was out of 400-450 hands, so I should've expected to see about 25 pairs