I was supposed to go broke there, too bad I'm such a sick poker player

Okay, I know I said nothing higher than .5/1 but I couldn't help myself. Scanning over the 2/4 hu tables I saw some jerk sitting down with $1700. I had to take my shot at all that sweet cash. A little while into the match I had doubled up so I had roughly $800. I picked up KQ of clubs in the sb and raised to 12. The jerk reraised me to 40. I called and the flop cam AJJ with one club. The jerk checked, and I checked behind, hoping the turn would help me. The turn came 8 of clubs and the jerk checked again. I bet 55, and he raised it to 140. I called, thinking that I had tremendous implied odds, and the river came 2 of clubs, giving me the nut flush. My opponent bet 189. My first reaction was to shove all in, but I actually thought my opponent could have a VERY strong hand due to the way he had played it. The main thing that made me suspicous was that he checked both the flop and the turn. It was like he was so strong he was trying to let me catch up so he could get paid. Considering what my opponent could have, I quickly ruled out a naked ace, there was just no way in hell. He played way too strong. I separated his range into 3 groups. The first group was hands that had me fucked (AA, AJ,) and the somewhat less likely 88 although still possible the way the hand had played out. The second group was trip jacks which seemed like what he was representing. Against this group an all in raise would probably be paid off. The third group was a complete bluff. Maybe he missed everything but thought I was weak because I checked the flop. Since I only had value against one of the 3 groups, I decided on just calling. My opponent showed AJ and took down the pot. Wow! What a crazy hand. I was disappointed to lose the pot but happy and proud that I didn't stack off. The old Nebraskabeef would have shoved the river without thinking. So sick...

Poker has been a real roller coaster for me lately, but right now I'm on top. I have cashed out 10k from pokerstars since the beginning of 08 and I have a healthy bankroll. What's really saved my ass is my ability to start off with a small bankroll (ie: $200 like I did last night) and increase it 10 fold by playing hu with someone who has a ridiculous amount of money compared to the limit he's playing (ie: $700 on a .5/1 table) and just taking it all from him. It would be nice if I could just do this every time, but lately, I pretty much have, so I'm not going to complain. But enough about poker, let's talk about my life a little bit... I've been sick for about a week (special thanks to ierdna and draks bg) but I'm feeling good now. Unfortunately I have to continue taking antibiotics so I can't drink. That's okay though because I have a big Tres es Rey match on Saturday so I'm just gonna save myself till then and hopefully tear it up. School is kind of fucking me right now, but I'm going to try to pull out a 3.25 gpa. I think I can do it, but just in case I don't I'm probably gonna use my training money now and play a chess tournament in cancun over spring break with my friend (Happypoto). This is actually really convenient because I was planning on going to Mexico the next week anyway with my family, so now I can just stay there. Dallas can be really boring some times so it should be nice to get away. ...back to poker: I have had such huge swings lately (ie: 1000+ in one day) so I think I am going to stick mainly with .5/1 hu and continue my strategy of finding ppl with way too much money. As long as I am on a hot streak though, I reserve the right to move up.

Sickest call of my life

I have been playing some HU cash lately, and doing pretty well. I just have to tell you guys about a hand that was so sick. I was playing 1/2 HU. The jerk I was playing and myself both had about $300. He was a fairly wild player, definitely capable of bluffing, but had also shown down some strong hands. He raised me to 6 as he had been doing all game, and I woke up with pocket 9s, so naturally I reraised to 18. He quickly called (also as he had been doing all game). The flop came Q J high with 2 diamonds. I had the 9 of diamonds. I c-bet 22 and he called. The turn came 8 of diamonds giving me a straight draw and flush draw along with the pair I felt might be good. I checked, and he made a bet of almost 50. I called, counting a river 10 as an out to the nuts and a diamond as a probable out. The river came Q pairing the board. I checked again and he overbet the pot betting 189! My first thought was "There's no way in hell I can call here." As I was moving my mouse toward the fold button, however, it struck me what a strange play this jerk was making, so I started thinking through possible hands. I quickly ruled out all the 2 pair hands, ie: Jx through even hands like aces. He would have simply checked such hands or made a small value bet. It seemed like the only hands he could have were 3 Qs or a flush. But this made no sense looking at the nature of his bet. I had originally shown strength by reraising but had shown weakness by checking the last 2 streets, so it was probably pretty easy to put me on a midranged pair. The thing was, his bet was not one that said "I have a strong hand, and you probably don't have much, so give me some value" but rather "you seem weak so get the fuck out of here with your midpair or A high or whatever shit you have." After thinking through all of this I convinced myself that this jerk was making a play on me and that my hand was best. But now comes the toughest part: actually making the call. With my time bank running out, I gritted my teeth and made what I knew would be one of the sickest or one of the stupidest calls I ever made. He showed K 10, a missed straight and flush draw, and I raked the pot. Boom Bitch!

Gotta take a break

Hello friends,

Unfortunately I find it necessary to take a 2 week break from poker to clear my mind and focus on some other aspects of my life. After this I look forward to coming back better than ever.

Showdown with ahh snap

This was one of the more interesting hands I've had in 25/50. The original raiser was a very active player so I thought he was full of shit. Because of this, I thought it was the perfect time for a squeeze. I wasn't expecting ahh snap to wake up with a hand, however.

*********** # 113 **************PokerStars Game #14736090225: Hold'em No Limit ($25/$50) - 2008/01/22 - 02:06:16 (ET)Table 'Walinskia' 9-max Seat #5 is the buttonSeat 2: ADZ124 ($5065 in chips) Seat 3: vovka19 ($3871 in chips) Seat 4: Semifaded ($1472 in chips) Seat 5: DJ Sensei ($5213 in chips) Seat 6: Nebraskabeef ($900 in chips) Seat 7: ahh_snap ($12164 in chips) Seat 9: LittleZen ($1147 in chips) Nebraskabeef: posts small blind $25ahh_snap: posts big blind $50*** HOLE CARDS ***Dealt to Nebraskabeef [As 9c]LittleZen: folds ADZ124: folds vovka19: raises $50 to $100Semifaded: folds DJ Sensei: calls $100gvar27kj9lo joins the table at seat #1 Nebraskabeef: raises $800 to $900 and is all-inahh_snap: calls $850vovka19: folds DJ Sensei: folds ews12 joins the table at seat #8 *** FLOP *** [7c 9d 9s]*** TURN *** [7c 9d 9s] [3d]*** RIVER *** [7c 9d 9s 3d] [2s]*** SHOW DOWN ***Nebraskabeef: shows [As 9c] (three of a kind, Nines)ahh_snap: mucks hand Nebraskabeef collected $1997 from pot

Serves him right for making a weak call with 88 from such a position.

Return to Prominence

Hello fans and admirers--

I have been playing poker for a little less than 2 years. After getting off to a good start with online poker, I hit a bad stretch where many people (myself included) doubted that I could become a successful poker player. Since the year began however, I have been on a meteoric run. Starting off with the last $500 I had in the bank, I have built my bankroll all the way up over 10k. And I have no intention of stopping here. My goal is to become one of the best high limit cashgame players in the world. The purpose of this blog is to chronicle my return to prominence by looking at hand histories which not only prove entertaining but also educational. I will give my opinions on the regulars at the limits I play which range from 3/6 to 25/50 and share some funny stories. Let's get started...