Congrats Ben and Ashley, MT trip cut short

I just got back to Montana last night after Ben and Ashley’s wedding in Denver. It was an extremely fun and elegant wedding. The reception was off the chain as I danced the whole night while getting extremely sweaty. They are going to have a great life together.

I just got a phone call from Madison, NE asking me to come there and interview. It is a small town of about 3,000 people in northeast Nebraska. They wanted me to interview on Friday, but I asked if we could do it Monday so I will at least have a few days here in Montana. It is a K-12 PE job as well as Head Boy’s Basketball coach. I look forward to interviewing for it. I’ll leave Sunday and interview Monday at 9am.

I haven’t been called by Pius X high school in Lincoln, so I’m assuming I didn’t get the job. So the look continues. Hopefully this Madison interview goes well.

The rest of the trip in Montana involves going to Buffalo Wild Wings with some of my high school friends to watch game 5 of Lakers/Nuggets, lots of laundry, Texas Road House with the family and grandparents, two church league softball games tomorrow night, and may try to make some money playing poker. It should be a fun few days here.

Big tourney score (detailed)

I had a lot of success in poker tournaments yesterday. My biggest score was a 2nd place in the $3 rebuy on stars. I was in for $9 total. I didn’t have to add on because I had 30,000 chips after the rebuy period was over and adding on for 1500 chips was obviously pointless. I do not remember much about the early stages in the tournament as I was playing 8 tourneys at once during the first 3 hours or so of it. I played really tight throughout the early stages. I am finding that I am making it closer to the money in a lot more tourneys if, believe it or not, I play a lot at once. I just play solid poker based on my chip stack and position. I am more effective early on when I don’t try to get too tricky and not take many risks. Anyway, I remember using a lot of my time bank trying to get into the money as I had only 10bbs on the bubble. I remember that people at my table were actually stalling for me lol. The people at my table kept saying that they will help me make the money even though I never asked for it obviously. So I got into the money (675 people get paid out of the 4600 entrants) with about 10 bbs. From there, I just grinded. There was a period in time where I was getting really good cards and there was no action. I went a whole 3 hours stretch without showing down a hand. Finally, we got down to the final 27 and I started copy/pasting the important hands. Here they are with brief explanations:

27 left:

PokerStars Game #28288160801: Tournament #162034192, $3.00+$0.30 Hold'em No Limit - Level XXXVII (20000/40000) - 2009/05/17 2:37:05 ET
Table '162034192 233' 9-max Seat #7 is the button
Seat 1: Beppejoe (1540278 in chips)
Seat 2: sharktales1 (1734948 in chips)
Seat 3: leH1ens (765946 in chips)
Seat 4: GILTADRA (1160578 in chips)
Seat 5: johnmer (1615607 in chips)
Seat 6: guy river (1851966 in chips)
Seat 7: BckDoorFlux (640477 in chips)
Seat 8: 01Dave01 (389875 in chips)
Seat 9: CU_bball (862311 in chips)
Beppejoe: posts the ante 5000
sharktales1: posts the ante 5000
leH1ens: posts the ante 5000
GILTADRA: posts the ante 5000
johnmer: posts the ante 5000
guy river: posts the ante 5000
BckDoorFlux: posts the ante 5000
01Dave01: posts the ante 5000
CU_bball: posts the ante 5000
01Dave01: posts small blind 20000
CU_bball: posts big blind 40000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to CU_bball [As Ac]
Beppejoe: folds
sharktales1: folds
leH1ens: folds
GILTADRA: folds
johnmer: folds
guy river: raises 80000 to 120000
BckDoorFlux: folds
01Dave01: folds
CU_bball: raises 180000 to 300000
guy river: calls 180000
*** FLOP *** [6d 4h 7s]
CU_bball: bets 300000
guy river: raises 300000 to 600000
CU_bball: calls 257311 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (42689) returned to guy river
*** TURN *** [6d 4h 7s] [2h]
*** RIVER *** [6d 4h 7s 2h] [Qd]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
CU_bball: shows [As Ac] (a pair of Aces)
guy river: shows [Kd Tc] (high card King)
CU_bball collected 1779622 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 1779622 Rake 0
Board [6d 4h 7s 2h Qd]
Seat 1: Beppejoe folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: sharktales1 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: leH1ens folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: GILTADRA folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: johnmer folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: guy river showed [Kd Tc] and lost with high card King
Seat 7: BckDoorFlux (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: 01Dave01 (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 9: CU_bball (big blind) showed [As Ac] and won (1779622) with a pair of Aces

I don’t know what this guy was thinking, but FINALLY I got action on a big hand. I’m so glad that I didn’t play this differently. I usually wouldn’t make AA look so much like AA, but this guy must not have believed me. Thank you for the minimal sweat sir!

26 left:

PokerStars Game #28288271886: Tournament #162034192, $3.00+$0.30 Hold'em No Limit - Level XXXVIII (25000/50000) - 2009/05/17 2:44:27 ET
Table '162034192 233' 9-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: Beppejoe (1021207 in chips)
Seat 2: sharktales1 (1667448 in chips)
Seat 3: leH1ens (1586142 in chips)
Seat 4: GILTADRA (1143078 in chips)
Seat 5: johnmer (711577 in chips)
Seat 6: guy river (2035560 in chips)
Seat 7: BckDoorFlux (491727 in chips)
Seat 8: 01Dave01 (221125 in chips)
Seat 9: CU_bball (1684122 in chips)
Beppejoe: posts the ante 6250
sharktales1: posts the ante 6250
leH1ens: posts the ante 6250
GILTADRA: posts the ante 6250
johnmer: posts the ante 6250
guy river: posts the ante 6250
BckDoorFlux: posts the ante 6250
01Dave01: posts the ante 6250
CU_bball: posts the ante 6250
sharktales1: posts small blind 25000
leH1ens: posts big blind 50000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to CU_bball [Ah Ks]
GILTADRA: folds
johnmer: folds
guy river: folds
BckDoorFlux: folds
01Dave01: raises 164875 to 214875 and is all-in
CU_bball: raises 185125 to 400000
Beppejoe: folds
sharktales1: folds
leH1ens: folds
Uncalled bet (185125) returned to CU_bball
*** FLOP *** [9d 9c 8s]
*** TURN *** [9d 9c 8s] [Td]
*** RIVER *** [9d 9c 8s Td] [Js]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
01Dave01: shows [Ts 9h] (a full house, Nines full of Tens)
CU_bball: shows [Ah Ks] (a pair of Nines)
01Dave01 collected 561000 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 561000 Rake 0
Board [9d 9c 8s Td Js]
Seat 1: Beppejoe (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: sharktales1 (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 3: leH1ens (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 4: GILTADRA folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: johnmer folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: guy river folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: BckDoorFlux folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: 01Dave01 showed [Ts 9h] and won (561000) with a full house, Nines full of Tens
Seat 9: CU_bball showed [Ah Ks] and lost with a pair of Nines

Took a hit here, but I was still okay.

21 left:

PokerStars Game #28288412501: Tournament #162034192, $3.00+$0.30 Hold'em No Limit - Level XXXIX (30000/60000) - 2009/05/17 2:53:56 ET
Table '162034192 233' 9-max Seat #9 is the button
Seat 1: wingmanf5 (2750903 in chips) out of hand (moved from another table into small blind)
Seat 3: leH1ens (1872392 in chips)
Seat 4: GILTADRA (2516003 in chips)
Seat 5: johnmer (2024404 in chips)
Seat 6: guy river (2364310 in chips)
Seat 8: 01Dave01 (213500 in chips)
Seat 9: CU_bball (1130497 in chips)
leH1ens: posts the ante 7500
GILTADRA: posts the ante 7500
johnmer: posts the ante 7500
guy river: posts the ante 7500
01Dave01: posts the ante 7500
CU_bball: posts the ante 7500
leH1ens: posts small blind 30000
GILTADRA: posts big blind 60000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to CU_bball [7h 7c]
johnmer: folds
guy river: folds
01Dave01: raises 146000 to 206000 and is all-in
CU_bball: raises 916997 to 1122997 and is all-in
leH1ens: folds
GILTADRA: folds
Uncalled bet (916997) returned to CU_bball
*** FLOP *** [As 5s 8c]
*** TURN *** [As 5s 8c] [7d]
*** RIVER *** [As 5s 8c 7d] [6d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
01Dave01: shows [Ad Jd] (a pair of Aces)
CU_bball: shows [7h 7c] (three of a kind, Sevens)
CU_bball collected 547000 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 547000 Rake 0
Board [As 5s 8c 7d 6d]
Seat 3: leH1ens (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 4: GILTADRA (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 5: johnmer folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: guy river folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: 01Dave01 showed [Ad Jd] and lost with a pair of Aces
Seat 9: CU_bball (button) showed [7h 7c] and won (547000) with three of a kind, Sevens

I know this happens rarely to anyone, but I honestly can’t remember the last time I did this to someone. I guess it doesn’t matter the order that the cards come out. A coin flip is a coin flip.

I went completely card dead and just blinded away down to 12 bbs until this hand came up with 13 left:

PokerStars Game #28288656367: Tournament #162034192, $3.00+$0.30 Hold'em No Limit - Level XLI (50000/100000) - 2009/05/17 3:11:02 ET
Table '162034192 233' 9-max Seat #9 is the button
Seat 3: leH1ens (2224841 in chips)
Seat 4: GILTADRA (3103503 in chips)
Seat 5: johnmer (3851904 in chips)
Seat 6: guy river (102574 in chips)
Seat 7: Just4Omaha (1814258 in chips)
Seat 8: 82die4 (2945972 in chips)
Seat 9: CU_bball (1203997 in chips)
leH1ens: posts the ante 12500
GILTADRA: posts the ante 12500
johnmer: posts the ante 12500
guy river: posts the ante 12500
Just4Omaha: posts the ante 12500
82die4: posts the ante 12500
CU_bball: posts the ante 12500
leH1ens: posts small blind 50000
GILTADRA: posts big blind 100000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to CU_bball [Qd Qc]
johnmer: folds
guy river: calls 90074 and is all-in
Just4Omaha: folds
82die4: calls 100000
CU_bball: raises 1091497 to 1191497 and is all-in
leH1ens: folds
GILTADRA: folds
82die4: folds
Uncalled bet (1091497) returned to CU_bball
*** FLOP *** [Ah 5c 2s]
*** TURN *** [Ah 5c 2s] [8h]
*** RIVER *** [Ah 5c 2s 8h] [4c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
CU_bball: shows [Qd Qc] (a pair of Queens)
CU_bball collected 29778 from side pot
guy river: shows [Kd Qh] (high card Ace)
CU_bball collected 497796 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 527574 Main pot 497796. Side pot 29778. Rake 0
Board [Ah 5c 2s 8h 4c]
Seat 3: leH1ens (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 4: GILTADRA (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 5: johnmer folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: guy river showed [Kd Qh] and lost with high card Ace
Seat 7: Just4Omaha folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: 82die4 folded before Flop
Seat 9: CU_bball (button) showed [Qd Qc] and won (527574) with a pair of Queens

That was nice for QQ to hold up and ship me the 527K pot risking only 100K. Then a few hands later with 12 left this hand came up:

PokerStars Game #28288839641: Tournament #162034192, $3.00+$0.30 Hold'em No Limit - Level XLII (62500/125000) - 2009/05/17 3:23:56 ET
Table '162034192 233' 9-max Seat #9 is the button
Seat 3: leH1ens (909216 in chips)
Seat 4: GILTADRA (5851628 in chips)
Seat 5: johnmer (2442529 in chips)
Seat 7: Just4Omaha (1473633 in chips)
Seat 8: 82die4 (2574097 in chips)
Seat 9: CU_bball (1995946 in chips)
leH1ens: posts the ante 15625
GILTADRA: posts the ante 15625
johnmer: posts the ante 15625
Just4Omaha: posts the ante 15625
82die4: posts the ante 15625
CU_bball: posts the ante 15625
leH1ens: posts small blind 62500
GILTADRA: posts big blind 125000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to CU_bball [Kd As]
johnmer: folds
Just4Omaha: folds
82die4: folds
CU_bball: raises 165000 to 290000
leH1ens: raises 603591 to 893591 and is all-in
GILTADRA: folds
CU_bball: calls 603591
*** FLOP *** [6h 2h 6c]
*** TURN *** [6h 2h 6c] [Qc]
*** RIVER *** [6h 2h 6c Qc] [3h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
leH1ens: shows [5s Ad] (a pair of Sixes)
CU_bball: shows [Kd As] (a pair of Sixes - Ace+King kicker)
CU_bball collected 2005932 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2005932 Rake 0
Board [6h 2h 6c Qc 3h]
Seat 3: leH1ens (small blind) showed [5s Ad] and lost with a pair of Sixes
Seat 4: GILTADRA (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 5: johnmer folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: Just4Omaha folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: 82die4 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: CU_bball (button) showed [Kd As] and won (2005932) with a pair of Sixes

It was nice to find AK on the button and looking like a steal situation. Thank you for holding up! Two hands later this hand:

PokerStars Game #28288855994: Tournament #162034192, $3.00+$0.30 Hold'em No Limit - Level XLII (62500/125000) - 2009/05/17 3:25:02 ET
Table '162034192 233' 9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 4: GILTADRA (5961003 in chips)
Seat 5: johnmer (2348779 in chips)
Seat 7: Just4Omaha (1317383 in chips)
Seat 8: 82die4 (2542847 in chips)
Seat 9: CU_bball (3077037 in chips)
GILTADRA: posts the ante 15625
johnmer: posts the ante 15625
Just4Omaha: posts the ante 15625
82die4: posts the ante 15625
CU_bball: posts the ante 15625
Just4Omaha: posts small blind 62500
82die4: posts big blind 125000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to CU_bball [Tc Td]
CU_bball: raises 165000 to 290000
GILTADRA: raises 335000 to 625000
johnmer: folds
Just4Omaha: folds
82die4: folds
CU_bball: calls 335000
*** FLOP *** [4c 2h 5s]
CU_bball: checks
GILTADRA: bets 5320378 and is all-in
CU_bball: folds
Uncalled bet (5320378) returned to GILTADRA
GILTADRA collected 1515625 from pot
GILTADRA: doesn't show hand
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 1515625 Rake 0
Board [4c 2h 5s]
Seat 4: GILTADRA collected (1515625)
Seat 5: johnmer (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: Just4Omaha (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 8: 82die4 (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 9: CU_bball folded on the Flop

This guy is capable of making a play here as he was very aggressive with his chip lead. He knew that people were trying to get to the final table. I was one of them. I just didn’t want to end my tourney here. I could have very easily been good. If this was any earlier in the tourney, I would have gone with it, but we were getting so close to the big money jumps. I just didn’t want to make a bad call, or make a good call and get sucked out on. So I let it go.

I made the final table and about the 4th hand there, this hand came up:

PokerStars Game #28288978503: Tournament #162034192, $3.00+$0.30 Hold'em No Limit - Level XLIII (75000/150000) - 2009/05/17 3:33:28 ET
Table '162034192 280' 9-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: GILTADRA (9931657 in chips)
Seat 2: CU_bball (2942662 in chips)
Seat 3: RunIt2wice (2002987 in chips)
Seat 4: Beppejoe (3922956 in chips)
Seat 5: Just4Omaha (926758 in chips)
Seat 6: bigrabclark (2812954 in chips)
Seat 7: Lushed (3966570 in chips)
Seat 8: 82die4 (1933472 in chips)
Seat 9: Backflowjoe (1772984 in chips)
GILTADRA: posts the ante 18750
CU_bball: posts the ante 18750
RunIt2wice: posts the ante 18750
Beppejoe: posts the ante 18750
Just4Omaha: posts the ante 18750
bigrabclark: posts the ante 18750
Lushed: posts the ante 18750
82die4: posts the ante 18750
Backflowjoe: posts the ante 18750
Lushed: posts small blind 75000
82die4: posts big blind 150000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to CU_bball [As Ks]
Backflowjoe said, "K J sooted"
Backflowjoe: folds
GILTADRA: folds
CU_bball: raises 175000 to 325000
RunIt2wice: folds
Beppejoe: folds
Just4Omaha: folds
bigrabclark: raises 425000 to 750000
Lushed: folds
82die4: folds
CU_bball: raises 2173912 to 2923912 and is all-in
bigrabclark: folds
Uncalled bet (2173912) returned to CU_bball
CU_bball collected 1893750 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 1893750 Rake 0
Seat 1: GILTADRA folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: CU_bball collected (1893750)
Seat 3: RunIt2wice folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: Beppejoe folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: Just4Omaha folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: bigrabclark (button) folded before Flop
Seat 7: Lushed (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 8: 82die4 (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 9: Backflowjoe folded before Flop (didn't bet)

You hardly ever see somebody make a play like this putting in a quarter of their chips and then folding, but sure enough he made a good lay down.

We finally got down to 6. I felt like every time two people got it all in, the smaller stack would win. It was frustrating, but I kept on playing smart. This play may not have been smart though.

PokerStars Game #28289438032: Tournament #162034192, $3.00+$0.30 Hold'em No Limit - Level XLVI (150000/300000) - 2009/05/17 4:05:43 ET
Table '162034192 280' 9-max Seat #9 is the button
Seat 1: GILTADRA (2125309 in chips)
Seat 2: CU_bball (3742662 in chips)
Seat 4: Beppejoe (4452959 in chips)
Seat 7: Lushed (10588608 in chips)
Seat 8: 82die4 (5111526 in chips)
Seat 9: Backflowjoe (4191936 in chips)
GILTADRA: posts the ante 37500
CU_bball: posts the ante 37500
Beppejoe: posts the ante 37500
Lushed: posts the ante 37500
82die4: posts the ante 37500
Backflowjoe: posts the ante 37500
GILTADRA: posts small blind 150000
CU_bball: posts big blind 300000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to CU_bball [Ah 5c]
Beppejoe: folds
Lushed: folds
82die4: folds
Backflowjoe: folds
GILTADRA: raises 1787809 to 2087809 and is all-in
CU_bball: calls 1787809
*** FLOP *** [Kh 6d 8s]
*** TURN *** [Kh 6d 8s] [3s]
*** RIVER *** [Kh 6d 8s 3s] [Qh]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
GILTADRA: shows [Ad 9c] (high card Ace)
CU_bball: shows [Ah 5c] (high card Ace - lower kicker)
GILTADRA collected 4400618 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 4400618 Rake 0
Board [Kh 6d 8s 3s Qh]
Seat 1: GILTADRA (small blind) showed [Ad 9c] and won (4400618) with high card Ace
Seat 2: CU_bball (big blind) showed [Ah 5c] and lost with high card Ace
Seat 4: Beppejoe folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: Lushed folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: 82die4 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: Backflowjoe (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)

GILTADRA is pushing all in here with any two. He was the most aggressive guy at the table. So I made a loose call with A5 crippling me down to 5 bbs. I then stole blinds once then this miracle hand came up when I was utg with 6.5 bbs.

PokerStars Game #28289472599: Tournament #162034192, $3.00+$0.30 Hold'em No Limit - Level XLVI (150000/300000) - 2009/05/17 4:08:02 ET
Table '162034192 280' 9-max Seat #8 is the button
Seat 1: GILTADRA (5825618 in chips)
Seat 2: CU_bball (1992353 in chips)
Seat 4: Beppejoe (3065459 in chips)
Seat 7: Lushed (11376108 in chips)
Seat 8: 82die4 (4474026 in chips)
Seat 9: Backflowjoe (3479436 in chips)
GILTADRA: posts the ante 37500
CU_bball: posts the ante 37500
Beppejoe: posts the ante 37500
Lushed: posts the ante 37500
82die4: posts the ante 37500
Backflowjoe: posts the ante 37500
Backflowjoe: posts small blind 150000
GILTADRA: posts big blind 300000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to CU_bball [Qd Td]
CU_bball: raises 1654853 to 1954853 and is all-in
Beppejoe: folds
Lushed: calls 1954853
82die4: folds
Backflowjoe: folds
GILTADRA: folds
*** FLOP *** [9d Jh 8c]
*** TURN *** [9d Jh 8c] [2d]
*** RIVER *** [9d Jh 8c 2d] [7c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
CU_bball: shows [Qd Td] (a straight, Eight to Queen)
Lushed: shows [Qh Ac] (high card Ace)
CU_bball collected 4584706 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 4584706 Rake 0
Board [9d Jh 8c 2d 7c]
Seat 1: GILTADRA (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 2: CU_bball showed [Qd Td] and won (4584706) with a straight, Eight to Queen
Seat 4: Beppejoe folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: Lushed showed [Qh Ac] and lost with high card Ace
Seat 8: 82die4 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: Backflowjoe (small blind) folded before Flop

After he called, I remembered how much I hate pushing with QJ and Q10. Every time I get called, I’m dominated. The flop came and I stared motionless. I was now on a freeroll. Unbelievable! I stole a million more chips when this hand came up:

PokerStars Game #28289551001: Tournament #162034192, $3.00+$0.30 Hold'em No Limit - Level XLVI (150000/300000) - 2009/05/17 4:13:21 ET
Table '162034192 280' 9-max Seat #8 is the button
Seat 1: GILTADRA (5150618 in chips)
Seat 2: CU_bball (5522206 in chips)
Seat 4: Beppejoe (3740459 in chips)
Seat 7: Lushed (7121255 in chips)
Seat 8: 82die4 (4474026 in chips)
Seat 9: Backflowjoe (4204436 in chips)
GILTADRA: posts the ante 37500
CU_bball: posts the ante 37500
Beppejoe: posts the ante 37500
Lushed: posts the ante 37500
82die4: posts the ante 37500
Backflowjoe: posts the ante 37500
Backflowjoe: posts small blind 150000
GILTADRA: posts big blind 300000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to CU_bball [8d 8c]
CU_bball: raises 500000 to 800000
Beppejoe: folds
Lushed: folds
82die4: folds
Backflowjoe: folds
GILTADRA: calls 500000
*** FLOP *** [Kc 5h 6c]
GILTADRA: checks
CU_bball: bets 950000
GILTADRA: calls 950000
*** TURN *** [Kc 5h 6c] [9c]
GILTADRA: checks
CU_bball: checks
*** RIVER *** [Kc 5h 6c 9c] [4s]
GILTADRA: bets 300000
CU_bball: calls 300000
*** SHOW DOWN ***
GILTADRA: shows [Ah 6d] (a pair of Sixes)
CU_bball: shows [8d 8c] (a pair of Eights)
CU_bball collected 4475000 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 4475000 Rake 0
Board [Kc 5h 6c 9c 4s]
Seat 1: GILTADRA (big blind) showed [Ah 6d] and lost with a pair of Sixes
Seat 2: CU_bball showed [8d 8c] and won (4475000) with a pair of Eights
Seat 4: Beppejoe folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: Lushed folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: 82die4 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: Backflowjoe (small blind) folded before Flop

I am so glad he bet a little amount on the river. I don’t know if I could have made a big call. However, the easy river call vaulted me into the chip lead! Time to dominate. Two hands later, the roller coaster continues.

PokerStars Game #28289609376: Tournament #162034192, $3.00+$0.30 Hold'em No Limit - Level XLVII (200000/400000) - 2009/05/17 4:17:22 ET
Table '162034192 280' 9-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: GILTADRA (2363118 in chips)
Seat 2: CU_bball (9259706 in chips)
Seat 4: Beppejoe (4552959 in chips)
Seat 7: Lushed (7483755 in chips)
Seat 8: 82die4 (3486526 in chips)
Seat 9: Backflowjoe (3066936 in chips)
GILTADRA: posts the ante 50000
CU_bball: posts the ante 50000
Beppejoe: posts the ante 50000
Lushed: posts the ante 50000
82die4: posts the ante 50000
Backflowjoe: posts the ante 50000
CU_bball: posts small blind 200000
Beppejoe: posts big blind 400000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to CU_bball [As Ts]
Lushed: folds
82die4: folds
Backflowjoe: folds
GILTADRA: raises 1913118 to 2313118 and is all-in
CU_bball: raises 6896588 to 9209706 and is all-in
Beppejoe: folds
Uncalled bet (6896588) returned to CU_bball
*** FLOP *** [7s 8c Kh]
*** TURN *** [7s 8c Kh] [Js]
*** RIVER *** [7s 8c Kh Js] [7c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
CU_bball: shows [As Ts] (a pair of Sevens)
GILTADRA: shows [Jd 3d] (two pair, Jacks and Sevens)
GILTADRA collected 5326236 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 5326236 Rake 0
Board [7s 8c Kh Js 7c]
Seat 1: GILTADRA (button) showed [Jd 3d] and won (5326236) with two pair, Jacks and Sevens
Seat 2: CU_bball (small blind) showed [As Ts] and lost with a pair of Sevens
Seat 4: Beppejoe (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 7: Lushed folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: 82die4 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: Backflowjoe folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Ouch. I’m fine though. A few hands later:

PokerStars Game #28289633357: Tournament #162034192, $3.00+$0.30 Hold'em No Limit - Level XLVII (200000/400000) - 2009/05/17 4:19:01 ET
Table '162034192 280' 9-max Seat #7 is the button
Seat 1: GILTADRA (5226236 in chips)
Seat 2: CU_bball (7696588 in chips)
Seat 4: Beppejoe (3802959 in chips)
Seat 7: Lushed (7633755 in chips)
Seat 8: 82die4 (2936526 in chips)
Seat 9: Backflowjoe (2916936 in chips)
GILTADRA: posts the ante 50000
CU_bball: posts the ante 50000
Beppejoe: posts the ante 50000
Lushed: posts the ante 50000
82die4: posts the ante 50000
Backflowjoe: posts the ante 50000
82die4: posts small blind 200000
Backflowjoe: posts big blind 400000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to CU_bball [Kd Kh]
GILTADRA: folds
CU_bball: raises 600000 to 1000000
Beppejoe: folds
Lushed: folds
82die4: raises 1886526 to 2886526 and is all-in
Backflowjoe: folds
CU_bball: calls 1886526
*** FLOP *** [9s 7d 4s]
*** TURN *** [9s 7d 4s] [7c]
*** RIVER *** [9s 7d 4s 7c] [3h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
82die4: shows [Js Jc] (two pair, Jacks and Sevens)
CU_bball: shows [Kd Kh] (two pair, Kings and Sevens)
CU_bball collected 6473052 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 6473052 Rake 0
Board [9s 7d 4s 7c 3h]
Seat 1: GILTADRA folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: CU_bball showed [Kd Kh] and won (6473052) with two pair, Kings and Sevens
Seat 4: Beppejoe folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: Lushed (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: 82die4 (small blind) showed [Js Jc] and lost with two pair, Jacks and Sevens
Seat 9: Backflowjoe (big blind) folded before Flop

This was huge!!! I was then able to play tight and watch Lushed take down the next two guys and we were heads up with him having a 2:1 advantage. We were heads up for $2,000. 9 hours into the tournament at 5 am, my adrenaline was flowing. HU there were 3 significant hands of our 8 total and they were actually the last 3 we played:

PokerStars Game #28289842970: Tournament #162034192, $3.00+$0.30 Hold'em No Limit - Level XLVIII (250000/500000) - 2009/05/17 4:33:36 ET
Table '162034192 280' 9-max Seat #7 is the button
Seat 2: CU_bball (10145614 in chips)
Seat 7: Lushed (20067386 in chips)
CU_bball: posts the ante 62500
Lushed: posts the ante 62500
Lushed: posts small blind 250000
CU_bball: posts big blind 500000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to CU_bball [2d 5c]
Lushed: calls 250000
CU_bball: checks
*** FLOP *** [3h 7s Qs]
CU_bball: checks
Lushed: checks
*** TURN *** [3h 7s Qs] [Th]
CU_bball: bets 650000
Lushed: calls 650000
*** RIVER *** [3h 7s Qs Th] [Ac]
CU_bball: bets 1600000
Lushed: folds
Uncalled bet (1600000) returned to CU_bball
CU_bball collected 2425000 from pot
CU_bball: doesn't show hand
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2425000 Rake 0
Board [3h 7s Qs Th Ac]
Seat 2: CU_bball (big blind) collected (2425000)
Seat 7: Lushed (button) (small blind) folded on the River

I thought for sure that he was on a draw. Then the next hand:

PokerStars Game #28289855237: Tournament #162034192, $3.00+$0.30 Hold'em No Limit - Level XLIX (300000/600000) - 2009/05/17 4:34:27 ET
Table '162034192 280' 9-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 2: CU_bball (11358114 in chips)
Seat 7: Lushed (18854886 in chips)
CU_bball: posts the ante 75000
Lushed: posts the ante 75000
CU_bball: posts small blind 300000
Lushed: posts big blind 600000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to CU_bball [Kd 5h]
CU_bball: raises 600000 to 1200000
Lushed: calls 600000
*** FLOP *** [8h Jc 2h]
Lushed: checks
CU_bball: bets 1500000
Lushed: calls 1500000
*** TURN *** [8h Jc 2h] [8c]
Lushed: checks
CU_bball: checks
*** RIVER *** [8h Jc 2h 8c] [Jd]
Lushed: bets 2400000
CU_bball: calls 2400000
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Lushed: shows [8s Js] (a full house, Jacks full of Eights)
CU_bball: mucks hand
Lushed collected 10350000 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 10350000 Rake 0
Board [8h Jc 2h 8c Jd]
Seat 2: CU_bball (button) (small blind) mucked [Kd 5h]
Seat 7: Lushed (big blind) showed [8s Js] and won (10350000) with a full house, Jacks full of Eights

I thought he could have been huge but most likely on a draw. When he bet the river, I was planning on folding, then I looked at all the draws he could have been on. I thought he would have raised with a J or an 8 on the flop. I thought to myself, what would Dave Anderson do? He would have made the hero call. I call! Ouch…

The next hand was the end of me.

PokerStars Game #28289872689: Tournament #162034192, $3.00+$0.30 Hold'em No Limit - Level XLIX (300000/600000) - 2009/05/17 4:35:40 ET
Table '162034192 280' 9-max Seat #7 is the button
Seat 2: CU_bball (6183114 in chips)
Seat 7: Lushed (24029886 in chips)
CU_bball: posts the ante 75000
Lushed: posts the ante 75000
Lushed: posts small blind 300000
CU_bball: posts big blind 600000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to CU_bball [Ah 4c]
Lushed: raises 1200000 to 1800000
CU_bball: raises 4308114 to 6108114 and is all-in
Lushed: calls 4308114
*** FLOP *** [5d 8s Kd]
*** TURN *** [5d 8s Kd] [6c]
*** RIVER *** [5d 8s Kd 6c] [Qc]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
CU_bball: shows [Ah 4c] (high card Ace)
Lushed: shows [4h 4d] (a pair of Fours)
Lushed collected 12366228 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 12366228 Rake 0
Board [5d 8s Kd 6c Qc]
Seat 2: CU_bball (big blind) showed [Ah 4c] and lost with high card Ace
Seat 7: Lushed (button) (small blind) showed [4h 4d] and won (12366228) with a pair of Fours


Lushed played very well throughout. I can’t be disappointed one bit. I’ll take the $4800 for sure.

I had other success in the night cashing in a $7 turbo and $2 2K guaranteed on stars as well as a $2 rebuy on full tilt. I also made it really deep in the daily dollar tourney on full tilt finishing 59th out of 8300 people for $15. Weee. I had a good poker day to say the least. I have now cashed in my last 4 out of 5 rebuy tournaments on stars. I guess that is my best game right now.

In other news, I had an interview at the Catholic high school in Lincoln on Friday. I thought it went really well. My perfectionist mind though is second guessing things since then and wishing I would have said other things. I thought the superintendent, principal, and vice principal really liked me. Am I the best candidate though? I’ll find out toward the end of the week. I auto-accept the job if offered to me. Updates to come on that.

Finally an update. I'm sorry for the length.

Let’s see, what’s happened since my monster night at the card room…

I went on that trip to Denver then picked up my sister in Fort Collins and went home for Easter. I surprised my mom pretty good. Easter weekend was fun. It was good to see the family. My sister and I had to leave on Sunday after church because she had to be back in school on Monday. I stopped in Denver once again to see Leah and we had a good time for a few more days before I headed back to NE.

I got back to NE and continued to sub. I have been getting about three days a week, which is nice. I am always keeping busy even in my off days applying for jobs and doing random stuff for the basketball team. I have applied for over 20 jobs and still have not had an interview. It is pretty frustrating, but I know that others are in the same boat and are probably in a tougher financial situation than me. So I can’t complain too much.

Two weekends after I came back from Denver, I returned for Ben Ahlman’s bachelor party. Ben is in Denver now working at an electrical distributing company after graduating in December with me. I caught a ride with a couple girls from Concordia’s soccer team who were going out there for some fun of their own. On Saturday, for the bachelor party, we played golf and I kept score the first time ever. I wanted to play completely by the books without ever picking up a ball. I ended up shooting a 132 and amazingly only lost one ball. Now I have something I can improve upon. Golf has never been that fun for me, especially when we walk the course, but this time it was because I was playing to see what my score would be. Usually I have had enough after walking 9 holes, but I was fairly fresh after 18 even after my 132 shots haha. The 132 score was with women’s clubs, but I don’t think playing with my own would have saved me that many more shots to be honest. Our 4-some was Ben (like a 12 handicap), my other buddy Jake (like a 35 handicap), me, and this guy from England (6 handicap) who hopped in our group. In the biggest shock of the century (at that time, I’ll explain the new biggest one later), I won a hole. I pared a par 3 when the others all bogeyed (Jake may have tripled). Having some success makes golfing a lot more fun. I think I sunk the longest put of the day with like a 30 footer just off the green. My short game isn’t that bad, just my long game really really sucks. My goal was to par a par 4 once in the day. My opportunity came on 18 when I had a 40 footer for par. I told myself that I was going to give it a chance by not leaving it short. It ended up going right over the top of the hole with too much speed. I had like a 10 footer for bogey that I sunk. Overall, it was a great day of golf. I can’t wait to get back on the links and improve on my 132.

After golfing, we went to the Colorado Rockies game vs. Man Ram and the Dodgers. It was freezing by this time of the night, so we had to drink a lot of beer just to stay semi warm. The Dodgers ended up winning 6-5 even though Man Ram went 0-5 with 3 strikeouts. We had a good group of about 10 of us including a Ben’s brother and cousin, Jake, me, and a bunch of Ben’s co-workers. After the game, we went to this bar across the street from Coors field and drank some. Ben’s cousin started buying rounds of shot of Petron. He racked up a pretty large bar tab as you can image. Ben ended up embarrassing us all by puking all over the bar. I don’t know how he didn’t manage to get to the garbage can, but he didn’t. So we left immediately after that and called it a night. I have since forgiven him for that.

The next day, I went and hung out with Leah. We went to this silent/live auction fundraiser for the two Lutheran high schools in and around Denver. (Leah student teaches at Lutheran High Parker). I bid on a few things in the silent auction (mainly gift certificates) and I ended up getting a $50 gift certificate to Colorado Baggage Co. for $20. I gave it to Leah and she says she bought this sweet $80 bag that was on sale for $49. I can’t complain with a $20 donation to Denver Lutheran high schools and received an $80 bag! The live auction was crazy as this guy who is supposedly worth $260 million refused to quit bidding for a few of the items including an, at most, $80 bucket of beer. He easily donated over 10K in the night including over 4k for that bucket of beer. The auction was pretty fun and a new experience for me.

The soccer girls picked me up on Monday morning and we headed back to Seward. It is pretty nice to be flexible like I am and able to make random vacations whenever I want. I am definitely enjoying the flexibility while I have it.

Poker news: I have had two losing sessions in a row going to the Horseshoe (my only two), but I knew they were going to happen. Last week, I won a $5 ante-up tourney on Stars where only the antes go up. It is funny because 80% of the players don’t know how to play them. They pay huge antes and then don’t call the 5 chips it takes to see a flop. You can never fold for the 5 obviously until it gets raised. Limping with AA and KK in early position was key to me winning because people were always trying to steal the antes. I don’t think I ever even raised preflop until the final table. I was just try to see cheap flops compared to the pot size and try to bust people. Then I ran over the final table for the $333 winner. Weeeeeeeeee. And now for the biggest shock of the century:

My buddy, Noah Enke, had been begging me to go play in a real poker tournament. He had played maaaaybe 5 small unstructured home games. So yesterday he went. I decided that I would stake him, because $40 is a lot of money for him to lose. So I told him I get 50% of his winnings, even though there was no way he would cash. I gave him a few pointers. I pretty much told him not to call, pretty much raise or fold. He has no clue though about pot odds, fold equity, that pushing all in and calling an all in are two different things, etc. etc. etc. Anyway…

We played in the tourney 80 person $40 buy in tourney at the horseshoe yesterday and amazingly we were at the same starting table. In about the 3rd level, he gets KK and raised 5X even though I told him that 3X is good. A guy with A10 pushes all in and Noah busts him. A little later, Noah raises 5X again. The bb calls and they see a flop of K54. The bb leads out (obvious King) and Noah pushes all in (Noah has him barely covered I think). The bb auto calls and flips over KQ. Noah flips over A10 for A high. Turn X. River Ace to give Noah a bunch of chips and angrily knocks out that guy. I look at Noah confusingly. It’s like he just loves getting all his chips in the middle and that proves to be the case later on. I get knocked out a few levels later and I decide to just leave Noah alone and go play some cash games. We had another friend there named Drew who busted from the tourney in 2nd to last. Drew watched Noah the rest of the tourney and gave me updates from time to time. He came over for the next 2.5 hours a bunch saying that Noah just took down a pot with KK or he just put a brutal beat on somebody. Usually the latter. Noah makes it to the final table and makes the money. He folds and bad beats his way to 4 handed. When they got 4 handed, I left my cash game and went to watch even though I knew it was going to drive me crazy. Noah is like 2nd in chips with 4 left. It is folded to him in the sb. Noah completes the bb and then announces all in which is totally illegal (string bet). The dealer tells him he can only call. Even after Noah did that, the bb STILL raised obviously having a monster hand. Noah then fiddles with his chips nervously (like he did the whole tourney. I honestly thought he was going to have a heart attack.) Then Noah announces all in!!!! The bb autocalls and turns over TT. Noah turns over Q3hh. I’m about to lose it. I was like “Noah, do you have a date tonight or something you have to get back to?” Anyways, the flop comes 367. Turn 3! River X to give Noah the chip lead. Unbelieveable! Noah then beats a guy with A2 against AJ aipf when a 2 flops to knock a guy out of 4th. Then Noah makes a good call with Q10dd when another guy pushes all in from the sb. Q10 holds against 9 10. So Noah is now HU with like an 8:1 chip lead against a really good player (the TT hand earlier) who was next to Noah at our first table. The same guy who I predicted at our first table was going to win the tourney before he eventually knocked me out with 99 vs my KJ. He is a very solid player who was as shocked as I was about Noah’s run. They play HU and get closer to even though Noah still has the chip lead when this hand comes up. Noah about mucks his cards, then decides to call. The bb raises. Noah then says all in. The bb snap calls with AQ. Noah flips over T6. This time Noah couldn’t suck out on a QTX flop. Now the good player has like an 8:1 chip lead with the blinds being monstrous. Noah then won a 40/60 with like Q6 vs. K7. Then Noah held with AJ vs A4 to take the chip lead barely. Then this hand came up. Noah completes the bb. The bb pushes all in. Noah snap calls with A2cc. The bb flips over 77 and we all knew it was over for the guy. The board comes Kd Qc Qs Tc Jd to ship Noah with $700 first place prize. 2nd was $400 and Noah and I felt a little bad for him. The other guy handled it really well and is truly a class act. It was the sickest display of bad plays followed up by luck that I have ever seen. Thank God Noah knows this. He is not about to call himself a poker player by any means. It couldn’t have happened to a better guy. I collected $200 from him and called it good. Good job Noah!

That is loooooong update. My parents are coming in Friday because I am going to walk at graduation on Saturday even though I have already graduated and received my diploma. It should be a good week!