9 SNG $3 + .30 End 4th Won Step 1 60 hands Step 1

Made it into the money. 3-5 win Step 1 ticket. 1-2 win Step 2 ticket. Played decently.

Hand 60. I'm BB w/Ah Kh. Blinds 40/80, four of us left. SB open raises 2 BB (160) and I raise them to 320, they re-raise me to 640, and I decide to go for broke and go all-in. They call. I'm assuming they have something good and I'm hoping to have at least two overcards. They show As Ad. Oooppps. Flop Js 8s Ks. Now why couldn't that have been HEARTS!!!!! Turn 7s. River 6h.

I need to remember to be less aggressive when I'm being so nicely challenged. They wouldn't be doing that if they didn't have something good and likely something that could beat AK. If I had folded to their re-raise to me I'd still have had 1870 chips, enough to still fight back and maybe end up 1st or 2nd afterall, but when I dash in with all my chips I don't allow myself that opportunity.

9 SNG $3 + .30 End 8th 19 hands Step 1

This SNG pays 5, 1-2 Step 2 ticket, 3-5 Step 1 ticket.

On hand 19 I couldn't give up pocket A's. I was the SB w/pocket Ace's. Action folded to me and I bet 2 BB (100) and BB called. Flop Js 2c 6d. I bet 100 into the 200 pot and BB raises me to 225. Darn, could he have pocket J's? hit a set? I re-raise to 525 and BB calls. Turn 6h. Darn, not a card I wanted to see, but I decide to bet all-in w/my last 745 in chips and BB calls. BB shows 6s 7s. What I was afraid of .......he had a six.

From the way he called my 525 raise on the flop I doubt I could have got him off his hand if I had gone all in. If I had bet bigger pre-flop he's probably have folded. Looks like the only choice I had after that 2nd six showed up was to check and fold if he raised and fight back with my remaining 745 chips. I only needed to make 5th to be in the money.

6 SNG $3 + .30 End 6th 9 hands Step 1 (Turbo)

Very poorly played all around. Over betting early hands. Maybe too passive on hand 7. I had Qh 2h as BB. UTG+1 and SB limped in and I checked. Flop Qs 4s 2s. I hit two pair but there could be a flush out there. SB bet 80 into the 120 pot, I called, and UTG+1 folded. I probably should have raised the SB's bet to see where they might have stood in terms of a flush. Turn Ad. SB bet 120 into the 280 pot and I just called again. River 6s. Nuts. If SB was on a flush draw they likely have it now. SB bets 160 into the 520 pot and I call. SB shows, not a flush but Qd 6c, having hit a bigger two pair on the River. Grrrrrr. If I had bet as if I had the flush earlier they likely would have folded. My passive play hurt me here!

9 SNG T 1 Ticket End 6th 21 hands Step 1 (Super Turbo)

  I didn't realize when I signed up for this that you only get 300 chips. I played fair and had an early small lead. However by hand 21 my chips were running low. I decided to try a blind steal with Qd 9h and was called by a player w/Ah 9s. The board was Kd 7s Kc Kh 5s. I was out. 6th place pays $0.60 cents; 3-5 Step 1 Ticket, 1-2 Step 2 ticket. If I was a little more patience I may have made 5th and a Step 1 ticket.

Tour 64 HU TS $1 + .10 End 5th 100+ hands Sat to MiniFTOPS #8

Made it through to round of 8, then had a lot of up and down play. To some degree I get tired at this point but I also played too passively overall in that last round.  Not much more to say. This is the 2nd time I've been in this one and ended up 5th, so I expect one of these days I'll be at least 4th & in the money if not 1st and have an entry!!

Tour 64 HU TS 175 FTP End 16 8 hands. Sat to MiniFTOPS #8

  This one only pays 2 places, 1st entry, 2nd 200 FTP points.

Poor play in 3rd round killed me. Hand 4. I was SB w/As 10h. I open raised to 90 and BB called. Flop 9h 5d 10c, giving me top pair. BB checked and I bet the pot (180) and BB called. Turn Jd. That I didn't like. Could beat my pair plus possible straight out there. BB checks and I make a puni bet of 165 and BB raises me to 600. I think about it and wonder if he is on a straight draw and against my better judgement I re-raise him by going all-in w/1260 chips and he instant calls. :-/ BB shows Kc Qd having hit the gutshot straight on the turn. I'm down to 60 chips and outta there a few hands later.

2nd round went one hand. I was BB w/Ks Jd. SB open raised to 60 and called. Flop Jh 10d Kh, giving me top two pair. I check and SB bets 60 into the 120 pot and I raise him to 120. He re-raises me to 330 and I re-raise him to 690. It's possible he has AQ or maybe Q9, but I'm hoping not. He then re-raises me with an all-in bet of 1440 and I call. He shows Kc 9c, having only a pair of K's. Turn 7h. River 6s. I win.

Round 1 was the most interesting to me. Hand 1. I'm BB w/Ah 6h. SB open raises 150 and I call. Flop is 6s 6c 6d. I have quad 6's!!! How do I get some chips out of this? I decide to slow play and hope SB decides to bet against me, so I check. SB bets 300. I pause a bit and call. Turn 5h. I'd really like to bet something here but expect he would fold if I did, so I check again. This time SB goes all-in w/ the last 1050 of his chips. Oh joy!!! Hoorah!! I call!! He shows As Jh. Nice cards that helped him bet against me. :-)  River 7h. I win.

I think the ease of winning the 1st two rounds let me play too carelessly in the 3rd round.

Tour 79 $1.40 + .15 End 16 58 hands Sat MiniFTOPS #7

Mixed play. Next to last hand I should have backed out early. Blinds 150/300, I'm BB w/Kd Qs and 3915 chips. CO (14,454 chips) & BTN (15,573 chips) limp in and I check. Flop 10h 9s Ks, I pair my K and have gutshot straight draw and flush draw. I bet 750 into the 1275 pot, CO & BTN call. Turn Js. I hit my gut shot straight but a flush may already be there. This is where I feel I made a mistake by pricing the two bigger stacks in. I bet only 900 into the 3525 pot. CO folds but BTN calls. River Qd. No help to me. I bet 1050 into the 5325 pot and the BTN raises me to 2100 and I call. BTN shows Ace high straight which he hit on the turn. I'm left with 165 chips.

It probably wouldn't have been a bad check if I'd just checked on the flop and see what the other two big stack would do. At that point I'd still have enough chips left to wait for a better situation as this paid 9 places.

9 SNG $2 + .25 End 6th 66 hands

Decent play except for two hands, the 1st mis-judging other player, the 2nd getting impatient and pushing when I knew I shouldn't. Will try to write more tomorrow.

4 HU Step 1 SO $3 + .30 End 2nd Won Sep 1 ticket 51 hands

Overall I played ok. Probably not quite aggressive enough in the 2nd round. The fall came when my pocket A's got beat.

2nd round, Hand 36. I'm SB w/1725 chips and pocket A's (Ad Ac). Blinds 25/50. I open raise to 100 and BB calls. Flop 9c 7s 3d. Looks good to me.  BB checks and I bet 1/2 the pot of 200. BB raises me to 200 and I re-raise him to 525 and he re-raises me all in with his last 950 in chips. Crap! Did he hit a set? I suppose at this point my best bet would be fold and lick my wounds, but I can't let go of my pocket A's, so I call. BB shows 9h 3h. He hit two pair on the flop. Well I have a few outs. Turn 5c. River Kd. I'm down to 500 chips. Maybe I can make a comeback.

Hand 37. I have Ac 9s and before anything happens I've decided I'm going all in. SB open raises 3 BB (150), suggesting he might have something, but I have an Ace and raise all-in, he calls. BB shows pocket 4's (4c 4h). I have two overcards and a chance to double up. Turn Qs. River 8h. At least I won a step 1 ticket for the next time I play.

9 SNG $2 + .25 End 1st 128 hands

I played reasonably well and once I got a decent chip lead was able to hold to the end. I tried to be patience and was most of the time. Rats FT poker is having a connection problem so I can't check back on my hand history. :-/ So I guess I'll leave this as for the time being and decide later if I want to sort through PT for hands to comment on. It was great to be on the winning side this time.

Tour $1 End 2672 83 hands Daily Dollar

Mixed play, not too bad overall, though in one early on hand I was oblivious to a possible flush the other person might have, did see a possible straight, anyone I lost quite a few chips on that one.

In an online chat for something else I'm doing so I'll stop this post here.

64 HU ST $1 + .10 End 5th 78 hands Satellite to MiniFTOPS #8

This was a 3 min Turbo HU w/64 players. 1st wins entry to Sat to MiniFTOPS #8, which is a $50 + $5 entry tournament. 2nd-4th place pays a few $$$$ each. I just missed the final 4. One unusual part I thought was each session started with 1500 chips, no carryover from shootout to shootout.

Overall I did ok and made it through 3 sets of HU's matches. I'll just cover the next to last hand, which is the one that did me in. Blinds 40/80 I was BB w/1570 chips and Qh 10c. SB open raised 3 BB (240) and I called. Flop Qs 2s 2d. I hit top pair. I bet the pot (480) and the SB raise all-in w/1110 chips. I thought about it a bit. I didn't feel he had a 2. He might have a Q with a better kicker than me, or he might have an Ace or a K, or pocket's of such. Anyway I decided to go for broke and call him. He shows Ah 5d. Weaker cards than I expected. Turn 2c. I now have a FH. Looking good, I only have an Ace to worry about. River As. Rats. SB has a FH, but a better one than mine. I have 300 chips left and go out next hand.

2 HU $2 + .15 End 2nd 48 hands

A bit of up & downs, with the "downs" winning out in the end. I was done in by straight draws a few times. I could have probably played better, but  don't feel too bad about my play overall.

Hand 5. Things were looking pretty good after this one and I probably got over confident. I'm SB w/1070 in chips and pocket 3's (3h 3s). I open raise w/a 2 BB bet (40) and BB raises me to 120, I call. Flop 8d 9c 2d. No set, but no big cards either. BB checks and I bet 110 into the 240 pot and BB re-raises me with an all-in of 1800. I think about it a bit, and feel he didn't hit anything on the flop; I'm thinking he may have had AK or something like that pre-flop. He could also have a big pocket pair. At any rate, I decide to call him and see what he has hoping he has not more than overcards to my 3's. He shows Ad 10c. Phew, I was right about that part. Turn Qc. River 9h. My 3's hold and I have 2160 chips and he has 840 left. I'm feeling pretty confident!!

Hand 15. I'm SB w/2380 chips and 8s 10d. I open raise 2 1/2 BB (50) and BB calls. Flop 2d 10s 6c. I have top pair, BB checks, I bet the pot (100) and BB calls. Turn 4s. Things still look pretty good to me. BB checks again and I bet 120 into the 300 pot and BB raises all-in w/his last 460 chips. Because this looks like a good opportunity to get the rest of his chips, I really don't think about it very long, and call. He shows 5c 4d, just a pair of 4's and a gutshot straight draw. So far so good. River 3c. He gets the straight. :-/ At least I still have the chip lead.

Hand 28. I'm BB w/1655 chips and Qh 7c. SB open raises w/3 BB (90) and I call. Flop 4s 5c Qh. I flop top pair. I bet the 180 pot and the SB calls. Turn Ah. That I don't like to see. I decide to just check as does the SB. River 10c. I make a weak bet of 165 into the 540 pot and the SB raises me to 450. Hmm, he only checked on the Ace, what does he have? K J for a straight? I don't know and decide to call. He shows 2h 3s. He had hit an open ended straight on the Turn but didn't bet it. I'm down to 965 chips. :-/ I don't feel I could have played that hand much differently. I could have bet more on the flop but I think it was likely he'd have stuck around with an open ended straight draw.

Not a lot happened after that. My chips dwindled and on the last hand I had As Js vs 3c 3h. He hit his set on the flop, I picked up a pair of A's on the turn, but his set held on the River.

9 SNG $2 + .25 End 5th 62 hands

Decent play till toward the end when I overbet some hands. Last hand was a Loki where I had pocket 9's. Unfortunately I was called by a player w/pocket K's. K's held.

2 HU $2 + .15 End 1st 41 hands

After the 1st hand I didn't know if I was going anywhere. I was BB w/Ah 2d. SB limped in w/a bet of 20 and I called. Flop 10d Jd 4h. I bet the pot of 40 and SB called. Turn Ac. I've paired my Ace. Again I bet the pot, this time for 120 and SB calls again. So far so good it seems. River 9c. That shows a possible strait and I decide to bet the pot one more time anyway, this time for 360; SB raises to 720. Uh oh. I think about it and decide to look him up and call. He shows, not a straight, but Jh 10s, having hit top two pair on the flop. I'm down to 600 chips.

Hand 19. I'd been making a comeback and now have 1160 chips. I'm BB w/Qh Js. SB limps in w/a bet of 30 (I can't think of one time he opened with a raise from the SB) and I call. Flop 8d Qc 2d. Nice flop for me as I hit top pair. I decide to just check to see what the SB will do and they do the same. Turn Jc. I know have top two pair and this is looking like a pretty good hand to me. I bet only 1/2 the pot (30) and the SB calls. Not much action here. River 3c. Darn, that shows a possible flush may be out there. I bet the pot - 120 and the SB raises to 480. Shoot here I go again!!! I decide to call. Like, no straight last time, no flush this time, but he had hit a set for his pocket 2's on the flop and made no play with them until after the River. Hum, I'm back down to 620 chips.

Hand 33 I get lucky. I'm back up to 1020 chips. I'm BB w/7d 3h. SB limps and I call. Flop 9c 7h 2h. I have middle pair with a very weak kicker. I bet the pot of 80 and SB calls. Turn Qh. I don't really like that as it is another overcard and there could be a heart flush out there. I have a flush draw but only have the 3h. I make a min bet of 40 into the 240 pot and the SB calls. River 3s. Shoot, that gives me two pair, just enough to let me consider making a bet and hope the SB doesn't have a flush. I opt to bet the pot (320) and the SB calls. :-/  He shows 7s 8c, having only paired his 7. I win!! :-) Phew, lucky.

Hand 34. I suck out on the River. I'm SB w/Ks 3h and open raise 2 BB (80), BB calls. Flop Js 3s 9c. I flop bottom pair. BB checks and I bet half the pot (80), BB calls. Turn 10s. I now also have a straight and a K high flush draw. BB checks and so do I. River 3d. I hit trip 3's. BB bets the pot (320) and I decide to call hoping he doesn't have a flush or FH. He shows Ac Jh, having only a pair of J's. I win and now have 1990 chips.

Hand 38 I lose a few chips in a sort of cute end result. I'm back to 1750 chips. I'm SB w/Jc 4s and open raise 2 BB (80), BB calls. Flop 3s 7h 8s. Nothing for me. BB checks and I min bet 40 into the 160 pot; BB calls. Turn 7s. That gives me a flush draw and pairs the board. BB & I check. River As. I now have a flush but only a 4s in my hand. BB decides to bet the pot (240) and I'm curious what he has and how much higher of a spade he may have so I call. He shows 5s 4d. A spade one notch higher than mine. :-) He takes the chip lead again.

Hand 41. I have just a few more chips than the SB. I have 4d 6s. SB limps in w/a bet of 50 and I call. Flop 2c 5d Jc. I have a gutshot straight draw. I decide to just check and SB does the same. Turn 3s. I hit my gutshot and it isn't too obvious. I bet 1/2 the pot (50) and SB calls. River Ad. Not sure if that helps or hurts me. If SB has nothing he's going to fold to any bet I make. I bet 1/2 the pot (100) and SB raises me to 500. Hmmm what do we have here? I'm thinking he must have hit the straight too. I re-raise him to 1000 and he re-raises me with an all-in call. I instant call back. He shows 7h 4h and had hit the straight on the River, but his straight only goes 5 high. Mine is 6 high and I win, session over!

What helped me most this session was his generally very passive play, even after he had me in a bad way, that let me stick around and see if the cards might fall my way, which they did in the end.