Nearly got to The Loose Cannon

I was all up for Super Saturday at the Loose Cannon then things conspired to keep me away from Roy, David and Sonny et al. I decided to get the skirting boards off in the kitchen so I can lay the flooring, and proceeded to rip half a plasterboard wall away. I felt obliged to sort it out instead of leaving it for the wife to find when she comes in. A few hours later and I'm too tired to trudge up town.

Instead I play the final phase on PKR, first place $700, four places paid. This single table tourney will take at least two hours as we've been going 51 minutes and we've only lost one so far. I'm down to 2100 from 2500 after being shafted on the river when a real fish hit trips for an 1100 pot. The good or bad news will be posted later.........

......................... Still playing after 1hr 24 mins, eight left now, I've had pocket Aces twice and only won the blinds after 3x BB raises. I can't bring myself to limp with Aces, as I can't bear to fold them later on in the hand. I'm up to $2800, but blinds are 100/200...........

........... Down to seven after two AA vs KK confrontations in a row, the kings won the first pot then the same player (ForFoxSake) won the second pot with AA. Quite exciting!

...............................Up to 2nd in chips after pushing with 77, getting called by someone with JJ and hitting a gorgeous 7 on the flop. I was forced into making a move with blinds at 150/300 and a stack of 1800. It's nice to be on the other side of suckout for a change! Six players left, I need to lock up 4th for $200 then push on for 1st. Come on!!!

..................Went down to $2000 after calling an all in with AT when the other player hit with his KQ, then I found 99 on the button, pushed and was called by AJ, I has to sweat a straight draw of course, but he missed and I was back to about $4100. Next hand I played a pot against the dangerous and tricky chip leader with K5, I hit second pair on the flop and he played his third pair timidly to lose a $2500 pot. I'm up to $6500 now and back to 2nd in chips, come on again!!!!

............... And now I'm out, I busted 6th after pushing on the button with AQs, being called by the big blind with AK and losing, then losing with A5 vs AQ. It's a coincidence that the wife came in and I went out just after I'm sure, but it happens all the time. It's like my concentration is broken by being disturbed. What a sucker punch. I've now gone from thinking what bottle of wine I'm having to celebrate from drowning my sorrows in the bottom of a pint glass. At least that whole thing only cost me $4.

Spending the Budgets...

Not too much poker going on for me at the moment. The home game last week was a real effort as you can tell from my last post. I've been working loads as this is the time of year certain organisations need to dump a load of cash so they get the same money next year. I'm on hand to help out of course as it all goes towards Las Vegas in the Summer. It's the thought of staying at the Bellagio which keeps me going on the 16 hour days I've been doing.

With the long hours I'm restricted to heads up tournies. I've been playing on Virgin and PKR with the odd Stars game thrown in. I haven't really got going on my next PKR heads up phase assault, getting up to level five then crashing down to level one at the hands of an abusive German woman.

Profit / (Loss) - Both live and online
Cash - $780
Single Tables - $1639
Multi Tables - $117
Total - $2536

Home Game Big Bad Monkey

I had a ten player home game last night with a strong field. The poker was pretty poor for me as I played badly, had no cards and had worked 85 hours last week so I was a zombie.

I was tournament director of course which is a thankless task. I was criticised for being too fussy when players were ;
String betting
Acting out of turn
Not paying attention
Showing cards when dealing.
I wasn't criticised however when I was sorting out multiple side pots, handing out the prizes or making the f*cking onion bahjees. I was also asked make several rulings here and there, so it's clear the players want to have the rules enforced, but only when it suits them.
My view is that without the rules we'd have anarchy, which is OK when we're not playing for money. When money is involved we need clear written down rules, which my lot will have next time.

Game Selection Pays Off Big Time

I've waited for weeks to play my final phase heads up match on PKR, checking the stats of potential opponents and looking for someone with worse stats than me. I finally found an opponent with stats that made him look like a beginner, so in theory I should be able to beat him and take the $380 1st place for a much needed boost to my SNG profits.

True to his ranking he called raises too much then folded to continuation bets, bet too much preflop with good hands so I could safely fold, and wasn't tricky enough. Despite all that I found myself with $3390 to his $4610 as I had been trying a bit too hard to push him around and he found a hand or two to call my river bets. Then this happened :

Penultimate Hand
Blinds 150/300
From SB I raise to 450 with JJ, villain raises all in and I call, praying for at least a race. He has 99 to my joy and the Jacks hold, I can't help but let out a small cheer...

The Last Wonderful Hand
I'm BB and the poker gods smile on me by giving me 99 this time. The villain puts his last $1200 in and I have an easy call, he has A2 of diamonds, the dreaded Ace doesn't come and I'm $380 better off - Cue the dancing, cheering and five minutes of running around the house naked until I realise the woman opposite can see my bare arse through the kitchen window. A tad embarrassing but $380 makes it worthwhile. I start my next phase campaign today!

Profit / (Loss) - Both live and online
Cash - $770
Single Tables - $1642
Multi Tables - $167
Total - $2579