BUBBLE BUBBLE BUBBLE POP

Cadence used to tell me a cute story she learned in preschool about a turtle that ended with my precious four-year-old saying "bubble, bubble, bubble, pop." I don't recall the thrust of the tale but I always laughed at the big ending. The phrase bubbled and popped into my mind this past week as it seemed every tournament I played wound up with me popping out at the bubble.

I rarely play tourneys anymore for less than a $50 entry and I routinely lay down $300 or more to play so when I go through long strings without cashing, the losses really begin to add up. I try to always remember my last big cash and how it was what broke my previous dry spell but still, it is hard not to get discouraged during the down stretches. I was coming up empty time and again lately but I could see light at the end of the tunnel because I thought I was playing better poker than ever before. I was making it deep in just about everything I entered but I couldn't stop disaster from befalling me on the big hands.

My least favorite hand was in a $100-R event in which I was $300 invested and I was quietly building a nice stack during the second hour after the rebuy/addon period had closed. I limped in with a $300 call holding AK and found no less than four callers before the shortstack big blind decided to gamble for the dead money. He moved all-in with 93 and I pushed with my entire stack of $24k. The player in the three-hole called instantly as if he checked the call/any box as soon as the BB pushed, completely neglecting to consider my potential action. So we saw the flop three-way with me and shorty all-in. The third guy, who had me barely covered, showed AJ and hit a jack on me to scoop a monster pot and knock me out. I guess in theory, I like his call there since it gave me even more equity while holding the best hand but it sure sucked to see that jack fall, especially since the 93 missed completely.

After that disaster, the next three nights I busted out of the $50/one rebuy/one addon all three times within five spots of the money and every single time, I lost a race while holding the overcards. Not only does that buck the odds to lose all three, but each and every time, I made a pair as the other guy made trips. I began to wonder if I was cursed and should focus on avoiding confrontation at the bubble before I make the money. It's always worth considering, but I always wind up with the same response to my inner self: no way - I can't lose every time, and when I do win those confrontations, I am really setting myself up to go deep in the tourney and recoup all the money I've lost.

Well, yesterday is when variance evened up and things went my way for a change. I opened up Full Tilt at a few minutes before noon to see what was starting up. It was a $300 short-handed double-stack tourney and I signed up. I have shown my most consistant results in the short-handed events at Tilt and I was eager to see if my luck would turn while playing an event I feel confident playing. The answer was a resounding YES. I played five hours of the best poker I am capable of - there was never a moment when I did not feel as if I was going on to win the tournament and I was so tuned into the game that it was as if everyone else was playing with their cards face up. It's hard to explain that zone that I sometimes get in but I think everyone gets it on occasion and can understand what I am talking about. For five hours, the game was just easy and I was just putting in my time until everyone else busted out and I claimed my prize.

There were 218 entrants and I was active in the early rounds without risking too much on the mediocre stuff. I got paid off with aces once and never fell below my starting stack size. My hands held up at the bubble and I became the chip leader heading into the payout structure. I was very close to going wire-to-wire once I claimed the top spot. I was maybe as low as third place at one time but I maintained the chip lead or close to it all the way until I closed it out. I was hitting flops, getting dealt high pairs, or simply reading my opponents and it seemed I very rarely lost a pot which I entered. As it got closer to the final table, the rail became more vocal and concensus was that the others should simply stop playing pots against me as it appeared to them that I could read everyone and get them off every contested hand.

Twice I got unlucky, both against the same player. He was seated to my right and both times he made the third raise an all-in push while I held KK. The first time he had AK and hit his ace; the second time he held 99 and hit the turn. Both times, he was in second place and had the most to lose while I had more than double his stack. Both times he pulled relatively even to my chip lead and I had to go back to work to widen that gap. I finally knocked him out in third place when my KK finally held up. He pushed all-in preflop with 98 and it was poetic justice that I had those familiar kings which this time held up.

I had a 5:1 chip advantage heads-up and he began pounding at the small pots. I had to give him every one which added $11k to his stack each time, while I waited for hands with which to play a big pot. When he pushed over the top of my raise as I held J9, I decided to call and make a stand even though I was sure I was beat. I figured I had live cards and a decent shot at ending the tourney. If I couldn't suck out, at least I can slow him down a bit and let him know that I'm not just going to release every hand to his pushes. He had KQ and I had the two live cards and enough of a shot of ending it that I think it was worth the gamble. The flop came JT9 and for a moment I thought it was over until I realized he had flopped the nuts. I didn't fill up and my chip lead fell to 2:1.

I knew that doubling him up would at least slow him down and now I could gain the upper hand by chopping away at the small pots until he got desperate again. My strategy was to get back to a sizeable chip advantage before playing another big pot and ultimately, even if I am taking the worst of it, I will eventually win a hand and knock him to the rail. I took several $11k pots before he made his stand by reraising me while I held QT versus his AJ. I called his raise and checked on the Q83 rainbow flop. He bet 2/3 the pot and I min-raised. He felt committed and pushed all-in. I called and dodged the bullet, taking first place and a $16,350 payday, my best win of the year.