A Sign from Above? (updated)

Maybe things are changing?

$5 KO Tourney on Tilt.  I'm short stacked (surprise) and find QQ UTG+2.  <10BBs, but I only go 4x hoping to get action from a particular LAG.  Sure enough he shoves and I snap call.  He flips over QTo (!).

That's the kind of action I'm lookin for!

Still gonna need some help in this event.  16BBs left at 80/160.  231 runners and 90 get paid. 


UPDATE: Never mind. This is what happens when you tangle with the big stack.
I knew he'd call when it folded to him. I knew I'd lose when he started to catch up on the flop.



The best part was in the chat afterward where he said that I "overplayed the fishhooks". And exactly how did he play his bottom pair?

Daily Update

I'm going to keep doing these until this run to end all bad runs finally hits the finish line. 

 

Last night I played the Cheap Stakes $0.50 tourney on Stars.  I lasted appx. 30 minutes and had only one hand of note.  In the BB I look down at QQ.  There's a 3x raise from MP, and the SB shoves for 1200 chips.  I have slightly more than him. 

 

Keep in mind this is a $0.50 tourney here, so I'm not exactly surrounded by Kid Poker or Hachem.  Well I either want chips or I want to get away from this, so I shove - fully expecting the MP raiser to come along.  He does. 

 

We flip over the following:

MP: AKo

SB: A9s

Me: QQ

 

Flop Q J T w/ two diamonds...holy crap, I flopped top set!!...and I'm way behind the flopped broadway.  But stop the presses...I actually improved my hand.  That in and of itself is noteworthy. 

 

Of course I didn't improve from there. 

 

Then on to a $10 SNG on Tilt.  The usual, I never really got much above a starting stack until we got to five-handed, where AT outlasted A5.  Then I slowly bled down into the money, crashing and burning in 3rd as the short stack. 

 

I can sum this recent experience up as follows:

* I'm having trouble finding good situations to play.  When I have a stealable hand from late pos., there's almost always a strong raise in front of me.  I'm not interested in calling with 78s in this format - I'd much rather raise here, but the stack sizes mean I'll be committing waaayyy too much of my stack on a drawing hand.  Back to the main point - I'm finding it hard to encounter appropriate spots to come into hands aggressively.  And if you can't do that in the first 3-4 levels of a SNG, all of a sudden you have about 10-12 BBs left and your options are just SO limited. 

* I'm not getting enough quality starting hands, and when I do, I'm rarely getting action.

* I've become a bit gunshy on bluffing.  I did run a couple as we got to five-handed in the SNG last night, but I've been looked up SO much more often lately that I'm becoming more hesitant to pull the trigger...not that I ever bluff that much to begin with. 

 

This has definitely affected my mental approach and I need to just go full bore into some games with no reservations to get beyond this. 

 

Tonight's Specialty...

...runner-runner flush.



Worst.  Run.  Ever. 
- I cannot catch a reasonable starting hand
- When I do, I'm getting NO action...or too much action.  One hand earlier in this SNG at the 30/60 level, I have AKo on the button.  There are two limpers in front of me.  I pop it to 325 to go.  Both blinds and both limpers call.  Yes, five to the flop when I'm holding AK.  Needless to say, the flop is coordinated junk and I have to throw it away to the instashove from the blinds. 
- I'm making very few bluff attempts - and when I do bluff, I get picked off (like in AIPS ... one bluff and I run smack into a monster).
- I'm repeatedly getting short-stacked in my quest to find a playable situation.  I'm more than happy to be aggressive and am looking for opportunities to do so, but I'll be damned if I reraise in a SNG w/ K2 suited and assorted trash like that. 
- When I finally get the cards in, I'm either super short and just trying to find anything to shove with...or I'm getting it in ahead and getting out drawn. 

This will end.  It has to end.  I just can't figure out how or when. 

But wait, there's more...

Well, I was short-stacked and I can't kill him for making the call. But still...

This is How I Run

Continued from, oh, the last 3-4 months...

Buffalo Plane Crash and the possible science behind it

Miles O'Brien, formerly of CNN, knows his shit.  A very good read for anyone with a shred of interest in the science of flight. 

Onion Radio News

I get this every day.  This one was a classic.

"...military-grade Kleenex"  Epic.

AIPS

It simply was not going to happen tonight.  I got lots of hands early - and no action.  I stole some blinds midway through the first hour with no resistance, but I picked the wrong hand to bluff with, lost a decent chunk of my stack, and just bled chips from there.  Finally reraised all-in w/ AQ and the villain has AK. 

Play was remarkably passive and predictable too.  I just could not capitalize.  Bah.

Westminster

I'm all excited for Westminster.  I love dogs, have two of them, and loved going to the DKC show when I lived in Detroit.  Plus this is Westminster, which is the shit and all that. 

So I set the DVR, turn it on tonight, and hear this vaguely familiar female voice doing the intro while the truck shows a variety of canned shots from prior shows.  Well it's not Joe Garagiola, which is good, but it's also not Lester Holt who did a fine job the past couple of years. 

Just who is this new host?

Mary Carillo.

AAArrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh!!

Tonight's Bullshit

Tonight was cooler night.

I get nothing in the 180 runner $8 tourney.  Crawl through the first break, then finally pick up AKo on the button.  UTG+1 limps, Cutoff raises to 400, and I insta-shove.  Both entrants call.  They check it down all the way (there are about 90 left at this point).  Limper showed up w/ AJo, and Cutoff woke up w/ KK.  Good night to me. 

Then I dive into a $10 SNG and this happens. 
http://www.pokerhandreplays.com/view.php/id/279645

Brrrrrr.