yes, i'm still alive....

rest easy, reading public. i have not perished. i wasn't arrested for my participation in illegal card room activities. i am alive and well. i thank you all for the virtual barrage of emails i've received begging for blog updates. so buckle in cuz here we go.

i've continued to dominate the poker table basically any time i work my magic with the cards. i really don't understand how or why i'm such a god on earth as of late, but i'm enjoying the run. i think i'm at about 17 winning sessions over the last 20 with relatively minor losses on those 3.

last weekend, i played a session at 2/3 NL oceans 11 in which i was +4 buy ins in less than 4 hours. i really was running hot, and i think got increased action due to people not believing that i had "it" every time. really the cornerstone hand was after i'd won a couple nice pots. i picked up the monster 10c7c in the big blind (with about $800 behind). there was an early-middle position raise to $12 (which was a small raise in this game) and three callers. i called $9. the flop was 10-7-4. i checked, the initial raiser bet $25, everyone else folded and i raised to $65. he called. turn was the 9d for a board of 10-7-4-9, no flush possibility. i bet $100. he thought for a second and pushed all in for $340 more than my bet. do you call?

[i reasoned that he held JJ. he was a fairly new player who had really only played 1 big hand when he flopped bottom set and doubled up. results posted in a later blog entry.....]

i did lose a pretty decent pot with 10-7 when i made a straight in a 3 way pot with 1 guy all in. i lost to a straight flush. nice hand. i was able to lose the minimum though when i checked behind on the turn when we both hit our card, the Js. damn that Jack of spades -- it's the card that caused me to lose 1/3 of my chips in the main event when a guy flopped a set twice in the same hand due to dealer error.

as a going away present from the session, the table thought they would give me something nice. two short stacks and myself ended up all in preflop when i held QQ. i was sure i had them both beat, but the Q on the river sent me the $350 pot.

i've also played this week a couple of nights. there was 1 hand that continues to boggle my mind from monday night. i triple barrel bluffed a guy out of a pot and i was absolutely shocked when he showed his hand as he folded on the river. it went something like this: i called a late position raise on the button with Q-10. the flop was A high and he bet into me. i raised, he called. i had no pair. on the turn, the good news was i picked up a gut shot straight draw. he checked, i made a pretty strong bet that should make him think i had something, but could stand a call. the river came and i held Q high. it did put possible straight and flush possibilities on the board. he checked again. obviously i had to bet. the question was how much? i made a bet that would leave him only about $50 if he called and lost. he tanked for a long time and ended up folding AJ, THE TOP TWO PAIR! he had me beat if i had any other two pair, so he must have given me credit for a set, a straight, or a flush. wow. he was getting 2:1 on the call. wow again. i showed the 10c only as i folded which created quite a stir at the table. i told him i had been bluffing, but caught the straight on the river, just to make him feel good about folding.

it seems like i am honing my weak vs. strong instincts as i've been able to occasionally raise with air when i sensed weakness. i stole a decent pot from an older guy (read: rock) the other day with K high when he fumbled around before making a continuation bet on a Q high flop. he folded instantly when i raised. ESPN baby!

last night, i still came out a small winner, but took a tough beat on one hand. i flopped the ass end of a straight with 3h4h in late position (board 5-6-7) and got raised big by the button on the flop. i thought his most likely hand was a set, cuz i didn't think he would raise so big with the nuts. i couldn't put him on 8-4, but 8-9 was a completely reasonable holding. i pushed him all in and he called with 5-6 bottom 2 pair. turn K. river 5. without having seen his hand, i knew i was beat when the board paired. ouch 4 outers. if you're him do you call off your stack with bottom 2 pair? he probably had to with the odds the pot was laying him, but he had to know he was behind. oh well, poker happens.