So So Close

It would have been nice to finally get my first "legitimate" MTT victory, but instead I end up a bridesmaid again:
















The old adage "you have to get lucky to win a MTT" applies to getting second place also; With blinds at 250\500 and about 30 or so players, I was only at 3100.

But then KJ rivered a straight against AT to get me to 6k.

Then J9 hit two pair against KK to get me to 11k.

Then AT held up against KQ to get me to 14k.

Then AT holds up again against KT to get me to 22k, and the thought of actually cashing starts to enter my mind.

But the luck didn't stop there:

Full Tilt Poker Game #6105543718: $4,000 Guarantee (45789084), Table 11 - 500/1000 - Pot Limit Hold'em - 6:01:23 ET - 2008/04/20
Seat 1: rjmaz611 (3,873), is sitting out
Seat 2: Jeevz271 (43,921)
Seat 3: Stackedbundelz (6,694)
Seat 4: mclarich (28,840)
Seat 8: PassDaBlunt (48,422)
Seat 9: basbat (36,657)
Jeevz271 posts the small blind of 500
Stackedbundelz posts the big blind of 1,000
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to mclarich [Kd Ts]
mclarich raises to 3,000
PassDaBlunt calls 3,000
basbat folds
rjmaz611 folds
Jeevz271 folds
Stackedbundelz folds
*** FLOP *** [6s Ad Th]
mclarich checks
PassDaBlunt checks
*** TURN *** [6s Ad Th] [2d]
mclarich checks
PassDaBlunt bets 3,750
mclarich calls 3,750
*** RIVER *** [6s Ad Th 2d] [Kc]
mclarich bets 3,000
PassDaBlunt calls 3,000
*** SHOW DOWN ***
mclarich shows [Kd Ts] two pair, Kings and Tens
PassDaBlunt shows [Qc As] a pair of Aces
mclarich wins the pot (21,000) with two pair, Kings and Tens

Then, once we're in the money, down to about 15 left:

Full Tilt Poker Game #6105758702: $4,000 Guarantee (45789084), Table 9 - 1200/2400 - Pot Limit Hold'em - 6:44:23 ET - 2008/04/20
Seat 1: mclarich (33,790)
Seat 2: nolimitpower (32,518)
Seat 4: sbpower007 (41,296)
Seat 5: basbat (7,130)
Seat 7: Mrs Magoo (15,492)
Seat 8: Flying Guy (99,503)
Seat 9: coastrider (45,194)
coastrider posts the small blind of 1,200
mclarich posts the big blind of 2,400
The button is in seat #8
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to mclarich [9d 8c]
nolimitpower has 15 seconds left to act
nolimitpower raises to 4,800
sbpower007 folds
basbat folds
Mrs Magoo folds
Flying Guy folds
coastrider folds
mclarich calls 2,400
*** FLOP *** [8s 6h 5c]
mclarich checks
nolimitpower bets 2,400
mclarich has 15 seconds left to act
mclarich raises to 9,600
nolimitpower calls 7,200
*** TURN *** [8s 6h 5c] [Js]
mclarich bets 19,390, and is all in
nolimitpower has 15 seconds left to act
nolimitpower has requested TIME
nolimitpower calls 18,118, and is all in
mclarich shows [9d 8c]
nolimitpower shows [Qh Qs]
*** RIVER *** [8s 6h 5c Js] [7d]
mclarich shows a straight, Nine high
nolimitpower shows a pair of Queens
mclarich wins the pot (66,236) with a straight, Nine high

Next two hands I flop top pair with KQ then take a shorty out with AQ vs A3 to propel me to about 97k in chips.

After taking out 10th place when my A8 flopped trips against 77, the final table looked like this:

Seat 1: Stackedbundelz (4,528)
Seat 2: pocketdod (32,205)
Seat 3: chloealyce (38,079)
Seat 4: mclarich (115,930)
Seat 5: Flying Guy (147,499)
Seat 6: PassDaBlunt (35,356)
Seat 7: Jeevz271 (56,827)
Seat 8: coastrider (23,594)
Seat 9: jlowme (67,982)

The chip leader was playing very weak and was taking a lot of pots with minraises & minbets on the flop. Then this hand came up:

Full Tilt Poker Game #6105857754: $4,000 Guarantee (45789084), Table 16 - 2000/4000 - Pot Limit Hold'em - 7:04:37 ET - 2008/04/20
Seat 1: Stackedbundelz (3,084)
Seat 2: pocketdod (16,705)
Seat 3: chloealyce (39,023)
Seat 4: mclarich (116,930)
Seat 5: Flying Guy (238,826)
Seat 6: PassDaBlunt (32,356)
Seat 8: coastrider (17,594)
Seat 9: jlowme (57,482)
PassDaBlunt posts the small blind of 2,000
coastrider posts the big blind of 4,000
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to mclarich [Qs Ah]
jlowme folds
Stackedbundelz folds
pocketdod folds
chloealyce folds
mclarich raises to 12,000
Flying Guy calls 12,000
PassDaBlunt raises to 32,356, and is all in
coastrider folds
mclarich calls 20,356
Flying Guy calls 20,356
*** FLOP *** [8s 9d 8c]
mclarich checks
Flying Guy bets 101,068 (has to be an 8 or a pocket pair, right?)
mclarich folds
Flying Guy shows [As Jc] (nope)
PassDaBlunt shows [Ad Kd]
Uncalled bet of 101,068 returned to Flying Guy
*** TURN *** [8s 9d 8c] [6s]
*** RIVER *** [8s 9d 8c 6s] [Qh] (#(*#$&#$(#$!!!)
Flying Guy shows a pair of Eights
PassDaBlunt shows a pair of Eights
PassDaBlunt wins the pot (101,068) with a pair of Eights

I probably should have reraised once the shorty pushed to isolate instead of relying on the big stack to check down with no side pot & no made hand.

After watching my stack drop, I got lucky again when we got to 4 players:

Full Tilt Poker Game #6105941962: $4,000 Guarantee (45789084), Table 16 - 3000/6000 - Pot Limit Hold'em - 7:21:35 ET - 2008/04/20
Seat 4: mclarich (59,574)
Seat 5: Flying Guy (348,147)
Seat 6: PassDaBlunt (45,564)
Seat 9: jlowme (68,715)
jlowme posts the small blind of 3,000
mclarich posts the big blind of 6,000
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to mclarich [Ts 9c]
Flying Guy folds
PassDaBlunt folds
jlowme raises to 12,000
mclarich calls 6,000
*** FLOP *** [9h 8h Qs]
jlowme bets 12,000
mclarich raises to 42,000
jlowme raises to 56,715, and is all in
mclarich calls 5,574, and is all in
jlowme shows [Kc Kh]
mclarich shows [Ts 9c]
Uncalled bet of 9,141 returned to jlowme
*** TURN *** [9h 8h Qs] [Jd]
*** RIVER *** [9h 8h Qs Jd] [2h]
jlowme shows a pair of Kings
mclarich shows a straight, Queen high
mclarich wins the pot (119,148) with a straight, Queen high

When we get to heads up, I was at a little over a 2:1 chip disadvantage and just couldn't get anything going. All my luck ran out & I went completely card dead, and everytime I tried stealing with air I got caught. The fact that it was also 4am probably had an effect on my end game too.

Hopefully this is a sign that I'm getting back into my MTT groove. Although I would never advocate getting as shortstacked as I did that late into the game, this game was a reminder that staying patient can pay off. Let's see if I can build on this and finally take one of these things down.

If My Name Was Fuel, This Would Be Part 12

Instead, it is Exhibit A for demonstrating why my ROI is 175% in these games.

Full Tilt Poker Game #6076845356: $3 + $0.30 KO Sit & Go (46259455), Table 3 - 30/60 - No Limit Hold'em - 22:52:20 ET - 2008/04/17
Seat 1: pablini54 (3,060)
Seat 2: barbwire320 (2,830)
Seat 3: enolagay4 (3,150)
Seat 4: mclarich (1,930)
Seat 5: exhell (3,905)
Seat 6: flipper6542 (3,085), is sitting out
Seat 7: Ullr_Coyote (3,040)
Seat 8: Eyon (3,525)
Seat 9: MEHEEKIN (2,920)
Ullr_Coyote posts the small blind of 30
Eyon posts the big blind of 60
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to mclarich [Kh Kc]
MEHEEKIN raises to 120
pablini54 calls 120
barbwire320 raises to 660
enolagay4 folds
mclarich raises to 1,930, and is all in
exhell raises to 3,905, and is all in
flipper6542 folds
Ullr_Coyote folds
Eyon folds
MEHEEKIN calls 2,800, and is all in
pablini54 folds
barbwire320 folds
exhell shows [Ad Kd] (fair enough)
MEHEEKIN shows [5d 5c] (not good for you)
mclarich shows [Kh Kc]
Uncalled bet of 985 returned to exhell
*** FLOP *** [Jd 2d Jh]
*** TURN *** [Jd 2d Jh] [8s]
*** RIVER *** [Jd 2d Jh 8s] [2h]
exhell shows two pair, Jacks and Twos
MEHEEKIN shows two pair, Jacks and Fives
MEHEEKIN wins the side pot (1,980) with two pair, Jacks and Fives
mclarich shows two pair, Kings and Jacks
mclarich wins the main pot (6,660) with two pair, Kings and Jacks
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 8,640 Main pot 6,660. Side pot 1,980. | Rake 0
Board: [Jd 2d Jh 8s 2h]
Seat 1: pablini54 folded before the Flop
Seat 2: barbwire320 folded before the Flop
Seat 3: enolagay4 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: mclarich showed [Kh Kc] and won (6,660) with two pair, Kings and Jacks
Seat 9: MEHEEKIN showed [5d 5c] and won (1,980) with two pair, Jacks and Fives

Sadly, it also reveals that my success in these games is not necessarily due to my poker prowess but instead because I know most players in these games will not fold a pocket pair to a reraise, let alone 3 reraises.

But I'll take what I can get.

Taking My Business Elsewhere

My Saturday night was all lined up. My girlfriend was out at a bachelorette party, so I was going to stay home, play some poker, and drink some Sam Smith Taddy Porters. I fire up FTP...or I tried to at least.

No such luck.

OK, I take a break for some Guitar Hero, come back an hour later.

Still nothing.

I fire up an email to FTP support asking for an ETA. I was expecting to play poker tonight, dammit!

Another hour, still nothing. And it appears I'm not the only one with this problem.

The poker itch is getting stronger, and desperation sets in.

I fire up PokerStars to see what I can do there with my 290 FPP points & zero bankroll.

I find a 70 FPP satellite to the $11 Sunday $100k tournament. Lo and behold, I take it down.

Of course, the tournament tomorrow is at the same time as the Suns-Mavs game. Hmmm...fight out thousands of donks over several hours for a couple bucks, or relax at home and watch the Suns. I'll choose the later.

Then I discover I can unregister & get $11 in Tournament dollars. Sweet!

2 hours & a couple of victories in a $5 SNG and a $2 5 card draw SNG, I have a bankroll on PokerStars again.

Maybe now, FTP will learn their lesson.