nope, I can't even hit a 19 outer.

I'm actually a favorite 62-37 after the flop here, and he's got a pair! 19 flippin outs! Any Ace, King, Queen, or heart....

Full Tilt Poker Game #7038416529: $20 + $2 Sit & Go (53498765), Table 1 - 60/120 - No Limit Hold'em - 23:07:59 ET - 2008/06/30
Seat 1: smithranger (2,820)
Seat 2: taglius (2,880)
Seat 6: Steroidz (3,520)
Seat 8: daniriver (2,575)
Seat 9: jimmac102864 (1,705)
smithranger posts the small blind of 60
taglius posts the big blind of 120

The button is in seat #9
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to taglius [Ah Kh]
Steroidz folds
daniriver folds
jimmac102864 raises to 480
smithranger folds
taglius raises to 1,320
jimmac102864 raises to 1,705, and is all in
taglius calls 385
jimmac102864 shows [4d 4h]
taglius shows [Ah Kh]
*** FLOP *** [Jh Th 5s]
*** TURN *** [Jh Th 5s] [3s]
*** RIVER *** [Jh Th 5s 3s] [7s]

jimmac102864 shows a pair of Fours
taglius shows Ace King high
jimmac102864 wins the pot (3,470) with a pair of Fours

*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 3,470 | Rake 0
Board: [Jh Th 5s 3s 7s]
Seat 1: smithranger (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 2: taglius (big blind) showed [Ah Kh] and lost with Ace King high
Seat 6: Steroidz didn't bet (folded)
Seat 8: daniriver didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: jimmac102864 (button) showed [4d 4h] and won (3,470) with a pair of Fours

Christ that sucks...

more fun. straight-over-set-over-set (no I didn't have the straight)

Full Tilt Poker Game #6971419568: $30 + $3 Sit & Go (52983509), Table 1 - 30/60 - No Limit Hold'em - 21:01:34 ET - 2008/06/25
Seat 1: SLINKYPAPA (2,505)
Seat 2: al333 (1,060)
Seat 3: IveyBluff22 (4,085)
Seat 4: bobbyp1954 (2,570)
Seat 7: taglius (1,330)
Seat 8: walkatt (520)
Seat 9: CLOWDUS (1,430)
IveyBluff22 posts the small blind of 30
bobbyp1954 posts the big blind of 60
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to taglius [8s 8d]
taglius calls 60
(I limp in with 88 under the gun, let’s go setmining, shall we?)
walkatt calls 60
CLOWDUS folds
SLINKYPAPA folds
al333 folds
IveyBluff22 calls 30
bobbyp1954 checks
*** FLOP *** [4h 8h 6s] (hit top set, yay!)
IveyBluff22 checks
bobbyp1954 bets 60
(bets a tiny amount. There’s a flush draw out there, I need to raise)
taglius raises to 240
walkatt raises to 460, and is all in
(this guy didn’t have many chips left, so this could be overs or 2 hearts or just about anything)
IveyBluff22 folds
bobbyp1954 raises to 2,510, and is all in
(holy crap, what’s this guy have? Do I dare fold top set? No I don’t).
taglius calls 1,030, and is all in (I call)
bobbyp1954 shows [5h 7s]
(lovely, big blind flopped a straight)
taglius shows [8s 8d]
walkatt shows [6c 6h] (other limper flopped a set as well!)
Uncalled bet of 1,240 returned to bobbyp1954
*** TURN *** [4h 8h 6s] [Qs]
*** RIVER *** [4h 8h 6s Qs] [Kh]
bobbyp1954 shows a straight, Eight high
taglius shows three of a kind, Eights
bobbyp1954 wins the side pot (1,620) with a straight, Eight high
walkatt shows three of a kind, Sixes
bobbyp1954 wins the main pot (1,620) with a straight, Eight high
walkatt stands up
taglius stands up
and punt!

can't break through

Haven't had much luck since moving up to the $30 tourneys. Granted, it's still early. 6 tournies played, only 1 3rd place finish. Sharkscope does tell me that there are more good players at the tables, but not exclusively good players. I should be able to avoid them and take advantage of the bad players that remain to get into the money more often.

Played two tournies last night and didn't money in either. In the first, I chased a few draws where my odds where ok to do so, but neither hit, and I found myself the shortstack. An aggro player raised me and I reraised all in with KQs. He had AT and hit and ace to knock me out.

In the second, a combination of bad cards and a maniac 3 seats to me right had me playing just about nothing. (my stats were 6/3 after 70 hands). Finally got AA, 3 bet a raiser, he calls, flop comes J crap crap, I checkraise his butt, he turns over JJ. Ooops. Well, there's no way I get away from that - I was the old 4-1 favorite and he hits his set with my M at about 8 or 9. I could have shoved preflop but he probably calls anyway.

So I don't think I'm outclassed at this level, just some early bad luck.

I also played in a $20-18 man this weekend and took second. Sharkscope said that 8-9 of the players were fishies, and it sure looked that way. The whole tourney took about 100 minutes, just a few minutes more than a 9 man takes.

ending the night on a high note

This hand defies all logic, so I'll just let the hand history speak for itself. It's getting late in a 6 man, and I was holding on for a good hand. I get AA and flop the overboat. I win!

Full Tilt (Tournament): $10 + $1, 4 players
Tue Jun 17 23:45:07 EDT 2008
Powered by Poker Academy: [http://www.poker-academy.com] (Format: Plain Text)

mojofun ($1,110)
412 Mayne ($3,530)
Sniperfire71 ($3,260)
taglius ($1,100)

null is the button.

Precards:
taglius posts the small blind $50, mojofun posts the big blind $100.

Preflop: taglius is dealt Ah Ad (4 active)
412 Mayne raises to $200, Sniperfire71 folds, taglius raises to $300, mojofun folds, 412 Mayne calls $100.

Flop: 9d As 9s ($700, 2 active)
taglius checks, 412 Mayne checks.

Turn: 9d As 9s 7h ($700, 2 active)
taglius checks, 412 Mayne checks.

River: 9d As 9s 7h Td ($700, 2 active)
taglius bets $800 (all-in), 412 Mayne calls $800.

Final Pot: $2,300
taglius, net: -$1,100, Lost at showdown, has Ah Ad (a Full House, Aces over Nines)
412 Mayne, net: $1,200, Won at showdown, has 9h 9c (Four of a Kind, Nines)
mojofun, net: -$100, Folded Preflop

Delightful!

some Wednesday night poker notes

Tried a $10 “shootout” tourney last night- 8 players playing heads up, winners meet up. Top 2 get paid. Won my first heads up match in dramatic fashion – opponent raised preflop. Every time he raised in the past, he had paint. I had AKo and reraised. He called.

Flop came all low cards (something like 2 6 9). He checked. I fired out a small bet but he called.

Turn came another low card. This time HE bet and I made a mistake by calling. I had overs but the call pot-committed me.

I think the river paired the board. He fired out another bet, bigger this time. It smelled fishy, maybe he had something like A9, or A6, but the bets just didn’t add up to me in the heat of the moment. They didn’t match his betting patterns. Plus I was pot committed anyway. I hit “call” and started typing “gg” when he turned over QJo. I won with Ace high!

In the second heads up – I made flat out mistake. Player was easily readable – raised with good cards, checked with bad cards. Post flop – check/called draws, bet small with middle/bottom pair, bet pot with top pair, shoved with TPTK and beyond. Very consistent.

In the determining hand, he raised preflop, I called with QT. flop came 2 6 T, I bet, he shoved. For whatever reason I abandoned my read and called with TPGK. Unfortunately, he had AT for top pair, better kicker.

Then played a $20 9 man – came in second. Last 4 players was brutal – all good players, all aggressive. We must have gone 20 hands without seeing a flop. It was raise/fold/fold/fold or raise/shove/fold/fold/fold over and over and over. Good poker. Lost heads up when the river filled my gutshot straight but gave villain a baby flush. I had him on top pair or 2 pair. Oh well.