Future plans, poker, miscellaneous

A lot has happened since I last blogged. Let’s see…I went to NE and interviewed at Madison and didn’t get it. It would have been a pretty sweet job for me where I would have probably earned an exceptional $38k or so my first year (including stipends) which is unreal for a first year teacher. They called me two days later and said it was a really tough choice (blah blah) and they chose one of the other three interviewees. I was in NE then for about two weeks where we put on our Concordia basketball camp during one of those weeks.

I knew that Concordia’s head coach, Coach Schmidt, wanted me to come back and serve as an assistant, so I decided that I was going to become a Graduate Assistant and start on my Master’s at Concordia. I love being an assistant coach there and the graduate assistant job has some good benefits (free Master’s classes, free apartment, and $4,000 for the year). That is not a bad deal at all, so I decided that I was going to do that. It took us a while to get the paperwork figured out so I hadn’t signed anything yet when I received an unexpected call on the Thursday during camp from the Athletic Director at Broken Bow (NE) high school wanting me to possibly be the head boy’s basketball coach for them. He said they have a full-time para job with it as well as assistant coaching jobs. He wasn’t sure how much they would pay me, but he said the principal would talk to me about that when I came out. I asked Coach Schmidt for permission to explore this as I had a verbal commitment to him. He, without hesitation, told me to check it out. So I scheduled an appointment on the next Tuesday where I would just stop there on my way home to MT.

Before leaving, my good friends Marcus Nathan and Jill Pfeiffer were married in none other than Madison, NE (where she grew up). So after never being in Madison, I was there twice within a few weeks. The wedding was a ton of fun and Leah was a gorgeous bridesmaid. Congrats Marcus and Jill!

Then next day, Sunday, I had to move out of my apartment because Brad had found a roommate for July and I wasn’t going to be back before then. I moved all my stuff to my friend and the head women’s basketball coach, Drew Olson’s, basement. I didn’t realize how much stuff I had. It took all afternoon to move a few blocks.

I spent Monday with Leah’s family in York before taking off Tuesday morning for MT with the stop in Broken Bow, NE. Broken Bow turned out to be more in the middle of nowhere than I thought but the town is about as nice as a town of 3500 people gets. I interviewed there and I was told that I would get $9.10 an hour as a para plus assistant coaching cross country and middle school track. In total, I would have made only 16K a year without benefits. They offered me the job and I told them I would deliberate, but there wasn’t much to deliberate. As cool as it would have been to be the head boy’s basketball coach at a decent sized high school, it just isn’t worth it to move to the middle of nowhere for 16K and coaching all year long. I declined it called coach Schmidt back and said that I would love to be his grad assistant. So it’s nice to have that finalized!

I made it back to MT Tuesday night just in time for my good friend from high school, Colin Gerstner’s bachelor party. We went to a Billings Mustangs (rookie league team for the Cincinnati Reds) game and then went to the bars in downtown Billings. It was a really good time where we spent a lot of the night singing karaoke. The best song of the night was probably when my friend Ryan pulled out “The Thong Song” for his karaoke. Classic… After words, the DJ gave us burned CDs of our performances.

The next three days, I had a bunch of wedding stuff to do for Colin and Jacki’s wedding as I was an usher. Leah and her sister Cammie (who is my sister’s age, sophomore in college) flew into MT the morning of the wedding. The wedding itself was fantastic! It was great to see all of my high school friends all together once again. What an awesome group!

Congrats Colin and Jacki! Thanks for the great time!

After the wedding, I tried to give Leah and Cammie as much of a Montana experience as I could. We went to Ryan’s house where he had a pool party for us all the next day where the music of choice was Ryan’s Thong Song Karaoke. Then I took them on the rims (the 200 ft. cliffs that span the north side of Billings):

I took them to a casino where I had $10 of free machine play that I had saved for them to use at one casino. They send me $5 at a time on Christmas and birthday’s as well as $20 free poker chips when I buy in for $50. They played on the machines for about 90 minutes while I played poker. I made $61 playing 3/6 limit and they made $2.25 after losing their initial $10 of free money. They were pumped to say the least:

I then took them to do one of my favorite free time activities…folfing.

They went and watched me and my church league softball team defeat the best team in the league after we had only one win on the season. This team was sick good as they had all 25-35 year olds who were muscular and athletic. In only my 2nd game that I have been here for, the other outfielders and I must have caught six balls at the fence and watched two go over the fence. We withstood the two homeruns and came back down two runs in the bottom of the last inning to win. It was sweet!

My dad works with a guy that offered to take us white water rafting the Stillwater River, so we did that on Tuesday. This was such a blast! The girls and my family loved doing this. We were able to stop at a spot on the river and cliff jump. That was a cool experience that I’m glad the Nebraska girls were able to do it.

Leah and Cammie then flew out yesterday morning and I decided to get in a good day of poker. I had a bunch of cashes including maybe the biggest collapse in poker in history as I was chipleader by 2 times second place with 10 to go in a 180 man $8 tourney on full tilt. I took 10th and didn’t make the final table…

The night then culminated with a 20th place finish in the daily double A on ftp for like $50 bucks and nice 4th place finish in the $10 8K guaranteed on stars with 1200 people in it for $870. Here are some hand history’s as I got deep in the tourney:

With 32 left, this hand gave me the chip lead:

PokerStars Game #30041544490: Tournament #175253444, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level XXV (2000/4000) - 2009/07/03 1:48:53 ET
Table '175253444 78' 9-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: aless_84 (137133 in chips)
Seat 2: Budha95 (33767 in chips)
Seat 3: Conductor69 (128939 in chips)
Seat 4: PhigNootin (137078 in chips)
Seat 5: jpg1963 (8222 in chips)
Seat 6: missfroggy (99396 in chips)
Seat 7: jarekk (107434 in chips)
Seat 8: CU_bball (193345 in chips)
Seat 9: Mattazz (98208 in chips)
aless_84: posts the ante 500
Budha95: posts the ante 500
Conductor69: posts the ante 500
PhigNootin: posts the ante 500
jpg1963: posts the ante 500
missfroggy: posts the ante 500
jarekk: posts the ante 500
CU_bball: posts the ante 500
Mattazz: posts the ante 500
jarekk: posts small blind 2000
CU_bball: posts big blind 4000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to CU_bball [7s 3s]
Mattazz: raises 8000 to 12000
aless_84: folds
Budha95: folds
Conductor69: folds
PhigNootin: folds
jpg1963: calls 7722 and is all-in
missfroggy: calls 12000
jarekk: folds
CU_bball: calls 8000
*** FLOP *** [8s 2h As]
CU_bball: checks
Mattazz: checks
missfroggy: bets 12000
CU_bball: calls 12000
Mattazz: folds
*** TURN *** [8s 2h As] [Jc]
CU_bball: checks
missfroggy: bets 16000
CU_bball: calls 16000
*** RIVER *** [8s 2h As Jc] [4s]
CU_bball: bets 152845 and is all-in
missfroggy: calls 58896 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (93949) returned to CU_bball
*** SHOW DOWN ***
CU_bball: shows [7s 3s] (a flush, Ace high)
missfroggy: shows [8c 8d] (three of a kind, Eights)
CU_bball collected 186626 from side pot
jpg1963: shows [Qh Qs] (a pair of Queens)
CU_bball collected 37388 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 224014 Main pot 37388. Side pot 186626. Rake 0
Board [8s 2h As Jc 4s]
Seat 1: aless_84 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: Budha95 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: Conductor69 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: PhigNootin folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: jpg1963 showed [Qh Qs] and lost with a pair of Queens
Seat 6: missfroggy (button) showed [8c 8d] and lost with three of a kind, Eights
Seat 7: jarekk (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 8: CU_bball (big blind) showed [7s 3s] and won (224014) with a flush, Ace high
Seat 9: Mattazz folded on the Flop

I was getting incredible odds the entire hand. 73 sooted is gold!

16 left

Table '175253444 78' 9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: aless_84 (81508 in chips)
Seat 2: THENUTSSTL (168616 in chips)
Seat 3: Conductor69 (247771 in chips)
Seat 4: PhigNootin (263165 in chips)
Seat 5: FireRover (190868 in chips)
Seat 7: jarekk (87684 in chips)
Seat 8: CU_bball (410838 in chips)
Seat 9: JZ777 (335628 in chips)
aless_84: posts the ante 750
THENUTSSTL: posts the ante 750
Conductor69: posts the ante 750
PhigNootin: posts the ante 750
FireRover: posts the ante 750
jarekk: posts the ante 750
CU_bball: posts the ante 750
JZ777: posts the ante 750
jarekk: posts small blind 3000
CU_bball: posts big blind 6000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to CU_bball [Ks 9s]
JZ777: folds
PhigNootin said, "gg"
aless_84: folds
THENUTSSTL: folds
Conductor69: folds
PhigNootin: raises 12000 to 18000
FireRover: folds
jarekk: folds
CU_bball: calls 12000
*** FLOP *** [9h 4d Ah]
CU_bball: checks
PhigNootin: bets 18000
CU_bball: calls 18000
*** TURN *** [9h 4d Ah] [8d]
CU_bball: checks
PhigNootin: checks
*** RIVER *** [9h 4d Ah 8d] [Qs]
CU_bball: bets 45000
PhigNootin: calls 45000
*** SHOW DOWN ***
CU_bball: shows [Ks 9s] (a pair of Nines)
PhigNootin: mucks hand
CU_bball collected 171000 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 171000 Rake 0
Board [9h 4d Ah 8d Qs]
Seat 1: aless_84 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: THENUTSSTL folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: Conductor69 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: PhigNootin mucked [Jh 9d]
Seat 5: FireRover (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: jarekk (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 8: CU_bball (big blind) showed [Ks 9s] and won (171000) with a pair of Nines
Seat 9: JZ777 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

12 left

PokerStars Game #30042126491: Tournament #175253444, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level XXIX (4000/8000) - 2009/07/03 2:25:57 ET
Table '175253444 78' 9-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 3: Conductor69 (426171 in chips)
Seat 4: PhigNootin (151415 in chips)
Seat 5: FireRover (192743 in chips)
Seat 7: jarekk (372783 in chips)
Seat 8: CU_bball (422588 in chips)
Seat 9: JZ777 (220378 in chips)
Conductor69: posts the ante 1000
PhigNootin: posts the ante 1000
FireRover: posts the ante 1000
jarekk: posts the ante 1000
CU_bball: posts the ante 1000
JZ777: posts the ante 1000
PhigNootin: posts small blind 4000
FireRover: posts big blind 8000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to CU_bball [Ah Qc]
jarekk: raises 16000 to 24000
CU_bball: calls 24000
JZ777: folds
Conductor69: calls 24000
PhigNootin: folds
FireRover: calls 16000
*** FLOP *** [Kd Ac 5c]
FireRover: bets 32000
jarekk: folds
CU_bball: raises 48000 to 80000
Conductor69: folds
FireRover: raises 87743 to 167743 and is all-in
CU_bball: calls 87743
*** TURN *** [Kd Ac 5c] [Qs]
*** RIVER *** [Kd Ac 5c Qs] [9c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
FireRover: shows [Ad Jc] (a pair of Aces)
CU_bball: shows [Ah Qc] (two pair, Aces and Queens)
CU_bball collected 441486 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 441486 Rake 0
Board [Kd Ac 5c Qs 9c]
Seat 3: Conductor69 (button) folded on the Flop
Seat 4: PhigNootin (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 5: FireRover (big blind) showed [Ad Jc] and lost with a pair of Aces
Seat 7: jarekk folded on the Flop
Seat 8: CU_bball showed [Ah Qc] and won (441486) with two pair, Aces and Queens
Seat 9: JZ777 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

I made it to the active final table 2nd in chips. This hand came up with 8 left. I would have been chip leader had I won.

PokerStars Game #30042600264: Tournament #175253444, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level XXXII (7000/14000) - 2009/07/03 2:58:41 ET
Table '175253444 78' 9-max Seat #9 is the button
Seat 1: gvemeaset (937993 in chips)
Seat 2: zendoc9 (208728 in chips)
Seat 3: Conductor69 (384921 in chips)
Seat 4: PhigNootin (213415 in chips)
Seat 5: sgs shep (295522 in chips)
Seat 6: GAKler1983 (512495 in chips)
Seat 8: CU_bball (612831 in chips)
Seat 9: JZ777 (317095 in chips)
gvemeaset: posts the ante 1750
zendoc9: posts the ante 1750
Conductor69: posts the ante 1750
PhigNootin: posts the ante 1750
sgs shep: posts the ante 1750
GAKler1983: posts the ante 1750
CU_bball: posts the ante 1750
JZ777: posts the ante 1750
gvemeaset: posts small blind 7000
zendoc9: posts big blind 14000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to CU_bball [Qs Qc]
Conductor69: folds
PhigNootin: folds
sgs shep: raises 28000 to 42000
GAKler1983: folds
CU_bball: raises 108000 to 150000
JZ777: folds
gvemeaset: folds
zendoc9: folds
sgs shep: raises 143772 to 293772 and is all-in
CU_bball: calls 143772
*** FLOP *** [As 5h 4c]
*** TURN *** [As 5h 4c] [Td]
*** RIVER *** [As 5h 4c Td] [6c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
sgs shep: shows [Ac Kh] (a pair of Aces)
CU_bball: shows [Qs Qc] (a pair of Queens)
sgs shep collected 622544 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 622544 Rake 0
Board [As 5h 4c Td 6c]
Seat 1: gvemeaset (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 2: zendoc9 (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 3: Conductor69 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: PhigNootin folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: sgs shep showed [Ac Kh] and won (622544) with a pair of Aces
Seat 6: GAKler1983 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: CU_bball showed [Qs Qc] and lost with a pair of Queens
Seat 9: JZ777 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
I only played 5 hands at the final table because it was so active. There was rarely a steal that did not get resistance. I eventually pushed KQ as the short stack over a raiser and he had AK to eliminate me. I’ll take it though.

Future plans (I’ll try to make this quick)

This next week, lots of poker and softball post season tourney. I am going to Nebraska early next week where on the 15th I am going to help move the new weight room equipment into our new weight room at Concordia. Our new athletic facility is sick!

The 16th I will most likely move into my new apartment in Seward (I’m dreading moving my stuff again).

The 17th, we have a team camp to put on.

July 27-30, I am going to work the University of Nebraska basketball camp for the 2nd year in a row.

I will then probably leave the 31st for Cleveland where I will stay with my friend, David Jabs until the 2nd. I will then drive to Bethlehem, PA to see Dave Anderson and work the Lehigh University basketball camp that he is in charge of August 3-7.

On the 7th then, my friend Brandon flies into Atlantic City. Dave and I will meet him there for hopefully four successful days of rounding and having fun.

I will then return to NE and start school!

Happy 22nd birthday today to my awesome girlfriend Leah! Congrats to her for getting a K-5 PE teaching job in Grand Island, NE! We will be about an hour away for each other this year which will be tough but doable.

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!

Wow!

I just can’t believe what happened last night. Not too much is going on here in Seward and I am not getting many sub jobs, so I am trying to find ways to keep busy.
I decided to head to Council Bluffs at around 9pm last night to play some poker. Before tonight, I believe I have been to the Horseshoe Casino around ten times and I cannot remember ever having a losing session. One day I remember only making $35, but just like Vegas, I don’t think I have ever left with less than I came with. I have definitely had losing sessions in MT though live. Anyway, each time I drive to CB, I tell myself that this could be the day where I take a brutal bad beat or I get coolered. I am bound to have a losing session. I just prepare myself mentally so that when it happens, I will react better to it. Well, a losing session didn’t happen last night for me. In fact, I had the best session I have ever had, and arguably, the best session anyone has ever had playing 1/3 NL at CB!

So I get to the poker room and there are two games of 1/3 going on. One of the tables had mostly old people and the other table had mostly young people. I obviously wanted to play at the old person one. Both the tables were full though and I was the 10th person on the waiting list, so they decided to start another table. As I sit down, all of the people look like they know the game of poker fairly well as it is a similar people to the young table already going on. Oh well. Then, right as the dealer sat down, I saw that a guy just left the old person table. I immediately took my $200 in red chips over to that table to play. This was the decision that made it all happen.

The night started off bad as I soon found out that I was playing with nine of the nittiest postflop players I have ever seen. I was bummed from the start when I had 77 on like my 3rd hand. Everyone limped and saw a flop of T72 rainbow. I bet half pot and everyone folds! This just doesn’t ever happen! I’m thinking to myself that I am never going to get paid off. And really, the rest of the night I didn’t get paid off with a lot of my monsters. A few hours later, a guy raised pf and I called with 78. The flop came A88. He bet, I raised and he autofolds AK face up! What the heck! These guys can’t possibly have a read on my like this can they? I started taking advantage of this tight play and built my stack up to $500 really quick. Another fun hand is when I get have AQ in the bb. Another guy raises pf and I call. Flop comes AQ7. I check, he bets, I raise, and he folds AK face up! What is with these guys? PS. I was hitting cards like crazy tonight.

Here are my three favorite hands of the night:

It’s about 1am (a few hours into the session). A trucker guy in his 50’s has like $600 that I have been eyeing and I have about $500. By the way, I am the only person at the table that raises without AA or KK. Okay, so said guy raises to $22 in mp. I call on the button with K4hh. Flop comes Ah Qs 5h. He bets out $50. I know he is huge so I was going to call and not raise. I took a long time to call hoping he would not think that I am on a flush draw. Turn 7h giving me the nuts. He bets $120. I finally decide on moving all in. He thinks for only a few minutes. He says that he knows I have a flush! Honestly though, these players just hate putting money into the pot. Eventually, he folds AA face up! Wow! I am not too disappointed with the fold. I’ll take the pot right there if he has top set. I wanted him to go with AQ, but I was sure he had AA or QQ. Anyways, first huge pot of the night for me was nice.

Next hand was maybe one of my favorites. As you might have noticed, I almost never fold to a preflop raiser if they have a lot of chips behind because I feel like I can outplay them or get paid if I hit a monster. So this hand came around 3pm and my image is starting to loosen up even though they still keep folding to my continuation bets and bluff raises. A guy limps in early and I limp in middle with 84off, another guy limps and the sb makes it $25. He had a lot of chips and I knew the others were calling, so I got in on that action. Sb is noticeably disgusted with the three callers. Flop comes JT5. The sb who raised pf open folds! He then says that J5 is going to win this hand. Early limper checks and I bet $26. Both guys fold and I show my 84off to ship the nice pot. The sb starts to lose it after that. He is so mad at me for calling his pf raise with 84off. Oh well though.

Finally this last hand came up around 4am. We are 5 handed with the said trucker guy is back up to around $600 and I am around $1000. Everyone else is at $200 or under. He is the only reason I have stayed there because I thought I could get all of his chips. He starts racking up his chips and keeps playing though he is clearly going to leave at any minute. He raises utg to $22 and I call on the button with K2off. Once again, he has never raised all night without AA or KK. So I was pretty sure what he had even though he could have had a bigger range with this being the end of his night. Flop comes KcQc2c. He bets $25 and I make it $100. He double checks his cards and calls. I am confident he has the Ac now. Turn comes a gross 10c. Luckily he checks, and I check behind. River comes my gin card in the Kh. Trucker bets out $100. I think and push all in. He eventually calls while saying, “you can have the rest of my chips, show me your boat.” I flip over K2 for the full house. He mucks AcAh and I ship the around $1200 pot.

So we sat there after 4am and I have over $1800 in front of me and the other 3 guys have no more than $400 combined. We play a few more orbits and I call it a night. The dealers said that they have never seen anyone leave the 1/3 game with more than two racks ($1000). Also, I only bought in for $200 and never had to rebuy.

So it turned out to be an epic night with some guys that were extremely tight. There is no doubt that I hit a lot of huge hands tonight, but I also took down a lot of pots with nothing. Honestly, I can’t remember even being put to a tough decision all night. I was always the one putting the pressure on and keeping it on. It was a dream table that I will never forget and probably never be able to enjoy something like that (pokerwise) again.

I am leaving for Denver tomorrow. It should be a fun vacation!

Another day at the poker room

So yesterday I went to the poker room at the Horseshoe Casino in Council Bluffs and had another good day to say the least. I got there around 11:30 again and played 1/3 NL until the 2pm tourney. I only really remember two big pots I won so I’ll describe those. I make sure before I sit down that there are fish. There usually are at this time because the people bust out of the 10am tourney on Sundays go and play cash games and they aren’t good. I also like to make sure there are fish with a lot of chips. This helps me decide which table I want to sit at as I usually have a few options. Sure enough, this table had a lot of old people and one woman in her 30’s with a lot of chips. I bought in for the maximum $200 and got up to $300 really quick. Now I was at the point where I want to get involved in pots with the woman in hope that I can double up. She doesn’t raise without a good hand, so every time she raised, I would call with the hope of hitting something and double up through her. I knew she would pay me off. This hand came up that I was pretty fortunate on. She raised utg her standard $13. One guy called, and I called in late position with K2hh. The flop comes 852 with the 5 of hearts. She bet $20. Other guy folded and I called. Turn was a Qd. She bet $20 again. I thought she looked really weak, so I raised to $60. She beat me into the pot with a call. I knew she was extremely strong now and I was done. River 2! She checked to me and I knew she would call almost anything. I decided on betting $100. She snap called, I showed, and she mucked in disgust. I probably could have gotten more out of her, but I wanted a call for sure.

The next hand was is without a doubt my most memorable live hand I have ever played. I have about $500 in my stack to start the hand. I have QTdd utg. I limp. Other people limp and we see a flop 6 handed. Flop comes Jd 8d 7c. Checked to me and I bet $10. The guy right after me quickly calls and the guy after him makes it $25. Others fold and I call. The guy after me then pushes all in for $97 total (he bought in for $100 a few hands earlier). The flop raiser is disgusted and thinks about it for two minutes before finally calling the $72 with about $215 behind him. I then pushed all in with the thought that this guy was going to fold and even if he didn’t, I had a lot of outs (I thought he KJ, AJ, or maybe even QJ or JT). After I pushed, the guy goes into the tank. He starts talking how he knows one of us has T9. I am sitting over thinking why he is taking so long to fold. Finally after over 5 minutes, he calls and flop over 77 for bottom set. The other guy, to my delight, then flips up J7 for two pair. So I have all of my outs plus the board will have trouble pairing if I hit. Before I could even think about how much money was in the pot, the dealer turns over the fabulous 9d to give me the straight flush. The river was an uneventful King. I shipped the over $700 pot. Also, I won a high hand jackpot that they have for all 4 of a kinds and straight flushes. My Q high diamond straight flush was good for $245. Some of the jackpots are low, for example, the Q high diamond jackpot went to $0 after I hit and, and some of the jackpots are high (the Ten high diamond straight flush is at $2200 because no one has hit it in a long time). So I was in cloud nine after that pot, which was only 15 minutes before the tourney started.

I entered the tourney and built a huge stack early again winning most of the pots. Then in the middle levels after the first break, I lost some pots, lost some flips, and had to push with 6 bbs with 98hh. I was called by A10 and A9. Flop came 976, but I missed my draw and was eliminated. Nothing could ruin the day though! After that I found at seat at a 1/3 table with an old fish that had $900 in front of him. I decided to sit down. The other players there were pretty solid, but I had to stay with the fish. He left after one orbit and I decided to leave a $15 winner in the game and a $850 winner on the day. Woohoo!

I went home to watch Duke take down the ACC championship and selection Sunday. What a day! This week I am going to pick up my sister at the Denver airport when she gets back from visiting our brother in Pensacola. I’ll then hang out with her at CSU in Fort Collins for a few days before going back down to Denver to see Leah and other friends for a few more days. It will be nice to take a little vacation! I filled out my bracket. Duke won’t win it, but I still have them going all the way haha. We’ll see.

Basketball Season Over, Poker, and Applying for Jobs

We made a push to go to the national tournament when we won our first two games on the conference tournament. Our second game was without a doubt the craziest game I have ever been a part of when we beat Briar Cliff University in OT. We started the game down 26-5. We took a 6 point second half lead and a 4 point lead with 16 seconds. Then they tied it up with a shot that was clearly after the buzzer. We went to OT and got a 4 point lead 29 seconds left! After a layup, a turnover, and a layup, they tied the game with 8 seconds left. We got the ball out of the net and pushed the ball. Our freshman backup point guard, who had the game of his life (26 points, 6-6 from three) drove to the hole and threw it up. It missed, but our other freshman Kendal Bender was there for the tip in. It was a crazy game to say the least! We then got crushed next game L

So Leah left for her 2nd 8 weeks of student teaching in Denver on Friday. The weekend was as good as it could get without her around. Saturday I slept in and then played in some tourneys. I was unsuccessful in all the tourneys but one. It was a regular $10 buy-in with 400 entrants on full tilt. I went into the bubble with an average stack, had three different people call me a moron because I was not checking down with a player all in, and left the bubble with 2X the average stack. I picked up some big hands and ended up going to the final table with 250,000 of the total 600,000 chips. 2nd place had 100,000 chips. So I was in good shape. Though I had some resistance from the guy on my left, who liked to go over the top of me a lot (for good reason), I eventually shipped the tourney for 1K. So that was nice.

Sunday, I decided to go to the Horseshoe casino in Council Bluffs. They have two $40 buy-in tourneys every Sunday at 10am and 2pm. I slept through the first and showed up at 11:30 so I could register for the 2pm tourney at noon when they open registration. While I was waiting for the tourney to start, I played some 1-3 NL. I have never had a losing session playing NL there in around 5 times. Once again, I had a nice +$350 session. I just love live poker. I love how much easier it is to read people. Also, the competition is much softer than the internet. Live is just so much more profitable for me even with the higher rakes. I don’t even play cash games on the internet anymore.

So I went into the 2pm tourney with a lot of confidence. I ended up winning the first 4 hands of the tourney without a showdown and 6 of the first 8 when this hand came up. Keep in mind my already crazy image. One guy in seat 6 just lost a pot for basically all his chips to a lady in seat 9, so he put his last 50 chips (one bb) in blind in mp. So here is how the hand went. I am the bb in seat 10. Seat 2 makes it 300 (25/50) of his roughly 2500 starting stack. Seat 5 calls. Seat 6 is all in for 50. Seat 7 calls. I squeeze KK in the bb. I make it 1200. Seat 2 could not get all his chips in fast enough. Seat 5 then goes all in. Seat 7 (the lady who is only person who can knock me out) calls! I go all in. The lady tanks before finally calling with AKhh. Seat 3 has JJ, Seat 5 has 88, and seat 6, who I don’t care about if he beats me, has my last King with K6. The flop comes 579 rainbow. Turn 9. River 10 to ship me the 12000 chip pot and knock out 3 players. Getting lots of chips early in this tourney is vital as they raise the blinds every 20 minutes and it only last about 4 hours total. From there, I was a part of at least 1 out of every 3 hands, if not more, until I busted. I got to the final table (10 paid out of 60, which is a joke) as still the chip leader in the tournament. Eventually with 4 left the blinds were at 4000/8000. I had like 65000, guy on my left had 55000, next guy had 12000, and the next guy had 27000. The guy on my right folded, I have KQdd on the button and push. SB makes a questionable call with A10 because he is almost guaranteed a 2nd place finish with the two short stacks having to go through the blinds next. Anyways, he calls and the bb folds even though he has 4000 left. He said he had KQ as well. So I’m in trouble. The dealer teased me with a flop of Ad 10d 4c. I blanked out to put me down to 10000 chips. The next hand, the sb survived and I was all in the following hand in the bb. I had KQ and lost to the sb’s 65 on a 78T85 board. So I was out in 4th place for a $151 payout. I was bummed that I missed out on the $550 first place, but I did leave the casino up $470. It was a good little excursion for me.

Enough poker…I have been applying for a bunch of jobs lately. The middle school health teaching position is open here in Seward and I am confident I am one of the top candidates since I already know most of the school’s faculty and think I am well liked. However, there is not a coaching position to come along with it, so that is a downside. The Grand Island High School head coach just resigned and he is also a PE/Health teacher, so I am in the process of submitting an application. This job would be unbelievable if I got it because it is a big school and a great fit for me. Though I do not believe a school of 2200 students would hire a 23 year old to coach their boys’ basketball team, all I want is an interview. Also, there are some PE/Health and coaching jobs open in Colorado, but I cannot even apply for them until I get a Colorado teaching license, so I am working on filling out an application for a license.

I have tomorrow and Wednesday lined up to sub this week. Then Thursday, Friday, and Saturday is the boys’ state basketball tournament in Lincoln where I will be recruiting. We have not signed any recruits yet, so things need to start getting done!