Thursday, February 2, 2006

I CAN BE BRIEF... REALLY

Good morning! It's me again. Wednesday night was another Poker (Texas Hold 'Em) night for me. In the first week, I finished in about 25th out of 32, and I was pretty happy with that. Imagine how thrilled I was to come in 23rd last night out of 39 participants. But first things first, I have to give a little props to Melissa Lien who you know as part of the NFL "expert" Picks each of its three seasons. She is a great friend of mine, but she is the reason that I lost out. I had just 1,000 left in chips and I got a King-Queen, off-suited. I figured it was time for me to go all in. I called on a raise of 200 on the flop after it gave me nothing. When the turn card was a second King, I immediately went all in. I figured I might as well. Unfortunately, she called the 800. I was thrilled knowing there was nothing in the four played cards that could have helped her. So, I threw down my King and Queen and watched as she threw down her pocket Aces. Uggh! When a 4 was played on the river, my night was over. I was very happy to hear that Missy ended the evening by finishing a very impressive 3rd overall. I am so impressed because no more than three or four hands before she ended my night, she had to go all in with just 700 in chips remaining. She turned that around very well!

Anyway, I need to thank all of you who sent me tips and advice and theories on Texas Hold 'Em. I actually think I played a lot smarter last night. I wasn't afraid to fold. I rarely played a face card unless it came with a 10 or better, especially after the blinds increased. Sitting next to Missy, at one time, I told her, "I just folded an Ace for the first time ever." It was an Ace with a four and others were raising a lot, so I knew that someone else had an Ace and likely had a kicker that was bigger than my four.

This week, I am struggling to come up with any good stories to tell. Last week, I only had about three hands worth talking about, so I did. This week, I actually had more than a couple of decent hands. One of the better hands I played ended in a split pot. I had King-Jack offsuit. On the flop the 10 and 9 showed up. On the turn, a Jack appeared meaning that I had the high card on the board with a King kicker. The other guy bet a lot of chips, but I felt confident, so I called it. On the river, a Queen fell. I had the straight with the king high. Unless he had King-Ace, I was good. However, he did have the King, so we split that pot.

So overall, not a lot of exciting stories to tell. There were some good hands and some bad hands. My biggest thing that I learned from last night was that folding keeps you in the game and doesn't cost you any chips. I still think I am pretty aggressive, but if I can be aggressive while being a little smarter, I may eventually become decent at this sport. Or, maybe not. Who knows?

Here are just a couple of quick thoughts before I hit the sack for the night:

And with that, I'm calling it a day. Remember to stop back tomorrow for a LOT of information! If you have any questions, concerns, comments or anything, please e-mail me. Also, feel free to leave some comments for discussion. Have a great day!

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