Up and Down Weekend

I ended up staying in on Fri night to try to get more sleep and don’t know I it helped. I know I was still tired Sat. when I went to the Grand Sierra in Reno to check out their Pot of Gold Tournaments.

They didn’t have any limit poker going higher then 4/8 so I sat in a 3/5 NL game. The smallest stack had 500 and the largest looked like 2,000, so I sat down with 300. I posted a few blinds and saw one flop when this hand came up. I had 242 in front of me with pocket 7s in the cut off. 6 people limped in when a MP3 raised it to twenty. I called and so did everyone else. The flop came with a 7 and there was a raise to 200 in early position. There where 3 callers when it came to me and I went all in for my last 22. Everyone called and my set holds up. I went from 242 to 900 in one hand. I stole a couple of small pots for a 100 when it is folded around to me in the cutoff position with A8o. I raised to 25 and am called by the big blind. I miss the flop but when it is checked to me I bet another 25. The turn is the A and we both check. The river is an 8 and the big blind bets 50, I raise to 150 and he calls. My two pair is good and I am up to 1200.

I was there such a short time and I am having a great day. 10 hands later I get AA in late position. There is a 50 bet in front of me with one caller and I raise it to 150. The initial raiser says I have AA but he wants to gamble and makes the call. The other play calls and it is 3 to the flop of KQ5 rainbow. The initial raiser goes all in for 700 and it is folded to me. I did think of KQ but I thought AK was more likely so I called with say five outs. 2 aces, and 1.5 for runner runner flush or straight draw. He has QQ and I am behind. No improvement and I drop down to 500 profit. I am pretty disgusted with my call and decide to play the 6pm tournament for 225 to slow down.

I go to table 4 of the tournament and there is Jerry Buss, the owner of the LA Lakers. Nobody was talking to him at first because IMO they didn’t want to make him uncomfortable. I was quite for awhile too but decided the heck with it and asked him a question about HSP on GSN. He assured me the players used their own money and the rest of the table opened up and started to talk to him. He was very pleasant and a nice guy.

He was pay very close attention to the table and was raising and stealing blinds and people limping in. So I decided to play back at him with A7s. There were 5 limpers when Jerry raised it in late position to 400. It was folded to me and I raised it 1k more. I was surprised when he called because I thought he was on a steal. The flop was ragged so I bet 500 into the 2500 pot and he folded. Whew. Gave me some chips too which I gave back when he re-raised me in late position, all in. I had him covered so I called. My 88 lost to his rivered queens full. I lost another big pot when I failed to re-raise a blind steal with QQ. I went all in on the flop but the button had an opened straight flush draw which and called. He got the straight on the river and I was short stacked. At this point I am just looking for all in opportunities and manage to steal a few blinds to stay alive. I miss two double up calls and finally loose to JJ with my A10o.

I left there and went to the Peppermill around 9pm. I don’t have any hands to really talk about. I was struggling in the beginning then I started to run ok. I was not running great but I was making what I consider my fair share of hands. The bonus of the night was Moe. He was drunk and just pumping money into the game. There was a stack over 2k and I managed to get there too.

Then the broken recorded started. I thought about leaving then wanted one more hundred to fill the rack and I never got it. I was so tired and a player went on a hot streak. Playing short handed and they were hitting their junk hands and killing me. I dropped 700 before I came to my senses and left with 800 in profit. Still made 1,200 for the day, but if I could have left at my high points, I would have been up 2,700.

Sunday I was supposed to have brunch with a friend so I drug myself out of bed at got ready by 10:15. Called to set up the meet and they never answered the phone. So I waited until 11:00 called again and started to pick at snacks. By 11:30 still no word and I left for the Peppermill. Now I was tired when I could have slept in more and pissed that I got stood up. I should have stayed home and did think about it, but you know I went.

Started at 4/8 and couldn’t hit a flop to save my life. I dropped 100 and bought another. I got a magazine and broke out the ipod determined to wait for a hand. Then the 10/20 was called so I moved over and it never happened. The floor tried but only half the list showed up so I went to 1/2nl and bought in for 200. I played a few small pots and was up a little when I flopped 2nd pair with a 10 high flush draw. There was a bet of 20 and I raised to 50 to try and take it right there. He called and we went heads up to the turn. The turn was a blank and he checked to me. I put him on a flush draw too so I bet 50 on my pair. He goes all in over the top and has me covered. Now I don’t think he has the flush draw so I call my last 100. My flush would have been good, but he filled up on the river and I re-bought. I got some chowmein and slowed my play down after that. As I was finishing I noticed the 10/20 got going so I moved there.

I have to admit I was playing loose based on the previous day. I ran better then I had in awhile and thought my slump was over. I still had 1k profit and I was heading to my game. The lineup was a few regulars with some juicy fish. There was 6+ to most flops and they were calling to the river with weak hands. I thought I was set, but I couldn’t get my hands to hold up. I would miss the flop or they would out draw me. Even when I tightened way up I could get action on my big hands or got out drawn. To spare you the gory details, I dropped 900 of my remaining 1,000. I left with only 100 to show for a weekend worth of play.

I am in a cycle that I must break. I am making huge money but I can’t keep it. My card play is not the immediate problem, playing tired and not leaving is. I have renewed my efforts to get sleep this week and not play until Wed. and then take Thur off to make sure I am rested for the weekend. I will go back to Bay 101 for the holiday but if I loose or don’t even cover my expenses I won’t be going back for awhile.

Long and a lot of detail but that is why I am doing this. It is helpful to me to spell it out so I can review every detail. Any comments welcome if anyone runs across this.