Recap December 2007

Upcoming Live Venues
I plan to visit Showboat on 11 January 2008
I plan to play a family/friend annual New Year's tournament on 5 January 2008.

12/30/2007
3/45 ITM

12/29/2007
7/19 my QT board TT3xx loses to 33, then my QQ loses to 77

12/28/2007
5/18 bubble. pokerstars is such a waste of time. unbelievably frustrating.

12/25/2007
3/9 ITM
6/18 ITM
3/18 ITM
2/45 ITM
30/45 792/1301 KK loses to 9To, played poorly by me due to multi-tabling.

12/22 - 12/23
Just one ITM finish out of six tries.

As 2007 comes to a close, I still have unrealized goals of winning a 45 SnG (I have six second-place finishes) and I still have not made the final table of an online MTT. No one has volunteered to be an online mentor, but my game has vastly improved from reading hand analyses. My goal for the coming year is to continue to think about hands and situations. And of course, I aim to take down the Conshohocken Classic.


12/12/07
busted 2 MTTs
14/510 ITM my highest online MTT finish to date. played well, got lucky and unlucky.
Lucky: while changing the screen background, I accidentally called an all in with junk, but hit the river to double up.
Lucky: ran TT into AK board AxxxT
Unlucky: did not get any action on AA,KK,QQ - missed opportunities to really add to my stack.

12/13/2007
1/18 ITM for a token.
2/45 ITM had chip lead from hand #1 but some bad beats crippled me. regained lead at 6 when 99 holds up to KQo. gain a 3:1 lead heads up, but my A8s loses to TT, my AA loses to K8, and A6 loses to K6o. A good night but this should have been the win that has eluded me for so long.

12/14/2007
1/9 ITM
2/45 ITM (still no win!)
i guess this means i'm "running good"?!?

12/16/2007
6/9 ran AK into AA and lost
96/204 5 card draw (limit): my strategy is to play JJ+ and play it hard. was 9th about a quarter through, but showed down to some quality hands. at first break i'm avg stack but blinds are high.
6/9 3 big bad beats. honestly, it's why i really hate PS. while it is true that a donkey will lose in the long run, however, at a full table of donkeys, collectively they will beat you all day long. i should have just soaked in the hot tub instead of subjecting myself to this garbage. life is too short.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1819034
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1819042
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1819046

note to self: if you don't feel like playing, then DON'T. that's it for this week, until Showboat Friday. i want to go in rested and not tilting. i want to final table and cash out.

12/18/2007
Help for ring games is on the way courtesy of Action Dan Harrington.
http://www.cardplayer.com/magazine/article/17166


Hoping to play a number of SnGs this week in preparation for the Home Game Dec 10. I'll also be analyzing a good number of hands in some forums.

12/1
ITM 2/9 and busted another SnG.

12/2
ITM 2/9: huge chip lead but AK fell to AA.
Busted two other SnGs: flop literally missed every hand I played.

12/4
Solidified plans for 12/10/07 Main Line Poker Club Home Game.
Firmed up plans for 12/21/07 Showboat, Atlantic City tournament. I have not had success at Borgata, so I'm returning to Showboat, venue of my only ITM tourney finish. Should be a good time - at least two home-game buddies will be there.

12/6 hoping to play online tonight - railbirds wanted.
busted 9/18 but played extremely well among top players (according to stat sites).
busted 25/27 someone hit a flush on river, should have bet the flop heavier.
busted 7/9 horrible bad beat A6 beat my AT board T6xx6.

This is obviously NOT the kind of momentum I want to be bringing into the home game next week. Apart from a single hand which I know I played poorly, I don't think I played anything too badly. But if that were truly the case, there should have been an ITM finish tonight.

12/7
7/45 bubble. one CANNOT win these things if dominating hands don't hold up at the final table. in honor of Chip Reese, i'm not gonna get angry, but i'm not too happy either!
1. my AK vs AQ splits the pot with two pair on board.
2. my 99 loses to AK to cripple me.
3. all in with Ax loses to 99 (how ironic).

11/45 run smack into AA with high pair and OESD.

ITM 2/18 for a token.

ITM 2/45 my 66 loses to ATo. still no wins at the 45 MTT.

This will have to do until the home game. I'm tired and need to rest.