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I apologize in advance but this is going to be a really long post.

Yesterday I was trying to decide what to do with my last $27 on Stars. I was thinking about playing another step 2. I finally decided that since I am playing SNG's pretty well lately that I should play some regular ones. I decided to sign up for 4 in a row. All of them started within 3 minutes of each other. I quickly decided I am not used to playing this many tables at once. Too late now I guess. When the blinds went up to 25/50 in all of them the best I was doing was 1400 in chips and all of them ranged between 1200 and 1400. When we got up to 50/100 I really hadn't made too much headway in any of them. I ended up busting out in 7th in the 3rd one that I started. That's OK, I'm still alive in 3 of them.

Oh oh, make that 2. I was the bubble bitch in the second one that I started. But hey, in the money for the other two, I can still pull a profit. OK, 3rd place in the last one, that's a start. When I was playing these I quickly remembered that I should be playing turbos. 10 minute levels is waaaay to long to play. I ended up winning the first one that I started so I showed a small profit. That's a good start. Turbos next time though.

Later in the day I decided to play my WSOP step 3. The very first hand I am in the BB with KhQh. The UTG player raises to 60, there are two callers, the SB calls AND I FOLD!!! What a complete pussy move this is. My initial thoughts are, hey, 3 people will be below the starting stack, lets just fold. We are always results oriented so watch what happens. The flop comes Qc,7h,4h. Ah, shit. The original raiser makes it 240 to go. and there is one caller. The turn pairs the 7. Original raiser shoves, and the other player takes a second and calls with....... Q,10! The original raiser had 6,6. Wow my hand was good. The flush got there on the river for good measure. I wonder how the hand plays out if I play it. I probably check raise the flop. Not sure of anyone gets all their chips in or if I fold to significant pressure if it gets to the turn.

We drop down to 6 people and i have 2200 in chips good enough for 2nd place. I got up in chips my shoving 2 straight hands, one with A,Q and the next with 10,10. Then all of a sudden all the short stacks double up. I think it happened 3 times. Before you know it I am sitting in 6th place with 1400. I was able to make a couple of raises to stay afloat and we finally dropped to 5 handed good enough for a redo. The blinds were getting up there and with 4 people left and a 2400 stack I shoved UTG with 6,5. Next to act woke up with K,K and I was out in 4th place. Took me 3 times for the LAPT, we shall see for the WSOP. I still can't believe I folded that first hand. Just terrible.

Today I decided to take the afternoon and play some live poker. I made my way over to Lucky's at Tampa Greyhound Track. For those of you unfamiliar with this place, its right in the middle of the hood. Lots of police presence around the track. Everything looked fairly new but not exactly clean. Kinda reminded me of Binions, without any of the history. The tournament started at 1pm so I got in an hour of 1/2 NL play. I think the average age at the table was the late 60's. Holy fucking rock garden. I saw exactly one raise pre-flop in the hour I was there. I won two small pots and walked away down $10.

The tournament was a $65 buy-in. You started with t6000 and the blinds were 15 minutes for the first 3 levels then 20 after that. They did have a 75/150 level which was nice. They started with 3 tables and seated alternates in the first 2 levels. In the first lap I people open shoving for their stack. Very nice. I managed to lost 4000 chips within 5 hands at the end of level 1 and beginning of level 2. Look at these gems.

25/50 blinds and I am in the BB with K,J off. Flop comes J,4,3 and I check. Its check around to a late position player who bets 300 and I am the only caller. I really should have thrown in a check raise there to find out where I was at. The turn paired the 4. I checked and he bet 600 and I called. I am pretty sure I have the best hand now. The river is a 7. I check and he bets 600 again. I finally decide to raise like a fool to 1700. He thinks for a minute and calls with 9,4 off. WTF! Beautiful call pre-flop and bet on the flop. Guess he "felt" it was coming. Lolz.

A couple hands later he limps for 100 and I get AcQc and raise it up to 500 and he is the lone caller. Flop comes J,x,x with 2 diamonds and it goes check check. The turn is the Ad. He checks and I bet 600 and he calls. The river brings a 4th diamond. HE checks and I check behind. He flips over the nuts with Kd9d. Jeez. Way to get every chip out of that hand.

Now i am down to 2000 and he has 11k. I don't think I need to mention that he was busto within a lap and a half around the table. I tighten up and the next hand I play is at 75/100 when I have 1800 left and limp with 8,8. 5 to the flop of A,A,A. I have all my chips in my hand but throw out everything but the 1k chip. Everyone folds. Blinds go up to 100/200/25 and I am down to 1750. A player open shoves for around 3700 UTG +1 and I look down at K,K in the cutoff and ship it in. He shows A,Q. Flop good, turn Ace and I'm out the door. That was a lot of fuckin fun.

Now the story gets interesting. I get back in a 1/2 NL game and one of the first hands I ma in the SB with Q,J and limp in a 5 way pot. The BB goes all-in for $11 total and EVERYONE calls including me. Flop comes Q,8,8. I lead for $20 to see if anyone has the 8 and everyone folds. The all-in shows 2,2 and I pick-up a healthy pot right away. I stick around the $175 point for quite a while when a dude with Maverick sunglasses sits down at the table. He had around $225 but voluntarily moved from another table so he had to start with $100. the first hand at the table he raises from the BB to $15 and gets 1 caller. He shoves the flop, the other player folds and he then shows the bluff. Hmmmm. 2 hands later I get A,Q and he raises to $10 and I call. Flop comes A,2,3 rainbow. He open shoves. I start talking to him to see if I can get anything. I ask him to show a card and he said he will if I show one. I shove him the Ace and he flips over the deuce. Wow, that was a great card to show! I think for a good 2-3 minutes and decide that I only have $10 invested and fold. He then shows me THE HAMMER. D'oh!!!!! OK, time to trap this clown.

A few hands later he raises to $5 and I pick-up K,K and raise to $15 and he is the only caller. Flop come J,10,9 rainbow. He open shoves for around $150. I think for a second, not too long. If he has a straight draw with the Q I have 2 of his outs covered. I call and he shows Q,9. The turn and river come 4,J and I got him. He re-bought and I hoped to pick-up another hand to completely felt him. During this time his buddy comes into the game. One raises to $20, one calls. Then they turn their cards over and check it down. Holy soft playing. The first dealer allowed it and the second one to come in had none of it.

I ended up leaving shortly after that with $363 in front of me. For the day I ended up making $188. Not too shabby. Its amazing how some people throw away money. I'm just glad to clean up the scraps some times.

Quote of the day, after I win the big pot the dealer makes the standard quote, "Works every time but once". So true.