Horseshoes and Hand grenades

So as goes my weekly ritual, I made my way to a B&M to play some poker. I had been playing in the Hawaiian Gardens $100 NL Hold 'Em with one re-buy until I discovered the Bicycle Casino. They have at 7pm a $100 NL Hold 'Em tournament with no re-buys, Sunday through Friday night. So depending on the day I can just cruise up there and take a chance. So far I have yet to place in the money.

Last week I went and I played probably the best poker to date. Getting out of hands without losing too much, making the correct bets to push people out and just basically playing real solid poker. We started with only 34, which is actually the smallest the field has been so far, and were down to about 24~21 when this hand occurred. I'm up about 300 from the 800 start with a VERY large stack to my immediate left. He is new but from the few hands he played, he was crafty and knew how to use his stack to his advantage. The button is immediately to his left, so I'm two to the right. UTG folds, super short stack raises to 150 and it folds around to me. Now from what I had seen so far, roughly 95% of the time if someone at this table raised and there was a caller, everyone else folded which dictated my play. I look down to see two nines, so I decide just to call to keep from getting into too much trouble, just in case since there were others to act. AND just in case the short stack guy was waiting to move in, even though I had him 4 to 1 on chips. Well the guy on my left moves all in, which puts anyone at the table all in. Now in my head I'm thinking if anyone calls I'm out because I would certainly be beat. But if it folds to me, I consider calling. 1. At worst, I'm a 4 to 1 underdog against a higher pair with a chance to double up. 2. This guy has a huge stack and by me not showing real strength by just calling he could be making a move. Well it folds to me and I say lets gamble. A look of disgust comes on the chip king's face as he flips over pocket 7s. Great call on my part.... Until the flop is 7 8 6. He flops a set, BUT I'm still good with a 10, 5 or another 9, so I have 10 outs. Then the turn reveals another 8 and I'm down to two 9s. River is a Q. I still think I made the right move by calling the all in, and I think even if I had moved in before the reraise the guy to my left still calls. That's poker though.

So with the field being 34 and me playing great until I lost that hand, my confidence was boosted. I strongly feel like it will be very soon that I place or even win this thing.

Last night I go again but this time the field was up to 67. Doesn't matter, I've been playing great lately and no longer have the "Gee I hope I do better this week" mentality. So I win some hands in the beginning and I get into a zone. Possibly playing better than last week. Not to mention the cards were quite warm and even when they weren't I had the table read well enough I knew when to push and when to stay out. So I make to the first break, not bad but its usually after the break when I have a "Matasow". Not last night, I decide to switch gears and tighten up. I maybe tightened up too much because I folded the nuts three times when I could have been in for cheap. Moderate hands in great position and then the nuts on the flop, but I didn't care, I had to switch it up since I was starting to look loose/aggressive. Then the chips start coming after I double up with a pair of Jacks. Then I play this hand, which I still think I may have made the right call though I'm not convinced. I'm Big Blind, with 89o, two callers and the small blind calls. Four to the flop. Flop comes J 8 9. Magic, SB checks and I think I bet 125, not sure. Guy on my left raises 300, folds around to me and I raise to 1000. He thinks and calls. Now I'm thinking he has a 10. Turn is a 7, so I check, he checks. River is a King, check he bets 500 or 600 and I lay it down. If I call and I'm right I win a HUGE pot. But if I'm wrong and he has a 10, I still have chips but am weakened quite a bit. So I fold the next 5 hands just to avoid making a tilt decision. I claw my way back up and down. I look up and there is about 5 minutes left in the round and we're down to 2 tables of 9. (Actually one with 8 and mine with 9) I had moved in with AK to steal the blinds and one caller (100/200) so 500, up to about 1600. Blinds are going to be 100/200 with 25 ante after the break so my M is getting small, not to mention my stack relative to the average is small too. Two hands after AK I get JJ. I'm in late position, one caller I move in again and everyone instantly folds except for guy that calls almost too fast. His chips were in and his cards were flipped before I even knew he called it was so fast. Of course he had pocket Kings but what could I do? Short stack, late in the game, pocket Jacks. So I finish 17 out of 67, my best yet. 1-9 got paid so I didn't make the money but it was certainly a rush to get that far. Soon, very soon it will be all mine!

By the way, I've stopped playing online as much and noticed my live game has improved significantly.