Mean Gene

Second ain't too bad, thank you

Iggy's tournament just concluded and I came in second! And I'm pretty psyched about it! 'Cause I've been playing like crap lately and my confidence was in the toilet! Why am I writing like Phil Hellmuth?!!

OK, time for a quick, soothing beer. One moment.

Much better. Otis came in first, bashing us with his massive stack. I have to say, I think I played pretty damn good, and I got some damn good cards. The final hand I had the massive 2-5 offsuit up against pocket aces. But on the flop I had a double-belly-buster straight draw, and I made a $1800 or so bet hoping to win the pot right there, but when Otis came over the top I felt compelled to call because, well, I didn't have a choice anymore. Two jacks appeared and that was that.

Most of my play up to that point was, to a certain extent, compelled by circumstances. I had some good cards early and built up a nice stack, but then I got nailed twice in a row when I went in with king-crap and got outkicked. At one point I was down to about $300, and I went all-in and got lucky and doubled up. Then I doubled up again. And then I won another nice pot, and I was up to about $1800 and in bidness.

But to my direct left was badblood, and he kept me in line, kept me from making any moves to win the blinds. I lost a pretty big pot, I forget the circumstances, and to be honest I just wanted to end up at the final table so I could at least brag that I made it that far.

Iggy was to my right, and we both had about $800. Not good. Then, with me in the big blind, I was ready to bash Iggy with my K-8 offsuit if he just called in the small blind. Uh, no, he went all-in first, and I bailed, only to have him crow that he'd hammered me. That magnificent bastard!

But I managed to grab some pots, and soon Iggy was on the rail. And then a few other folks went out (sorry, I haven't studied the hands closely--can you tell?) and suddenly we were four-handed--with the top three cashing. I was the shortshack, at times down around $2500, and that pretty much dictated my play. Either fold, or all-in. And that's what I did. I had enough chips to make an all-in bet somewhat uncomforatable for the other three guys to call (it was Otis, Boy Genius, and badblood), and I mangaged to gobble up some blinds and even get a bit ahead of the game.

But the other three guys selfishly refused to go belly-up. On three occasions one of the guys was all-in, another called...and the short guy took the pot. I despaired, but I kept snagging pots, and after awhile I had enough chips that I didn't have to worry about getting blinded to the baize.

At last, badblood gave up the ghost, a tough out for the guy who smacked us around but good early on. I was in the money, and feeling good. I kept up my all-in moves, sometimes with decent cards, but for the most part I held toilet paper and my breath at the same time. I was dealt the hammer and, of course, went all-in, and blessedly wasn't called.

I was counting my blessing again when I was dealt Ks3s and called from the small blind. The flop? As8s2s. Nice flopping the nuts. I checked, and BG went all-in. He had me outchipped, but just by a bit, and after I raked in that massive pot Otis put him out one hand later. Not much to playing a hand like that, but I was happy to win anyway.

Otis had me more than 2-1, but when I flopped a straight holding J-8 I thought I might double thru again, but if I recall I only extracted a few thousand. A few hands later came the fateful hand, where I needed a 3 or an 8 to fall. They didn't, and we were done.

Tell you what, it was a rush when we were 4-handed. I had to keep stealing blinds or else I would've been so chip-poor that an all-in bet wouldn't have fazed the other 3 guys, so I had to just push 'em in and hope. I think I went all-in 5 times and took the pots down, and that let me hang around just long enough to get in the money and then get lucky.

So I'm pretty pleased. I've played in four pokerblogger tournaments, and I have a 1st, a 2nd, and a 3rd place showing. Not too bad. Mucho kudos to Iggy for setting this up, just as I will again thank Grubby and Felicia for their previous good deeds. Had a goddam blast.

Needed a good showing for my confidence. I absolutely got crushed the other night, I lost like $80 playing $1/$2, most of it to this one guy who totally schooled me. A post on that debacle is forthcoming. Nice to have a tidy payday to soothe the ego.

And now, if you'll excuse me, I have a beer to deal with.

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