WSOP Update

Last night was a good night for me - I had my highest finish in the year and a half that I've been playing in my monthly WSOP tourney - 3rd place. This wouldn't be so remarkable if it wasn't for how I actually ended up there. It was a rough night to start off with - I wasn't getting any cards and the couple of hands I got involved with, I ended up way behind and had to get out of the hand. Then, shortly before we combined to the final table, I picked up a really nice sized pot. After that, my cards went very cold and I wasn't able to do anything except give my chips away. I managed to pick up a small pot here or there along the way, but before I knew it, I had lost virtually everything and was down to $100 with 5 players left and the blinds at $150/$300. This is where things got wild. Every time I put my tournament life on the line, I won. Suddenly, the blinds are going up and I'm doubling up every time I pick my spot to play. Trust me when I tell you that there was very little skill involved in this comeback other than picking and choosing which starting hand to play - Lady Luck was smiling brightly upon me! So, there I am sitting in 3rd place and I'm still winning hands when I get tangled up in a hand with GB for the second month in a row. I had 9 10 suited in the big blind ($400/$800). GB limps in to see the flop - 7, 10, 6. I have the pair and a straight draw with quite a few number of outs. I raise $1000 which in retrospect was a bit too low of a raise. This causes GB to think about what he's going to do. He raises me $2,200 which amazingly enough, I actually have enough chips to cover his bet and still have enough chips to make it through a small blind if I lose. I can't put down the straight draw with two cards left - I have him pegged for a small pair and he's simply trying to get me out of it. I call and we roll them - He has pocket Aces and I'm in trouble. The turn is a Queen and the river is a harmless 2. Although I bust out a few hands later, I thought I played well overall for the night and didn't panic when I was running low on chips. I earned 23 points on the night and I think I made up some ground on the overall leaders.

In other WSOP news, there is talk about changing the prizes since we've lost a number of players this year. The talk has been about instead of sending one person to the Main Event, perhaps sending 2 or 3 to one of the smaller WSOP tournaments. There was also the idea of making the tournament a straight cash payout tournament with monthly payouts. This is something that we're going to have to vote on next month, but I'm open to either idea. I think it would make it more interesting for more people towards the end.

Long Time, No Blog

OK, I know, I've been negligent in my updates lately. I've been on the road for work and vacation over the last month and a half. Work has been keeping me busy as usual. The weather has turned cold, so there hasn't been any golf to keep me busy - although I think I've found an indoor practice facility that I'll be able to take advantage of this winter.

Last month, I had my best showing in the WSOP tournament. I was on a tear from the first deal and spent most of the night bullying people around when I wasn't catching cards on the river (Lady Luck was on my side for most of the night). But wouldn't you know it, she left me when I needed her most. The cards went cold and I got tangled up in a couple of hands with GB and ended up on the short end of a couple of good hands. I fought hard after losing a ton of chips to him, but it just wasn't meant to be and I ended up going out earning 20 points on the night. A good showing, but I would have liked to see better from myself. Monday night is the half-way mark of the year long tourney. I'm happy with my consistency, but I need to start making some noise if I'm going to find myself in the Main Event at the end of July.

I'll be heading out of town again to visit my family for the holidays at the end of the week. I have an entire week off of work, so I'm contemplating taking on a couple of home improvement projects after I return to town - wish me luck!

OK, I guess that's about all that I've got to share right now. I'll write more later!