Chasing the Big One; Locked In

Ended up not going to the casino on Thursday, as I drank all day (and I do mean all day) on Wednesday. So mostly not productive there. Then it was a weekend of chasing big scores. Finished 24th in AP 150k, shoved 9s with a shortish stack into JJ, what can you do.

Sunday was a huge day. I played for 15 hours yesterday, and I don't usually do that, because at a certain point I get bored or frustrated or whatever. But the momentum just kind of built upon itself. Hopped in the AP 20r when I woke up, and finished third. The day didn't end until I got knocked out of the AP 30r. In third. So that had a nice synchronicity to it anyway. Also, the ending of the AP 30r was extremely annoying, as I got it in AQ against AJ for three quarters of the chips in play, J on the flop obv. That was for the tournament too, because the other guy was basically all in as well, and the third player was an absolute donkey, who I had run over but couldn't take him out because he hit a three outer and won a race. So instead of $4125, I'll take $1740. Damn three outers. Would have been second AP 30r ship this month. Also in a related story I pwn AP, and they're now sending me yet another check, as anytime I go over $20k in bankroll I withdraw a bit, since that seems like plenty for the stakes I'm playing. The only tourney over $216 I generally straight buyin to is the $150k.

Actually I was thinking about this the other day, if I had picked another poker room to initially deposit, and I basically picked AP at random, would I be a lawyer right now instead of a poker player? I mean, I'd never played for money basically before Fall 2004, when I deposited $30 on AP. In 2005, I finished second in the big Saturday weekly tournament (I think it was the 80k), and would have won if I wasn't sucked out on repeatedly. Would that transition have gone quite so easily if I had deposited on Stars instead? Don't get me wrong, I'm sure I could crack the $11 SNGs anywhere lol. But I wonder if, since the play is so poor on AP, I wouldn't have gone up in stakes as quickly. Because I figured more or less I would give this a run by 2L summer, and I really had to decide by then, because otherwise I needed to find a job.

Also, I'm going to win the Saturday weekly on AP, now $150k, if it's the last thing I do. I swear to God, that's my tournament. I've finished second, I've finished fourth, and I'm gonna win that thing, damn it. 29th last week, 24th this week, moving in the right direction anyway. Though I think I'll miss it this week cause I'll be traveling.

Back on topic, the big almost excitement of the day was my almost deep finish in the $750k on Tilt. 3580 entrants, was just starting to get excited in the top 100, pick up AK, aipf against JJ for a 300k pot, couldn't hit. Out in 69th. Grrrr. That would have put me about 6th in chips, then off and running from there. Anyway, definitely going to review that HH at some point. The table was very aggressive and as a result I was more conservative about picking my spots, and I actually thought that worked out rather well. But I'll look at it again before I decide. It was the exact opposite of the AP 30r, where at times it felt like I was raising almost every other hand, and I don't think I got 3 bet for like an hour.

So that was disappointing, and then with the end of the 30r, I felt generally disappointed at the end of the day, despite being up 2 grand or so. Otherwise the other big Sunday tournaments were a wash. Still, I do feel really good about my game right now, and very locked in. My table reading skills I think are strong at the moment, when to step on the gas, when to pull back. I never thought my ability to read people was my strongest attribute, particularly during the course of hands. I feel like I end up making folds (or donk calls) where I think to myself "I just don't know where I am." But I feel like my ability to read tables in general is very strong, and that's a somewhat different skill I think. Not only does each player have their own identity, each table has an identity as well, and it's important to be able to read how much a table can be pushed, particular with pf raising when the blinds get high.

Schedule for this week: not sure how much I'll play exactly to close out May. Logged a lot of hours yesterday, but don't really feel worn out. Soccer tomorrow, Lansing Wednesday for dogsitting, I'll certainly have plenty of free time there. So I expect I'll have a good deal of play this week.