24 hours at the boat

Met up with a couple of +1 guys at Caesar's Indiana for fun, food, and poker.

I really didn't have a set same plan for the two days. I knew there would be some $1/2 NL, maybe a little LHE, and possibly the $200 buy-in MTT on Saturday....depending on how I ran in the ring game.

I got there at around 5:30, met Troy at the hotel, got checked in and headed to the poker room. The list for 1/2 wasn't too bad and we were both seated (a different tables) within 20 minutes or so. Early on, I got blasted by the deck, flopping and boat and top set within 20 minutes. The only problem was, I didn't get much astion on either, but I was still up $100 or so.

I went through most of that when this hand came up.

I get Ad Kd in the SB. 4 limpers, I make it $12 and get two callers. Flop is Q 7 9 with a diamond. I bet out $25 and get a caller, which I put on TP, mid-pair (like 88, 99), or another Ax. The turn is a Jd. I bet out $60 with 2 overs and the nut flush draw. CO thinks long and hard and finally calls. Now I'm a little bit worried. At the same time, I don't think he's got TP or he would have raised by now. The river is another Q, so I bet out the same $60 and he calls with.......7d 8d. Nice call. Oh well.

After that, it got to be a blur because everybody saw I'd bet without it and started giving me action. That, coupled with a donk calling station to my right, and I ended up $400 up for the session. I really wish I could give you some more deail, but I honestly don't remember how I got there.

Went back to the room at around 1 AM to get some rest for the next day. Got back downstairsa at 11 or so and there was, maybe, 6 tables going. It was kind of funny becuase there was one 1/2 table and 6 of the guys were from my table the previous evening. I mulled around and couldn't decide if I wanted to play in the $200 MTT. It was going to be a freeroll with my winnings the previous evening and not the best BR decision, but I felt good and decided to take a shot.

I proceded to play some of the better poker I've played in a looooong time.

Let me preface this with one thing. I had 2 pocket pairs the entire tourney.

It was unbelievable. I have never seen play that bad in a $5 SnG, much less a $200 buy-in. Limps. Calls. Calls with "favorite hands" for your tourney life. I wish I had $200 to piss away like these people did.

I muddled along for the first hour and a half. Best hand was KQ and went to the first break with around 2000 in chips. My table was super tight/passive. Very little raising, but lots of calling. It took a BIG bet to get the blinds and I decided to just sit back. I knew at some point, I would have to shift gears and pick up some chips, but I bided my time.

With the blinds at 50/100, I was down to 1700. I had a couple of very weak players to my right and when the button hit me, I kicked it in. For 5 of the next 10 hands, I jammed PF. Now, a couple of those hands, I had AQ, but I was jamming with any two, just to get back in it. I knew the table well enough to know that a short burst like that would probably work. It did.

My quick shift got me up to around 3200 and safe for a bit, but I was still card dead. W

With the blinds at 100/200, 25 ante, I made it 500 to go from MP. CO called, but he had been pretty loose, so that didn't surprise me. He was also short, so I was looking to get him out as long as the flop wasn't stupid. Flop was Q 3 4. I led out with 1000 and he instacalls.....which freaked me out. Rag on the turn, so I checked to see what he would do (I know, I should have went ahead and put him all in) and he checked behind. 10 on the river and I put him all in for another 600. He calls and shows......A 4. WTF? Thanks for playing.

That was the last hand where I really got to play. Blinds started flying up, doubling and before I knew it, blinds were 500/1500 with a 200 ante. At this point it had been about 3 levels since I'd seen anything resembling a hand. I'd pushed 5-6 times with a couple of random aces and crap like that, but I was just trying to survive. The table makeup had changed and there were a couple of pretty solid players there now and I couldn't be as cute as before. My swan song went like this.

We're 6 handed and I get Qs 10s in the CO. Blinds are 2 away from me and this is the best hand I've seen in 2 orbits. I've still got about T6000 left and a call will still be felt by the people following me. I take my stand and push.......only to have the BB wake up with AQ. Thanks for playing. I don't feel bad because I had sucked out on the girl who busted me, so I guess it was a bit of karma.

Still, with as little as I had to work with, I felt pretty good about my showing. If I get a no-call there, I'm more than likely at the final table.

I do have one small ccmplaint. While I like the early blind structure, they get pretty stupid later on. When we were at 20, the blinds were 500/1000, 100 ante and the average stack was 7500. For some reason, I think the average stack shouldn't be short thie quick.....then again, you can't play forever.

All in all, a solid weekend. I think I cleared about $150 after room, food, and the tourney. Not bad.

I really wish I lived closer to Louisville. There is so much easy money at that place. Sheesh.