Hi-Lo final and the PLO

What a day for the young kid Scott. There’s no doubt that he got very lucky in the final but the boy played great. Before I mention my beat by him, I must include the one he gave the ninth place finisher. Scot raised of the SB and BB calls. Flop Q-4-2. Scott bets and the BB calls. Turn is another Q and Scot bets again with A-A-A-J. Holding the nut full house with Q-4, SB raises. Scot calls and rivers the case Ace. Of course he now bets out to almost bust the unlucky player.

As for my hand against him, I had flopped two pair and the nut flush draw versus Scot’s one pair and NO DRAW except for four outs, one of which was the Jack on the river. But hey, that‘s poker.

Chili Pepper mentioned that I was back with a great desire to play again after only playing 8 events this year prior to the WSOP. Well….just to prove the point, I busted from the Hi-Lo with just a two minute window to get into the PLO that had been running for two hours. I made it in time and took a re-buy and double top-up for an outlay of $6K. And though some stacks had stood at over 70K, with blinds of 50-100, 6K to play with was not too bad. After playing a careful first hour, I had more than doubled my stack. However, I wanted to have some fun and play “funny” poker. Well….I did just that by limping 150 and then 200 blind every unraised pot, from whatever position and for two hours. This was fun beyond belief. Soon, I was chip leader on my table with 45K and cruising.

With blind at 150-300 and then 200-400, I settled to a more conventional approach. However, I played bad when looking at my cards as I missed every flop for almost three hours. Back down to just 20K at a crucial time, a double up with a BB specials of 2-2-5-9. With five limpers, I check the flop of J-9-2. Tony G likes his top two pair and bets 2500. Bruno Fitusi likes his wrap and calls. I like my 2-2-2 and decide to push. Tony begrudgingly calls my raise with a comment that I must have a set of deuces. Running 8-8 secures the pot for me and we get down to 4 tables.

I wont bother you with my bad beat stories of what became a torturous countdown to the last 18 and to the money. I lost pots to lower stacks that would have set me up nicely. And before long, I was the short-stack and looking good to bubble. Playing round for round, Scott Fischman, who once held a mountain of chips, was finally busted with the few chips that remained - in the money now. However, with one hand to go and on the BB, I could still go broke. That would mean sharing the 9K with Scott. But looking down at my 5-5-2-9, there would be no danger of that! But what can you do when three players decide to limp, and the flop comes K-T-5? With 17K, I played the hand in the exact same fashion as the 2-2-2. This time, a bet of 3,600 is called by one player before I push. Losing $4.500 was never an issue here. I wanted to have a chance to win this thing. Anyway, the initial better calls with his flush draw that gets there on the turn. But wait a minute guys, I still have outs you know! Is it possible? Could the board pair just one time for me? That King on the river was so sweet. After how the last three hours had gone, I can tell you that it was so well deserved.

Anyhow, I am now chilled enough to go to bed and start all over again tomorrow. And irrespective of what happens, I shall be looking forward to the $5K Stud event on Wednesday.

You may recall that a few weeks ago I made a post suggesting that my desire had diminished somewhat. But how things change! Having put back all the other projects I am involved with, I suddenly WANT to play poker again. I WANT to kick butt. I WANT to win. God it feels good to say that again!