Stunned - Part II

And no, this isn't about the twins.

It's about this:




Read on, if you care.
(And, I have to admit, I hope you do).



"There's no secret. Tight players like me (and you) do well when they catch cards and go out early when they don't."
— GCox (who I should link but it's late and I need to go to bed)

I yahooed Gary, a.k.a, G-Cox during the Mookie last night to see if I could find out why he was making so many damn final tables lately. We are soul brothers, Gary and I, firm believers of Tight is Right, a.k.a. The Blinds The Rest Of You Maniacs Love To Steal.

He answered that he had been re-raising a bit more, but otherwise he was still playing his (our) style.
And that's when I decided that that's who I was. I was going to play my style. I was NOT going to try to raise with Q,10 in mp. I may try to steal and I may not.
It gave me some confidence to play the way I wanted to play.
And we would just see what happened.

Well. I honestly figured that God or Budda or Tom Cruise or whoever you subscribe to was to take it easy on shocking moments in my life. I mean, I kinda just had one lately. Scroll down a bit if you don't know what I'm talking about. The one with the ultrasound photo.
Yeah.
Those girls.

And then I win this? The Mookie? The toughest damn tournament I play on a regular basis?
Are you KIDDING me?
If you think this is false modesty, trust me, it isn't. I am a winning player, yes, and a good one, but I am tight, and my hole is I"m too conservative most of the time. So in other words, I can be outplayed by those who know what they are doing. And The Mookie, like any blogger tournament, is STUFFED like a Christmas Goose with players who know what they are doing.
Early on I doubled with with QQ versus 9,9, but anyone can do that, and soon after I'm dealt A,K. I raise it up, and Mr. Subliminal, who just limped, calls my raise. A trash flop comes down, and I continuation bet.
Mr. instantly calls me. When I check the flop (weakness, I know), he bets and I have to fold. More of the same, I figured. It's possible he had something there. It's also more possible that he knew exactly what I was doing and outplayed me. Just like always, I figured.

But then I started to pay attention. And (I've tried to leave names out for the most part so they don't think I am showing them up because that is not my intention here at all...you can read the live blog if you must know) when a raisy-daisy raised yet again and I was down to 1,700 chips and I have K,Q, I call because I don't want to push just yet and I hate K,Q, but I also don't want him picking on my blind all day.
And I flop a straight. Broadway, in fact.
I double up.
Soon after I get KK. I never got AA all night, but I got KK 5-6 times. Yes, I was lucky. So very, very lucky many times. I am very proud of the way I played. Never ONCE did I suckout. But I got good cards and I won several key coinflips. In a row. For the first time EVER.

Maybe the keyest moment was my 9,9. I had 3,500 in chips and knew I needed a double up to make the final table. I was 12th out of 14. When I get re-raised, I push, figuring I need to take a chance, and I win versus A,Q. I was lucky. Yes, I was ahead, but I was lucky. Now I have 7,500, and I coast to the final table:



Yeah, I don't exactly have a tower of chips there, do I? I get A,J in ep and raise, hoping that no one calls. No one does. I get KK soon after that, when we have eight left (two from the money, which at this point was my only concern), and I raise again and get no callers. I get K,A on the next hand and raise AGAIN and I get a caller from a short stack. K high flop, I check and he goes all in and boom. Now I have some chips.
I would say to play with, but we know better.
To hang onto like they were my children.
OK, maybe that's a bit much.

So I"m barely hanging on when I win two coin flips to stay alive, including 6,6 and Q,J, and I'm still kind of floating around with three left, although I am second at this point (this is getting long, we'll cut to the chase, shall we, it's like midnight here now and I ran five miles earlier tonight) when I get 8,8. I do have some chips so I raise and I get a call.
Flop 6,8,J.
Are you kidding me?

I bet...opponent raises...I just call. Yes, there are two hearts out there, but he's protecting a hand, not drawing to one. On the turn I check, he bets, I push, he calls.
He has 6,6.
Ouch.
But yay.
Because now I have a huge chip lead.

And it occurs to me that a tiny thought in the back of my head just got a lot louder.
You know what? You could WIN this thing.

Well, we were heads up soon after that, and I had a big lead, which promptly got whacked up and down, and so I figure I'm gonna lose. I even tell Love Elf that. But I started playing aggressively.
Heads up I bet and bet and bet, and I don't think my opponent expected that, given that I played so conservatively throughout. In fact, I bluffed five times in a row, and he never called. I think he figured I had it. I don't blame him. I pecked and pecked and pecked and won a big hand and suddenly I had a big lead again. Then I'm dealt JJ, and I actually make a move.
I slowplay it. When the flop comes 6,6,2, I check, he shoves and I call and he has a 2 and I win and yell a huge holla, which I hope didn't wake up Jayden, and if I do that this summer when the twins are outta da nest I really think my wife will beat me purple.

I would say this is my greatest accomplishment ever, but that's not true. That twin thing, for one, is kinda cool.

But this is my greatest poker accomplishment. So I'm pretty damn excited, and so sorry for going on and on about it. It's honestly not bragging. It's just feeling good about the fact that I can now call myself a blogger champ, a title I never, ever thought I would own.

And if you do think I've got a big head despite my saying it's not so, well, cheer up.

The twins will humble me up come June.