Can't Lay Them Down

Why do I have to look up someone when I’m 90% sure I’m beat. I had pocket aces with 10,10,3,3 on the board and looking at a big raise. I got to stop calling thinking that I am being beat out of the pot with a bluff. I got to get back into the mentality that it is ok to make a small mistake rather than blowing off most of your chips. I will never become the player that I hope to become by not laying down these types of hands. So what did the guy have? Well I was right in that he did not have a 10. No, he had 2 of them for quads and I’m left with 400 chips. I did battle back to 4000 chips and made it to the bubble when my AQ fell to 99 and I was out in 37th. Yes 36th paid out but I was so short stacked that everyone was waiting to bust me. Should I have been blinded in the hopes of someone else going out……maybe, but I think the object is to fight and try for the final table. And I would have been in better shape by laying the A's down.

DEM QUEEN BITCHES

At a $10 poker stars MTT I was playing at slightly above the chip average when I was dealt Q's, not once or twice but three time in a row.

QQ(1) - Raise 3x all fold and I collect antes.
QQ(2) - Raise 3x and called . K on flop and I subsequently loose to KQ. I did not play this well as I should have thrown them away when the K hit but his raises were so small against what was in the pot I was still priced in.
QQ(3) - Raise 3x and re-raised 2x and I call. Qxx hits the board for trips and we get all our chips in. He shows KK and of course a K hits the river and I am out.

As everyone knows Q's are a good hand but not a great hand and should be played cautiously. Everyone one of these played out differently. I'm OK with QQ(3) as he was down to 2 outs on the river and shit like that is gonna happen.

I'm pissed at QQ(2) as by playing that way I gave him enough chips to knock me out one hand later.

I'm still learning

Poker God Humor

Played over at Foxwood the other night and came away with about $60 to the good. It was an great night with interesting people including one guy who was trying to recover by raising every pot irregardless of what hands he had. He made back a little but he made the table laugh everytime he did it.

One very intersting hand did occur that evening.

The dealer was dealing at he flipped over and exposed an 8 to me. As it was exposed the 8 was then the burn card. I looked at the card that replaced the exposed card ant was a J and as it turned out my second card was also a J. Great for once I improved on an exposed card.

The flop was 8...8...8 which would have given me quads. But OK I still had a full house with JJ888. The turn was an A and the round was being bet heavly as no one was afraid of quads. Cr*P, boo, but I still call.

The turn was a J giving me the second nuts (AA is the nuts which no one has) and I take down a very nice pot which was mine to begin with.

Sometimes the Poker Gods have a sense of humor.

The Future of Poker On Line

I sit here and wonder if I even feel like playing poker anymore. I enjoy it but I don't know if it is worthwhile to sign up for another service or not. It looks like getting money in and out is going to get more difficult. Right now I have about $20 at FT and $300 at Pokerstars. Normally I would transfer some of that over as I enjoy Full Tilt so much more. Right now, I must take a step back and analyze what the next steps before either going on a megatilt before quiting or just take a wait and see approach.

GOOD NEWS

The good news I final tabled a turbo $10 in 7th /550 for $180 when shortstacked my KQ against A7 which did not improve.

Hot and Cold

Played like a dog last night in tournament play. Went out early with weak playing on two tournaments including WWDN. And then played bubble boy on horse. How do you bubble out where at one point you are in 8th. 40th pays and I was 41st. bahh.

Fortunately I more than made up for the losses playing horse with players that were playing cards that I couldn't believe. How does one believe a pair of aces is good in stud.

This is very common if I play both tournaments and cash. One ususally offsets the others. Don't know if that is good or bad but it is common.

Boney's Poker Axiom No. 8 - Trying to leave early

It is impossible to say "Sorry, I got to go" in the middle of the tournament without then winning six hands in a row.

Boney's Poker Axiom No. 9 - Buyins

The higher the buyin the more major interuptions or emergencies you will have during the tournament

Boney's Poker Axiom No. 10 - Suckouts

The lower your chip stack is in the red zone or dead zone the more likely you are to suckout a one outer. Your 350 chips will be doubled to 750 when the average chip count is 20000.

The corollary to this is the higher your chip stack and the closer you are to the final table someone with more chips will suck out on you with a one outer.

Good Wins On PS 45 Turbos

As everyone knows the Poker Stars 45 turbos are nothing more than a crapshoot but they are a lot of fun when you have limitied time. Placed first in a $5 and second in a $10 to up my account almost $200 on back to back tournaments.

Good poker... probably not.

But good fun

Later

Bones