Monday, February 06, 2006

I made it in the money!

Well, I finally did it. I made it into the money on the absolute poker freerolls on Saturday. Ok, so I only made $1. But I could have made more. I was actually chip leader with 13 players left before I had to leave the tournament. The issue at hand was my brother's 21st birthday (Happy Birthday Paul!). A bunch of us had plans to go out, so I couldn't really hold everyone up that long. I ended up getting 10th. It's too bad I couldn't have got 9th, as that would have been $2. Oh well, I'll probably have to play the freeroll again another day and try to get better. Tonight I plan on trying to turn my "lucky" dollar into more. I'll let ya know how I do (if I get a chance to play that is).

I feel that I played pretty well. I did play a little tighter than I normally do, but with half of the field going out in the first like 20 minutes, I figured if I didn't have the cards, I'd let them knock each other out. After about 30-45 minutes, I loosened up and started playing really well. With about 100 players left, I was in 55th place and below average in chip count. I knew I'd have to make some plays soon. Luckily, I got a good rush of cards to help out, and I had the player who was 3rd in chips at my table to contribute to my stack when I got those cards. I just kept moving up the ladder with a couple of well timed all-in's where once I doubled up and another time I was lucky enough to tripple up. That's when I got the chip lead. About that time, parents and friends arrived for our night out to celebrate Paul's birthday. And that ended my tournament. So, $1 down, $299 to go.

Friday, February 03, 2006

Challenge Progress - Not there yet!

Ok, so I haven't made it into the money yet on the freerolls on Absolute Poker, but last night I was oh so close. I was 12th in chips with about 28 people left (top 18 pay out). I had around 38,000 in chips. The hand I get knocked out on? Ok, I'm on the button. I get pocket aces. One of the chip leaders is to my right. Blinds are 1000/2000 ante: 150. Gets raised by someone in early position (2nd to act I believe). By the time it gets to me there are 4 players in the pot, including the person on my right. I move all in (knowing that I can probably get the original raiser to fold as he was just raising pots all night with practically nothing). Only person to worry about is the big stack. Everyone folds.....except the person to my right (the big stack, he had me covered by over 100,000). He flips his cards AK of hearts. So, ya know, I'm feeling pretty good about my chances here. Flop comes 8d,2c,Ks rainbow. Still feeling pretty good, little nervous though. Turn comes, Kc. Oh CRAP! I only have 1 out left in the deck (the other ace). Needless to say, it didn't come. River comes Q of diamonds. Can't blame the big stack for calling here. He told me that he actually put me on Queens or Jacks, and since he had me easily covered, he called. Don't blame him there, I'd probably do the same if I were in his position. So, I finished in 27th place out of 2000, out of the money again. But my best showing yet in the freerolls. The challenge continues.