Catching Up Again

I suddenly (ok, not so suddenly) realized that I haven't made a post in almost a week. It turns out my desire to have a blog (which is fairly great) is matched equally by my desire to not write a blog...funny how that works out. Seriously, I'm in the process now of moving to a new apartment and trying to sell a bunch of my furniture while still playing 8 hours a day and it's kind of tough. But as Frond says, people are reading this thing :)

So let's see, what has happened since my last post:

5-Sep	15/30 Limit	Ajs	311
6-Sep	20/40 Limit	Bay 101	-437
8-Sep	8/16 Limit	Bay 101	39
8-Sep	20/40 Limit	Bay 101	984
8-Sep	6/12 Limit	Ajs	-73
8-Sep	15/30 Limit	Ajs	172
9-Aug	20/40 Limit	Bay 101	1349

I played the 5th at Artichoke Joe's because I needed to take my car in for it's 30K service appointment at Melody Toyota (walking distance from AJs). The plan was to stop in, play a few hours, then continue on to the Oaks (I still have never been there), but the service ended up taking 5 hours (and costing more big bets than I would have liked) because I needed new brakes. That 15/30 game has been a thorn in my side for a while now, but after playing in it for 10+ hours this week I'm convinced I had previously been running a bit bad and wasn't quite ready for it when I started playing it 9 months ago. The game is pretty straight forwardly played, with decent unimaginative players. They don't spew multiple big bets post flop like they do in San Jose, but they can still be exploited. Anyway, booking (albeit modest) wins in that game twice was a nice shot in the arm for my confidence. Only 3 more racks and I'll be break even in it life time....

Week 5 of my shot was an overall loser, thanks mostly to the fact that I didn't get to play much (I was water skiing until late Monday) and that I lost 2400 in my first two sessions upon my return. I'm now well into my final week, which as you can see has gone quite well. I could sit here and pretend there is a chance I'll be looking for a job come Saturday, but to be honest there isn't. I'm going to keep playing, at least for another month or two (the exact duration will be picked Saturday) to see if I continue to enjoy this as much as I have been. 6 weeks, with two vacations, just isn't long enough to get a feel for what this lifestyle really entails. I realize many people pointed that out to me when I started, and all I can say is "you told me so".

Hands

I have a nut flush draw in an 8/16 game

And one I didn't post because I know what I did wrong:

Gerry, a good playing prop player at Bay 101 3-bets my high jack open raise from the small blind. This is great because I have pocket Kings. I cap, and Gerry calls. He then meekly calls the flop and turn on a board of J928, and donks the river when a 2 comes off. I call and he says "I was calling anyway" and tables QQ. I win.

Where was my mistake here? Capping pre-flop. I should just call, let him think my hand is weak and range is wide, then raise any flop, getting me to the exact same point in the hand without giving away the fact that I have a MONSTER.

And one that really ticked me off:

This guy is a regular at Bay 101 and I don't like him much. He thinks he's hot stuff, and this time I was playing with him he actually commented on one hand "ace high is good against that guy" when I was betting the turn heads up in a blind steal when I happened to have flopped top pair ace kicker. Basically the guy was telling my opponent to call down because, in his opinion, I always have nothing and am a habitual bluffer. Anyway, I thought this was a little out of bounds (my opponent folded anyway) and was kind of irritated when....

I have AA and raise this guy's big blind. One limper is in the pot, and he calls saying "I'm going to check/raise the turn"

K23

They check to me and I bet. They both call.

6

They check to me and he says "I'm going to check/raise the turn". I bet. He raises. Other guy folds, I tank. Normally this is a turbo-call down, but with his all his talking I take a moment to try and find a raise. While I'm thinking he says "here, dark bet" and slides 8 chips out to bet the river. It is more than I can take.

"3-bets" I declare. He sits back quickly in his chair, as if struck by a large object, and clutches his chest. I am annoyed and finish my sentence, under my breath "you jackass", which only my half of the table (of which he is not a part) hears. He hollywoods and then calls. River is a brick and I bet and he calls. I table my AA and...it's no good. He flopped a set of 2s. Damn it.