Poker-- Weekend Summary

Well, an Interesting and successful weekend.

Saturday was fairly sparse due to family committments so I only played 2 SNG's on Pacific. The results were a 3rd and 5th. Loss of $2. 2 Ring games also net a small $.53 loss. Not a great day, but survivable.

Sunday was far better. First, let me track back to Sunday a week ago. I had played 3 SNG's and lost all 3. I have been analyzing to see if there is any corelation between days of the week and times of the day when I play and the results. Currently there does not seem to be any useful statistical data. Since I had played my 3 SNG's last Sunday (10/17) morning, I wondered if the losses were somehow attributable to my not being fully engaged mentally. With this in mind, I played a low limit ring game (.10/.20 7 Stud) on Stars in the morning to get my head in the game. Massive win of $0.86! Remember a win's a win.

Now on to the 11's on Pacific. First SNG was quite unauspicious. No really big playable hands, and I was out 4th. The thought flicked through my mind, "Is today going to be like last Sunday, 3 and out?". Then things improved. Not quite dramatically, but improve they did. I ended up playing 8 SNG's from 11:30a -8:30p. There were several breaks during that period. The results were One 1st, Three 2nds, one 3rd and three 4ths. Very successful in that I made the bubble on 100% of my SNG's. I came within $3 of my daily Win Goal (a $72 profit), and would have exceeded it if I HAD NOT played that final SNG (4th).

Two interesting observations from the day. In the 2nd SNG of the day, In this tourney, I received JJ in crucial situations. In both instances, I got all my money in the pot and won. Now I am always conflicted when I receive JJ. Good enough to get into trouble, not always good enough to get out. The first hand, I was UTG+1 and was low stack 540 with 8 still playing on the last hand of 25-50 blinds. Button put me all-in. Button had AKo and luckily no A no K. Second instance with 100-200 blinds and I had 1160 with 5 players left. I raised to 400 and chip leader, who had been playing every hand, put me all-in. Chip leader had KQ clubs. No K no Q no clubs. This hand moved me to the chip lead at the time, and although I received no premium hands from that point on, finished 2nd.

In the 3rd SNG, I made my work much harder to cash. With 5 players left, I attempted a steal with AT diamonds. With A on flop Ii nibbled with minimum bets. My opponent hit a J on the river to win with AJo, yet I was never ahead in the hand. I blew off 350 in chips on that debacle making a struggling 2nd finish a very good outcome.

The character of each SNG is different. SNG's 2-5 were all tight affairs. Average time 1hr 10 minutes. My one 1st of the day was a 93 minute tourney. SNG's 6 and 7 had aggressive, make that super aggressive player who doubled/tripled up on first couple of hands and pushed to the limit. Average time per tourney 30 minutes with a 2nd & 3rd place finishes.

In the final tourney, the hand I missed playing which surely could have changed my prospects. Chip leader on BB, I was UTG blinds 25-50. I had JJ and smooth called due to my position. Was raised to 260 by short chips who had played very aggressive so far, with 5 players remaining. Chip leader called and I folded. Flop A K J. Agressive player had KQo and won the hand. Had I played, the aggressive player who knocked me out 4th would have been eliminated and I would have been massive chip leader. I think I made the correct play in that situation so no regrets.