Some Thoughts

Have you ever talked to yourself. I unfortunately do it a lot. Talk to myself that is, apparently I do it much more than I though because I don't know if anybody really reads what I write. So if they don't I am in turn talking to myself. Right? I guess maybe? I believe poker to be something that has to be finessed and cared for, especially in tournament form. If its not perfectly set-up with the blinds, and chip count, and everything else it will fail. This is why most tournaments do not reward first place to the best player in the room, its usually the luckiest. I have never played in a well run tournament. Most of the games I play in start out with either way too many or not enough chips and then start skipping two or three blinds in a row when the guy that runs the place is put out. I need to get out and play more in other places away from my usual haunts. I think it will help my game, sure can't hurt.

Burning Money

Last night I played in a $50 buy-in charity event in the back round of a Mardi Gras association building. Ya it was a little weird. There were re-buys for a little over an hour which was a nice change, from the usual 3 hours, but manly the same drunks there. I had a nice stack in the making after the re-buys were over. I had a little over twice the 5,000 we started with. The one big hand that I won before that point I had 10h Qh and the flop hit Jh 2d 4h. I had flopped four to the flush and I bet the minimum to build the pot so I could draw to it later. The Turn is a 9s which adds a open ended straight to my draws. I bet again 500 and get two calls. The river is a heart which makes my flush and i bet 500 again because my flush card was lower than the boards and I am re-raised another 500 and everyone in the hand calls. The show one and two pair hand and I raked in about 4,000. After the re-buys were over about four hands in I lost about 5,000 in one hand were I hit another flush on the turn but I folded. This was the right move because I had the losing hand (he had hit the bigger flush) but I still had invested a lot into the hand. A few hands later we combined tables and I was put out, my pair of J's by a pair o Q's. The guy that put me out took most of my chips that night. He was not a skilled player but on the flop he always re-raised my "information" bet that I made with middle pair. He did this to me several times. If I would have been playing "smart" I could have easily trapped this guy and conversely not bet into him with middle pair. But like I said I wasn't thinking right. I really can't blame anybody for losing this game except but myself. I just didn't get a lot of opportunity's to play do to the bad blind structure that these people love to use.