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.