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Poker Flashback

Posted on December 31, 2006 by under Poker.    

I wish I had more time to play poker and develop my skill. I really think I have some potential. I just don’t have the time to devote to playing.

Anyway, I will have my runs of ups and downs but the one thing I am truly proud of is that I am a good sport. I don’t blow up over my bad beats. I might be upset for two seconds. I may even come home and blog about it. But then, I am over it. I think it is important to have a positive attitude about poker because it does take some amount of luck. People get lucky sometimes. Bad plays get rewarded. Not just for other people. I’ve seen my bad plays get rewarded also. It works both ways. I try to play smart but sometimes you just want to play crazy. If you get lucky against me, I’m going to call it like it is but I won’t hold it against you. And if I get lucky against you, I’d expect the same. Please don’t whine like a little girl or worse yet, cuss and scream like a jackass. You know you’ve had your lucky breaks too.

I didn’t get to play as much as I wanted in 2006, but when I did play I actually placed decently. Here are a list of my 2006 APL event finishes:

  • 1 First Place Finish
  • 1 Second Place Finish
  • 3 Third Place Finishes
  • 2 Fifth Place Finishes
  • 2 Eight Place Finishes
  • 1 Ninth Place Finish
  • 1 Twelfth Place Finish
  • 1 Sixteenth Place Finish

Other highlights include qualifying to play in the Big Boys Toy Show poker tourney. I didn’t win. Bill Bird actually won that one. I had some crazy highs and lows playing online poker. I think this was the year I played $1-$2 NL and $10 SNG for the first time. Don’t worry, I haven’t gone nuts or anything. I usually only venture into riskier higher stakes only when I am on an upswing so I’m not actually playing with my own money.

I haven’t done too well on the $10 SNGs but I have a pretty good track record on the $1, $3, and $5 ones. Last night for instance, I did a $10 SNG and got knocked out on the first hand. The minute I saw my pocket aces I knew I was doomed.

Blinds were 5-10 (remember this is the very first hand). It was call, call, call. Then the action turned to me. I wanted to play it agressively because I didn’t want to get sucked out on so I “bet pot” on middle position. When everyone called my bet I was really worried. I was sure I was going to get sucked out on but I could not get away from it.

When it came time for the player to my immediate right to call, he raised to almost 500. I was relieved. I thought this is my chance to make everyone fold so I don’t get sucked out on. So I did the only sensible thing to do. I went all in.

The player to my immediate left called. I was surprised. I really didn’t want any callers. When everyone started folding, I thought this isn’t too bad. I can handle a two-person showdown. I just need my aces to hold up. Then it comes to player on the right and he called too. It turned into a three way pot, much to my dismay.

Player on the left had pocket jacks. Player on the right had pocket queens. I desperately wanted my pocket aces to hold up but no such luck. When player on the right flopped a set of queens I knew I was done for; I need not wait for the turn and river. I knew my other two aces had gotten folded by the other early callers. Blech.

Anyway, you can find my other blog entries about poker here. You can find a full list of my 2006 APL event finishes here. Click here for 2005. And here for 2004.

NOTE: As you can tell I actually did better in 2005. I was able to play a little bit more then. I didn’t have quite as hectic a year. Here are my list of event finishes:

  • 2 First Place Finishes
  • 2 Second Place Finishes
  • 2 Third Place Finishes
  • 1 Fifth Place Finish
  • 2 Sixth Place Finishes
  • 2 Seventh Place Finishes
  • 1 Eight Place Finish
  • 1 Ninth Place Finish
  • 1 Tenth Place Finish
  • 2 Eleventh Place Finishes
  • 1 Twelfth Place Finish
  • 1 Thirteenth Place Finish
  • 3 Fourteenth Place Finishes
  • 3 Fifteenth Place Finishes
  • 1 Sixteenth Place Finish

I didn’t do too badly in 2004 also (I had several second place finishes) but that doesn’t really count because I was only playing at Fingers. It doesn’t have the 160 plus player turn out that the APL ballroom does.

At any rate, I’d like to give a big thank you to APL for making this information available.

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