Shirley's Poker Journal

April 2007

April 28
I played in the $500 No Limit event at the Stars and Stripes tournament series at the Bicycle Casino last night. There were 178 entries and I finished in sixteenth place.

I was not eliminated with QQ. In fact, I picked up two pots with the hand when I raised preflop and everybody folded. It was certainly a nice change. I didn't really make any money from the hands, but I didn't lose a huge amount either. QQ and AK were my best hands of the night. It doesn't seem like I get dealt AA very often since I haven't had it in the last three tournaments I played.

The tournament ran smoothly and it didn't seem that I needed to get into too many difficult spots. There was one really nice no-brainer hand where I tripled up and that helped me stay above the pack. One player limped in early position for $300, I raised to $1300 with KK, one player from the blind called my raise. The original limper moved in, I moved in behind him and the blind thought for a moment and said "I feel lucky. This is the second time in a row that I have been dealt this hand." The original limper turned over 88 and the "lucky" dude showed QJ of hearts.

After that hand, I had a hard time picking up chips and before long I was short stacked and we were still about ten away from the money. My blind came around and I was forced to play any hand. The big blind was $800 and I had about $1600 left after posting my blind. One guy in middle position asked to see my chips and I said "I am pretty much committed" and the guy said "probably not a good time to steal with J9" and mucked his hand. The next guy folded and then the next guy moved in. Once everybody folded back to me, I looked at my hand and saw 64 of spades. Not the best hand especially because I sensed a strong hand from my opponent, but I had to call with the odds I was receiving. Like I said "I was pretty much committed." I ended up winning the hand when I made two pair and my poor opponents hand (QQ) went down in flames.

My few hands I played after that held up and we were finally in the money. We redrew for our seats and I was out about five hands later when all the players folded to me on the button and I moved in with A9. I only had 10 times the big blind. Unfortunately the player in small blind (and the big stack at the table) had AJ and his hand held up.

April 22
I went to the Bike yesterday to play in their $200 NL w/ multi-rebuy tournament. As soon as I sat down, I felt like I was in the zone. There are days when things just click and yesterday was one of those days. I was able to read my opponents with better accuracy than normal and made some pretty big calls (with confidence) based on those reads.

I did a rebuy as soon as I sat down and I never needed to do another one during the rebuy period. I didn't have a ton of chips, but I at least doubled them by the time break rolled around. I made sure to put my money on the table for my double add-on and then went outside to call Steve and fill him in on my progress.

After the break, there was one really good hand that helped me acquire some chips. With the blinds of $150-300 w/ a $50 ante, all players folded around to the small blind and he limped in the pot. I checked my option with KJ. The flop was AT7 and the SB bet the minimum. I was certain that he did not have the ace because of his limp preflop and because of his weak bet on the flop. This player had been pretty easy for me to read up to this point and I was willing to go with my read and make a move for the pot on the turn. The turn was an 8 giving me the double gutter and two overs (if he didn't have the ace). He bet $500 and I raised to $2400. The player thought and thought for about two minutes which seems like an eternity when you are in a hand. One player mentioned a clock and then the guy finally moved in for an additional $625. When he raised that last $500 I was a little mad at myself for not noticing his stack when I raised. If I had, I would have reraised to $3100 instead. I called the small raise and the guy turned over 89 giving him one pair and a straight draw. I hit my queen on the river and won a decent pot.

Another interesting hand was later after break. Right before the break, the big blind was eliminated during the hand and I was supposed to be the one big blind when we got back. I left while the hand was in progress so I had no idea what was happening when I got back. I posted my small blind and the guy to my left posted the big blind. As soon as the cards were dealt, I turn to the guy on my left and say "were you supposed to be the big blind on this hand because I don't remember taking the big blind". By the time we figured it out, the action was all the way around to the button. The guy in the big blind was willing to throw his hand away and take his chips back, but the floor staff ruled that the action had to stand because too much had already taken place. The guy on the button ended up limping and I just checked from the small blind with AJ. The flop was AJ9 with two diamonds. I checked, the big blind checked, and the button put up a bet that was almost the size of the pot. I made a small raise and the big blind moved in. Because of the action preflop and his willingness to throw his hand, I put him on a weaker two pair or a draw. The guy on the button thought for a moment and folded and I immediately called. He turned over A9 and my AJ held up.

The tournament continued to move along nicely with me making some pretty big calls. The 298 field had dwindled down to four tables and along with it, my stack dwindled. I didn't really play any hands and I was having a hard time finding good situations because I had just switched tables and I was still trying to get a feel for the new players. Even though my stack wasn't getting larger, I was sitting on enough chips that I could have made it into the money without too much effort.

We took another break and I called Steve to let him know of my progress. I told him that it would be nice if I could make it into the money, but I wasn't going to throw away a chance to win the whole thing. After the break, we sat down and two hands later I was out of the tournament.

I was eliminated five out of the money!

My elimination is not an interesting story. In fact, I am beginning to sound like a broken record. I took QQ against my opponents AK and had one player announce, "I folded an ace". A king hit the flop and I hit the road.

April 19
I haven't written an entry or played an online ring game this whole week. As a matter of fact, I haven't really played much at all except for the occasional $55 NL w/ 1 rebuy and 1 add on tournament that I am so fond of.

The reason I haven't been playing is because I finally got my butt moving and launched my new site, Poker-Vibe. The site is still a little small, but it has a lot of great strategy articles including some on Texas Holdem, Online Strategy and general Poker Theory. I also have a Book Review section. If you only have a quick minute, then go to the Humor article first and then go back to the others later.

I would really appreciate more articles, so please feel free to submit your work. I have to approve the content (of course) before they get posted, but if anybody submits three articles or more that get posted, you get your own writer's page. On that page, you may promote yourself in any way. Take a look at David Huber's page as an example.

Remember, the new site is a work in progress. I will be adding new content to it in the coming weeks.

April 11
I didn't mention that I played a small Razz tournament the other day and won it. I registered for it ($40 buy-in), but didn't really pay much attention to how many entries there were until it was too late to unregister. There only ended up being twelve entries and probably not worth the time I put into it. The thing is, I really enjoy the game of Razz even if the prize pool is peanuts.

I talked to Steve about how I my Razz game and Omaha Hi/Low game should be ready for the H.O.RS.E. tournaments at the World Series of Poker. I really need to work on my Holdem game though. I don't know what it is about Limit Holdem, but I look like a lost puppy when playing it.

I posted an interview of Bill Edler today that one of my friends, Jay did during the Netcast Heads Up event. Take a look if you get a chance.

April 10
I played the $55 w/ 1 optional rebuy and add-on on PokerStars tonight, but didn't fair so well. I started out great and by the time the break rolled around, I was seventh in chips. After the break, I was still doing well until I got a table change. There was a guy who was a total maniac and kept coming over the top of me for all of his chips. He had me outchipped and I hadn't been at the table long enough to realize that he was a maniac. I was eliminated after I called one of his all-in reraises and his pocket threes held up against my overcards.

I still haven't been playing very much online poker this week. I am really focused on getting my new site up  and running. It is a project that has been in the works for over a year. I attempted to do it on several occasions last year, but my brain couldn't handle it while I was on chemo. Hopefully, it should be up within two weeks and I will make sure to post the link here on my journal.

Note: The picture is from a painting I saw at Farmer's Market. Too frickin cute!

April 9
I hope everybody had a great Easter. Once again, we had our traditional Easter Egg hunt, but we added something new to the mix. On top of our 10 designated color eggs, we get to find one golden egg too. Inside the golden egg is a number and it coincides with a gift certificate prize such as Jamba Juice, Starbucks, or Baskin Robbins. After the egg hunt, we ate the best meal. My workouts for the week were destroyed in one day because I ate a little of everything: Honeybaked Ham, cheesy potatoes, dinner rolls, baked beans, vegetables, and dessert.

I didn't make it home in time to play the HORSE event or the Omaha event. I didn't really have the energy anyway to play in a tournament that was going to last four hours.

I went to my cousins house on Friday night because it was her birthday. Her husband threw her a "Casino Night" themed party and he hired a company that brought their own poker and blackjack tables. We played a small tournament and I ended up chopping it with one of the guys. After the tournament, they started a live action game and I tripled my money by the time all was said and done. It was amusing playing against a group of people who had no clue what they were doing and we were all laughing hysterically while playing. It really gave me the itch to start playing live action again.

April 6
I was watching one of the archives from Live at the Bike and realized that Jamie Gold had played on the show before he won the WSOP main event. I was the commentator on that particular night and Mark Seif made a guest appearance.

A portion of my journal entry from that night (October 12, 2005) talks about one of the hands that Mark played against Jamie.

"Mark raised with AK, another player (I think he was the button) reraised with pocket tens. Mark put in a huge raise. Bart said that the raise was a tournament move. I thought differently. I figured Mark put in the big raise because his opponent looked like he was a fairly new player and the money was going to mean something to him. Mark knew that it was very unlikely he was going to get called in that spot and if he did, he wouldn't be in a bad position unless he was up against aces. The player eventually folded his tens face up and it confirmed to me that he wasn't an experienced player. I got the impression that he wanted to show Mark that he was capable of making big laydowns. Mark confirmed that my analysis about his play was correct. He said the guy looked very nervous about playing a huge pot and if he (Mark) senses any weakness at all, he is going to sniff it out and take advantage of it."

So for those who don't know, Bart finally left Live at the Bike after me and David left. Their new plan is to have some rotating guest commentators now and I told them to pencil me in. Of course, I am going to wait until my hair grows a bit more.

April 5
I haven't been playing as much online poker this week. As much as I enjoy playing poker, I am thrilled that I have resumed a normal life again. I guess it's still not "normal", but it is so much more normal than the past 14 months have been.

I made a commitment when I was going through radiation to work out five days a week. I never missed a day and I have basically continued that since then. The first day I went to the gym after chemo, I could only do 7 minutes on the bike. That was the extent of my workout. I didn't complain much during the year. I didn't even bat much of an eye when I had to go to the hospital and get a blood transfusion (don't think I ever mentioned that in the journal). But I tell you, when I left that gym on the first day, I cried my eyes out. I called my Mom and cried. I called my ex-trainer and cried. I did it over and over again every time I talked to somebody. I guess it was the realization of how much my body had been through. Before all that stuff, I was more fit than I have ever been. I finally feel like I am back to that spot. My goal is to look as fit as I feel by the time the World Series rolls around.

I am really hoping to make up for lost time by playing in many of the events at the WSOP. I should probably start to look into some of the satellites that they are running online. Steve mentioned the main event to me the other day and that one that I am thinking of the least. I have every intention of playing in the Omaha Hi/Low events, but it's the HORSE that interests me the most. Once I settle on a schedule, I will post what events I plan on playing in.

April 1
I didn't play in the Omaha tournament today, but not because I was doing something fun and exciting with my family. I actually decided to spend the day at home and catch up on some things around the house. Around 4:00, I checked out the up and coming tournaments and decided that I would play the HORSE tournament instead.

The tournament had a little more than 100 entries and I finished around 30th. I had a really rough Stud Hi/Low round and lost a bunch of my chips. Before that round, I was sitting on a nice stack and was one of the chip leaders. I don't know why, but I still am amazed at how some of these players fork over $215 when they don't understand all the games. I know first hand that some people have their strong games and their weak games, but I wouldn't be wasting $215 if I had no concept of one of the games. A person shouldn't be playing if he doesn't know that he should fold a king up on third street in Razz. The fact of the matter is that they do play and it makes the tournament much more appealing than the Omaha Hi/Low has been lately. And if you add that to that the field is so much smaller in Omaha now (tonight they had only 42 players) and runs about the same time as the HORSE, I am probably going to stick to the HORSE tourneys for a while.