Another shot at the $20k on Stars ends with me busting out in 250-somethingth with QQ v 44. With the exception of a crazy few minutes, I played excellent poker throughout, despite experiencing some low-level tilt thanks to a suckout-filled day. The first hour was great; I chipped up early on after getting my AA in preflop vs KK and 33 (yes, really, 33), and worked my stack well to keep among the chipleaders, but everything ground to a halt after the first break when I was moved to a table which was mostly comprised of smart, aggressive players who refused to lose. Seven of the eight opponents who I started playing with with were still there almost two hours later, and the blinds had moved from 75/150 to 1000/2000/100 with virtually no change in the number of chips at the table. And I was phenomenally card dead for the entire period. And while everyone to my right was playing solid aggressive poker, the two to my left were the weakest, tightest players on the planet, which meant that I barely get to see an unraised pot in late position for the duration. I couldn’t imagine a worse table.
I survived by defending my blind very aggressively, and the only two big pots I won were with 64 suited and 62 offsuit, both times by calling raises from the aggro squad and then check-pushing the unhelpful flop . That can often lead to disaster, but it was about the only option available to me; if it could have been avoided, it would have been. Despite my kamikaze blind defence, I still ended up getting whittled away, and when I finally caught a playable hand (ATs) in the BB towards the end of the third hour I decided to shove against the inevitable raise, even though I was fairly sure I was behind. (This is the bit which wasn’t excellent poker). I was fucked off, frankly, and had decided it was time to double up or go to bed. I was right, I was behind; AQs held up and I was left with less than a big blind in my stack.
I managed to triple up with 93 on the next hand, though, and a couple of judicious pushes later, I was back in the running, and better still, I finally got moved off the HELL TABLE. The relief was reinforced when I picked up pocket queens in my first big blind in my new seat, and doubled through some joker who tried to steal with 42 offsuit. This got me safely through the bubble, and into the third break, which is when the vaguely funny bit happened:
THE VAGUELY FUNNY BIT
Last hand of the hour, and a guy with less than an ante pushes from UTG. Another player calls from early position, one more calls from the button, and the BB pushes all-in for about 5 big blinds. Both limpers call.
The flop comes king-rag-rag, the first limper bets out, the button folds, and we see the cards. The limper has KQ, the big blind AT, but the turn and river bring a Q and a J to give the BB a straight, and the other guy starts in with the mouthy stuff. “This fucking site, how can this shit happen all day long, rigged Jokerstars bullshit”… etc. And being bored, I type “AT v KQ, all-in preflop, it’s a seven card game, get a grip”, and go off to make some coffee.
When I come back, there’s a ton of abuse from Mr. KQ aimed at me. His last comment is “Ah, you’re from London, no wonder you’re such a donkey”. To which Mr. AT replied -
“No, I’m from New Jersey, same as you. Geometry obviously isn’t your strong point”.
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Look, it’s been a rough day, alright? I’d probably find a BBC Three comedy show funny right now.
(In good news, my losses on the tables were offset by some astute bets on the football, so I’m actually slightly up on the day financially. This has to be weighed against the numerous hours of teeth-grinding poker frustration, sadly).