A Post
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
That's all this is. A post. No great insights. No exciting stories or hands.
Last night, I played in the Riverchasers tourney. I held my own, making it into the teens when I finally lost. I held JTs and called a raise from one of the blinds from a player on the button. I was probably one of the shorter stacks, but I still had more than 10x the BB and I felt that the preflop raiser was likely raising light as a steal attempt.
The flop came down JT9 with two diamonds. That looked good to me, but naturally, I checked, since I knew my opponent would continuation bet, no matter what. He did so for 1,200 and I pushed all-in for another 1,600 or so more. He was priced in and called. He showed A5d, for the nut flush draw. He then turned an offsuit 5, and rivered an offsuit Ace for a better two pair. And two plus hours all went to waste.
It isn't about mastering the skill; it's about mastering the luck. Yeah, right.
Of course, I am adept at handling bad beats. I've developed a sorta acceptance to the fact that those things will happen. And for what its worth, I'm not blind to the possible errors in my play. In that last hand, for instance, one could argue that I should have folded preflop out of position with a short stack, and one would be right. Not 100% right, but probably 80% right, as in, 80% of the time, I'm folding there, 18% I'm calling, and 2% I'm pushing. Another person might say that I should've led out on the flop to try to win the pot immediately on a draw heavy board. That person would also be correct, about 50% correct at the very least, by my estimation. After all, if my opponent was on any of the draws (open-ended straight draw with any Queen or Eight, inside straight draw with a Seven or King, flush draw with two diamonds in the hole) I would be giving him/her a free card. In that scenario, if I bet, I may be able to push out the straight draws and possibly a weaker flush draw (but maybe not). On the other hand, if he has jack squat and I check, he will probably continuation bet, at which point I am in great shape with a raise. So, checking is probably the right play if I were to assume that he had nothing. I could also always get away from the hand if a scare card came and I had legitimate concerns (based on my opponents' reaction to the scare card).
Eh, but it is what it is.
I found out that I have to go to Pleasantville, NJ for a vehicle inspection for a new lawsuit I am pushing for at the firm. I Google Mapped Pleasantville and noticed tha it was located off of the Atlantic City Expressway. You can do the math. Since the inspection is on a Monday, I decided to drive down the Sunday before (after seeing my Mom for Mother's Day) and spend the night in AC. To make things even better, I had an offer for a free room for the Harrahs properties (Harrahs, Caesars, Ballys and the official AC casino/hotel of HighOnPoker, Showboat). Sadly, though, when I tried to book, they would only give me Harrahs for free. Harrahs is off of the boardwalk, close to the Borgata (but none of the Marina hotels, which include the Borg and Harrhas, are close enough or safe enough to walk to/from each oher). I prefer Boardwalk hotels, mostly because it is easy to get around from one to the next. Alas, beggers can't be choosers. Since I'll be on my own, I'll also get to let my degenerate flag fly. I can't wait.
On a wholly unrelated note, I don't know why people still think that Heroes sucks. Well, I do, actually. In some ways, the show does suck. But in way more many ways, it is getting back on track and maybe its the comic book geek in me, but I think they rehabbed the show very well. I'm already looking forward to next season.
Of course, Heroes is no Lost, which also had to rehab itself after a dismal 3rd season, but has come out on top. Damn this show is good. I can't wait for the season end, though, mostly so I can play in the 5/10 LO8 game at the Tuna Club before that game dries up. Damn priorities!
Until next time, make mine poker!
posted by Jordan @ 11:39 AM,
