Chasing Chris Ferguson

Tuesday the 20^th I spent way too many hours playing in the Stud Freeroll to try to get a seat in today’s Round 2.  That is the only pay off, coming in the top 88 and advancing to a tournament that there is real $$ to be won.  I came in 9^th in that one and advanced to GO for today’s Round 2 Freeroll. 

The bad beat came this morning in the form of no internet connection!  I couldn’t get in the tourney I had wasted 3+ hours to qualify for.  This is NOT a happy ”˜good witch’ today!

I knew going into this project I would have problems at certain times because I have satellite internet.  If the sun is in a certain spot, there is rain, heavy cloud cover or snow…forget it, no signal. Since I live on top of a mountain at 6500 feet, trust me, we DO get all of those, and often.  I have no clue what the problem was this morning, as the sun is shining and it is a balmy 28 degrees.  Don’t ask, I have no other options, or I would get something else. There are no phone lines up here (thank God for cell phones!) and yes, we have indoor plumbing, but satellite internet is the only option to get online.  And since 2 pine trees gave their lives for the sake of the dish signal, I feel obligated to keep it anyway.

Last night I grabbed a seat in the Bahamas Freeroll #62540291. I played my usual sit and fold style picking up a few chips here and there until I got this hand which pumped up my stack. All 4 of my opponents were all-in. *SWEET*

The next big hand I was involved in was one limper in front of me, I had J-10s and raised. The button went all in, so did the limper, I called. Here is how that hand turned out. This was a HUGE chip stack boost for me.

I called another raise from “ranhot” who had come into seat one. He was raising every hand he played, which was almost every hand he was dealt.  I had 66, one player called behind me. Flop was Q68 rainbow. I bet and got called to the river. I won the side pot, the raiser was all-in preflop and had QQ. I am SO glad he was all-in or I would have been on the rail.

The very next hand I picked up 77.  Before it got to me, “ranhot” had jacked it up so it would have cost me over ½ my chips. I thought about it, but I was 7 players from the final bubble, so I dumped the pair. Flop of course was 732…yikes! Yes I could have maybe damaged the raisers stack and doubled thru him… probably. But since he didn’t have to show down, how do I know? He could have pulled a rabbit out of a hat with something like a runner-runner flush on the river and I would have been out. But in the end, that hand wasn’t a deciding factor for my outcome, so I think I did the right thing by mucking it. Out of the 10,000 players that started, this is what it came down to.

It was almost midnight and I was worn out mentally and physically. When it was down to three (moi, Babyboy2005 and Facecard22) I was more than done. But since both of them were super nice guys, I promised them I would stay and not sit out and be a sleeper. We had put up with a sleeper already for eons, and she antied out 4th.  I busted Babyboy2005 out 3rd. There was nothing more to win and I had no pride, ego or any other reasons for wanting to come in first.  Facecard22 however did, he wanted to win, a male pride thing, and I am glad he did. I didn’t give it to him though, he made 2 heads-up miracles against me. I had trip 9’s and he made a runner-runner flush, the end came when I had Jh9c and the flop was 8Q7h  I bet, Facecard22 called, turn was 10d I went all in, he called with Ah7d and a heart sealed my 2^nd place fate on the river. I must admit, I had to talk him into calling, I just wanted it over so I could sleep!  IMO it would have been more fun if we both had quit and got up this morning to see how we did!

A heads up battle for nothing but bragging rights is not something worth losing sleep over, not for me anyway.  So I finished 2^nd out of 10,000 and much more important to me than any 1^st place bragging rights, is the fact I get to play in Round 2 next week AND added to my bankroll, which is now $8.85. The top 200 advance to ”˜GO’ and since last week I busted out at 221, I feel vindicated!

If you are keeping track, you will see I lost 45c in ring games over 2 days *boohoo*

This brings me to a thought I have about the men vs. women player thing. A lot of men think a women will never be as good as a man is at poker. To this I say BS! For one simple reason, EGO. 

Not that there aren’t a lot of women players with the “ego attitude” there sure are. But in general, almost all men have it, that pride/ego ball in the center of their brain mass.  Watch the men play and the Ego goo oozes out of their ears when they get beat, or when they win a hand.  It is funny to watch, they win a big hand and are like a helium balloon filled to the max and hovering at the ceiling, high & mighty. Then they lose a big hand and the air goes out, with that high pitched screetching sound as they fly around in a tizzy then crash. “I win and I am the best, I lose and you are an idiot for playing your hand and beating me.”  Although this ego attitude fits the ”˜brand names’ it applies to the majority of male players I have encountered as well.

So, IMO, ego and pride gets in the way of good judgement when playing.  And, since this is more of a male trait that a female one, that is why I think a woman can play as good or even better as any man.  On the other hand, I haven’t met many women who’s play I respect, and I have played and dealt with/to hundreds of them.  In most cases it is just because they are not serious about winning and are playing for fun.  The other ones do have that ego/pride thing and it severely screws up their game.  They sit down with the goal of beating the guys. I know one thing from years of playing, start shooting for someone’s stack, and you WILL get creamed.  It is some unwritten law of poker, and the card fairy enforces it.

Please don’t leave me comments about women players! Yes I know the ”˜brand names’ like Annie Duke, Jennifer Harmon etc. play good, but if you read what I wrote, the key is “women I have MET” and I have never met them, or played against them.  Watching them on TV doesn’t count.

One lady I have watched and played online against and DO respect her play is our own Linda.  The card fairy may abandon her, but don’t kid yourself, she is one savvy lady. I wouldn’t want to be at the final table with her (if I had a choice)!

One thing I am sure of when it comes to poker players, we are exactly like drivers. We all think we are good or better than others when we get behind the wheel. However, the people in the lanes around you may think you are a huge Donkey.

Today I hope to try for next weeks Round 2 tourney, and next Saturday I get to play in the Bahamas Round2. So I have a whole week to wine and dine the Card Fairy….. I sure hope she likes left over Turkey.

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 25th, 2007 at 6:11 pm and is filed under Uncategorized.