Rollercoaster at the Mook

A lot of crazy and mostly bad stuff happened to me last night on the virtual tables. I started off by playing in the weekly Mookie tournament at the Big O Poker Room on pokerstars. I've played in this event three times I think, with only one final table quick exit to show for it. People say tournaments like this are more for the cameraderie, trash talk and general atmosphere than for winning. I think that's bullshit. Yeah I'm there to talk trash. But I'm also there to walk all over everyone in the field. Every week. Last night I came with my guns blazing, ready to play hyper-aggressively and really put some moves on the people I like to play with regularly.

The tournament gave me a chance at a marquee-type of hand right away. In my last post, I was just explaining how terrible of a decision it is generally to slow-play a monster like Kings or Aces online. "Especially on pokerstars" I said in fact. In the very first hand of Mookie's tournament, Katitude failed to heed my advice. Kat limped in with Kings in middle position for a 20-chip blind. One other limper, and then I raised it to 100 with KQs (diamonds). Not a hand I'm going to call an allin reraise with for sure, but something I like to try to isolate with so I can be heads-up with it, maximizing my chances with a hand like KQ. My raise works, and it's just Kat and I to see a flop of Q26 with 2 hearts and a diamond. More or less a dream flop as far as I'm concerned. I've hit top pair and 2nd kicker, and no reason to think I'm anything but way ahead here. After limp-calling with her Kings preflop, Kat now checks her overpair to me (do you not read my blog, Kat?). Into the 290 chip pot, I decide to win this one right here, just in case Kat is chasing a flush (my notes on her indicate she will do this from time to time). I bet 400. Kat mulls it over, and surprisingly calls me. Immediately I'm thinking I might be beat. But I have definitely seen Kat chase flushes, even at subpar odds, so I can't be sure of anything. But I've played with Kat enough to know that if she had nothing on the flop, she would have folded, that I am sure of.

The flop comes a 3 of diamonds. This doesn't help me, although it does give me a longshot draw at the second-nut flush. Kat, who has just limp-called with Kings preflop, then check-called a bet 1.3 times the size of the pot with an overpair Kings on the flop, now checks to me again (obviously Kat really doesn't have any respect for the advice in my blog). The pot now has 1090 in it, so I want this pot, and I still think I might have the best hand. With Kat's check on the turn rag, I now know she either has a busted draw or a monster. I should check. But instead, I bet a little more than the size of the pot again, 1200 chips. I figure, I came here to play aggressively and put on some moves tonight, Kat is one of my good poker friends, and I think I might have the best hand. Kat thinks for a few, and then calls it. The bells are now pealing loudly in my head. Now I know what I'm up against. It's either Kings, Aces, or trips on the flop. The Kat that I know wouldn't chase that flush after the turn card, especially not when risking the humiliation of being the very first person knocked out of a blogger tournament like this. I only have about 500 chips left, and I'm drawing dead to at most 8 or 9 outs (the remaining diamonds for a runner runner flush). I'm pissed that I didn't rein it in when my spidey sense first starting tingling after Kat smooth called my flop bet. I hate when I let my aggression donk off more chips than I should on a losing hand.

Anyways, I'm already steaming just about 90 seconds in to the Mookie tournament, and here comes the river: Another diamond! Kat moves in for her remaining couple hundred chips, I have to call obviously for a lot of reasons, and she flips up:



There's the Kings. I busted Kat on the very first hand of the Mookie last night, by sucking out a sick runner runner flush against her overpair to the board with pocket Kings. The thing is, this was surely a suckout, but surely not something that was just plain bad luck. It was bad luck for Kat, but all serious online poker players will tell you that if you limp in with a monster, and make no move to win the pot on the flop or turn, you are just asking to be sugged out on. Pokerstars is not kind to slowplayers. Don't forget it.

So this is the part where I tell you all the great things I did last night with the early chip lead in the Mook. Well, take a look at this hand that happened literally 3 hands after I busted Kat:



We got it all in on the turn, and then I lost with the second-nut flush to the nut flush's allin bet on the river, when we both had two of the flush suit in our hand. It's the ultimate can't-possibly-get-away-from hand in a no limit holdem tournament, and I got dealt it. There was only one card in the deck that could have beaten me (the King of Clubs), and it had to be in my opponent's hand along with another club, of which I had two and there were three more on the board. Eight more clubs in the entire deck, and my opponent had to have two of them, including the King of Clubs. I challenge anyone to lay that hand down in that situation, period. Regardless of the betting up to that point (which btw consisted of both of us betting fairly conservatively, because of the Ace on the flop which neither of us had a piece of).

Needless to say, this hand put me on mf'ing ubertilt. I think I made it two hands later until I just angrily pushed with that killer hand 92o. Just to stick it to my tilting ass, pokerstars went and gave my opponent a full house by the turn.



So that was me, out in 36th out of 42 players in the Mook. Congrats to Miami Don for knocking me and my 9-2 offsuit out of the tourney, and to RoccoBoxer who took it all down in the end. See you all next week I'm sure.

More later....