Tag: Aces

It’s easy to love poker when you’ve just won a big game… and I just have. OK, not big in the sense that there was a lot of money involved, but big in that I did well – sometimes by luck, sometimes by skill.

This was a pokerstars.com 2-table $5.50 tournament. That makes 18 players with the top-4 getting paid. It’s $9/$18/$27/$36 for first through fourth respectively (and the house make $9 gross).

We started at 12:57 AM and finished at 2:38 AM. Helaine has pointed out that, win, lose or draw, that’s a lot of entertainment for $5.50.

I was hot (aka lucky) early on, going all in and quickly turning my $1500 tournament stake into $3000+. Then, I went all in and took three players out, all at once.

We went to the final table of 9 with me as the chip leader.

From there it was up and down slightly until the table was whittled to five. Of course, things become critical here because someone’s about to get shut out. But, I held my ground, playing very conservatively and went to the final three.

We went to two players when I won against a hand that should have never been played:

The final hand saw me with Jacks. Jacks never win – never. But, I play them anyway. I have actually heard stories, probably apocryphal, about a player who folded Jacks; never played them. They will break your heart.

When the flop came Ace Ace Jack, I guessed the odds were too long for my opponent to have the third Ace.

I cashed out $27, minus my $5.50 for a $21.50 net. I shouldn’t have played that last hand so aggressively. But, with two players, you can afford to be a little more suspect of the very unlikely happening.

Were do we stand?

We started in early August with $250. It had gone down to near $100, then slowly back up until we were at $260 (+$10!). And, then, as if some sort of switch had been thrown, we plunged until we had about $120 left.

In the last week, mostly by Helaine’s skill, we’ve come roaring back. With my win tonight, we’re currently down $33.40 since early August.&#134

I am a much better poker player than I ever was before. Granted, these are low stakes games where the competition is less than stellar, and we are down. Still, being this close after hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of games is an accomplishment. Remember, Pokerstars takes 50&#162 every time we sit and play.

I have learned to be less macho (the last hand not withstanding). There is no dishonor in throwing in a hand that won’t win. Sure, every so often, you throw in a winning hand, but I am convinced this game is won by not losing!

I try and only play quality hands and to be realistic about my chances.

There are analogies to be drawn from digital photography. I’ve become a better photographer because I take so many pictures and see them almost immediately. I’m a better poker player because I play so many games.

I think Helaine is an even better player than I am – much better.

What amazes me is after reading Usenet posts from time-to-time, it seems that everyone says they’re winning. Hello? This can’t be. There’s a whole lot of BS’ing going on.

&#134 The reason for the 40&#162 is that, from time-to-time, I sit in on “live” non-tournament games, where the betting can be in odd amounts.