Skillz Like Tim Hardaway

Anyone else remember that commercial from the early 90s when Tim Hardaway was a star & Spike Lee was still relevant? Alan, I know you have to, at least. You know, where they're playing on that funky, Cross-Colors looking court, and Hardaway breaks out the killer crossover then announces "I got skillz!". Edit: Here it is:

On a whim, I decided to play the Skillz Series last night. I entered the game knowing I was probably dead money but figured I'd give it a shot anyways. I like to think I understand the mixed games enough that I can be somewhat competitive.

Somehow I ended up finishing 6th and honestly I probably should have finished higher.

I took a couple kicks in the junk courtesy of ScottMc. The hammer to the right nut was when he called my flop & turn bets with 22 on a J high 3 diamond board. The river was a fourth diamond and my JackAce was no longer good to his baby flush. The shot to the left nut was when he bet on 4th St in Stud 8 with 55 showing. I had 4 to a low with an A, hit a pair of 9s on 5th & 6th, but couldn't complete a low hand. Crazy enough, my pair of 9s was good for a high hand on 6th until ScottMcLucksack tripped up his 5s.

I didn't really get a stack until we were somewhere in the low 20s when I took out a shorty in LHE with AK vs AQ, grabbed some more chips from Budohorseman when my K high flush was good enough in O8 with no low possibilities. I was in 1st place near the bubble when I doubled through Budo again when I paired an A on 4th st and took it to battle against Budo's pair of 9s with OESD. I hate taking one pair to battle in Stud but I felt that my Aces were good and was lucky that Budo didn't his his plethora of outs. Of course I gave it all back when I chased a mega draw to 5th or 6th against cawfoocaw but couldn't connect. Then came one of those hands where I made the right play but it came back to bite me.

I limped from the SB with TTxx in O8. Budo limped UTG and Blinders smooth called. Flop comes a lovely JT9. I bet my set, because I'm a man, then Blinders 2 bets & Budo 3 bets. Can I really think that my set is good here anymore? At best I'm drawing to 7 outs, at worst I'm drawing to the case T. Calling the 3 bet & possibly a 4 bet is going to cost me the majority of my stack. So I lay it down.

Turn comes a 9. Fawk! Well, maybe.

River is a blank, and both Budo & Blinders show KQxx for the flopped straight & a split pot.

Fawk indeed!

I get to the final table in 6th or 7th place but with a decent enough stack where I'm not necessarily fighting to stick around. However, I make a big mistake that costs me half my stack when I call a 6th st bet for 14 of my stack with a pair of 2s & flush draw. I called thinking that Budo might have been betting a low with a 4 & 5 showing. I called a 7th st bet as well thinking the same and that, somehow, my pair of 2s might be good for the high. Instead, Budo shows hidden Jacks plus some 4s for a better high & I'm severely crippled. What made this play so horrible is that I opened the betting & there was no betting until 6th, so I could have gotten away from the hand with nothing invested.

Overall, a 6th place finish with 3.5-4.5 knockouts along the way isn't bad for a tournament I considered myself to be dead money in.

I won't be at the Mookie tonight; instead, I'll be at Key Arena watching Shaq & the Suns (wow, that is still so weird to type out) destroy the Sonics one last time before they leave. Good luck everyone.