Tonight was the second week in a row chopping top two at a live tournament. Nice little pull down this time. Add an additional $20 for the last-longer with Philip. The evening didn’t start off so well, and the guy two seats to my right hit a couple of HUGE hands early and grabbed a MONSTER stack, preventing me from making moves with less than optimal hands. When Philip hit his desperation inside straight on the river when he was way past committed, I started to feel like a shrinking violet. I hung around long enough to watch him get knocked off, so there was a bit of a refund there. But then came the Miracle Gro….
Chippin’ around
Kick my brains ’round the floor
These are the days
It never rains but it pours
- Queen
I’ve always been told that another element to becoming an expert poker player is the ability to create your own luck. Guys like Ivey and Negreanu seem to get the dealers to pluck cards from the bottom of the deck…and others are constantly bemoaning that they’re always the victim in the ever-present runner runner one-out bad beat story. I’m certainly not claiming true enlightenment here, but I think I’ve got a much better understanding of how each extreme comes to fruition. In a word…pressure.
There was a chart at the top of the front page of the Chronicle today…Seven days without recorded rainfall in the area since June 1st. There was a definite link between the sky and my fortunes. Apparently tomorrow is supposed to improve, just as my luck has started to straighten itself out. And I could appreciate the glint of silver ushering away the clouds.
I promise to keep the negativity to a minimum here, as the focus is self-improvement…but last night was just a grind.
Jen and I signed up at the last minute for the $50 NLHE at Longhorn since we both have today off and could sleep in. 21 total entries (two tables with one alternate). Standard format for their $50 freezeouts…10,000 starting chips with 20 minute blinds, starting at 25/50. Antes come into play starting round four. I love deep stacks with early antes. 
I started the evening off well, having won a juicy pot early which netted me an extra thousand chips. That’s when the evening started getting interesting…
It’s said that one of the keys to winning a poker tournament is being in the wrong place at the right time. I think I got it backwards during this year’s WSOP event #27 ($1500 NLHE). This was three times larger than any tournament I’ve ever played in, but the time was right to get a feel for swimming in the deep end of the pool. Here’s how I drowned…
