Quest for a WSOP Seat

Not a lot of posting has been going on lately…It has been a joint effort of events that has left this blog mostly ignored. In July, it was Wisdom teeth removal and school. In August/September…it has been job hunting…

However, I’m still playing poker on a frequent basis. There have been many a tournament at Northstar…several near wins…Head and I went head’s up twice last month, after never making it to the final 2 together the 3 months prior.

I finished 2nd to Jeni in the $125 winner take all event, she just had too large of a chip lead for me to battle back from. Pops took 2nd in the Fort McDowell Freeroll a few weeks ago…Head made a good run last week, but did not cash.

The NS quarter final $500 game is coming up soon…Head and Bri are both in the Top 15. I’m pulling up the rear in the Top 30.

I have also located a shop to make the hats I’ve been wanting…so when I do manage to take down some cash…those will be coming.

-crush

YoYo!

Quick recap from last wednesday. I played a solid night, and fell to the fate of the cards. Another person at the bar recognized me as a Daniel N. look alike, and then I started calling flops and dominating the table. It was quite sick to watch.

I was chip leader easily going into the final 2 tables. I was then dealt A 10 Suited. I pushed it up to 40k to run (blinds were 5, 10k at that point)…Mike was to my left and immediately called and went all in (that’s all he had left) He shows A 6 suited. Sure enough, on the turn he caught a 6 and broke my A 10. I was short stacked from that point on, with about 30k or so in chips.

When we got merged into the final table I had 20k in chips, blinds at 5/10k and going up on the next hand. I got dealt J 10 in middle position, I go all in (hoping to get a heads up with somebody…) Bryan to my left calls with A K. He caught a K on the flop and there was no recovery for me.

9th place is solid especially at the bar game where suckouts happen more often then not. It’s the 2nd time A 6 has cracked a superior A overcard for me.

Head had some success last night, we’ll see if we can get him in here to write about it

-out!

Things have slowed down quite a bit here. There hasn’t been much poker playing to speak off.

Last Friday, Head and I went to Northstar to take a shot at the $75 first place prize. Good news is we both made it to the Final Table…bad news is…Kyle was fat stacked and blew it on a bad bet, I was short stacked and managed to hold in there and take 4th place.

Hopefully some more stuff to come in the future, school is getting in the way.

So what a crazy week it’s been. If you don’t want to read the whole story here’s the cliff notes: 1st in Wednesday’s Bar Poker - $75 - +$110 in Cash Games - 11th in the Finals.

Last Wednesday, Me and Head went to Northstar to play in the nightly game. We like to go on Wednesday’s because the prize is $75 instead of $40. I started the night with pocket A’s…I raised preflop, got no respect and was re raised…I simply called. Flop came all low…so I bet, and again I was reraised…I thought for just a moment, but was about 85% sure he did not make a set…so I called. Another low card on the turn, I checked and he bet strong just about all in, I pushed him all in and he had pocket Q’s. The very next hand, I had A J off suit. The flop came something something J. I had top pair with an A kicker. The river turned an A, and I made 2 pair. The other guy in the hand, tried to push me off the pot and I came over the top to push him all in to call…he didn’t and I showed. I would go on to win the night and take down the $75 prize pool.

Sunday rolled around and it came time for the May Final. I will admit I was a bit nervous, I got there early and played in a cash game to warm up a bit. They handed out the seats, I got table 3, seat 5. Right smack in the middle and uncomfortable. But table 3 wouldn’t get broken up till near the very end. I didn’t start out to hot, I went down pretty early before the break. I got down to about 2k in chips (half the starting stack), I picked up A 9 off suit from the BB position. There was a $600 raise by a loose cannon player and I didn’t peg him for being truthful this time…so I re-raised him to all in, he quickly called and I felt sick…he turned over pocket Q’s. I had a single overcard….the flop did not give it to me…the turn did and I doubled up.

From there, I played solid core poker. I pulled a few pots from the Dealer position with nothing for a hand (successful bluffs) and the rest was legit poker. It quickly dwindled down to less then 30 players and I was sitting around 20-25k in chips. We got down under 20, and I came to a big hand situation…a player from the other end of the table went all in…the player in the 2 seat call his all in with his own all in. I check my hand and had pocket Q’s…I did a check of my stack and I had roughly 40k in chips…the 2nd all in was 35k…..I sensed danger… so I let my queens go…turns out…I was ahead and by a long shot. Small stack had K 10 Suited, big stack had pocket 5’s…. When the hand was done, the small stack caught a 10 and doubled up…it turns out this would be the player who would take most of my chips before i busted out.

A few hands later, a player I knew pushed all in…I had A J off suit…I thought I had him covered so I called. As it turns out he had me covered by about 8k in chips. I caught a J and double up to over 60k in chips. After that we were short handed. Blinds were $7000 / $15000…I wasn’t getting any hands and a round of blinds chewed up my stack. The player I beat with A 10 managed to take a couple all in pots and he was sitting pretty with over 60k in chips… I got dealt pocket 4’s…and I let them go…the very next hand…pocket 3’s….I took it as a sign and went all in….The guy I was talking about before at the end of the table called…he had A K…on the flop I was still ahead…on the turn…he hit a K…I was done…my stack crippled…under 10k in chips…next hand was Q 6 suited…and it didn’t matter I didn’t catch anything and I busted out…If I hadn’t tilted I may have lasted to the top 10…as there was some very very small stacks at the final table…

Overall I’m pleased with how I did…however at the end of the tournament…I think I could have played better…

Done with the Rant…I’ll be back….and next year…I’m going to Vegas…

I want to thank everyone that showed for the little get together. Also thanks for putting up with me and my distraction

Head was out just before the 2nd break, Bri was out…I’m not sure when. I was all over the place and just playing my cards was hard enough. I was out shortly after the 2nd break.

Top 3
Sean
Haggered
Blaine

Also, I may have qualified for the final tournament in May. Last I checked on Friday Night, I was still around 50th or so. The final is on Sunday at 9am, 6 $1500 seats on the line…

Heh, what a weekend it was.

Saturday night was a long night. Lots of drinking, lots of bad poker…good times

So after crashing around 4am, I got up around 8:30, Head was already up and moving. We went and picked up my car, and I’d come back to pick him up around 10. Only problem was, I had a hangup from hell. Got home, and yea things didn’t want to stay down, and I ended up passing out. Head sent me a text to get up, but the phone was on vibrate, i ended up getting up around 10:10 and got moving.

After snagging some pepto for 5 bucks, Head drove to the casino. Some where in fountain hills, I started coughing and it was all over, Head asked if he should pull over…yep…and yea on the side road, pink vomit woo! Also you have the quote above from Head: “That’s some rockstar shit right there”

Head got seated right away with All In, and Boy Wonder. I waited about 20 mins then got seated. Felt like crap, didn’t really want to be there. But the cards where coming and I was playing them. I was up over 6k within 3-5 hands at the table. At one point, I bet..guy next to me raised to all in(he was on tilt a bit), it went around and I called. He throws down his hand….9 9…”You can’t be serious…” I throw down my 9 9…heh split pot, we made 75 in blinds wo0O!

Head was out at some point, i don’t really remember, he ended up getting picked up. I made it to 2nd break, then came back to A Q suited…faced a strong bet from a short stack…i pushed him all in…he had A K suited, caught a K. I was still comfy at around 10k or so. Table splits…next table cards are decent I get up to around 20k. I got A Q unsuited after not having played almost a full orbit. I raised, 2 seats over guy goes all in….I commented on A Q failing me before, but decided to give it another shot…this time he had A A. I was out…not bad, but better then I had been performing.

New page with Crushed Productions Poker Schedule, page for the info. Come out and play with us!

-crush

Haven’t been winning or doing decent in a while.. and apparently the Small Blind position is going to be the Death of Me.. 3 straight tournaments I’ve gone out in the SB position.
I am going to have to figure something out.

From the bottom to the top. After my embarrassing night on Friday, I made my return to poker on Saturday Night @ Northstar. I got knocked out of the standard tourney rather quickly on an open ended flush draw (didn’t catch it), but I did take 2nd in the consolation side table.

Later that night, Bri would go on to take 2nd in the 10pm game. We ended up closing the bar, and rolling back to Head’s house. We played some cards, drank a bit more and came up with the bright idea of going to the freeroll in a few hours (it was like 4am when we finally passed out).

So I get up around 8ish, grab some sbucks (green tea and lemonade), go get cleaned up and back to head’s by 9:45. We got to the Casino around 10:30, the earliest we’ve ever been. Started as your typical tournament, lose a few hands, try to maintain etc. I started at a table with this kid who goes all-in post flop rather then deal with simply raises…luckily i avoided a showdown with him and our table split apart.

The table I got moved to, was busted up in 3 hands. The next table I sat at would start building my chip stack, I walked into several solid hands in a row, and before i knew it had I had cleared 10k in chips. Then that table got busted up. Next table, I lost a big pot to a trip set, and had to go all in to double up. I got lucky…the big raiser in my hand didn’t even have a pair, and I had A Q, he had A 8. With chips and established I got bounced to the Table 2 aka The final table location.

There I hung out, established my self as a no BS player and sailed into the final 10 with ease. The final table was a trip, I was a bit on the short side of the stacks, and needed to make a move (surprise surprise). I went all in with A 8 suited. I got a call from the fat stack at the table, there was a 3rd player but i had him covered easily.

The flop comes, 10 5 A. The lady hit a set..i would need runner, runner to win….and I did…I caught runner runner 8’s and had a full house…it was awesome The table started to dwindle down and we got to 4 players. I made a raise from the SB, hoping the BB would fold (I had A, 4)….she didn’t and reluctantly went all in. I called the small amount more. I ended up sucking out a bottom end straight (aka the wheel, A-5). I had almost missed it, but I caught it before the dealer could muck my cards (thanks Head).

After that we went back and forth with 3 of us, then it was just 2. I offered to chop it, I was way behind in chips, she opted to play it out. First hand head to head, she goes all in, I call. She shows Kc 10c, I had Ac, 4c. She flopped 2 pair, with 2 clubs showing…I didn’t catch the flush…oh well 2nd was good enough for me

Long winded as usual but a crazy crazy time. Next time I’ll take it all.

I was out last night in 3 hands. I folded the first, then had Q 10 offsuit, played it and saw it through for about 1k. Next hand, I had pocket J’s. I raised pre-flop, dude called, flop came all diamonds. He put out a basic bet, but I suspected he was on a flush draw.

I was jittery and anxious to play, so I tried to take him off the pot. He had the flush and I was out.

I haven’t played well, since losing bad in that cash game. I think i’ve been playing the players more and it’s been costing me. I need to focus more on the cards and my beats.

-out

So I have a quick update…

Last Friday I went and played my first Cash Tournament. I did terrible…like really bad…3rd one out at our table…There were 40 players to start, 1st took like 400 or so.

I think I just got nervous and was trying to buy pots without having cards etc…i over complicated my play. It’s an experience I will remember and I’m glad to have…though I’m unhappy it took 50 out of my bankroll.

Time to get ready for the freeroll, i’ll post up later about that.