I have been getting absolutely killed at the $10+1 sit and gos at UB lately, and I’m convinced it’s not just bad luck. The site must be rigged. I’ve just been playing really badly. I also went out of three straight $5+.50 with QQ vs AA, and then KK vs AA twice. The third time, I really had no choice, but the first two, I should have been able to lay it down. I absolutely knew the other person had AA, but pushed all-in anyway. I was really so close to making a good laydown of KK preflop, but just couldn’t get myself to do it. The QQ had a shortstack raise minimum preflop, I make a pot sized raise, and someone behind me flat calls. Flop is 883, short stack moves in, I call, guy behind me moves in. Here, I knew I should have folded. I was positive. I knew I was beat. I called anyway. I have to not do that. I did make the final table of a $5+.50 last week, but finished 9th for a whopping $25 payout when my AQ ran into AA (I was shortstacked, and all in before the AA had acted).

I decided yesterday that I wasn’t going to play poker last night. I went to my bowling league after work (shot 553, 184 average), and we took three out of four points. After league, I hung around the bowling alley, ate dinner, and then bowled a bunch more games there. I didn’t leave until around a quarter to one, so I figured I’d get home and go to sleep. I made the mistake of sitting down to check my e-mail, even though I get it sent to me on my Treo. Then, I was sitting in front of my computer, so I just had to try out Poker Office. That meant I was just starting my poker playing for the day, at Party, at almost 1am. While that was happening, I checked UB to see if there were any 1am tournaments. There was a $10+1. I figured I’d play in that for a half hour or so with the way my luck had been running lately, and then go to sleep.

90 people entered. I don’t think I even played a hand for the first 40 minutes. Most of the time during the tournament, I was one of the shortest stacks. I just wasn’t getting any hands. When I was, I was picking up just enough to hang around. One player limps, another makes a small raise, and I find QQ. I bet pot, not wanting any action, and pick up their chips. 6(!) players limp in, and I find JJ. I push in, pick up their chips. Just hanging around.

With around 15 people left, I find AKs in the big blind. A big stack makes a raise, I push in, and he pretty much has to call the rest of my money with his 76s. I double up. The previous hand, I had AKo, and mucked when UTG raised a good amount, and someone else pushed in. UTG called, and they had 33 and 55! I would have tripled up had I called, as an A hit the flop. Oh well. The whole time, I’m just picking up blinds once in a while, and not really doing much else.

I enter the final table as the third shortest stack, with only 7 or 8 big blinds. The second or third hand, UTG (shorter stack than me) pushes in and I find 99. I feel like I have no choice, and I push all in as well. A big stack in late position calls. UTG turns over JJ, late position turns over TT. Flop is 933, they get no help, and I almost triple up. From this point on, I got really aggressive and built my way up to be the chip leader with 5 remaining. Then, I try a blind steal with an 86o. I get called. Flop has an 8. I bet, call. Turn is a 6, putting three hearts on the board. I stupidly put all my chips in with two pair, and get called by the nut flush. I’m down to 5500 or so, with 600-1200 blinds. I push all in a few times, and don’t get called, get lucky with my ten hits with AT vs AJ, and build it back up to about 20k. It eventually gets heads up, and I lose when my AA goes up against KT that flopped a straight. I wish I could say my money got in while I had the best hand, or even a set of aces, but it went in on the QJ9 flop. Maybe I’ll learn for next time. All in all, it was a good tournament for me, and helped me recover my sit and go losses.

While I was playing that, I also made 33BB at 1/2 on Party. Also played a little bit at Pacific. I originally signed up for Pacific for a deposit bonus and so one of the poker bloggers, Iggy, I think, would get a little referral credit. The 1/2 game there seems pretty soft. I took the most insane hand I’ve ever won there. As with all insane hand stories, I was of course dealt Presto (55), on the button. I call, and the big blind raises, so I call that. The flop is 59T. I figure I’m good. The big blind bets out, I raise, he reraises, I cap. Turn and river are both blanks, and we do this the whole way. He reraises on the river, somehow expecting me to fold for one more bet with that huge pot. He shows J8o, for a missed open ended straight draw. Two people were calling the whole way in the middle with… well, with something less than three fives. I took down a $79.50 pot (39.75 BB!), for a $57.50 profit on one hand of 1/2. Like I said, the game there is pretty soft.

Damn, I’m fricken tired. Stupid poker.

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