Nooner with a Pro

Sorry, fellow degenerate bloggers...but this isn't a hooker story! I work for an insurance company in Hartford (insurance? Hartford? big shock, I know), primarily with our retirement plan clients. My job is to counsel them on options once they retire or leave their job. Earlier this spring, I worked with a 401(k) client who recently left one of the Vegas Strip casinos. Come to find out he quit his dealing job to play poker full-time, and was making a very comfortable living for himself.

Of course I had to chat him up, totally jealous of his situation. He plays mostly limit hold'em - $30-60 and $40-80 - and makes frequent trips to the card rooms in Arizona, since higher limit games are easier to find out that way. And since he's his own boss, he gets to travel whenver the mood strikes. Pats/Cowboys game in Dallas, check. Game 7 ALCS in Boston, check. Side games at the WSOP circuit/WPT events, check.

So he happens to be in town for the WPT at Foxwoods, and called in to see if I wanted to meet up for lunch tomorrow to talk mutual funds and community cards. A chance to escape the cubicle, a long lunch under the guise of client meeting? Ummm yeah, count me in!

Donkey of the Day

Sponsored by http://www.ilovearomalite.com


Full Tilt Poker Game #4008023349: Table Thom - $1/$2 - No Limit Hold'em - 20:52:11 ET - 2007/10/29
Seat 1: ($391.20)
Seat 2: ($224.05)
Seat 3: yours truly ($237.70)
Seat 4: donkey ($145.20)
Seat 5: ($200)
Seat 6: ($426.20)
Seat 7: ($135.35)
Seat 8: ($252.05)
Seat 9: ($234.05), is sitting out
small blind of $1
big blind of $2
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to yours truly [9c 9h]
folds
folds
folds
yours truly raises to $7
donkey calls $7
calls $6
folds
*** FLOP *** [7h 2s 3c]
checks
yours truly bets $14
donkey calls $14
folds
*** TURN *** [7h 2s 3c] [9s]
yours truly bets $20
donkey calls $20
*** RIVER *** [7h 2s 3c 9s] [4d]
yours truly checks
donkey bets $66
yours truly raises to $132
donkey calls $38.20, and is all in
Uncalled bet of $27.80 returned
*** SHOW DOWN ***
yours truly shows [9c 9h] three of a kind, Nines
donkey shows [5c 6c] a straight, Seven high
donkey wins the pot ($296.40) with a straight, Seven high

I thought the donkey was a tight player, and gave him credit for an overpair or set when he flat-called my flop bet. Turn made me very happy (supposed $20 value bet there), and thought I was super-good when I set him all-in on the river. Doh.

When did Blogger Become So Easy?!

One of the big reasons I haven't kept this blog up to date is due to my lack of HTML skills...but with this new template-for-dummies setup they've added, bloggey look nicey now!

Dinnertime, then probably crashing the Mondays at the Hoy tourney on FullTilt. Good luck to me...

Hoy-rrible update: out in Level 3...called EP raise w/KQs, flop K66, raised his pot-sized bet, he set me in, I called, he showed Aces, no lucky turn or river...definite pre-flop fold for me, bad Jim!

I'll make it to the first break in one of these BBT2's...

Dusting Off the Cobwebs

Wow, it's been over a year since I last posted...can't even remember the last time I even looked at my sorry ol' blog. But I've been motivated to e-scribble for a couple reasons:

Wife's new website- Jen upped and quit her job, and is now focusing full-time on her candle/bath & body business. She started it on her own a few years ago, makes all the products herself, and just launched a website. Check it out at http://www.ilovearomalite.com/, use bonus code, I mean discount code "Aces" to get 10% off through December 10th!

Battle of the Bloggers 2- a great league/tourney concept (thanks AlCan'tHang!), and a viable shot at a free Aussie Millions package. Details here: http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/battle-of-the-bloggers ...figgered I should blog a little if I 'm going to play in blogger tourneys...

While I was typing this up, I just had my biggest score on the $1-2 NL tables at FullTilt...ran $200 up to over $800 (Aces cracked by quad 10's, now back to $700), guess I should blog more often?

Why I F'n Love Poker

Figured I'd take a shot & buy-in to one of Full Tilt's $69 + $6 multi-table tournies:

Full Tilt Poker Game #765662421: $13,000 Guarantee (4983000), Table 13 - 20/40 - No Limit Hold'em - 19:13:32 ET - 2006/07/03
Seat 1: Mercury74 (2,410)
Seat 2: stephen2516 (3,070)
Seat 3: NicksNutz (2,855)
Seat 4: chinmusic3 (2,210)
Seat 5: L13 Tomcat (3,280)
Seat 6: Rollmein (2,040)
Seat 7: LOGICBit (2,875)
Seat 8: AZJIM (5,340)
Seat 9: ME (2,920)
NicksNutz posts the small blind of 20
chinmusic3 posts the big blind of 40
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to ME [As Ac]
L13 Tomcat calls 40
Rollmein raises to 80
LOGICBit folds
AZJIM folds
Rollmein: k
I raise to 200
Mercury74 folds
stephen2516 folds
NicksNutz folds
chinmusic3 folds
L13 Tomcat calls 160
Rollmein calls 120
*** FLOP *** [Ah 5h 6s]
L13 Tomcat checks
Rollmein bets 600
I raise to 1,200
L13 Tomcat raises to 3,080, and is all in
Rollmein has 15 seconds left to act
Rollmein: well well
Rollmein folds
I call 1,520, and is all in
L13 Tomcat shows [5s 5c]
I show [As Ac]
Uncalled bet of 360 returned to L13 Tomcat
*** TURN *** [Ah 5h 6s] [2d]
*** RIVER *** [Ah 5h 6s 2d] [5d]
L13 Tomcat shows four of a kind, Fives
I show a full house, Aces full of Fives
L13 Tomcat wins the pot (6,700) with four of a kind, Fives
I stand up

This was the only hand I played, other than when I called a min-raise from the BB with Ks 8s & didn't hit...yum.

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Foxwoods Final Table?!

Bubbled out of the 8pm tourney mentioned in my last post, but no big deal since they only managed 11 entries. $30 entry fee, $10 of which goes to the finals prize pool. I did manage to pick up 5 points towards the finals, though; the top 9 point-earners (plus ties) over the 10-week series get a freeroll to the finals. So I got that going for me, which is nice (sorry, watched Caddyshack for the umpteenth time on Monday).

Buuut, I did do much better in Foxwoods' daily $80+20 tourney a couple Fridays ago. Me and the wife took a vacation day from work & headed down with our friends Luke & Kristen Thursday night. Broke even between $4-8 and $1-2NL, got about 2 hours sleep, then dragged my sorry self back to the poker room by 7am to register for the tourney. 195 of us started with $2,000 in tourney chips, $25-25 blinds, and 20 minute levels.

Just about doubled up in the first level thanks to an AJ BB special. Raised to 200 after a few limped, only the EP limper called. By the end of the hand the board read A-x-x-x-x, and I was called all the way down by A-9...thank you sir!

From that point on I only remember a few major hands:
- re-raised to $750 w/QQ, original raiser folded
- pushed with a shortish stack from LP w/KTs, called by shorter stack w/AK on the button...flop was T-T-x, later dude
- called an aggressive LP's all-in from the BB w/QJs...he had KT, caught a Q on the flop, J on the turn, and no straight for him on the river

Top 25 were getting paid, we came back from the second break with 30 players...I was a bit worried about making the money with my $7,000 stack (avg was about $18,000), but within 10 minutes we were down to 24...next thing I know we're down to 2 tables, and then we're at the final table.

I have no recollection as to how I got from $7,000 to $25,500...but that's what I had when we were down to 9. On the very first hand the BB to my right doubled up w/QQ, then went all-in again on the very next hand. So here I am in the BB w/A3o, a quarter of my stack already in the pot ($3,000-6,000 blinds), and a huge decision to make.

I had the feeling that most of the players at my table were regulars (they were all laughing at an inside joke before the final table began), and knew one of them was a regular in the $75-150 cash games, so I wasn't confident that I was among the best players at the table. I also had a hunch that this guy didn't have a monster hand, more like he was just trying to continue his rush and steal the blinds/antes. I pushed my chips in and he said, "Good call." He flipped over KT, and my A held up!

Unfortunately that would be the next to last hand I would play, as everyone else was pushing and I was dealt zero monsters. I had one opportunity to steal in LP w/Q7s, but I hesitated and decided not to pull the trigger. What a wimp...but I figured someone might've sensed my weakness and called with a marginal hand...but I should've pushed there.

With blinds at $4,000-8,000 I was forced to push in my remaining $15k from the BB w/QTs after the SB reluctantly completed. He called w/7-6s and hit a card on the flop, I got no love and was out in 5th...but a healthy $740 payday!

I'm surprised I made it so far, since I was only dealt a big pair once, only had AK once, and never was above par after the 2nd level. I played solid, got lucky when I needed to, and only made one mistake....I'll take it.

Iron Man Chump

Played .50/1.00 NL practically every day in January on Full Tilt in order to qualify for their Iron Man Freeroll. Winner gets $2,400 plus a shot heads-up against three of the FTP pros for up to $50k more. Of course my Iron Man qualifying coincided with a terrible slump, so the "freeroll" essentially cost me 1/4 of my online bankroll...and a bit of my sanity.

I was psyched to play the freeroll today, didn't even fire up my web browser so I could concentrate 100% on my game and the players at my table. Took an early hit when I limped/called a loose short-stacker's all-in with 33 from EP. Loosey goose showed 10-9c and spiked his 9 on the river, natch. Shortly after I limped from EP with 44, only to fold to the big stack's pot-sized raise. Very next hand the poker gods dealt me KK, so I limped again UTG. A player in MP pumped in a healthy raise, so I pushed. He called with QQ and the Cowboys held up.

My 1,500 had grown to about 2,200 when I decided to play a hand as badly as one can. Big stack limped UTG, and it's folded to me in the SB with A10h. My first instinct was to just call and slowplay if I hit the flop, but I was a bit worried about Mr. UTG...so I pumped it up to about 4x BB, only UTG called. The flop was A-x-x with only one heart, and now I was a deer-in-the headlights as far as what to do. If I checked, he could just fire at the pot whether he's got an Ace or not, which would put me in a tough spot. If I tried to take it down with a pot-sized bet, he could come over the top if he had AJ, AQ, AK, or a pair that became trips on the flop, and I'd probably have to fold, out a healthy chunk of my stack. So I decided on option #3, a half-pot bet...if he didn't hit the flop, he'd probably fold. UTG decided to min-raise me, which always confuses me. It either means that he doesn't think I hit the flop and is trying to get me to fold, or he's got a monster.

So what to do, push or fold? I AGAIN chose option #3...a weak-ass min-reraise! What in the blue hell was I thinking??? UTG min-raised me back, and I called. Turn didn't pair my ten, and I check-folded. End of hand chip count: 660.

I survived another orbit or so before pushing from the button with A10s, Mr. Big Stack obliged by calling with KJs, hit his J on the turn, I missed my OESD on the river and was sent packing in 493rd out of 719.

Looking back, I should've chosen option #2 in my fateful hand and bet heavy at the pot. If he raises, then I fold and head to the next hand. Lesson learned...I've got another (live) tourney tonight at 8, hopefully I'll make better decisions in key spots.

World Series of Poker- Main Event!

For anyone looking for updates on the $10,000 WSOP main event, please check out a fellow blogger's site at taopoker.blogspot.com...he's in Vegas covering the tournament for a number of media outlets & doing an amazing job. They're down to 27 players, with Mike "The Mouth" Matusow, Phil Ivey, and 2004 WSOP champ Greg "Fossilman" Raymer all in the top 5. Should be an exciting finish...play resumes today at 3:00 PST in the old Binion's Horsehoe/downtown Vegas.

Since I won't be able to play in this Saturday's Piece of the Pro tourney on Full Tilt, I decided to plunk down $55 and played in last night's Greatfull Red tourney instead. There were about 140 entries, with the winner getting $1,800 PLUS 1% of whatever all the 25 or so Full Tilt pros win in today's WSOP event. Was delivered a huuuge body blow early on when I lost 3/4 of my stack with QQ vs JJ...both of us were all in before the flop, which brought an ugly J...ironically enough, the name of the player who outdrew me was pjacks.

Down to about $300, I more than doubled up with my own pocket J's vs A7. I hovered around $800 for a little while, and then was dealt my least favorite decent starting hand- 10 10. With blinds at $40-80, I raised to $200 and was called by the button. Flop was K-x-x and I was worried, so instead of just pushing in my last $600, I checked...so did the button. Turn was a J, I weakly checked again and the button bet $300. Hoping it was just a steal attempt, I pushed all-in and called by QJ, with no help on the river...bad move on my part, I should've either pushed on the flop (button would've probably folded) or folded to the turn bet...my "I-always-lose-with-tens-so-I-don't-know-how-I-should-play-them" strategy backfired yet again.

I tried to make back the $55 by playing 3 $25 NL cash tables, only to break even thanks to more stupid big bets with inferior hands. I know aggression is required to win at no-limit hold'em, but I have to learn how to rein myself in when I (should) know that I'm beat.

I won a sit & go qualifer earlier this week for tonight's $100 + 9 Piece of the Pro tourney on Full Tilt (see banner on right). I began with $2,000 in chips, and quickly started adding to them. Two key hands...first I raised on the button w/KJh, called by the big blind. Flop came Qh-J-Th, which gave me middle pair and straight/flush/royal draws. I bet the pot & was quickly called. Turn was another J, I made a modest bet and flat called again (hmmm). River brought my buddy Jack the 4th, I bet half the pot and was called by AK...sorry!

A while later I picked up KK and raised, short stack to my left went all in and I gladly called. He showed QQ and didn't improve...$5,700 by the first break, I'll take it! Unfortunately, that's as good as it got for me.

Early in the second hour, I got to see a free flop from the BB w/Q9s. Flop was 10s-9-7s, I bet the pot and was called. Turn and river were blanks...I bet both cards (weakly, maybe 1/3 pot each time...my only real blunder so far) and called down by K9...yak. A couple orbits later, again in the BB, the SB and I see a flop, I have J5. Board read J-J-K, we both checked. Turn was A, he made a smallish bet and I min-raised him, he called. I'm thinking good, he liked the Bullet. River was 7, he bet about $1,000 and I gladly called...and he flipped over J7!!!! That one hurttttt, brought me back down under $3,000.

At the $120/240 level (with $25 antes), I decided it's time to start getting aggressive. I made my first attempt of the tourney to steal the blinds in late position w/Q5d, but the BB put me all-in and I had to fold. Next two hands were AJc and AKs, both times I pushed and both times got no action...but now I was back up to $2,500 and had a little bit of breathing room...or not. Dealt 55 on the button with a couple limps before me, so I decided to push it all in and hopefully pick up the pot or get called by a couple of big cards...well, I got called all right, but by the UTG limper w/KK. Bye bye me, I'm out 150th or so out of 450+....but I feel I played decent poker, so I'll be able to sleep tonight...

Serenity Now!

I managed to give back $70 last night on Full Tilt, thanks to a few runner-runner flushes caught against me, and a general lack of hitting the flop. I don't know how many times I raised with AK/AQ only to be called and then bet into when the flop came 9-high...or just the opposite, raised w/88, called, flop was A-K-Q, caller bet pot.

Ended up playing a $1-1 NL cash game at a local bar with a few other friends later in the evening. The night boiled down to three key hands:

- Dealt Q-J, Luke raised to $6 on the button...Luke's an aggressive player who will raise with a wide range of hands, so I called. Flop was Q-Q-10, we both checked. Turn was a blank, and Luke bet $12...I hemmed and hawed before raising to $24, only to have Luke go all-in for $40 more. I called and he showed a 10, nice.

- Luke has also fallen in love with the blind straddle (blind-raising UTG with the option to act last before the flop), so when he did it for the 3rd straight time (with me on the button), I decided to blind raise him back $5 more...I believe Roy and Randy folded to Luke, who then declared 'all-in,' in the dark! I definitely wasn't going to call him blind, so I sloooowly squeezed my hole cards: 7........7! "OK, I'll call." Luke flipped over his cards, 8-6o. Board was junk and I busted him again for a big win.

- Luke raised from the SB to $6, I called in the BB with A-8. Flop was Q-J-9, we both checked. Turn brought an Ace, Luke checked, I bet $12 and he beat me into the pot. River was a 2 and he quickly bet $24. I was befuddled, what did he have? I finally put him on A-weak kicker, which would mean we chop the pot if I called. Randy wondered if Luke might have 10-8, but that's more of a hand he'd see a flop with rather than raise. After a minute or two, I finally tossed my call in the pot and Luke showed.......10-8!

Well everyone (except me) erupted in laughter, and I whipped my cards at Randy. I guess it was pretty funny...Luke said that he raised without looking and alomost cracked up when Randy came out with the 10-8 comment.

Net $55 profit in the cash game. Good times.

Vindication!

Yeah, that's what Mike "The Mouth" Matusow yelped recently at the WPT Aruba final table, so I figured it'd be a cool thing to say myself, lol. Anyways, my Saturday of woe at Full Tilt was followed by a Sunday of success. My friend Dave & I decided to play their $20 + $2 no-limit tourney in the morning, and I ended up lasting for quite a while. I never had a huge stack- maybe it got to $12,000-$13,000 at some point- but I was never in danger of being knocked out.

I was at about $8,000 when I got to the final table...only problem was that with only 71 entries, they were only paying the top 8. I just needed to hang on until 1 of the 3 shorter stacks got knocked out. And with blinds at only $400-$800, I didn't have worry about being blinded out.

Finally, the player to my right was eliminated...thanks to yours truly. He went all-in under-the-gun, and I had a big decision to make with my A-K of spades: do I come over the top and go all-in myself (hoping that everyone else folds), or do I pass in case a bigger stack has a monster hand or calls and outflops me? I decided to push, and the rest of the table folded. Short stack flipped over A-Q of diamonds, and the board hit neither of us....OK, I'm in the money!

Now it was a matter of how far up the prize list I could make it, but I was still $10,000 or more behind the top 3 stacks. I decided to play tight and wait for others to get the boot. Sure enough, the monster stack to my right went from leader to out the door in 2 hands...now I'm guaranteed no worse than 7th.

Here's where the vindication parts comes in. A couple hands later, the new chip leader min-raised under-the-gun; 2 others called and I decided to go along for the ride in the BB with Q-3. Yeah, it's a terrible starting hand, but I was getting more than 7-to-1 odds on my $800 call ($5,600 + antes already in the pot). The flop was Q-x-x so I went all-in for about $3,000 more and hoped nobody else had a Queen. The original raiser then went all-in...whoops! Everyone else folded and she showed A-Q...but the river brought a 3! I got railed by the rest of the table for my foolish call of the raise, I guess they had never heard of pot odds before...too bad for them.

Shortly after that controversial hand, I raised from early position with J-J, only to have the new chip leader go all-in. She had showed big hands every time she went all-in and was called, so why risk getting knocked out when the shortest stack was down to under $500 and the blinds coming his way? I decided to lay it down, but typed "J-J" in the chat box before folding. More Jim K bashing ensued- "he calls with Q-3 but folds J-J, haha!"- which was fine with me...if they couldn't see that these were good plays, then it made me think that I had an edge over them. Next hand the short stack was taken out, so my decision to fold paid off.

Eventually we're down to 4, and I was by far the short stack with only $7,000 left. With blinds up to $500-$1,000, I pushed with A-8 (the same hand Dave got knocked out with early in the tourney), only to be called by the big stack's A-Q. Board doesn't hit me and I was out, but with a little more pep-in-my-step (credit Mike Sexton) than I had yesterday.

Bad Beat Saturday

Here's the highlights of my last 2 hours playing on the $25 buy in no-limit tables at Full Tilt Poker (all but the last were all-ins before the flop, my hands listed first):

A-A vs JTc: J-club-club-club-x
K-K vs A-K: A-x-x-x-x
Q-Q vs A-A: x-x-x-x-x
A-Kc vs J-J vs J-Tc: K-Q-T-9-x
A-K vs A-Q: A-J-6-Q-x

I guess I'm lucky to have only lost $35, but this has been the trend over the past couple weeks...a really really bad run of cards online.

Poker Weekend, Part Two (pretty original, eh?)

After A Night of No-Limit in Naugatuck, Dave & I decided we would play in a tournament run by a friend of ours at a local private club...but first we stopped at Willie's steak house where another good friend is bartender. We sat at the bar and feasted on king-cut prime rib (my treat with last night's winnings)...beer for Dave, Captain & Cokes for me.

After eating and shooting the breeze with Dennis for a bit, we drove over to the club. A $40 buy-in (no rebuys) got you $5,000 in chips, and with blinds starting at $25-50, it was a good opportunity to hopefully outplay some of the beginners and build a nice stack. Of course, this didn't happen for me as I slowly bled off chips for the first couple hours. With blinds at $100-200, I limped in with K-2 of hearts from the small blind...only to be raised $1,000 more by the big blind, a guy with over $15,000 in chips who was constantly raising but showing down strong hands. I had him on a suited Ace & figured he was just trying to push me out of the hand, so I came back over the top with an all-in for $2,400 total. I knew I was probably getting the worst of it, but also figured that he would call, giving me approximately 3-to-2 odds on my last $2,200. I needed to double up soon or die a slow death so I gambled. He of course called and showed A-Q of spades, which made me a little more than a 3-to-2 'dog. None of the board cards hit either of us until the magical King on the river saved my bacon.

I faded back to about $4,300 in chips by the second break and was moved to Dave's table. Outside of Dave, and maybe one of the other players, the rest of this table consisted of hammered (not drunk, but hammered) club members. As long as I could remain patient through all of the slurring and pot policing ("your blind, sir....no, that's a $100 chip...the blind is $2,000...your turn, sir."), I thought I could politely remove them of their chips. In fact, I did make a nice rally up to about $12,000, capped by winning a checked-down $3,000 pot with King high.

Only trouble was my chip stack wasn't outpacing inflation...of the blinds, that is. With only $8,000 left and the $2,000-$4,000 blinds looming to my right, I decided to push all-in under-the-gun with A-8. There were only 14 of us left, with the top 9 getting paid. I could've folded in hopes that I could back into the money, but decided that I'd rather take a shot at doubling up and making it up higher on the prize list (1st was a little over $500). Juuuust my luck, the guy to my left called, everyone else folded, and he flipped over pocket Rockets.

Needless to say, the board was of no help and I was gone...but it was one of the few times that I wasn't salty about missing the money. I thought I made the smart play with the all-in, just unlucky that someone else had Aces. To his credit, I thought the guy played it well by just calling in hopes that he could sucker some others along for the ride. By now it was 12:30, and I decided to leave instead of waiting for a possible cash game to start up.

(Another) Poker Weekend

Started off Friday night over my friend Dave's place for a nice friendly home game. There were 7 of us in all: me, my wife Jen, Luke, Kristen, Dave, Roy, and Lou. We all decided on a $30 buy-in for $3,000 in chips, no re-buys and no-limit. Blinds started at $25-50 and went up every 15 minutes. I slogged my way through the first hour-and-a-half, not getting any big starting hands or hitting flops, but also avoiding elimination.

It finally came down to our gracious host Dave, my lovely wife, and myself. I was severely short stacked with about $1,200 but finally got some decent starting hands. After winning a couple pots (and stealing a couple others), I was up to 2nd in chips. Jen knocked out Dave and now we're both in the money. I was dealt the big blind special of 6-3 and got to see the flop for free...6-6-x. We both checked the flop, and I checked the turn as well. Jen bluffed with an all-in, and I was more than glad to call with trips. Now I was the one with the chip lead, and she coyly asked if I wanted to chop the pot. I agreed after a bit of a chuckle (she didn't offer to chop before that hand, did she!), but only if I got the extra $10 ($110/$100).

Six of us went on to play a $1-1 no-limit cash game with a $40 max buy-in, Kristen hung out with Dave's wife Sherrie instead. Not only was I dealt playable cards, I was just hitting the flops like Tyson hit Trevor Berbick. Limped in one hand with J-10 of clubs, and the flop was K-x-x, ALL clubs. Poor Luke flopped two pair and we ended up all-in...he didn't improve and I took down a $75 pot. Lou, who had only played hold-em online with play money up to this point, made a huuuge layown that hand with 9-7 of clubs AFTER the flop. I also took down another big pot with pocket Jacks...I raised pre-flop and bet every street including the river; Dave has a bad habit of chasing pots with 2nd/3rd pair or straight/flush draws...he folded on the river and everyone else thought I had bluffed, so I showed the Jacks in hopes of keeping a solid image.

I made a huge read one hand with pocket 5's...Luke had raised to $7 pre-flop and Dave & I went along for the ride. We checked all the way to the river with the board reading K-K-3-3-x. Luke bet $12 and Dave insta-called...my gut told me they both had an Ace with the 2 pair on the board, so I called and sure enough...that's what they had. Neither was too happy with my 'loose call,' but it turned out to be the best read I've made in a long time.

The last hand of the night was nice as well, limped in with J-9 and caught a perfect flop of J-9-x rainbow. I nonchalantly made a pot-sized bet, and Dave instantly went all-in...I called and he showed J-8. The turn was a blank and he was drawing dead. I cashed out with $280, bringing the night's total profits up to $320...Jimmy happy!

Part II to follow...

Full Tilt Poker bonus...

I've started to play at www.fulltiltpoker.com and have nothing but good things to say...great software, loose players, and a 100% bonus on your first deposit (up to $600!). Click here to get your bonus!!!

I played in a $9 + $1 qualifier Friday night on PartyPoker for their $200 + $15 weekly $200,000 guaranteed tournament. Started with 471 entrants, with the top 19 winning a spot in the main event.

About a third of the way through the tourney I was down to about 500 in chips (started with 1,000), but then started doubling up. Whenever I had the best hand, it would hold up; if I was behind (i.e. A-K vs. lower pair), I'd pair up on the board. I made it up to about 30,000 in chips and decided to tighten my play and hold out to make the top 19.

Well Lady Luck was on my side and I came in 4th! I actually had the pleasure to knock out the 20th place finisher. Blinds were 1,500/3,000...I was big blind, small blind only had 1,200 left. Everyone else folded to us, and our hole cards are shown. He has J-7, I have Q-6; he hits his 7 on the flop, but I also caught my Q...and it holds up.

Now I know I haven't won jack diddly yet, but it felt good to have made the final table of a big tourney. I was planning on hitting the local sports bar with some friends to watch the UConn/Duke game tonight, but that took a back seat to the opportunity of winning 50 large!

I was on edge all day, waiting for the 10PM start time to roll around. A little over 1,200 people entered the tournament, making first place about $49,000. They were paying 120 spots, with the next 50 winning an entry into their Million Dollar Guaranteed qualifier. The clock finally read 10:00, and I was ready to rock.

Actually doubled up pretty early on with the following hand...I was in the big blind with plain awful 7-3 offsuit, but nobody folds so I get a free look at the flop. Lo and behold, it comes 7-3-Q, so I made a decent bet. One person called quickly, everyone else folds. I figured him/her for a pair of queens, so I'm feeling pretty good about my chances.

The turn card is garbage, so I bet $500 and get quickly called again. River is more garbage, so I go all in for about $350 and hope the other player didn't catch two pair. Of course I get called, and...they've only got Q-10. Now I can breathe again!

From that point on my luck steadily went south. I'm not catching any good starting hands, and getting raised whenever I bet. I'm down to about $1,200 in chips when I get dealt A-Q of diamonds in middle position. I'm ready to make a healthy raise when the guy before me (who has about $3,500) raises it to $500.

Now I'm in a tough spot: do I make my stand and try to double up again, or should I lay it down? Since this was the best hand I'd seen in a while, and the blinds were about to go up to $100/$200, I decided to go for it and go all-in. He called and showed A-K offsuit, which made him the 70% favorite (according to the www.cardplayer.com odds calculator...I love that thing!).

After the turn, the board was 4-5-6-7, which meant a 3 or 8 will give me a split, and a miracle Q will double me up. But alas, the river was another measly 4, and I'm out of the tourney in 430th place.

So now it's about an hour after I got knocked out, and I'm still wondering if I made the right call or not. I could've folded and tried to hang in there...have to figure a raise to $500 means at least A-J, A-Q, A-K, or a decent pair. But the guy also had a lot of chips, maybe he was bluffing. What do you all think?

Well the $50,000 dream is over for now...but now I'm dead set on making it into another one of these big money tournaments. To quote my fellow www.travel2vegas.com members, "Hold'em is crack!"

A couple posts and five months ago, I tried my luck with online poker and lost $50 in a heartbeat. So I asked Santa for a second chance at internet hold 'em, and Jen, er I mean Santa obliged with a $50 cash present. This time I went to PartyPoker and deposited the cash. This time around has been much, much, much more profitable!

I started by playing one-table no-limit tournaments, where 10 people each pay $6 and get $1500 in tournament chips to start. Only the top three finishers win prizes ($25/$15/$10), but I found myself consistently "in the money." In fact, there was a stretch of about 20 tournaments where I never finished lower than 4th.

So by this time my $50 stake had doubled, thereby getting me back to even in the online poker world. One night, I couldn't get in a one-table tournament (all the tables were filled), so I decided to play a normal $1/$2 hold'em game. That's when the bankroll began to grow quite quickly. All the loose players who were catching their cards against me in Atlantic City; now the tables had turned and I was the one raking in all the pots. I won't tell you exactly how much I've won, but it's safe to say that PartyPoker's been "berry, berry good to me!"

I will soon have a PartyPoker banner on the site which people will be able to click on and get a $25 bonus with their first deposit.