Peek n Valleys

Its a boring Monday night. I just got back from the Harvest Poker Classic in Regina and poker is on my mind. I am sooo lazy when it comes to the blog and for that I apologize, that is if anyone reads it.

The last couple months have been a struggle. I continued having great success online on Cake for the remainder of August (as I continued to run/play well, wish I could run well more often). Unfortunately, the doomdsday switch was once again issued upon me in September. It didn't help that I increased limits to compensate for the losses, looking for the quick score to get even (one day I will learn that this is not a wise strategy). In the end, I had a 50k downswing in September, significantly denting my summer profit.

In October, I dropped limits and hours logged considerably online. Due to the downturn it was hard to motivate myself to play. I did go to Niagara Falls with Trav, where I continued to run bad, and towards the end of the trip probably played bad. Luckily the players were soft so I was able to book a small win of 8k when the smoke cleared. I stuck mostly to the 10/25 games as the 25/50 had tougher players and I was not hitting.

October also marked the beginning and probably the end of the high stake home games. Since coming home Trav has organized several home games with blinds 5/10, however, the game turns out playing like a 10/20nl, mabye higher. I have run rather poor in these games as well, usually missing every board until I hit a solid second best hand, your welcome Rosie for the 17k cooler... Anyway, regardless of my luck, I will say I did not play my best poker.

Screw the game anyway it sucks and probably won't last much longer. With most of the 'weaker' players unwilling to show up anymore the game consists of Travis, Zenni, Myles, Rosie, and 1 or 2 tight/solid shortstackers. I think I could find a better game in Bobby's room. These guys are good! I have seen some pretty creative stuff from each of them and think it has helped me look at some situations in a different light. Obviously, Trav and Myles are successful players that have been for awhile, but I would like to give special praise to Zenni or 'Little Ivey' as we like to call him. This kid has only been playin for a couple years, with maybe 9 months of higher stake games under his belt and the truth is he may be the most dangerous player of em all. He has a great approach to the game with the right demeaner, he mixes it up alot, reads well, and he is certainly not scared to play a big pot. I have had the chance to play and chat with him lots as of late, in games in and out of town, and I really quite like him. I won't be suprised to see him achieve great successes in poker.

After Niagara, I took the better part of 2 weeks off so I could recharge and clear my head before heading down to Regina for the Harvest Classic. I knew I was starting to play bad and I just needed a break to get back on track. Its funny, during those almost 2 weeks I had a hard time staying away, like a crack addict without his crack.... I have a gambling problem, oh well.

Regina has always been my favorite venue for poker because of its proximity to Winnipeg and the volume of peggers that show up every year to play a little poker and drink alot of booze. I have been going down for 9 years now, usually once a year, and still have yet to win a tournament. In fact, I think I've only had 2 final tables. This year turned out to be no different and the results were as follows:

-I got cut up by a bunch of butchers in the omaha h/l and finished mid pack. I never had chips cause I kept getting rivered. I played with close to 20 different people and the truth is not one knew the game well;
-I finished just passed mid pack in 100 rebuy. I never had big chips as everytime I won a pot I would be chopped down by a dirty setup;
-I finished 19 out of 365 a good but frustrating finish. I ran 2/8 in showdowns were I was either dominating or flipping, including the hand that killed me where I had AK run into J10 all in preflop for serious chips to give me a shot.
-I finished 34 out of 220 in main event, 11 out of the cash. This one was really upsetting because I had massive chips early and into the later stages of the tourney. Again, could not win a showdown, going probably 2/7 in key hands where I was favored over shortstack preflop jams, sometimes heavily favored. Also, it didn't make it any easier when I was moved to the toughest Regina table I've ever had with 50 players to go. Oh well, at least my buddy Chris took the tournament down, I'm happy for him.

-Made some in the cash games though so the trip was positive 3.5k after expenses.

Its back to back trips this go around. I returned last night from Regina and am off to Costa Rica on Wed morning with Myles for a tournament. Our friend Jamie Harvey provided an offer we couldn't refuse, which included an all expenses paid trip and entry into the tournament, where I play and split any profit 3 ways. The offer was too good to pass up so no BC Open this year. Hopefully it will be a worthwhile trip.

Getting tired so I'm off. Will try to update after Costa Rica, maybe to describe how I faded a 5 outer to win a tournament for once, who knows, time will tell. Cheers...