So I decided to play a $10 SNG on Party Poker. I ended up getting like 5th place, very upsetting. The hand that hurt me the most was the following:

***** Hand History for Game 996893018 *****
30/60 TourneyTexasHTGameTable (NL) (Tournament 6140846) - Tue Sep 28 02:22:28 EDT 2004
Table Table 11534 (Real Money) -- Seat 10 is the button
Total number of players : 7
Seat 1: Wookee (665)
Seat 3: McKim (1060)
Seat 5: gravfe18 (925)
Seat 7: akratic (1060)
Seat 8: ronlewis36 (1165)
Seat 9: wareagle555 (1960)
Seat 10: coach102084 (1165)
Wookee posts small blind (15)
McKim posts big blind (30)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to McKim [ Js, Jd ]
gravfe18 folds.
akratic folds.
ronlewis36 calls (30)
wareagle555 folds.
coach102084 calls (30)
Wookee folds.
McKim raises (90) to 120
ronlewis36 folds.
coach102084 calls (90)
** Dealing Flop ** : [ 9d, 5c, 3d ]
McKim bets (150)
coach102084 calls (150)
** Dealing Turn ** : [ Ah ]
McKim checks.
coach102084 checks.
** Dealing River ** : [ 6d ]
McKim checks.
coach102084 bets (200)
McKim calls (200)
** Summary **
Main Pot: 985
Board: [ 9d 5c 3d Ah 6d ]
Wookee balance 650, lost 15 (folded)
McKim balance 590, lost 470 [ Js Jd ] [ a pair of jacks -- Ah,Js,Jd,9d,6d ]
gravfe18 balance 925, didn't bet (folded)
akratic balance 1060, didn't bet (folded)
ronlewis36 balance 1135, lost 30 (folded)
wareagle555 balance 1960, didn't bet (folded)
coach102084 balance 1680, bet 470, collected 985, net +515 [ 8d 5d ] [ a flush, nine high -- 9d,8d,6d,5d,3d ]

My major mistake in this hand was not betting on the turn. The Ace scared me and I was afraid he/she might have hit there Ace. I strongly believe that if I had bet atleast half the pot on the turn then I would have gotten the person to fold. But no, I was being retarded and checked it and let the person see that diamond. Also, maybe some would have folded after the other person bet 200 on the river, I probably should have but I wanted to see what the person have. First of all, this guy called a 4x BB bet with 85suited. Now, understandably you might want to do this at times, but there was only 2 people in the hand, the caller and myself. 85suited is a HORRIBLE hand to play in that situation. Oh well.

I've learned my lesson, never check the turn.

I played in another $20 buyin, blinds $.25 $.50. This is my typical game I play in. I am confortable playing in this type, it doesn't put a burden on me financially like playing $.50 $1.00 blinds, or even $1 $2 as a lot of my friends play.

Anyway, I started out the night doing very well. We were playing 7 handed and I brought my $20 to about $40 in just under 30 minutes. Obviously this was with the help of a few good hands, and a few good bets by myself. Although this was the peak of my stack this particular night, it all went downhill from there. I'll first speak about my major mistake, then about my final hand.

I am dealt 88 in mid position. Folded to me and I make it $2 to play. Three callers (BB calls). Flop comes JJ5. BB checks, I bet the pot, $8. Fold Fold. BB raises me $8 (BB is now allin). I think for a minute and end up calling. BB flips over AJ. River is a blank. Horrible play on my part, I should have cut my losses and folded. Oh well.

Final hand of my play. I am at about $26. I am UTG (under the gun, or first to act after the blinds) with AQo (o stands for offsuit). I make it $2 to play, person two to the left of me raises $5. Folds around to me. I think for a very long time on what he might have. He is a fairly loose player that likes to make feeler bets, as any player should, to get a better idea of his hand. I put him on either a low pocket pair or some crappy A10, QJ, KQ type hand. I end up reraising all-in, another $19 to him. $19 to his stack is about half of his stack. He calls immediately with 66. Ok, with that quick call I was expecting to be dominated, but I now have 50/50. A 6 comes on the river and his set kicks my Ace high after all five cards are seen.

My question for you is, do you think that 66 was a ballsy call? I mean, at best he had to think he was 50/50. Would you risk half your stack on a 50/50? Oh well, worked out for him. Props to Vince, although next time you wont be so lucky cause I will have an overpair on you :)

So I was playing my normal game tonight. $20 buyin with blinds at $.25 and $.50. I started out getting several good hands, AA, and AK. Taking down those pots giving me about $35 to play with. From there I started to open up my game a little. I normally am very conservative in cash games (I am too much of a tournament player). I normally have a hard time adapting to cash games but I did very well this session. I ended up cashing out $110... roughly a $90 profit. I was very pleased.

I will share one hand with you. It was the next to last hand of the session. I have K10 suited and by this time we are playing 4 handed. I am under the gun and make it $2 to play. One caller. Flop is Q,J,9 rainbow. I check, he checks. Next card is a Queen. I bet $3. Guy raises me $5 to make it $8 to play. I reraise $10. He goes all in and I call with my K high straight. You'd think he had a queen, possibly right? No, he had a J Ace kicker. River didn't matter and I took a very nice pot to end the night with.

Overall I am very pleased with my performance. Hopefully this is a good sign to play more cash games. Only time will tell.

Has it really been two and a half weeks since my last entry? Oh well. I've been extremely busy getting ready for school. After my convention I moved into my house for the upcoming school year. The fraternity I am in, Alpha Epsilon Pi, is using the house this year for meeting places, parties, etc. It has been so much fun so far, and it has only been a little over two weeks. Anyway, I have played some poker since my last post, so I suppose you are here for that.

$20 buyin game with blinds at $.25 and $.50. I have KT suited mid position, I call. Two callers. BB checks. Flop is J,9,8. BB checks, I check, mid guy bets $.50. BB raises to $2, I reraise to $7. Mid guy folds. BB thinks a long time and calls. Turn comes a blank. BB checks. I think real long, then check (this was my mistake.) River comes a blank. BB checks, I go all in for an additional $7. BB thinks long and hard, calls with J7 (top pair 7 kicker). Granted, it was a good call on his part, assuming he had me on nothing. I gave him a lot of shit for this call, I thought I represented better than that. If I had bet on the turn, then bet on river, he might have folded. Or just have folded on the turn. Who knows.