THURSDAY'S ACTION

Today was a camp day for the kids so I am home alone until past 4PM. Today there were workers scurrying all over my yard, and I was not able to play poker until lunchtime. I joined a $100 multi-table pot limit hold'em game, but never got a big hand. I lasted until about 22nd but it only paid thru nine.

So, I moved on to a series of heads up matches, which I am finding quite enjoyable and also confidence-boosting. My first match was$100 against a player from Palmdale (30 miles away). I played okay, but he hit a couple of flushes that made me the underdog. I finally pushed in with A4 when he held AQ. He won that one.

I moved on to a $200 match and the same player opposed me. I had played relatively passively in our first match, as I was awaiting the trap hand that was never delivered. So this time I completely changed gears and played very aggressively. One time when I got dealt aces on the button, he folded rather than kick in the extra ten bucks. I was very upset at that tactical error. Harrington says there is never reason to fold in that situation since the pot odds dictate taking a flop with any two cards unless a raise forces you to muck.

I was cursing him for not reading Harrington and wasting my aces. The very next hand, I was delivered aces again. Not bad. I of course called the ten bucks and was able to squeeze about $700 out of him by the end. I played it very tricky and took it all the way to the river. He had second pair, which is a reasonably strong hand in heads up, and I portrayed myself as on a diamond draw that missed. When I overbet the river, he called without even consulting the doubting voice in his head. All told this match lasted eleven minutes and I was even for the day, minus the vig, and 1-1 in heads up action.

I jumped into another $100 match for a shot at showing a profit on the day. Played a guy from Edinburgh and dispatched him handily in ten minutes: 2-1, up $100.

The matches only take 10-20 minutes of focused concentration and more often than not show a profit, so I decided to go another round now that I was warmed up. Faced a guy from some no-name city and drove him to bankruptcy in seven minutes: 3-1, up $200.

I feel good about my game right now. I think I am going to start cashing consistently in tournaments. Cashing in Monaco gave me the impetus to become a better player. I got good cards then and was a good enough player to make them work for me. I mixed in a couple of bluffs and was able to get away with them thanks to my tight-aggressive image. Now, I am changing gears more and playing loose-aggressive when I have the chips to do it. There is big money in hitting the occasional middle straight rather than always playing high cards. The trick is knowing when to get away from the hand and when to chase. I am much more comfortable playing post-flop now after reading Harrington than I was even a few months ago. Even though Harrington advocates a conservative style, I have found a good balance between his and Doyle's styles, and I'm mixing them into something that is working for me, at least in tournament play.

I am sticking to games I can win this week. I am up $772 at PokerStars for the week. At PokerRoom, I won $100 in a cash game last night and $300 in a tourney the night before. I am done experimenting, and now I'm playing to pay the hordes of men scurrying about my yard.