KJ

I've been playing really well lately but haven't had a corresponding payday due to some untimely hard luck. I've been working in some cash games as well to try to keep my bankroll where it should be between significant tournament cashes. Last night, my buddy John was watching over my shoulder as I duffed off a $200, $200, and $250 buy-in at the $2/4 NL tables. I bought in for another $150 and when he left, I had built it up to $700. After he left, I managed to build it to $1380 before I cashed out. The swings are nuts but in fairness, I was showing off with the early money and never did get it in good. Once I was facing an $800 loss, I bore down and got serious.

Concurrently last night, I was playing a $24 HORSE event and explaining the rules and strategies of each component game to John. I got off to a rough start but managed to make it to the money which is always nice when someone's watching. Today, feeling good about my game, I plunked down $320 for a NLHE tourney at Full Tilt. I got lucky on my first hand by turning a set of eights against a pair of queens after calling him on the flop. After that, I got hand after hand and got myself into second place where I remained for awhile. I had the chips to weather the dead card period and I made it into the money with an average stack.

The winner made $17k. I wound up making $1.7k by finishing eighth. This was the pivotal hand: we were four handed at the penultimate table and I was one of the smaller stacks left. I got KJ in the small blind and put out a $4k raise. The big blind raised all in and put me to the test. I figured him for Ax or an underpair, putting me at either 40% or 50%. There was also the chance I was ahead and he was getting crafty with lesser cards but I didn't really think so. So, I knew I was going in as an underdog but I made the call anyways. If I lose, I will be crippled with $11k (yet still alive) but if I win, then I will no longer be worried about the fast-approaching blinds at the short table. I called and he showed A4 as expected. The board bricked and ace high took it. Two hands later I was eliminated with A9 v AQ. I've been second-guessing my decision to go with the hand but I'm sticking by my decision as a calculated risk which gave me a good shot at getting to the final table with a stack.

So, then I signed up for a $150 follow-up and when my QQ succumbs to AK in the first hour, I am down to $150. I didn't give up, picking good spots to go all in and I got as high as $5300 before my AA fell to 33 all-in preflop. That pot would have put me around $8k but instead put me under $2k. I was back to struggling to survive and ultimately I got my money in with A9 from third position, which I'm not crazy about, but the guy who called me had KJ of all things. He was on the button and had nothing invested in the hand yet he called off 80% of his stack with KJ suited. Things looked good until the king on the river. I guess his calculated risk paid off.