Reaching a goal

Reached a big goal playing poker last night. I won a multi table tournament on PokerRoom. Took first place out of 340 and $425. Needless to say, I am damn proud right now.

One of my goals this year was to win a multi. That was the point to playing a bunch of freerolls to develop a set of skills that would carry me through a tournament. Next step is to win a bigger tournament. This was just 5 bones to enter. Next stop is hitting the $10 ones.

I was quite impressed with how I played last night (for more details, check out the recap at Beer City Poker). Thoughout the tournament, I wasn't a factor. I survived. Survival is a big key. When we were at the first break and about 104 runners left, I was probably ranked around 90. From there I got aggressive when I caught some cards and chipped up.

When we hit the money at 40, I had bounced up to 21st behind one big hand where I pushed my 8000 in with a pair of tens. Got called by jacks. Crap! But a 10 came on the flop and I was set.

Once we got to the final table, I focused on how I was going to finish at a bare minimum of 4th; where the real money was. I was in 9th spot, way behind the big boys.

Blinds weren't too high so I waited for spots to move. The deck hit me silly and I bounced up to 2nd. When we were heads up, I was outchipped 355k to 126k. Played hard and aggressive at that point. I chipped my way up and overtook my opponent. Now we were reversed, I had the 355k. And I did it without risking my entire stack. At no point was I called all in. I only pushed once and that was with the nuts. We went back and forth a bit but I finally took him down with A 2 vs. his K J. I knew my hand was good. Flop a deuce. Rest of the board would be rags and I won.

I was quite psyched after it was done. I was more amazed that I never put my tournament at risk while heads up. I believe I was only at risk twice during the entire tournament. Didn't dominate. Didn't make any unnecessary moves. I even laid down some good hands. I survived and won my first tourney. Damn that feels good.

On to the rest of the world...

On the drive in today, I noticed while drinking driving past the stadium, that something smelled like crap. No, not the way the Brewers are now playing (ugh!), but something in the air reeked. It didn't help that the van in front of me could barely go 60 mph. But as we slowly creeped past the cars in the middle lane, I saw what the source of the stink was- a livestock trailer. If you have never been behind one of these, count your blessings. Nothing worse than having to drive behind or even next to, one of these filthy disgusting trailers. Especially in the summer. I pull along side the damn thing wondering why the stupid van doesn't speed up to clear it. I also perplexed by the dude driving the red Grand Am immediately behind the truck. He was behind that truck for a minimum of 4 miles, never making an attempt to pass to get out from behind it. How gross! Maybe he lives in such a shithole that he doesn't notice the difference. Still, that air reeked.

I must give a shout out to "The Rooster" for his defense of soccer. Well said. I like the poker reference. I don't see it but I like the passion you have for the sport. I don't rag on anyone for liking soccer and that certainly wasn't my intent. It is like drinking. You shouldn't rag on someone for their choice of drink (unless it is Bud). Enjoy the moment. Hope to see you at a table soon.