Talk about redemption. Man do I feel great! I got every card on the river and won every race for a change. Things went my way and the results are wonderful when that happens. What a rewarding feeling to have 2 more shots at the WSOP Main Event at my absolute descretion. That’s hard to beat.

Now the problem.

I just started a new job and there is no way I can ask for 2 weeks off to go play poker even if it were un-paid. ROFLMAO
That’s a real good way to get kicked out the door. Sooooooooooo, I am going to keep the FPP’s and use them when the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker begins. Makes sense to me. No major loss to me as FPP’s do not expire and I can pick and choose my spots with over 10k in FPP’s. So all is certainly not lost.

Seriously, I made money last year but did not have the breakout kinda year I was hoping for. My goal is to win a tournament for over 10k this year. Period. I have cashed plenty in the larger events but never made a Final Table after bubbling twice for decent money. Walked away from both of those with $1600+ but very dissappointed. Gotta change that as quickly as possible. I know I have the skill and can make my way fine. I just need to avoid the beats and pick up a couple more hands late in the poker tournament. It will happen soon enough. I am pretty focused this year even more than last. I have opened up my game a bit as well. So far so good.

Later,

Curtis III

I just took down one of six entries into the Saturday WSOP Super Satellite. It was a little rough going in the beginning but I sucked out and tripled up early and then again in the middle of the tournament. This tournament had 64 players. It was giving away 6 entries into the Super Satellite. It only cost 400 FPP’s to play. So the numbers were great.

When I got to the Final Table I was short stacked but managed to double up to survive when I turned a diamond to give my [Jc][Td] the nut flush on an all diamond board. Plays like this were not going my way a while back. Now my hands are holding and I am the one getting lucky. That is a great feeling!

Well, I plan on playing in this one. See you at the WSOP Super Satellite this weekend.

Curtis III

I am just about at break. Doing well after being doubled up by a guy with middle pair. I had pocket aces and he had queen nine. I raised it up three times in the big blind and he calls. The flop comes down blank-nine-blank. I check and he bets. I raise all in and he calls with middle pair for half his stack. You gotta love it!

I am around $2300 right now. I still need to double up. Six seats are being given away. We are down to the last 31 out of 64. Play has been kinda passive. If I can get a hold of some chips I can take control at this table easily. Gotta get back.

Later,

Curtis III

OK, coming off of that WSOP qualifier win I am feeling vindicated. My hard work has paid off in a nice way. Sure, by taking the points I am not going to be playing in the WSOP qualifier. I am betting that my sudden “favor” with the poker gods lasts for a while. This is my second time in two months winning one of these things. I figure that’s about 2 out of 16. Not bad considering. I’d take that ratio any day to cash and / or win a big tournament.

Anyhow, I am going to play again tonight in the FPP’s WSOP qualifier and see if I can take another one down. I will let you know how it goes as usual.

Later,

Curtis III

I just took down a 155 player Satellite tournament. 400FPP buy-in. Got down to my last 800 and picked up AK to triple up and was able to push forward from there. Got another critical double up when my 55 was a huge favorite over A4os. The hand held up and I doubled up to around 8k. After that I was pretty much able to cruise into the seat. No need in trying ton “win” the tournament.

So I just took it easy and waited for the two short stacks to go broke. That was that. I decided to cash out the 4000 FPP’s. I like to play these kinds of tournaments because of the good numbers you get in terms of entries. Usually it’s not more than around 300 which is perfect. Anything smaller than that is even better. I will win my way in again shortly.

Curtis III

Gavin Griffin signed with PokerStars this month. Terms of the deal were not disclosed but Gavin will be wearing the PokerStars logo in tournaments from here on out. Gavin has been on a bit of a tear lately taking down the European Poker Tour Grand Finale for a whopping $2.4 Million Dollars.

Good luck Gavin!

Curtis III

I am so ready to play this tournament tonight. I just have a great vibe going. You know? It’s like everything in life is good and great things are gonna happen. It’s a great place to be. Anyhow, I am due to win this seat and I am claiming it tonight. No bad beats. No cold decks. None if the non-sense this time. Just take the damn thing down and be done with it.

Boy if it was just that easy.

lol

I don’t play for another hour or so. So I am going to watch High Stakes Poker until the tournament starts.

Later,

Curtis III

I have been watching HSP season four and boy is there a lot of action in this series. One thing I noticed is that this season, as in the last, Jaime Gold is completely out classed. The poor guy just will not fold a hand and it has cost him about 300k thus far. The buy-in has been bumped up to 500k.

I know Gold continues to say that talking is a part of his game but what he doesn’t realize is that he is sitting with several extremely seasoned players and he gives away the strength of his hand every single time. I know if I can figure it out obviously the pros can and they have. Hand after hand he is basically giving away money. Talk about being over matched. It’s kinda sad in a way. It’s like the definition of insanity. He keeps doing the same thing expecting a different result.

Scary.

Farha is playing great after being stuck for around 200k. He is now back to around even. Therein lies the difference between the two. Sammy might be a loose player but he will fold when he is beat. Great show though and you can learn a lot from watching it.

Other than that no other news to report at this time. I am still working on my online poker game and trying to improve as usual. Getting ready to go to Las Vegas in July for a re-union so I will be playing plenty of poker tournaments there too. Talk to you soon.

Curtis III

Yep, I bubbled again. That makes three tournaments in a row on the bubble. I had a nice run and then got cold decked behind two big stacks. I couldn’t steal anything because of the aggressiveness of the players behind me. So I was in a really bad spot considering I only had an average stack.

No mistakes or misplayed hands that I can think of. I pretty much got every dime out of every pot when I was supposed to. Whenever I can feel like I didn’t leave any money on the table I feel like I played well. It’s when you miss a bet or underbet your hand that you really get annoyed with yourself. Always working to improve my game. That’s what it’s all about.

I’m back at it again though. At least I got my FPP’s back. Just gotta crank it up again and make it happen. Gotta break through now due to the math alone of nothing else.

lol

Later,

Curtis III

The break is over and I am now sitting on around 8k in chips.

Excellent!

I end up taking a bit of a beat and my stack is down to 6k. Still in very good shape. I didn’t pick up much action on the two hands I had and now I am down to 5k with two very aggressive players to my left with triple my stack. So, at this point my moves are a bit limited. I still have another level or so but I need to double up. We are down to the last 13 right now with me in 9th place.

Curtis III

I am registered and ready to rock and roll in another WSOP Satellite Qualifier. I figure there will be around 60 entries for this one give or take. Probably 6 seats at stake. Great numbers and well worth the 400 FPP’s.

What a great time this will be to break out of being on the wrong side of the bad beat.

lol

Talk to you during the break. Gonna go and try some of this Zen stuff and see if it helps. Now I know how Jeff Van Gundy feels. Geez, I feel bad for that guy.

roflmao

Curtis III

Crap!

I played the PokerStars WSOP FreePlay Turbo and went out 51st. Absolutely incredible. I went on a pretty good roll early and was able to build up an 18k stack in short order. After that I kinda just cruised. I went out when my Pocket Fives went down to Pocket Queens. He hit the set on the flop and I hit mine on the river for some reason. Had to push and the blinds were on top of me.

I will try it again tomorrow.

Curtis III

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“In order to live, you must be willing to die!” -Amir Vahedi 2003 WSOP

Curtis III

I have been reading Bluff magazine quite a bit lately. I think Bluff is one of the better poker magazines out there. I like Jennifer Tilley’s articles and the other poker strategy writers like Annie Duke are pretty good at conveying their thoughts too. So, I have been digging in pretty deeply reading everything I can get my hands on. Trying to absorb thoughts outside of my own philosophy and expand my horizons if you will.

Otherwise, the beats have continued. Beat out of my last 5 consecutive tournaments. That seems almost impossible and it sucks!

roflmao

A player of less fortitude may have jumped off the roof over this. Fortunately, I possess the patience of Job and shake it off like the true experienced player that I am. Variance is a bitch. There, I feel a lot better now. Gonna play the WSOP Satellite again. Will let you know how it goes.

Take care,

Curtis III

I made it to the final table only to push with J7s. I had a gutshot straight draw and missed on the river. That was the end of me. I went out 8th. 2 places away from the entry.

You gotta love it.

Curtis III