Catching up

I could really use a personal assistant. Wouldn't that be cool? Someone to get your coffee or jot down a note (or blog post) for you.

Oh man...
Now, I'm not the most motivated person in a general sense, quite the contrary. Stealing a bit of thunder from Jordan and our discussion on Thursday. I'm a man of leisure. I like to take it easy. I expend the necessary effort for the given situation.

Of course, this is all code for saying I'm really a lazy mo-fo.

I suppose it is inherent in my DNA somewhere. I go through phases where I can be extremely focused, but for the most part, I really don't care for going the extra mile.

Anyway....

New York was a fun again, I got alot of work done up there and still managed to meet up with fellow poker players Jordan and MattyEbs.

As you may recall, the last time I met up with Jordan, we split first and second at the salami tournament. This time I managed to take Jordan and Matt out in 4th and 3rd respectively en route to a first place finish again.

There's 3 hands that stick out for me. First one I'm in late position with QJo and see a free rainbow flop with nine high. There are 4 people in the pot, I have a decent stack of chips almost triple the starting 1500. Victim has a mid to small stack in EP and is steaming from an earlier beat. We check around and a Ten comes off. It checks again and I decide to go ahead and try to take it down with a 1/2 pot bet. Everyone folds to the victim and he pops it for 1000 more. At the time I think I have about 8 outs, but think I'm not that far behind of what victim might have. I put him at best with a small set, leaving me the eights and kings to win.

Something stunk though, the guy was screaming FOLD to me....it did not feel like a set. I made the call and even told the table it was a bad call. Long story short, the King comes on the river, victim (ATo) pushes to my bet and I take down a nice pot busting my first victim. Dude went into mega tilt after that, and since we were at a break I snuck into the smoke room to chill. Turns out I had a lot more outs, but I'm still not sure it was a good call.

Down to 4 players (only 2 pay) I have a huge lead over the table, and was focused on busting people..I stayed patient, but the one other player (who I had stacked in the re-buy period) Seneca was very solid-agg and liable to take any 2 cards to the mat. He raised my blind (JTs) and I decide to push. I've seen him fold to aggression, so I know I'm only getting called when I'm behind, but I really wanted him out. He pushed with 33, I catch nothing and double him up. There's plenty of reasoning I can make for the push, and I still like it especially with the amount of chips I had. However I was bummed I couldn't take him out and and guarantee a cash for at least one of our crew.

The last hand Jordan has discussed on his blog, but I'd like to add my thoughts. I had been playing a bit looser off the button, trying to punish the blinds. I semi-bluffed Matt with A4o, and showed the table. He mucked A8o i think.
A few hands later I find JTs again in the CO. I nonchalantly limp in and say to Matt, something to the effect of ' you might as well fold 'cause Jordan's gonna push'

I said this out-loud for a few reasons. First, I did not want Matt to push, I wanted to see a flop with this hand as it had vexed me earlier. Second, I wanted Jordan to know I was expecting a push, therefore I might call. Saying this at the right time, puts the thought in Jordan's head that I actually have a better hand than a limping hand and would call a push. Third, I wanted to hear it myself. I wasn't sure myself what I would do facing a push, but I did know that Jordan would HAVE to push with a very strong hand if he believed my hand might be stronger than it actually was.

Jordan checks and the flop comes with 2 tens and a king. I only had to hope Jordan had a king. We both check and the case ten hits the turn. I check and Jordan pushed. I insta-called my quads and take Jordan(Kx) out. A few hand later I take out Matty with AK/Ax and offer the 60/40 split to Seneca.

We followed that up with a walk down to the village and drink away some of my winnings.

My trip back had an interesting side note. I got to the airport about 2.5 hours early and went to ticketing. My assignment was 46d, which is something like the last row in a middle seat. So I plead with ticketing to move me forward, move me to an aisle...something, but the flight was booked solid.

This is where I employed a tactic that has been so successful in the past. First, I remain quiet. I relax, and look at the guy. 'is there ANYTHING you can do?' Then I sit and wait. I let him keep tapping on his keyboard, and do not say a thing...stay calm. CLICKETY CLACK..... 'we have a spot in first class' .

I calmly say 'well, how much can I expect to pay for that?'

He replies "about $120" BOOOK IT! I say.... cause thats just how I roll.
I saunter into the crown room, and am briefly hassled by the attendant, but this has worked for me before. I said " the attendant at ticketing said I would have access to the crown room with a first class ticket"

Again, smile, remain quiet and wait...."Well you have to be a member...blah blah blah"
"I guess its just a mix up, I say and look confused at my ticket." remain calm.

She says "we'd love to have you here as our guest today, since there was some confusion." SCORE!

So I get to sip on free Crown and water while playing poker in the crown room. Its a good thing too since my flight was delayed another half-hour. I got to win a 2 table SNG and a Token for the HOY, which I turned into a 3rd place finish!

I'm finally on the money board for the BBT!