MILD RECOVERY

I should mention that despite the horrors that befell me last night, I am still up several hundred dollars for the week due to refinements in my Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo game. This game is all about peddling the nuts and not about bluffing or representing, so it is much more a purely mathematical game than Hold 'em. I desire to get good at Omaha, because I think there is a real chance the game can turn into something akin to an ATM for me if I remain disciplined.

So, today, I enter a $100 NL Hold 'em event at PartyPoker with 150 entrants. I have eliminated my super-aggressive leaks just recently and I am excited to put my new disciplined approach to work. Last night, I was doing well until running into the pocket aces in the $50 tournamanet. I have realized that I lose too much money trying to steal pots at inappropriate times, say with A7 two off the button. I have resolved to stay out of pots unless there is good reason to enter. Today, I was doing great. I was making excellent decisions. The worst I had it was when I put in a huge reraise from the big blind with JJ against five callers. That is the proper play since I want to win the pot without a flop or at worst contend heads-up against a lesser hand. The flop came Q93 and I bet out half the pot. He raised all in. Since it was unlikely he had JT, he is sure to have either AQ suited or 99. There is no other reason for him to be all in. So, I folded, which left me with ony $600.

I went all in with 44 and managed to double up against an overpair. I went all in with 66 and stole the blinds. I went all in with 99 and doubled up again and got back into the tournament. Later, I went on a huge run where I raised six hands in a row and won them all either contested or uncontested. My chip stack grew to $13,598 and I was the chip leader with 33 players left, when the friggin server stalled and the tournament was cancelled.

First place would have paid $4050 and boy, am I ever hungry for a payout over $250. But, sometimes luck runs this way, and even when I am playing well, the fates find a way to defeat me. The 33 remaining players received their $9 entry fee back, then all of us split equally 50% of the $15,000 prize pool. The remainder was paid out proportionate to our chip counts, and I made off with the lion's share of $680. So, sure I was paid off $916, but that is the equivalent of finishing around 7th had we played it out. There was a guy at my table with $210 in chips and he was paid off more real money than the chips he had in the tournament. I am disappointed that the technical problems cost me a shot at finishing first and earning the extra $3134.