DILLIGAF???

I've been on total life tilt. Or, more accurately, I just don't care. I guess being unemployed for a month can do that. Although I have found a new contract, these alternating feelings of despair and recklessness haven't really dissipated all that much. I really think I'm in the beginning stages of an early mid-life crisis. It doesn't help all that much when you can count on one hand the number of marital encounters you've had since the beginning of 2007 and have fingers left over. I guess I'll just take poker as my mistress and hope to ride out the storm.

The last time I posted was the night before the Riverchasers regional final tournament. I played really well, for me, but still went broke in the mid 50s out of almost 120. I won a few small pots early to get me comfortable, but then a player who had been raising really light put in half his stack pre-flop (I had almost 4x his chips). I found AK in MP and decide to reraise to isolate, knowing he had to call and knowing I was most likely pretty far ahead. Despite the raise and the reraise, SB couldn't get away from TT and called the reraise for all his chips. My read on Capt Raise Light was dead on as he tabled KQ, but my trip aces were second best to tens full and half my stack was gone. As the blinds increased, I picked up a pot here and there but mainly stole my way back to more than I had before. Unfortunately, right then I was picked to be moved to a table full of chip architecture. Even more so, one of these guys was picking up AA or KK every single hand. They showed. Finally, I was in the BB for 1/4 of my stack and, facing a raise that would put me all in, found two red threes and decided to call. JJ this time. I picked up a gutter straight flush draw on the flop but, even with all those out, couldn't get there. 2008 is another year and the buy in sure is right.

Then, I think 2 Thursdays ago, I played the Riverchasers online tourney. My first blogger event. I played ok, but distinctly remember one hand I played poorly and couldn't win a key race. I was less than pleased to see Chad at my starting table, but the pain was lessened a bit having him on my right. The hand in which I definitely played badly was, of course, against the man who cracks aces. He had been fairly active, and raised from MP. I decided to call in position with AJ and see what developed. The flop came with an Ace and two rags, two hearts. He led out on the flop and I called. DUMB! I needed to raise the flop so we could each define our hands a little. But I didn't. What did my call mean to him? Sandbag? Or, more likely, flush draw or a little piece of the flop. So when a bigger bet came on the non-heart turn, I had no idea whether I had the best hand or not and it would have cost me too much at that point to find out if he had AK or AQ. I folded at that point. The live riverchasers games are easy. In that situation, if you call the flop bet when the Ace hits and the initial raiser doesn't have one, a second bullet is almost never fired. Different animal here. Especially that player. A little later, I raised with AK and got reraised by a fairly short stack (if it was NLHE, it would have been a shove). I decided to gamble and put him all in pre-flop, but top two doesn't beat a set of fives and I was back down to the starting stack. I had been right about top 10-15 in chips for most of the second half hour and that hit put me back into the early 30s. Shortly thereafter, I was moved to Evy's and Waffles' table, both on top 5 stacks. I picked up a lot of blinds with pot sized pre-flop raises but had a hand everytime I was willing to go to war with. Eventually, Waffles got tired of it and put my AT all in with... AT. AT? I was stealing a lot he said. Point taken. I guess it's all perspective. I didn't raise without some kind of decent hand once. Anyway, on the very next hand I am dealt AT again, this time sooooted. However, this time Waffles gets KK (for about the 3rd time since I got there) and, despite the nut flush draw with one over on the flop, I don't get there and bust 26th.

A few days later, I played the live Riverchasers freeroll on the golf course. Got there a few minutes late and got a seat with other late stragglers, millerd33 and ccrobyn. Joy. At least miller was drinking soda. Expectedly, the table was crazy. Unexpectedly, miller didn't play a single hand until doubling up with AJ against Q7 soooted. I mostly stayed out of the way. Picked up a few rounds of blinds at 2/4 with KK in the BB with 3 or 4 limpers. Then at 5/10, for some reason, I limped with KJ of hearts from EP. I think we were playing short handed, that could be why. Player to my left min raises, chip leader calls, SB folds, but miller calls the extra bet out of the BB getting 170:1. Flop is 10 high with two hearts. BB and I check, pf raisers leads for 35, chip leader folds and BB calls. Pot is quite inviting so I shove my draw. Bettor folds fairly quickly, but miller takes like 3 minutes. Finally, he tells me I am going to be so mad if he makes his hand and calls with Q2 hearts. BWAHAHAHAHAHA! Ordinarily, that would be a great call against what I would have normally shoved with, especially with chips to burn. Not this time. K high is goot. Mercifully, the table breaks and we are moved back to the main bar. At my new table, I go up a little and down a little, but mostly up. Thanks to a flopped boat against the chip leader which I checked and then bet the turn which gave him top pair. I overbet the river brick which he instacalled. Eventually, we go down to 2 tables left and I run 98 into KK, short stacked. Pair and OESD on the flop, but can't improve further and IGH 14th out of 114.

Last night, I went back to a Riverchasers venue in Bensalem that I hadn't been to in over a year. I played really well. Until. A7 in the BB at 10/20 and I get a free flop. Flop is two faces and a baby, two hearts. 3 checks. Turn is a third heart, board is now KQJx. First player bets pot, second player calls. Pot is nice. I pot raise all in with the Royal draw and bettor folds. Second player says, damn I gotta try and calls with 98o, with the 9 being a heart. Can I really fade 3 nines and 2 non-heart eights? Nope. Brutal call. Donktastic even. For all his chips. I'm down to 2-1/2 big blinds at 15/30. Fast forward. My best hands hold up a few times and I go from 75 to 1400 chips in 45 minutes. Blinds are 100/200. I lose with KK to a flopped set; thankfully there was an Ace and 3 clubs on the flop and a tight player leading out. Easy fold, but it hurt. Then I lose blind vs blind straight over straight. Finally, my 64o goes down to 52o and IGH 5th out of around 55.

This drive from suburban Philly to Iselin, NJ is going to drive me nuts. Thankfully, the contract is only 3 months and they're already talking about remote access. Nice. I miss working from the kitchen table.