Poker Update

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Interesting few days of poker… In my last post on poker, I mentioned that I felt ripped off by my site for not allowing me to use my Tournament Dollars (TDs) to register in last Sunday’s big tourney. This was the first time ever that TDs weren’t an option.

I also mentioned that I wasn’t going to log on again until they responded to my two complaints, one of which was the highest severity. They finally responded on Wednesday late afternoon (from two messages sent to them on Sunday!).

Their answer was completely unsatisfactory. Essentially, they changed their policy, and the Sunday tournament is now cash only, no TDs. The annoying part is that I earned the 215 TDs by winning an entry into the Sunday tourney, and then unregistering. That had always worked before. Now it didn’t…

So, it caused me to change my strategy. I had 215 TDs, that could be used in almost every other tourney, just not this one. I played on Thursday, and used the TDs to enter the nightly Omaha Hi-Lo tourney that I like so much.

I ended up third, getting back $257.60. The next day I played in some cheap qualifiers using TDs only (even when I have TDs, I always used cash in the past). I just missed winning a seat, but converted the TDs into $6 more in cash (woo hoo). 😉

Then yesterday, they had the same deal (perhaps it’s permanent now) whereby you can play in any or all of 16 tournaments, and if you make the final table, in addition to any cash prizes that you might earn, you also get a free entry into the Sunday tourney.

I used TDs only, all day. I played in four of the 16 tourneys, and also in a normal qualifier for the nightly Omaha Hi-Lo, which was another of the 16 tourneys. In addition to winning an entry into the Omaha tourney, I cashed in two of the earlier ones, including finishing seventh (out of 515 entrants!) in one. For that, I got back $90.12 in cash, and the free entry into the Sunday tourney.

I then played in the Omaha one. I ended up finishing 13th. That was in the money (only $31.20), but three away from winning another entry in the Sunday one, as I missed the final table. So, I cashed in three of the five tourneys that I played in, including one final table!

So, I haven’t spent any cash since the “event” last week. But, my account has gone up by over $400 in the same period and I still have 71 TDs left. Can’t complain about that, though I can complain about how I handled myself in the big one tonight…

After my disaster in the big one (see, now you don’t have to read the notes below) 😉 I just finished 16th in the Omaha, and added another $28.80 (woo hoo) to the cash hoard. Crazy tournament, with tons of roller coaster ups and downs. I lost some giant hands to complete idiots who got lucky. I’m looking forward to playing with them again. 😉

Here are my notes from that event…

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1020 entrants, top 110 paid

I was playing in another tourney when this one began, so I
played extra conservative in this one, until a few minutes
ago, when I won my entry into the Omaha Hi-Lo nightly
tourney.

At one point, I had AA, and someone limped in front of me,
but when I raised, everyone folded.

Then I had a very nice hand, with some nice luck as well. I
had 88 in the small blind. One limper, and I raised, the big
blind called and the limper folded.

Flop came 567, which was (obviously) very nice for me. I bet
the pot and he called. The turn brought the lovely 9 for the
straight, but it put two spades on the board. I bet the pot,
and he called. The river brought a 2 of spades, so the flush
could have killed me. I plowed on bravely, and went all-in
(he had me covered). He hesitated, and called. Turns out he
had 66 and flopped a set, but didn’t raise on the flop.

I’m in good shape now.

866 left, in 69th

Made it to the first break, though I just gave back a
non-trivial number of chips on the last hand before the
break. Oh well…

821 left, in 126th

Man. I raise with AJ. Two callers. Flop comes 7AJ. I bet the
pot, and get called by one. Turn is a 9. I bet the pot,
which puts the other guy all-in. He calls. He had 77 and
flopped a set. Back to the same number of chips I started
with. Oy…

761 left, in 488th

Just pushed with AK. Other guy had KK. I’m out in 736th.