A Profitable Endeavour

Well, that was a profitable weekend. As I wrote earlier, I've decided to play a live cash level online. For me, this equates to $1/2 NLHE, with a $200 buy-in. The first day I tried it saw about a $72 profit. I sat down Friday night to play a bit... and lasted 15 minutes. Why? Because I decided that after 15 min, I should quit whilst ahead, and I was up $167 in that time. The cards were hitting hard, and the donkeys were in full effect.

Sunday rolled around and it was time to make my way to the first monthly deep-stack "Long Grind" tournament at the club. $200 buy-in, 10,000 in chips. 21 players, and ridiculous amounts of action. All-ins in the first level (25-50), a table merge in the 2nd level, a cash game started up after the break with the number of people knocked out, final table before the 3rd hour if I recall. Moves that didn't work, incredible draws that caught, one good solid blow-up by the person everyone expected it from when he watched the big stack knock out another victim when his 67s caught two pair on the turn. Nothing quite like someone say repeatedly "I play GOOD poker. I'm a GOOD player. I don't play crap like that." Especially when their definition of good poker is: Play with pocket pairs, any two faces/aces and AGONIZE over folding middle pairs when there's 2 overs on the board and they're faced with a raise. Guy has no concept of betting, playing draws, odds, etc.. Which is why we love him, because he bitches every week, and then comes back for more, never actually improving his game, and passing judgement on everyone (somehow I went from being a "good player" last time to "eeeeeehhhhhh" this time).

Sorry for the tangent... where was I? Oh yah, lots of action, fast-paced game, and I was sitting pretty. My pocket Aces early on won me a good chunk of change which held up through fairly solid card death until I started catching again. My big moment came when I crippled the chip leader when my pocket Aces held to the river and I nearly doubled my stack to take the chip lead (after slowly chipping up for the last 10 hands). From there I played, in my humble opinion, pretty good big-stack poker, stealing blinds, scaring away callers post-flop, and slowly but surely building my stack. When the bubble came, I did what I could to keep it alive, but the next biggest stack had other ideas and burst it prematurely.

In the end, it was down to three of us, and after at least one bad fold on my part (I folded pocket 8's to what ended up being A2o), and blinds at 2000/4000, I was dropping chips fast. With 20,000 left on the button, I went all-in with K3c, which ALMOST scared off an A2o, and should have scared off whatever crap the BB had, but didn't on either count. Caught my K on the flop, but A2 caught his A as well, and IGH. But, 3rd place was good for $540... a $340 profit for about 6 hours of play. Not too shabby. Would have preferred he $900 for 2nd, or $1800 for first... which the remaining two decided to chop.

And so home I did go, wallet a bit fatter. I toiled around the homestead for a couple hours before sitting comfortably in front of Stars. Found Kat in a SnG she was too tired for and railbirded for her last few hands before I picked a cash game. Again, 1/2, $200 buy-in. Up a small amount to start, and then a slow drop in chips as people stopped respecting my raises and I stopped catching anything. Then... the cards improved and the donkeys got cocky. I completed my SB with 64h, 6x4 on the flop, which I bet at and got called, 4 on the turn, which I checked and got bet at, followed by me checking on the river and getting bet at again brought me over my starting position. A couple hands later, I find QJ, raise, get callers. KsQx4s, bet, call. Qx on the turn, check, bet, call. Js river. I check, he big bets, I re-raise bet-size, he re-re-raises the bet size again, I push, he calls... he steams. You could feel the disbelief and anger through the screen, even though he didn't type a thing in the chat. I mean, how could his flush not hold up with KxQQJ on the board? Thank you Party Poker for closing down your US operations. Full Tilt and Stars have never been better.

After that, I knocked out some small stacks, dropped my jaw when my AJc held up with AKTTx on the board against two big betters, and shut it all down after and hour of play and a $202 profit. So.. from Friday to Sunday night... let's say $709 profit in about 7 1/2 hours of play. The Stars earnings alone have brought me about $160 off of breaking even since I zeroed-out my account in August and started tracking my cash flow.

This probably means I'll be playing the Hoy tonight, where I'll get rightly smacked down and brought back to reality. Then again, I've won a MATH before... who's to say I can't repeat?

Like I've maintained... a long post that is nothing but me babbling about me and teaching you nothing. A man's got to do something at work, right?

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PS - Should I go to this Vegas thing? Seems like people have the fun, and I like the Vegas. But I was there a month ago. Plus, I'd be soloing, which, in Vegas, might not be a bad thing...