An Eventful Tuesday

I had myself an interesting little Tuesday today. First, I called up pokerroad radio and got on the air with Joe, Court, and Ali today (see link below). I'm the first caller they talk to at around the 9-minute mark. A 37-year old father of 3 making six figures a year and I somehow am awestruck by a bunch of guys on an internet poker show. I've got serious issues....

http://www.pokerroad.com/pokerroad_radio/6-10-08/

After coming home from all-star softball practice and watching the Lakers win a game in which, I have to be honest, they didn't instill a lot of confidence in me, I sat down and played a little on Full Tilt. The first thing to happen was the below-listed hand. This hand just captures what it's like to play poker for any amount of time in your life and actually depend on it as a revenue stream. Standard hand....Overshove 100xBB with A-A and get a call from K-Q and he flops top two.....tytytytyty River Gods. Heart attack narrowly avoided.

Dealt to HGJ18622 [Ac Ad]
threesixtyflip has 15 seconds left to act
threesixtyflip folds
Punkieboy folds
pastafagoul folds
HGJ18622 raises to $7
tdoughdalock calls $6
__Acehole888__ raises to $35
HGJ18622 has 15 seconds left to act
HGJ18622 raises to $257.90, and is all in
tdoughdalock folds
__Acehole888__ calls $198.75, and is all in
HGJ18622 shows [Ac Ad]
__Acehole888__ shows [Kd Qc]
Uncalled bet of $24.15 returned to HGJ18622
*** FLOP *** [5h Kc Qd]
*** TURN *** [5h Kc Qd] [6h]
*** RIVER *** [5h Kc Qd 6h] [As]
HGJ18622 shows three of a kind, Aces
__Acehole888__ shows two pair, Kings and Queens
HGJ18622 wins the pot ($471.50) with three of a kind, Aces
__Acehole888__ adds $200
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $474.50 | Rake $3
Board: [5h Kc Qd 6h As]
Seat 1: __Acehole888__ (big blind) showed [Kd Qc] and lost with two pair, Kings and Queens
Seat 2: threesixtyflip didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: Punkieboy didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: pastafagoul didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: HGJ18622 (button) showed [Ac Ad] and won ($471.50) with three of a kind, Aces
Seat 6: tdoughdalock (small blind) folded before the Flop

Standard 2-outer on the river for a $500 pot. I then signed up for the $23K on TILT which I like to consider my personal tournament. I probably play this tournament 5-6 nights a week, have won it twice over the last 18 months, and generally perform well in it. Tonight, I played very well throughout the tournament and was able to get a hold of some chips through the middle portions of the tournament which allowed me to stay active as the money bubble approached. I actually sat down tonight with the mindset that I was going to play it just like I'm going to play the WSOP $2K in a couple of weeks. Each decision I was faced with, I would ask myself "What would I do if this was the WSOP and I was sitting at the table having to face my opponents?" This mindset usually prevents me from having mindless blow-ups and it worked tonight. I got really short with about two tables left, overplayed A-Q into A-K in a SB/button confrontation that left me with less than 10BB, but battled back to make the final table 5th in chips. From there, play was tight and I just waited for a couple of others to be busted. I played a hand horrificly when I saw a flop of 6d-4d-3h with Ad-8d from the BB. I played it incredibly passive when I should have been really aggressive with the nut flush draw and two overs. I didn't let it affect me too much and I got down to three-handed when the following hand occurred.

Full Tilt Poker Game #6780492895: $23,000 KO Guarantee (50818096), Table 1 - 3000/6000 Ante 750 - No Limit Hold'em - 5:06:21 ET - 2008/06/11
Seat 1: AZNEYES (629,020)
Seat 4: TheKlutch (417,594)
Seat 7: HGJ18622 (162,386)
AZNEYES antes 750
TheKlutch antes 750
HGJ18622 antes 750
AZNEYES posts the small blind of 3,000
TheKlutch posts the big blind of 6,000
The button is in seat #7
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to HGJ18622 [Ad As]
HGJ18622 raises to 18,000
AZNEYES raises to 628,270, and is all in
TheKlutch folds
HGJ18622 calls 143,636, and is all in
AZNEYES shows [6c Qc]
HGJ18622 shows [Ad As]
Uncalled bet of 466,634 returned to AZNEYES
*** FLOP *** [Qs 3d 6s]
*** TURN *** [Qs 3d 6s] [Ts]
*** RIVER *** [Qs 3d 6s Ts] [Ac]
AZNEYES shows two pair, Queens and Sixes
HGJ18622 shows three of a kind, Aces
HGJ18622 wins the pot (331,522) with three of a kind, Aces
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 331,522 | Rake 0
Board: [Qs 3d 6s Ts Ac]
Seat 1: AZNEYES (small blind) showed [6c Qc] and lost with two pair, Queens and Sixes
Seat 4: TheKlutch (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 7: HGJ18622 (button) showed [Ad As] and won (331,522) with three of a kind, Aces

HOW SICK IS THAT? Twice, within hours, I get it in with A-A against two under cards, they flop top two pair, and I river a two-outer Ace. The 3-handed play lasted for an incredibly long time and they were both really good players. I finally CRAI on the flop with an OESD and "AZNEYES" made a good call with 2nd pair which somehow held up. With 4 KO's, the score turned out to be $2,705 which isn't too shabby. I made over $350 at $1/$2 NL 6-max in about 30 minutes so it was a nice $3K evening.

Unfortunately, the evening ended at 2:45 a.m. and I am now stone-dead in my office at work. I plan on playing the $535 150-seat guarantee on TILT this Sunday in an attempt to win a ME package. 15 MORE DAYS UNTIL THE WSOP!!!!!

Thanks for reading,

W2D