Quick report from last night.

Made like $5 in the 6 max cash game.
Almost started accumulating down the stretch in an $11 MTT, but got 2 outered.
Lost a 10.5 Heads Up SNG.
Lost $10 in the .5/.10 nlhe cash game.
Made FT of another 5.5 45 man SNG, but bubbled in 8th.

FINALLY some good results:
Scored a $75 token last night in Tier two.

So now I have one $75 and two $26 tokens. No more guarantee tournaments until I cash in a Tier 3 at least. I have a feeling I'll be back up to $800 beore October's over.

That $11 MTT was so lame because of all the false hope I had before busting. I had a few hands early to get an ok lead (but I don't think I ever got above 3K). Then I just played my rocky short stack game taking what blinds I could. Finally got 99 in lp, it's folded around to me I shove and J8d calls me in the bb. I make a 4 card straight on the river to double to just over 5K (blinds at 150/300 a?)

Very next hand I'm dealt AKo. Two limp in ep for 300, I raise to 1900. Called by one in lp and the first limper. Flop is K T T with two hearts. Limp checks, I instashove for 3K and change. LP caller dumps AQ (and says so in the chat; I really hate it when people do this) and the original limper goes into the tank. Meanwhile everyone at the table is egging him on to call me and that I'm bluffing. Limper decides to call and tables 88, so I've got him crushed to the two remaining 8s, and he gets there on the river.

False hope sucks in tournament poker.

bday weekend report

Had a good Saturday night online. Took 2nd in a $5.50 45 man. Was a crazy final table, and I really thought I had this one locked up. But the guy who won was running super good. $50 profit though I'll take it. My roll is hovering now around $600 which is good. Not as good as it was last month but variance is a bitch. I know how resilient I can be anyway.

I also won another token Saturday as well, so now I have 3 tokens. I'm not going to keep blowing them in guarantee MTTs, but instead going to work the tier system again. I'm REALLY wanting that cardrunners membership and have honestly considered just throwing down on it even though it would drop me down to below 400. But I think I'll wait.

Played $40 cash game yesteray at Pats. I just always feel like playing really loose in our home games, which makes me money. But then I have trouble shifting gears if I'm up and a lot of times I end up blowing all my hard earned profit. I probably could've walked out with $40 profit easy, but ultimately ended up even. There was like an hour and half where I was just running over the table and that was fun. Somewhere along the line I just lost it. Too much other recreational activities I think is what led to my downfall...

Snapping off bluffs

The new timebank feature on FTP that was introduced a couple of months ago is awesome.

The one thing that made me call this guy was the fact he overbet the turn after underbetting the flop.

Full Tilt Poker Game #3491910231: $10 + $1 Sit & Go (26679111), Table 2 - 40/80 - No Limit Hold'em - 19:07:08 ET - 2007/09/07
Seat 1: WILSON PHILLIPS (1,020)
Seat 2: sodec13 (2,045)
Seat 4: RJay (5,060)
Seat 6: Dray (3,740)
Seat 8: bighouse45 (3,075)
WILSON PHILLIPS posts the small blind of 40
sodec13 posts the big blind of 80
The button is in seat #8
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Dray [Ah Qc]
RJay folds
Dray raises to 200
bighouse45 folds
WILSON PHILLIPS folds
sodec13 calls 120
*** FLOP *** [5h 6h Kd]
PockitZehn sits down
PockitZehn adds 125
PockitZehn is sitting out
roosevelt99 sits down
roosevelt99 adds 4,505
Youngbeem4 sits down
Youngbeem4 adds 380
BluffSmeller sits down
BluffSmeller adds 7,050
sodec13 has 15 seconds left to act
sodec13 bets 160
Dray calls 160
*** TURN *** [5h 6h Kd] [Ac]
sodec13 bets 1,685, and is all in
PockitZehn has returned
Dray has 15 seconds left to act
Dray has requested TIME
Dray calls 1,685
sodec13 shows [Jh 9h]
Dray shows [Ah Qc]
*** RIVER *** [5h 6h Kd Ac] [Qd]
sodec13 shows Ace King high
Dray shows two pair, Aces and Queens
Dray wins the pot (4,130) with two pair, Aces and Queens
sodec13 stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 4,130 | Rake 0
Board: [5h 6h Kd Ac Qd]
Seat 1: WILSON PHILLIPS (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 2: sodec13 (big blind) showed [Jh 9h] and lost with Ace King high
Seat 4: RJay didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: Dray showed [Ah Qc] and won (4,130) with two pair, Aces and Queens
Seat 8: bighouse45 (button) didn't bet (folded)

Then a good bluff by me, I thought I represented high cards well here:

Full Tilt Poker Game #3492187480: $10 + $1 Sit & Go (26679111), Table 2 - 120/240 - No Limit Hold'em - 19:36:11 ET - 2007/09/07
Seat 4: RJay (5,210)
Seat 5: roosevelt99 (3,205)
Seat 6: Dray (6,905)
Seat 9: BluffSmeller (11,680)
Dray posts the small blind of 120
BluffSmeller posts the big blind of 240
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Dray [6c 7c]
RJay folds
roosevelt99 folds
Dray raises to 600
BluffSmeller calls 360
*** FLOP *** [3h 8c 3d]
Dray checks
BluffSmeller checks
*** TURN *** [3h 8c 3d] [Ts]
Dray bets 800
BluffSmeller calls 800
*** RIVER *** [3h 8c 3d Ts] [Ac]
Dray has 15 seconds left to act
Dray bets 1,400
BluffSmeller folds
Uncalled bet of 1,400 returned to Dray
Dray mucks
Dray wins the pot (2,800)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2,800 | Rake 0
Board: [3h 8c 3d Ts Ac]
Seat 4: RJay didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: roosevelt99 (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: Dray (small blind) collected (2,800), mucked
Seat 9: BluffSmeller (big blind) folded on the River

I went on to take 2nd in the tournament for a nice little profit, putting me back over $700.

Checks in!

I just got my Full Tilt check today! Feels good even though most of it is spent already. I'm taking 500 to Lake Charles for two tournaments. Giving 100 to church, which is way overdue. And putting the rest towards car repair.

This weekend was pretty terrible for me online. The variance is starting to rear its ugly head after the last 2 months have been good to me. I managed to lose about 100 in cash money, plus about 5 tokens which probably makes me the sickest of all.

I don't necessarily think I'm playing too poorly, because of those losses I've had some good runs in tournaments like the 17.5K from an earlier post. However, I do think I've lost focus on my short term goal and a reasonable means to achieve it. I spent a lot of Sunday trying to satellite into big tourneys. I earned all those tokens with the intention of playing up the tier system again to meet my goal, but I got blinded by big money dreams again and have yet to enter a tier two game yet.

So I think I need to a) take a short break and b) refocus and concentrate on lower single table SNG's and building tokens in between good runs. I'm also going to try and experiment with some limit holdem to practice for my Lake Charles trip next month.

One last thing before I go. I've realized that heads up online poker puts my fiance on serious life tilt. Because I'm being forced to a decision every single hand, I can't play and give her attention at the same time. So as a result she gets visibly irritated that I'm not talking to her or at least engaged in what she's saying. I really shouldn't even be playing at all while she's present or conscious, honestly.

Hands from the 17.5 guarantee

Full Tilt Poker Game #3439038991: $17,500 Guarantee (25777435), Table 28 - 15/30 - No Limit Hold'em - 14:01:47 ET - 2007/09/02
Seat 1: hornswogler (2,985)
Seat 2: hexer26 (2,970)
Seat 3: RossDowns24 (3,000)
Seat 4: ilivebythe5 (2,970)
Seat 5: soulmanp (3,000)
Seat 6: Nebelspalter (3,000)
Seat 7: Dray (3,000)
Seat 8: one3ballin (3,075)
Seat 9: guitar99 (3,000)
hexer26 posts the small blind of 15
RossDowns24 posts the big blind of 30
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Dray [As Ad]
ilivebythe5 folds
soulmanp folds
Nebelspalter folds
Dray raises to 90
one3ballin folds
guitar99 folds
hornswogler calls 90
hexer26 folds
RossDowns24 has 15 seconds left to act
RossDowns24 is sitting out
RossDowns24 has timed out
RossDowns24 folds
*** FLOP *** [Kd Ks Tc]
RossDowns24 has returned
Dray bets 120
hornswogler has 15 seconds left to act
hornswogler calls 120
*** TURN *** [Kd Ks Tc] [4s]
Dray checks
hornswogler has 15 seconds left to act
hornswogler bets 360
Dray calls 360
*** RIVER *** [Kd Ks Tc 4s] [8h]
Dray checks
hornswogler has 15 seconds left to act
hornswogler bets 870
Dray has 15 seconds left to act
Dray calls 870
*** SHOW DOWN ***
hornswogler shows [Ah 7h] a pair of Kings
Dray shows [As Ad] two pair, Aces and Kings
Dray wins the pot (2,925) with two pair, Aces and Kings
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2,925 | Rake 0
Board: [Kd Ks Tc 4s 8h]
Seat 1: hornswogler (button) showed [Ah 7h] and lost with a pair of Kings
Seat 2: hexer26 (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 3: RossDowns24 (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 4: ilivebythe5 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: soulmanp didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: Nebelspalter didn't bet (folded)
Seat 7: Dray showed [As Ad] and won (2,925) with two pair, Aces and Kings
Seat 8: one3ballin didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: guitar99 didn't bet (folded)

Full Tilt Poker Game #3439477689: $17,500 Guarantee (25777435), Table 111 - 50/100 - No Limit Hold'em - 14:55:44 ET - 2007/09/02
Seat 1: heather29360 (4,960)
Seat 2: jtsqueaker (1,790)
Seat 3: aquaticus98 (2,310)
Seat 4: Chris_Purity (5,770)
Seat 5: wms1123 (4,025)
Seat 6: Dray (8,765)
Seat 7: LordTveita (12,155)
Seat 8: Schlo0240 (4,670)
Seat 9: I B Here (8,660)
heather29360 posts the small blind of 50
jtsqueaker posts the big blind of 100
The button is in seat #9
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Dray [Qh Th]
aquaticus98 folds
Chris_Purity calls 100
wms1123 calls 100
Dray raises to 450
LordTveita folds
Schlo0240 folds
I B Here folds
heather29360 folds
jtsqueaker folds
Chris_Purity calls 350
wms1123 calls 350
*** FLOP *** [Qd 3h 6h]
Chris_Purity checks
wms1123 checks
Dray bets 800
Chris_Purity folds
wms1123 folds
Uncalled bet of 800 returned to Dray
Dray mucks
Dray wins the pot (1,500)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 1,500 | Rake 0
Board: [Qd 3h 6h]
Seat 1: heather29360 (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 2: jtsqueaker (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 3: aquaticus98 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: Chris_Purity folded on the Flop
Seat 5: wms1123 folded on the Flop
Seat 6: Dray collected (1,500), mucked
Seat 7: LordTveita didn't bet (folded)
Seat 8: Schlo0240 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: I B Here (button) didn't bet (folded)

ull Tilt Poker Game #3439730643: $17,500 Guarantee (25777435), Table 111 - 80/160 - No Limit Hold'em - 15:25:27 ET - 2007/09/02
Seat 1: heather29360 (3,070)
Seat 2: jtsqueaker (1,040)
Seat 3: aquaticus98 (3,340)
Seat 4: Chris_Purity (5,135)
Seat 5: hilohai (5,360)
Seat 6: Dray (10,285)
Seat 7: LordTveita (3,285)
Seat 8: Schlo0240 (7,930)
Seat 9: I B Here (16,290)
hilohai posts the small blind of 80
Dray posts the big blind of 160
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Dray [Td Kd]
LordTveita folds
Schlo0240 folds
I B Here folds
heather29360 folds
jtsqueaker folds
aquaticus98 is sitting out
aquaticus98 folds
Chris_Purity raises to 480
hilohai folds
Dray calls 320
*** FLOP *** [4d 2h 8d]
Dray checks
Chris_Purity bets 800
Dray has 15 seconds left to act
Dray raises to 2,200
Chris_Purity has 15 seconds left to act
Chris_Purity folds
Uncalled bet of 1,400 returned to Dray
Dray mucks
Dray wins the pot (2,640)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2,640 | Rake 0
Board: [4d 2h 8d]
Seat 1: heather29360 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: jtsqueaker didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: aquaticus98 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: Chris_Purity (button) folded on the Flop
Seat 5: hilohai (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 6: Dray (big blind) collected (2,640), mucked
Seat 7: LordTveita didn't bet (folded)
Seat 8: Schlo0240 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: I B Here didn't bet (folded)

Full Tilt Poker Game #3439770258: $17,500 Guarantee (25777435), Table 111 - 100/200 - No Limit Hold'em - 15:30:04 ET - 2007/09/02
Seat 1: heather29360 (3,670)
Seat 2: jtsqueaker (1,040)
Seat 3: aquaticus98 (3,140)
Seat 4: Chris_Purity (3,855)
Seat 5: hilohai (10,860)
Seat 6: Dray (11,325)
Seat 7: LordTveita (3,825)
Seat 8: Schlo0240 (7,510)
Seat 9: I B Here (10,510)
aquaticus98 posts the small blind of 100
Chris_Purity posts the big blind of 200
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Dray [Jd Kd]
hilohai folds
Dray calls 200
LordTveita folds
Schlo0240 raises to 600
I B Here folds
heather29360 folds
jtsqueaker folds
aquaticus98 folds
Chris_Purity folds
Dray calls 400
*** FLOP *** [Js Qh Qc]
Dray checks
Schlo0240 bets 1,000
Dray calls 1,000
*** TURN *** [Js Qh Qc] [7d]
Dray checks
Schlo0240 checks
*** RIVER *** [Js Qh Qc 7d] [3s]
Dray bets 1,000
Schlo0240 folds
Uncalled bet of 1,000 returned to Dray
Dray mucks
Dray wins the pot (3,500)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 3,500 | Rake 0
Board: [Js Qh Qc 7d 3s]
Seat 1: heather29360 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: jtsqueaker (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: aquaticus98 (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 4: Chris_Purity (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 5: hilohai didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: Dray collected (3,500), mucked
Seat 7: LordTveita didn't bet (folded)
Seat 8: Schlo0240 folded on the River
Seat 9: I B Here didn't bet (folded)

Full Tilt Poker Game #3439919624: $17,500 Guarantee (25777435), Table 111 - 120/240 Ante 25 - No Limit Hold'em - 15:47:02 ET - 2007/09/02
Seat 1: heather29360 (3,415)
Seat 2: jtsqueaker (2,655)
Seat 3: rookiejim (9,375)
Seat 4: Chris_Purity (5,965)
Seat 5: hilohai (3,515)
Seat 6: Dray (17,890)
Seat 7: Linda Nilsen (3,120)
Seat 8: Schlo0240 (4,710)
Seat 9: I B Here (15,365)
heather29360 antes 25
jtsqueaker antes 25
rookiejim antes 25
Chris_Purity antes 25
hilohai antes 25
Dray antes 25
Linda Nilsen antes 25
Schlo0240 antes 25
I B Here antes 25
Schlo0240 posts the small blind of 120
I B Here posts the big blind of 240
The button is in seat #7
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Dray [Ad Js]
heather29360 folds
jtsqueaker folds
rookiejim folds
Chris_Purity folds
hilohai raises to 480
Dray calls 480
Linda Nilsen folds
Schlo0240 folds
I B Here calls 240
*** FLOP *** [3h 9d Th]
I B Here checks
hilohai checks
Dray checks
*** TURN *** [3h 9d Th] [Ks]
I B Here bets 240
hilohai folds
Dray calls 240
*** RIVER *** [3h 9d Th Ks] [Ac]
I B Here bets 620
Dray calls 620
*** SHOW DOWN ***
I B Here shows [8h As] a pair of Aces
Dray shows [Ad Js] a pair of Aces
Dray wins the pot (3,505) with a pair of Aces
The blinds are now 150/300 with an ante of 25
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 3,505 | Rake 0
Board: [3h 9d Th Ks Ac]
Seat 1: heather29360 folded before the Flop
Seat 2: jtsqueaker folded before the Flop
Seat 3: rookiejim folded before the Flop
Seat 4: Chris_Purity folded before the Flop
Seat 5: hilohai folded on the Turn
Seat 6: Dray showed [Ad Js] and won (3,505) with a pair of Aces
Seat 7: Linda Nilsen (button) folded before the Flop
Seat 8: Schlo0240 (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 9: I B Here (big blind) showed [8h As] and lost with a pair of Aces

ull Tilt Poker Game #3440214557: $17,500 Guarantee (25777435), Table 111 - 250/500 Ante 50 - No Limit Hold'em - 16:20:01 ET - 2007/09/02
Seat 1: xGODF4TH3Rx (10,480)
Seat 2: jtsqueaker (3,110)
Seat 3: rookiejim (16,270)
Seat 4: Chris_Purity (12,305)
Seat 5: kurtis418 (6,395)
Seat 6: Dray (17,155)
Seat 7: Linda Nilsen (7,080)
Seat 8: runbman (18,174)
Seat 9: I B Here (13,525)
xGODF4TH3Rx antes 50
jtsqueaker antes 50
rookiejim antes 50
Chris_Purity antes 50
kurtis418 antes 50
Dray antes 50
Linda Nilsen antes 50
runbman antes 50
I B Here antes 50
I B Here posts the small blind of 250
xGODF4TH3Rx posts the big blind of 500
The button is in seat #8
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Dray [Qs Qc]
jtsqueaker folds
rookiejim folds
Chris_Purity folds
kurtis418 folds
Dray raises to 1,250
Linda Nilsen folds
runbman folds
I B Here has 15 seconds left to act
I B Here raises to 2,800
xGODF4TH3Rx folds
Dray calls 1,550
*** FLOP *** [8c 4d 3d]
I B Here bets 10,675, and is all in
Dray calls 10,675
I B Here shows [Ah Ad]
Dray shows [Qs Qc]
*** TURN *** [8c 4d 3d] [Th]
Dray: ugh
*** RIVER *** [8c 4d 3d Th] [3h]
I B Here shows two pair, Aces and Threes
Dray shows two pair, Queens and Threes
I B Here wins the pot (27,900) with two pair, Aces and Threes
Dray: nh
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 27,900 | Rake 0
Board: [8c 4d 3d Th 3h]
Seat 1: xGODF4TH3Rx (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 2: jtsqueaker folded before the Flop
Seat 3: rookiejim folded before the Flop
Seat 4: Chris_Purity folded before the Flop
Seat 5: kurtis418 folded before the Flop
Seat 6: Dray showed [Qs Qc] and lost with two pair, Queens and Threes
Seat 7: Linda Nilsen folded before the Flop
Seat 8: runbman (button) folded before the Flop
Seat 9: I B Here (small blind) showed [Ah Ad] and won (27,900) with two pair, Aces and Threes