WSOP Satellite...Cancelled (Boo Hoo)

Well, Kristin's satellite to the WSOP Main Event is cancelled. Why? She got engaged (and is getting married in the summer). Can you believe that? Unreal. But seriously, I'm really happy for her and Doug and wish them all the best. Congratulations! At least she gave me my $550 from the super-satellite win (from this tourney).

Outplayed, Outsmarted, and Busted

It happens to all of us - you have an opponent right where you want them and they suck out on you. Here's my bad beat story, only because I think it's a bit more of an interesting hand due to the table style.

Playing 1-2 NL when I'm in early position with a live 5 straddle. I look down at QQ and decide to call the 5. I could play it either way - let me explain. I'm short stacked with only 100 sitting in front of me, the table is so loose and aggressive that even a raise to 15 would get at least a few callers behind me, so I figure with this table type I'm either all-in (which most likely won't get the value I'm hoping for) or I call and let the other players dictate the betting.

Loose aggressive oddball player to my left raises to 15 (of course, knew it!), and this prompts another 3 or so players calling (exactly what I want!). Easy decision for me - I'm all-in, and loose aggressive oddball player re-raises all-in, the others fold (about 240 or so in the pot now). Before I go all-in, I thought to myself, this guy is going to think I have AK, since a hand like QQ would have raised in early position - exactly what I want him (or any of the other players) to think in this exact spot. He says to me, "You have AK?" (I laugh in my head). He says, "I have a pair."

Flop is 4-K-x. K on the turn, blank on the river. He has pocket 4-4. Table was outplayed, outsmarted, and ..... I'm busted. Do I get any sympathizers?

A Royal Flush!!!

In poker, as in life, sometimes you just have to play what you're dealt. Sometimes you play brilliantly and still get unlucky. Sometimes you get lucky and just can't seem to maximize value at all. But sometimes the planets align and everything just falls into place. On September 6, 2007 I got dealt the very best hand - I met this girl - and to top it all off - on March 1, 2008 she said YES! Yes, readers, I got engaged on March 1 to the greatest girl alive. Now that's what I call a royal flush - for life.

I Have Nothing (Except A Flush)

Funny Hand of the Year: Home cash game - player bets on the river and opponent folds, saying "I have nothing" while turning over his king high flush. Hysterical, he really thought he had nothing. We decided to split the pot between the two players, I mean why not!!??

I'm A Super-Satellite Champ!

Last night I took down a KBCR 2008 WSOP super-satellite. (Check the calendar on the bottom of the page for more information.) In this series of home tourneys lasting for 20 weeks, each weekly sit-n-go is $55 and the winner gets a seat at the $550 satellite around June. The winner of the June satellite goes to the WSOP Main Event with $1,000 in cash to help with expenses.

There is nothing too spectacular about last night's win. I was playing well and chipped up early against a dead money player stacking off to me. Overall I made good reads and good plays. There was no serious confrontation until I got heads-up as a slight dog (25k to 15k in chips). I got lucky early on when I pushed with an open-ended on the flop and my opponent called with top pair, and ended up turning the straight. We played close to 1.5 hours heads-up. It was a good match and quite a worthy opponent. I'm looking forward to the satellite to the WSOP!