Accentuate the Positive

Hmmmmmm......the positive.....the positive......ah, here you go: a million more weekends like this, and I'll be a millionaire!

Okay, okay, that's the sarcastic positive. The real positive is that I am keeping up with my commitment to play more. Although I am quite certain my volume still pales in comparison to most, I am quite pleased. A brief recap (if you'll indulge me) of Saturday and Sunday night follows.

Saturday night I played but once. Instead of going with the SNG plan, I decided to try the 10+1 knockout tourney. For those unfamiliar with what this is (I'm looking at you nephew in Germany), I shall briefly explain. Of the $10 that counts as your buy-in, $8 goes to the prize pool and $2 is used as a bounty. For every player that you knockout, you win his $2 bounty. I decided to play this on Saturday because I haven't tried one of these yet and I just wanted to see how it was.

I lasted a fairly good while considering I was card dead the entire way. I had AQ once and four pocket pairs; Presto twice and the Magnum twice (that's 55 and 44 for those of you in Limerick). If memory serves, I made it past the second break with those rags, I didn't cash though and I was only able to knock one person out. Net result: -$9. Booooooooo.

Last night I went back to the SNG route. I actually played four of them (which means it will probably start raining frogs this afternoon). Based on a recommendation from Riggstad, I started in on the 6+.50 six person turbos.

(Editor's Note: Your humble correspondent [me] is beginning to think that the impression he is giving the reader [you] is that the only person that he knows is Riggstad. The author [me again] would like to stress that this is the furthest thing from the truth. However, the resident blogger [yes....me] would like to say that he will continue to cite and refer to Riggstad on a frequent basis. His knowledge and experience in this game are top shelf, and he has been very generous with his thoughts and theories to yours truly. Not to mention he's funny as hell. So get used to seeing his name and please check out his blog, because as a poker mentor, he's the nuts.)

So....$6, six-man turbos. The first one I shot myself in the foot and finished 5th. Okay...just needed to orient myself. The second one went better. I cashed by finishing second (things are looking up). The third one decided to knock me down a few pegs by kicking me squarely in the rocks. Money goes in on the flop, villain hits two-outer on the turn, I'm done in 4th place.

Okay, time-out. Time to regroup, think things over. I decided to shake it up a little and played a $5+.50 nine person (non-turbo). I quickly regretted this decision as it became clear to me that this would not be a fast tourney. So about 10 minutes in I decide to loosen up a little and see more flops when I could get in cheap.

Apparently not caring is a key ingredient for success in these low buy-in SNGs. One hand in particular illustrates this point. I was in BB with 46 off. several limpers, I check. Flop came something like KJ7. I don't hit the check/fold button, I hit the fold to any bet button. I wanted no more part of this. Inexplicably, there were checks all around (four people in the hand). Turn is a 5. Okay now I'm open-ended, so I unclick the fold to any bet button. First guy checks, second guys bets a quarter of the pot (about 120). I say "why not" and call. Fourth guy folds, and the first guy check raises. He bets like 800 (leaving himself about 100). Second guy then folds. (Here is where the not caring part comes in, you knew we'd get here eventually.) I raise putting him all-in. I do this KNOWING he has the best hand. KNOWING he has to call. KNOWING I will be extremely short-stacked if (when) I lose. He calls, river 8. Weeeeeeeeeeeeee! He was not amused.

I went on to win this table leaving me up $10 and change for the night and up $1 and change for the weekend. I'm going to try ONCE for a token tonight to try to get into the MATH. If I fail, I'll be back at the SNG table. Wish me luck.