Bad Beats, Variance, Steam and Mega Tilt

Lots of bummed friends in the poker world lately. Many of us are frustrated with losses lately. Good (some great) players that are properly rolled for the limits they are playing. ReelCrazy, ConnJure, Headwaiter, Gumby, TajMahal, Titokhan and of course, your hero (uh...me).

I'm forgetting a few others but you get the idea.

I went on mega tilt last week in 2 different sessions. It's stupid and I know better. Looks like I have a lot to learn. NO SHIT, I have only been playing for about 3 1/2 years. Many are newer to the game than me. We gotta get better, shut off the steam valve and become better players and develop a plan to add to our bankroll even when in a bad rut.

Most are advocating taking breaks in our forum. I've had it with 2 outers and idiots chasing me to the riv is a common cry.

Many of our group only play multi table tourneys or sit n gos. High variance. Often fighting huge fields.

My Solution? idea? plan? Incoherent ramble: Play ring games. Play a level or 2 below what you know you can beat. If you play $100 buyin NL ring play $25 buyin for a week. Instead of playing 2 tables play 3. If you are a one tabler play 2. More tables less variance. Lower limits means worse players. 3 big things you are missing out on in tourneys (and sits) is deposit bonuses, reload bonuses and rakeback.

If you have not seen how much bonus money and rakeback you can make while 3 tabling you might be surprised. Those 6 hours you spent to get 2 outered on the bubble coulda been a 3 tabling session where you made some money and your whole 6 hour investment didnt come down to 1 or 2 HUGE hands. 6 hours to get beat by a guy that has a million reasons why he plays bad. "It was Sooooted", He "just had a feeling" on that gutter.

Lets go with a medium length session and low numbers to be conservative. You drop down to 1/2 limit ring, 6 max. 3 tablin. A 4 hour session where you play 1000 hands. You win at the rate of 1.0 Big Bets per 100 or $20 profit. Your rakeback profit would be about $33 (25%) and your bonus $$ cleared would be $25 (at some sites).

So you made $78 for 4 hrs or $19.50 an hour. If you have a bad session and lose $58 you break even. Note: At No Limit your rake will be about 30% lower. This hourly rate goes up rapidly at each limit/more tables. Also, strong players will have a much higher win rate. 2-3 BB per 100 is not uncommon.

Beat up on these horrible 1/2 players (or whatever level is low for you) for a while then go back to your tourneys. Hit a bad stretch in tourneys? Wash, rinse, repeat. As you improve add a table and move up a level. Many pro ring players can't afford to play tourneys full time! They don't wanna take a pay cut. Todd Brunson is a good example.

If you are struggling in ring and are not mainly a tourney player use the example above but just drop down a level or two. Let the high volume of hands against weak players lower your variance. Always have bonus money and RB to add to your profits or help soften the losses on a bad night.

If you need help getting rakeback or want a plan to always be playing off bonuses let me know. I did it for 2 years. shark@sharkpokertour.com

Grind out some profits when you are struggling. Restore confidence and punish all the new players at the low limit ring games.

Take a break if you need one. If you have done well in Tourney play why not crush low limit ring and take a break later with your BR flush?

When you are playing 1000 hands a day ( you see flop in about 250 hands) there are not any HUGE hands. Just a whole bunch of them. Easy, low stress, and good practice. In that 6 hour tourney you saw maybe 45 flops and 4 of them were huge and maybe 2 were coin flips. No wonder tourney players are getting burned out.

I'm no pro just a strugglin player and i'd love to hear other ideas or plans on getting our crew rollin' again. Forum

Git Outta The Kiddie POOL!

Why do millions of long term players still only play freerolls or play chips?

Are you still in the kiddie pool? Why? If you want to become good at this great game you must deposit and play against real money players.

I believe the main problem is most players will not take the time to link their checking account up thru Neteller. Its not that $25 is too much to deposit.

Its very easy to get an account just for poker and link it thru neteller. We real money players all know that. But for many, this is hard to do. I think most are just lazy. They'd love to play real money, and pay no fees to deposit but just can't stop procrastinating and sign up.

Whats $25 nowadays? 2 burgers and 2 drinks at our local burger joint.

A good concert is $50 now. You can play a lot of real poker for $50.

That $25 will get an avid poker player into 5 AP tourneys with $1000 added in those 5 events. Its not value, they see the value. Its laziness and procrastination. Even if you have to go to your bank, open a separate checking account and sign up online at neteller its 60 minutes tops.

I realize this isn't 100% of the problem. But I bet its the #1 problem.

We are enabling these players to play with all the freerolls. Hey, if you wanna play 500 player fields for $100 have at it. I'd rather play against 50 ($5 entry) for $300. I get all that extra value (and 3 hrs less spent if I make the final table) because I was willing to set up my neteller.

Of course many are new freeroll players that are just not ready to deposit yet. I'm not talking about those players. I'm talking about the "career" freerollers that are never going to take the 45 min to get linked up to an online bank.

Of course, you and I know they will never become strong players playin freerolls and play chips. They will pay dearly when they decide to play live or finally make the jump to real poker. Then the players that dumped freerolls and play chips early on will make them pay for their procrastination, laziness or lack of a checking account to link up.

Do I wanna play real money ring games against someone that has only played freerolls or play chips? Give me a whole table of them.

Whats more fun? Real money or free/play? Damn.....if I only had the time to link with an online bank and deposit $25.

I'd like all our players to enjoy real poker. I want the ones that study strategy, work their way up and practice to have a profitable hobby they can play till they are 90. Its a great feeling walking into the Mirage with my wife and knowing that we are 3-1 to leave there with a nice profit.

Get off your butt, deposit a small amount into neteller and start playing .10/.20 no limit or .25/.50 limit poker. Play a few low buyins with us.
Stop learning bad habits and playing with every 14 year old that sits at these huge freerolls.

When you are crushing .10/.20 move up to .25/.50. Its easy, you will know when you are ready. In a year or 2 you are a winning player at 4/8 and can confidently walk into any poker room and have a great chance of beating the game you are bankrolled for.

I have a good friend that has a wife that won't let him play for real money. He makes good money and they are very wealthy. He wants to talk poker with me all the time. How great he is at play chips, the freeroll he got second in last week, etc. I've offered to take cash from him then transfer but hes afraid he'll get caught.

This is the only subject I don't wanna talk about with him. HE"S NOT A REAL PLAYER. He made a choice not to deposit. I wouldnt stake him for $30 at the local casino. He'll get his ass kicked. No real money experience, been playin against 14 year olds for to long. It's sad to me.

There are probably 100's of similar stories.

Hes a 3 year player now and probably has 20 million play chips. Is he a good player? What do you think? Has he ruined any chance of being a good player? I think so. Bad habits are tough to break.

It kills me that this great guy is not playin with us on Thursdays!

This great Tourney strategy article was written by online pro Rizen for Pocket Fives.

One thing that we are taught in poker over and over again, be it from books, coaches, videos, or forums, is to constantly be the aggressor. "Attack weakness," we're always told. Another common phrase is "make sure you win the pots nobody else wants." One of the core problems with this is that aside from knowing that we need to be the aggressor, we don't really know how to spot weakness in the first place, and then when we do spot it, we often don't know how or why to attack it.

One thing I want to warn about before I go too much further with this is that you must be paying attention to the table in order to exploit weakness. Good players know how to mix up their game and disguise strength as weakness and vice versa. You must know your opponent well enough to be able to tell if their actions indicate real weakness or disguised strength.

There are really two types of weakness you need to be able to spot. There is obvious weakness, when your opponent makes no attempt to hide the fact that he is weak. There is also disguised weakness, where your opponent tries to hide how weak he is by pretending to be strong. We'll talk some about the more obvious signs of weakness first.

Pre-flop, there is the limper. Limping on its own doesn't necessarily signify weakness. In fact, a limp from early position can be quite strong. That being said, if someone is limping after the first two people have folded, I consider it a sign of weakness. Beginning or unsophisticated players are often doing this with exactly the types of hands you think they'd limp with: Smallish/medium pocket pairs, medium suited connectors, or weak broadway hands like JTo and QJo.

Okay, so we've got a middle/late position limper; how do we exploit him? If the stacks are deep, you can often raise from position to isolate the weak player. I prefer to do this from the button, cutoff, and 2 off the button and not try and exploit these players from middle positions, as we can often then run into a real hand. For this article, I'm assuming that we're exploiting the player because he is weak without a real hand. If we have a real hand, then we're obviously raising for value, and this all doesn't matter as much. With this range of holdings, sometimes the player will fold, but often, if you make something like a 4x raise to isolate them, they'll call, hoping to hit a flop hard and get your entire stack.

Okay, so let's for arguements sake say your opponent calls your bet. What are you looking for?? Ideally what you're looking for are either flops with lots of high cards or a good mixed flop (K82r) or the like. You're going to c-bet most flops though, since their range of hands is such that they usually either hit it hard or missed completely, and you're often only playing this hand to exploit that they're going to miss most of the time (or not hit hard enough to easily call).

Flops to really watch for are low, coordinated flops. A flop like 567 with two of a suit would really scare me, as that often connects with their mid/pair mid/connector holdings. Sometimes on the scarier flops, I'll do a delayed continuation bet (check behind on the flop and bet the turn when checked to). A weak player is often a great source of chips this way, because he will continuously limp-call and fold the flop, feeling like once he hits, he'll make all his money back. He won't, though, because you're making a play on him and will fold when he shows strength.

Post flop, the most common type of obvious weakness is the weak lead. This is when someone makes a less than 1/2 pot bet into a pot. Good players will often use the weak lead to entice action with their big hands, but bad players often do it because they feel they have a decent hand or because they raised pre-flop so they have to bet something, but they are scared so they don't want to bet a lot.

Attacking this type of weak play differs depending on who the pre-flop aggressor was, as well as position. With position, if you were the pre-flop aggressor, the weak lead from your opponent often means that he got a piece of the flop but isn't confident enough to check-raise you. A decent sized raise on the flop will often take down this flop, as he will convince himself that you must have a monster if you raised pre-flop then raised him again on the flop. If he was the pre-flop raiser, the same line often works too, as your opponent often feels since he raised pre-flop he has to bet, but he is afraid enough of the flop to not make it a strong bet.

Out of position, you can check-raise in an attempt to take the pot down right there. Another way to vary your game is to check/call and see if he will fire a second bullet on the turn. Many weak players aren't capable of this, so you can often steal the pot with a river bet. This calling strategy works in position as well, and can be a very powerful move against players who will take one stab at the pot but not two.

Then there are the disguised forms of weakness. Pre-flop, this usually includes raising from a steal position. Re-stealing from these players is very read dependant, and it requires you to be paying attention to the table. There are a lot of pre-flop stealers who will fold when re-raised (assuming stacks are deep), and there are others who will call with almost anything they raise with. I try and categorize players as I play with them based on their pre-flop strength of play and aggression and post-flop strength and aggression. If the person is a poor post flop player, I'll often smooth call and look to take the pot away later, but if they're strong post flop, I'll often re-raise and try and take the pot down right there, particularly if I believe they're getting out of line. If you're dealing with a player that hardly ever raises, then don't assume the raise is weak, even from a steal position.

Post flop, the most common type of disguised weakness is the overbet. Again I caution you that good players will overbet their good hands sometimes to look weak, but average players often do it to discourage calls. Before deciding to try and exploit an overbet you perceive as being weak, make sure you look at the flop texture. Draw heavy boards are more likely to get overbet with a real hand as players attempt to protect their hand. Overbets on uncoordinated boards are more the type of plays we're looking to exploit. Again, how you attack this comes down to your read. Against some players who aren't capable of firing two bullets without a hand, you are better off calling and waiting to see if they can fire twice. Against players capable of firing twice, you'll want to raise to represent real strength. Mixing up your game and playing your opponents based on their strengths and weaknesses is of the utmost importance.

These are just a few of the more common forms of weakness I see, but there are many more. As you play more, you'll learn to identify them as you play and exploit them. One thing you'll notice I didn't talk about is short stack play. If you choose to attack weakness as a short stack, you're just pushing all in, be it pre or post flop. These plays often work, but when they don't, you can often look silly showing down garbage. If you're in the medium stack range, you should be limiting how much you're attacking weakness without a legitimate hand. If you have a 10 M stack and you raise a middle position limper and then c-bet the flop, you're often using close to half your stack on the play. While it may be +cEV to do so, you can often use those chips better with your real hands later. Attacking weak plays is something that, when done right, works about 80% of the time for a small pot and doesn't work 20% of the time for a larger pot. Make sure you can afford the chips that 20% of the time, or else don't do it.

Also, when we're attacking weakness it is a steal, and we must treat it as such. A steal doesn't become a value play because we hit middle pair, unless we hit a flop with two pair or better with our trashy hands (again, for this article, I'm assuming we're attacking them without real cards), it's still a steal. We've shown a lot of strength in the way we've played hands against the weaker players, and if they suddenly spring out of the woodwork, they've often hit their hand. If you're not disciplined enough to be able to lay down middle and even top pair with your raggy hands when you're trying to steal from a weak player, then you're probably giving away any profits and more you're making from your plays. A steal is a steal, and doesn't become a value play unless you hit two pair or better.

Lastly (and probably most importantly), be selective. Use your table image and play style to dictate how often you attack players who show signs of weakness. If you do it every time, it becomes obvious and exploitable (I'll limp with Aces because this guy always raises me!). If you go card dead for a little while, use your tight image to pick up a pot. If you've been getting hit in the face with the deck, use your image of always playing good cards to pick up a few pots. Knowing how and when to do it is largely a 'feel' thing, but you should be aware of how people at the table are reacting to you and adjust your game accordingly.

Best of luck

-Rizen

Vegas Cash for Lightning36!

A nice cash for highly regarded Shark player "Lighter'

Guest Blog for lightning36

A tournament that is called by many the “best in Las Vegas” is the Caesars Palace noon tournament. Why is this tournament so highly regarded?

Entry fee for the tourney is only $80, which gets you 1,500 chips. You are allowed one re-buy at $50 for 3,000 chips. The re-buy can be purchased at any time through the first two forty-minute rounds. Rounds are 40 minutes long, and the blinds start out slow --$50 and $25, then $100 and $50. The slowly increasing blinds make for some excellent tournament play. No worries of having to go all in with the first decent hand.

Having recently cashed in some Shark events, I was feeling confident heading into my trip to Las Vegas. I decided to play in the Caesars nooner on Tuesday, September 5. What a tournament it was.

Some people buy the re-buy right at the start. I decided to wait this time, leaving myself an option to go all in in the opening rounds but still be in the tourney if I lost the hand.

My table had only one maniac who kept raising almost every hand. The rest of the table consisted of a mix of weak and seasoned players. I felt like I would be able to do okay with my group.

Early on, a flop gave me a nut flush draw. Hoping for the chance to double up early, I chased the flush but got no help on the turn or river. Getting little else pre-flop, I contributed blinds and saw my stack go down too low to chase anyone out of a hand, so I re-bought earlier than I planned. At the first break, I had lost my entire starting 1,500 and had to depend on the 3,000 chips from the re-buy.

After losing more chips with promising hands but no help on the flops, I found myself the lowest stack at my table. I decided to turn extremely aggressive and take my chances. That’s the Shark way, right? No limping in for anyone if I had a hand.

Key hand: My first chance came when I got pocket 6's in early position. I went all in waited for a call. One player who was new to the table and appeared cocky decided to call with J-10 hearts. No one else called, and the guy got no help on the flop, turn, or river. I doubled up and put the guy on tilt. I grabbed the rest of his chips several hands later when I had a high pocket pair and he went all in with junk.

I then had a torrid streak of cards come my way. I knocked out one short stack when his J-J all in ran into my Cowboys. I had many other good hands and worked myself into a decent position.

It took a long time for the field to get down to 20, but soon we were there. Most at my table had relatively small stacks compared to the leaders at the other table. We thought that most of us wouldn't make it. The final table paid nine.

Key hand: I was staying in virtually no hands and got A-Q spades. I raised and got re-raised. I went all in and left the other player a tough choice. He had pocket nines, but was unwilling to call me since I had been playing so few hands and we were close to the bubble. If he called, one of us was out or down to almost nothing.

Key hand: I was in the big blind and had K-rag. Four people were in the hand. The flop was K-rag-rag. The small blind checked to me, and I checked, figuring that the small stack in late position might try to buy the pot. There is a check after me, and the small stack went all in. I called. He had A-rag and was in big trouble. The turn: A! I got no help on the river and was afraid that I would be a bubble boy.

The poker gods, however, are sometimes merciful. I got pocket 10's and went all in. I got no callers this close to the final table and built my stack back up. A few hands later, I again got pocket 10's and got no callers to my all in. I was alive!

The other table had some huge hands, and several folks from that table went to the rail. My table ended up having five of the final nine. We took a short break before the final table began. I called my wife to generate some good karma. I also told her that I hoped I wouldn’t speak to her again for some time – meaning that I was going to go deeper than my current 8th of 9 standing.

First out at the final table was a guy who made a terrific call early in the game. I am not sure what he was trying to do, but I guess that he was trying to buy the blinds by going all in with a dangerous flop -- flush and straight possibilities, all high cards. Unfortunately, one of the chip leaders had the near nuts and called, sending the guy to the rail in 9th place.

A hand for the ages: I was in the big blind and was dealt A-10 diamonds. The chip leader made a huge raise and was called by the shortest stack, who was now all in. There was not much difference between 7th and 8th place money and I only had a few more rounds of blinds, so I decided to go all in and pray for some diamonds. The other players turned over their cards. The chip leader had A-8 clubs, and the short stack had A-K red/black. The flop came with all black cards, and I figured that I was out or would have virtually nothing left. But wait - two of the flop cards were a Queen and a Jack. The turn: a King! I slammed my fist on the table edging and yelled "straight!" The river was of no consequence, so I knocked out one player and almost tripled up!

We got down to five players, and two had short stacks. I was hoping that they both would go out so that I could talk about a chop with the other two big stacks. One short stack, however, repeatedly got good hands and caught cards. He built up his stack, and soon there were four of us left. I proposed a chop, and the other players agreed to look at a proportional payout based on chip count, which I knew would be a good deal for me.

While the proposed payouts were figured out, the dealer started us back up. A few hands later, I got a monster with A-J and hit an Ace on the flop. The Caesars manager then came back with the chip count. However, I couldn't persuade all the others to go with the new chip count. One guy said "old chip count or we play it out." Why we even played while the count was being taken made no sense to me, but since the original chip count guaranteed me just short of 2nd place money, I agreed. The blinds were very large, and the luck of the cards was now too much of a factor.

End result: A cash of $1,365. Not bad for an afternoon of poker.

Funny note: One player complimented me on my excellent play while short stacked. My reply: "I am used to playing short stacked!"

So ... if this Shark player can score in Las Vegas, you can too. Good luck at the tables!

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Good Report John. Titan Hat and Shark Tee are in the mail! GREAT CASH!

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Your urgent action is needed! On September 12th the Poker Players Alliance with the support of leading poker blogs and forums, #####, ##### and others are organizing a "Phone March" on Capitol Hill. From 9:00 AM Eastern Time, until 5:30 PM Eastern Time on Tuesday, September 12th, we are asking all PPA members and anyone interested in defending poker to call this toll free number, 800-289-1136 and be patched through to one of your two U.S. Senators in Washington D.C. When you call the 800 number you will hear a recording from fellow PPA member Greg "Fossilman" Raymer and then you will be prompted to enter your five digit zip code so you can be directed, free of charge, to your Senator's office.

Note: The 800 number will only be active between 9:00 AM EST and 5:30 PM EST on Tuesday September 12.

Key points you should make:

* I am voter in your state.
* I strongly oppose any legislation that would prohibit online poker, and urge the Senator to vote against such legislation.
* Poker is a skill game enjoyed by 70 Million Americans.
* The Senator should seek to regulate online poker much like the government regulates other forms of gaming, like lotteries.
* Prohibitions don't work. Any legislation that tries to ban online poker will only drive those players underground.
* Again, I urge the Senator to oppose any attempts to prohibit me from playing the great American game of poker on the Internet.

The threat to poker is real. Please forward this information to everyone you know who cares about poker and an American's freedom to use the Internet. We need everyone possible to make their voice heard on September 12th!

Heads up!

Got most of the rust knocked off of my heads up game. Won 9 heads up sit n gos in a row at Ultimate Bet the last 2 nights. Just $20's (no action at 30 or 50, really slow there HU) and was going for number ten when I got 2 knarly beats. Chip count was about 2100 to 900 in my favor when I made my 2nd pr on the turn. We got it all in there and his lone pair, 88 was in deep. Bamm, 8 on the riv to put him back in the game.

Couple hands later he pushes pre with A2o I call with AKs. oops, lets see him get outta this one. 2 on turn, and the streak ends at 9. Good run.

My lovely and talented bride is up $500 at Full Tilt (3/6 short, 2 tables)this week! Notice its not the warden in this blog entry? $500 is a huge week since shes only playing an hour or two each day. She rarely goes for longer than 2 hrs. I think she's ready for 10/20 live when we get to Vegas. Proud papa!

Took the lab (Cody) to the Mukilteo beach today. I can tell when it's been too long since he has been for a dip. He hyperventilates as he swims the 40 yards for his favorite stick. So I got a happy (and tired) dog at my feet right now.

Here it is. The last 25 movies in my top 100. I'll post my top 10 at the bottom.

High Noon
ChinaTown
Dirty Harry
High Plains Drifter
Pale Rider
Outlaw Josey Wales
Jeremiah Johnson
Coming Home
The Verdict
Witness
Bugsy
A Few Good Men
Scent of a Woman
Traffic
Tombstone
Carlitos Way
Atlantic City
Children of a Lesser God
Bad Lieutenant
25th Hour
Once Upon a Time in America
Snatch
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Taxi Driver
Alien

Sharkees Top Ten All Time Movies

#1 All Time, Pulp Fiction
#2 Godfather 1
#3 Sling Blade
#4 Rain Main
#5 Godfather 2
#6 The Hustler
#7 Cool Hand Luke
#8 Body Heat
#9 Leaving Las Vegas
#10 Shawshank Redemption

Hopefully you will find two or three in there that you have not seen.

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Lots of Tourneys upcoming! Absolute 9/7 ($5), Titan 9/8 Freeroll, Absolute 9/9 Freeroll, Vet Series @ Poker.com, 9/10 ($5) with newest Shark legend, Cardluvr hosting. The guy is just plain tough. Take him out for shark swag.

New Players to these sites go here:

Absolute

Titan

Poker.com

Already registered at these sites? Our passwords are easy to find, go here

ONLINE SHARK SATELLITE TOUR
or here: SHARK POKER TOUR

Should be over 20 Tourneys this month! Have fun!

September Tourneys being loaded now!

Online No Limit Star Mahatma (formerly Spirit Rock) Prahlad Friedman



Great Shark Tour Hold'em MTT playa Steve Lanza dba "juzfishn"

9/27 9PM EST
Absolute Poker Ladies Night, $100 added, Freeroll SPT. Ladies Only. Boys with NO integrity will play. Please no complaints, have fun and ignore them. To mute them right click their avatar, hit mute. We get to 300 players we can go to $200 added! Tell your lady friends!

Okay, back to my TOP 100 Movies. 75 to go. In no particular order, heres the next 50.

History of Violence (might make top 10)
French Connection
Marathon Man
Drugstore Cowboy
GlenGary Glen Ross
Annie Hall (one chick flick!)
Groundhog Day
Usual Suspects
Angels with Dirty Faces
Deliverance (Reelcrazy thought this was a documentary)
Memento
Das Boot
LA Confidential
Saving Private Ryan
Forrest Gump
The Sting
Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid
Kalifornia
The Way of the Gun
Waterworld
Borne Supremacy
Hunt For Red October
Silence of the Lambs
Cinderella Man
Master and Commander
Casino
True Grit
3:10 to Yuma
48 Hours
Donnie Brasco
Castaway
Dances With Wolves
Jaws
Sixth Sense
Platoon
Gladiator
Die Hard
Dog Day Afternoon
Bonnie and Clyde
Almost Famous
American Beauty
Field of Dreams
For a Few Dollars More - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly - Fistful of Dollars
Rain Man (in top 10 for sure)
Road To Perdition
Millers Crossing
Raging Bull
Midnight Express

Hope everyone had a good August! Would love to see you post in our FORUM!

Good folks in there and some funny peops too. I'm spending an hour every day taking out all the f*%#in spammers. Its pretty much spam free (not easy to do). I now realize if I want horse sex, phetemine, xanax, or golden showers I can get all of the above online! Does anyone really click on these links? Besides me I mean....

Congrats to Uncle Lazzy winning the Thursday Absolute thingy dealo for a sweet cash.

No Vet Series this week. Got too busy building the NEW site and got behind. More info in the Forum.

I played 4 $20 sit n gos at UB last night. Played them all at once and went out early in the first one (6 man) got 5th. Then went on a tear. Won a ten man (+100) then won a six man (+84). Got Heads up in the last one (10 man)and we were about even (7500 chipsters apiece) when this hand almost made me pop a vein.

I'm on the button with K10o. I got a read on my opponent (hes shitty and wants to get me all in on a coin flip so I can't outplay him) and raise standard 3-4X BB. He calls and we take a gander at a K84 rainbow flopola. He bets min and I raise him allin. He insta calls with 83s. 3 in a ROW, I tell Raisin...Turn 3! nh gg, fuck me.
2nd was $60 so a nice $160 or so in the BR for 70 minutes of play. I'm rusty, i'll take it. 83 calls a 7000 raise for all his chips! Where do they find these guys? He said "wow, I didnt think you had a KING". Was he hopin' I had middle pair with a worse kicker then a 3? ha! Funny now, man I was hot.

I found a buncha Vegas pics. This is one of my favorites. Makes me wanna jump on a plane.