End Of The Year Poker

For 2009, I was able to keep poker as a hobby that continues to pay for itself. My last 2 live sessions unfortunately didn’t help pad the 2010 bankroll.

I bubbled the Georgia boys’ “Main Event” earlier in the month. That’s too bad, because it could have funded most of my 2010 games over at Kajagugu’s neighborhood. I was very happy with the way I played and it help me feel like my 2009 success was not just a streak of good luck. With 4 of us left and me barely with the second largest stack, I raised with pocket jacks preflop from the button. The small blind reraises. His total stack has about 3 big blinds less than me and if I fold or just call, I still have about 10 big blinds left. On the previous hand, he had just knocked out “Main Event Mike” when his A8 bested Mike’s pocket queens. With this in mind, I decided to just call and hope no paint comes on the flop. The flop comes out and there is nothing higher than a 9 on the board. He is first to act and shoves all-in. I got the flop I wanted and put him on a A high, maybe top pair, top kicker so I call. It was the correct call as he had AK. I had to sweat the next 2 cards but couldn’t stay ahead as he hits a K on the river. I unsuccessfully pushed with my short stack on the next hand and got eliminated on the bubble. It was a bummer, but I gave it my best and I’ve put worse beats on others this past year.

I will finish the year by playing in the Mookie tonight. This will mark only my second appearance in this game for all of 2009. The other time was back in May. I must play more often in 2010. This isn’t a resolution as much as a revelation that I played very little blogger games this year. I genuinely like most of the players and I love joining Buddy (damn, it's been a while, all my links are dead) and Joanada on the air. I guess the biggest reason I play so little is the toll it takes on me the next day if when I go deep and it kills my necessary sleep time. I realize that makes me a wuss, but it’s true. I am too susceptible to headaches as it is and getting little sleep is a sure fire way to bring one on. This time I have Thursday off, so naturally I’ll go out in the first level. See you there........OK, after looking at the lobby this morning, I take it I'm not the only one who is missing from these games lately. Hopefully more will sign up and I can catch up with some bloggers.

Next post – Cherokee.

Home Game Success

Wow, I think November was the first time I haven't blogged for an entire month. I guess since I've joined Twitter, I get out my little smart ass remarks and don't come here as often. The other reason is quite frankly, I've really got nothing much going on right now.

I was really hoping to make it to Vegas next week for the Winter WPBT Event, but it's not going to work. I already had it scheduled as vacation but didn't have the trip booked. When I was ready, Stacie said she couldn't commit because she was concerned that she was going to have to help her mom after her surgery. Fortunately, her mother didn't need surgery so it looked like the trip was back on, but heavy spending in November killed it from a financial perspective. We made alternate plans and will do a staycation for our long weekend and do some Atlanta stuff like seeing the DaVinci exhibit at the High. Next year, I am just going to go ahead and book the flight as soon as it dips below $300 and just deal with other things if they come up. It's just too easy to talk ourselves out of spending more money after paying for expensive house and car maintenance items.

It might be just as well that I'm not going anyway because my lucky poker streak may be nearing the end. I played in the regular game with Kajagugu last night and I chopped for most of top place in the first game along with collecting 4 bounties and getting to keep my own. This put me on a freeroll for the second game but I didn't cash. This ended my sick run of winning or chopping for first in 7 of the last 7 home games in his neighborhood and mine. I finally came back to reality when I didn't even cash in the second game. I really hope the no cash was just a fluke, because my neighborhood is having our higher buy-in Main Event this afternoon and it should be a decent prize pool. I already jinxed myself when I made a comment after the first game so I figured it is safe to blog about it now. I was bragging and then was immediately smited.

Since I am not going to Vegas and I have a few extra dollars in my poker fund, I think I will make a run up to Harrah's Cherokee some time before Christmas. The have a good size poker room that only has the video tables, but I have heard it's a good opportunity to make a little dough and it's smoke free. They still don't serve alcohol and I don't know if that will change. I don't care that I can't drink, but I wonder how it affects the play at the table. It's always great to see the drunk guy keep reloading. Hopefully they will come premedicated or just bring their own mixers like their going to a football game. Speaking of football, I must with Stacie's Clemson Tigers good luck today in the ACC Championship. It was great to see them make it, but they have a tough game against Bayne's Yellow Jackets.