Well I was well rested and focused and there was a tournament at 7:30 for $30. My starting bankroll is currently $80 I have left over from fixing a computer for someone. It took me awhile to get started but once I caught a big hand, pocket kings, got a caller and flopped top set I started moving quickly. The guy to my left that was bullying calmed down as I heated up which was perfect because he was catching cards so hard I don't know how I would have got around him.
I always look for players to my left and identify there play styles to see if they will get in my way or not. Then I look at my players on my rights and see who I want to get in a hand with, I call them ATM's because I can just keep making withdraws =)
Went very well was 11 people in total, got down to heads up and the guy offered me a chop. I feel very strong about my heads up ability, I think playing online heads up games and the ICM manager (available on pokerstratgy.com) really helped me out. Knowing when to push, fold or call. Also, if someone is playing tight I flip my style which most people don't pick up, I raise my bad hands so they fold and I cold call my great hands so I get re-raised or can take em out on the flop. He had a good amount of chips but I had a huge lead. He was a passive player, well he either got really good cards or grew some b***s cause he went nuts and I kept getting bad hands, flops were missing me, and I quickly found myself in a tough spot. I wasn't upset about not chopping after he took me out, I was upset that I lost. I'm even more upset that I'm not sure why I lost, I can't find any mistakes I made and I'm sure I made some. I even stole some using cards as bad as 25o, I think he kept seeing me back down and he kept attacking. Last hand we were evenly stacked, He had A8o and I called with K7o, no one hit so he took it down. So basically a coin flip to determine an extra $75 and I must have called tails cause heads came up.
So I got 2nd place, I'm glad I got more experience with heads up, people ask to chop all the time and we never play it out, I need to get use to playing it out for when it happens, yes this group chops a lot but when I play other tournaments that don't chop what do I do then when they have more experience then me.
So it's Saturday night about 10 PM, they only play 1 tournament then that's it, well they started a cash game so why not. 2nd place got me $80 after tipping the dealer $20, so I went up $50. So my bankroll is now at $150. I put $100 in for the cash game (table min), my favorite dealer is dealing and very first hand she gives me Kings on the button. The whole table calls for $2 each, I raise to $17, one person calls the rest fold. Flop came 567 rainbow, he min bets, I shove and he calls. I show kings and he gets upset, next card don't help him, and river is another King, nice pot, I was all in but he was towards the end of his night and had about $52 left so I'm up $52 which is awesome, I quickly hit another $24 and $12 pot, then loose about that same amount.
So I'm at about $160. I'm looking around the table for targets, who I want to get in a hand with and who I want to stay away from. There is this one guy playing every hand and he just blasts off with pure aggression, double and triple barreling to take it down. Target acquired.
Well it's getting late and I still didn't get a hand since this guy sits down, I get pocket 7's UTG, I call for $2. You may say this is a weak hand, oh no not in this cash game where most people that take it down have middle pair and that's when it gets to the river! Gets to him and like clockwork, raise $11, I knew it was coming, so guy after him calls and so do I.
Hand (UTG) - 77
Flop - 4 5 6 rainbow
This is a great flop for me, other then hitting a set I can't ask for more. I know he's aggressive and this is where I may have made a mistake. I bet $35 first to act. He is up, he puts enough to scare the guy after him out and put the action on me putting me all in.
Here comes the multi-level of poker thinking. What does he have. I'm going through my mind did he hit one of those cards? Does he have an over pair? Is he bluffing? Ok lets break it down, I have been playing very tight folding to lots of raises. He never seen anyone play back at me since the game started, so knowing I'm tight and I'm careful with my money there is no way I will put my whole stack at risk right? Wrong! Yes, I'm tight with my money but I have been studying this guy like crazy, I see that his breathing pattern is different then before when I start to stack my chips as if I am going to push them all in. Well That's what I did, I called my remaining stack. His jaw pretty much hits the felt that I called and by his disguise, I'm already counting my bankroll rocketing up, he throws up his cards and he has Q9o. Wow, a total bluff, could I get luckier? Yes, in matter a fact I could have, as the turn hits it's a nine and a ten follows giving him top pair.
Wow, I just got crushed, he did all that with air, I knew it, I figured it out, I set him up and it failed. I just get up and leave, not making a scene because at this point I'm shaking. This is the largest pot I ever played as I'm more of a tournament player and chips play different then cash. That was a pot of around $320 which hurt badly. My bankroll is now at $50. I go home and try to watch a movie, as I really want to play online but said to myself I had enough bad beats for this Saturday night, even though it was only 1 beat it was enough to take all my hard work and lose it in one moment. I have to tell myself these two things, I got my money in right and that's poker.
He bought in with $300 I later learned he cashed out $110, after that hand he had over $700. That makes me feel a bit better, I can't help thinking what if I would have checked, he would have made a moder bet like $45, then I would have shoved and he would have folded.
So after the movie I went to bed...yeah right I went online and played 2 more hours of poker doing pretty well then I went to sleep about 4 AM.
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