Won a Mookie

Well, I finally won my first Mookie!! And for a set into the TOC on Full Tilt's Battle of the Bloggers II no less! I really only did a couple of things different that night, one, I was out of booze so I did no drinking at all, and (probably as a result) I played a much tighter game than usual for most of the night (except for one hand against Hoy, and I'm sure we will all read about it soon).


When we hit the final table, I was one of the shorter stacks, but lucky for me most of the other shorties to mids kept making their moves and before too long (and the blinds/antes ate me up we were down to four). Previous to this, I was just making enough to keep me in the game (at lest three had gone out before I really played more than my blinds if memory serves me correct). Then I got lucky. We were down to four, blinds were 1000/2000 250. With only 14,120 I figured I had to push with any picture card (I'm sure you would all agree that this is a no brainer). On the button, I look and see 72o. Well, with the blinds and antes there is 4k in the pot and LJ makes it 5k to go. I look at my cards, and what is there other than 72o!!! I figure I can go out with honor with the hammer and take a reasonable amount of cash in the process. Much to my surprise the table folds to me and I get just enough to let me stick around for a bit more, and possibly even put a small amount of pressure on my table-mates. And for the record, I did show my hammer and the guys at BDR were amazed that LJ did not call (she was getting about 3:1 on her money and had about 100k preflop).

After that, I managed to eek my way up until the other three (Hoy, Donkette and LJ) were 71k to 75k and I was just shy of 50k when this hand happened. Blinds were 1,000/2,000 250 I was BB and Hoy had the button. Donkette folded and Hoy made it 8k to go. Well, as an avid reader of Hoys blog and having played my share of blogger games, I decided to min-raise Hoy with my KK. Donkette folded Hoy pushed and LJ also folded (well technically she folded to Hoys 8k). I called Hoy, he showed AQ, and it played out J44 J J and I took it down and doubled up with my Jacks full of Kings. It was kind of fun to hear the guys on BDR (it was Buddy Douche, CrackinAces, Instant Tragedy, and Biggestron if memory serves) debating the hand, Hoy losing with AQ, but not really being a bad beat with my KK, but still with only four playing AQ, should, in theory, be good.

And now for my donkey hand that you will all be reading about soon on Hoys blog. After taking most of his chips on the hand above, Hoy was naturally playing quite aggressively and pushing quite a bit (he had be about the same before (In the mid to low 20k), with lower blinds and pushing quite a bit as well). The blinds were 1,200/2,400 300 and I was in the small blind. Hoy pushed (for 24,876 in total) and it folded to me. I had A8o, and I took some time to think about it. Everything said to fold, the odds, my cards, the fact it was Hoy, everything. But somehow, that little voice in the back of my head was screaming for me to call, and for the first time of the night, I listened to it (it had been accurate the other four times that I had ignored it, and in fact I would have tripped up earlier). The only way I can justify my call is that Hoy had been pushing a lot, if I lost then three of us would all be playing with about 50kish to Donketts 96k, and that gut feeling/voice in the back of the head was screaming for me to call. It turns out Hoy had and A7o and I had A8o. The flop gave me an 8 and the river gave Hoy a 7 and I took him out. Not my proudest moment, but at least I will get a spot in his blog, and for the record, it was not an instacall, and I agree with the guys who discussed it on BDR, it was not the best call in the world to make.

During the same blinds, all three of us went all-in. LJ had AK, I had QQ, and Donkette had 88. Fortunately, I had them both covered, and Donkette was second in chips, but LJ hit an Ace on the flop and no love for the rest of us and Donkette was out.

When we were heads-up, we spent most of our time roughly even, I did get one earlier that helped me get within site of her. Then, our big hand. Blinds were 1,500/3,000 400 and I had the BB. LJ made it 7,500 and I raised to 12,000 and she called. The flop was 622 and I bet 24,800 and LJ pushed (133,488) and I called. LJ had A6o and I had KK, and they held.

After that, LJ doubled up on me once more, but then I took her (I assume) out when I had 8T against her 98 on the flop of 587. Lucky out-kick for me and there I am in the ToC.

For the BDR crew of the night, yes, I should have been out if LJ called me when I had the hammer, I got lucky, and yes, I should never have called Hoy's all-in with my A8o, but thus far my gut feeling had not let me down all night (even though I did not play the others, and yes, I do agree that, in general, that is the type of player you want at your table, but as all of you eventually pointed out, Hoy had been pushing quite a bit and I had been playing tight most of the night).

So now, just to clear up a thing or two, yes, I do have a blog (for the two or three of you who stop by every now and then). I also play the blogger games mostly for the social interaction (it is fun to watch most of you rag on each other, but there are maybe about three that I chat with in the girly chat). I play mostly blogger games on-line (largely -EV) and play a lot of "home games" that are actually "bar games" that play at .50/1.00 or 1.00/200 that I do fairly well at (i.e. win a fair chunk more than I lose).

In all, I got mega-lucky. I got some very good information. And yes, I will link all the sites later on. See ya'll at the ToC (wish me luck, I'll need it).