You knew it wouldn't be long until the poker blog started back up.  So ... fair warning: lots of poker-riffic talk ahead!

Made an effort to try to win my way to the Aruba classic this year.  It's a poker tournament sponsored by UltimateBet.com, and is one of the few World Poker Tour (WPT) events that is not on US soil (The Aviation Club of France is the only other one that I know of). 

I have in my hot little hands 5 TECs, or Tournament Entry Chips.  Each one is worth a free buy-in into a $100 tournament.  I won those by winning $5 tournaments eons ago and finally decided to try to use them to qualify for Aruba. 

So here's how UltimateBet's Aruba qualification works:

1. you can buy in (or use a TEC) and play a $100 tournament.  For every 10 players, 1 entry is awarded into a $1000 qualifying tournament.

2. You can buy into the $1000 tournament directly, or you can win one of the $100 tournaments from #1.  For every 10 players, 1 prize package is awarded to Aruba.  Airfare, hotel, spending money, and the tournament buy-in ($5200) is completely covered.

So ... last Saturday I played in one of the $100 qualifying stage 1 tournaments, hoping to win a seat into the $1000 tournament.  Unfortunately, I couldn't get much going and lost all my chips when I called a raise on the button with A-K.  The flop came A-3-3.  My opponent went all-in, and I figured him for either Kings or Queens, or (more likely) a weaker Ace.  I called, and my opponent showed Q-Q.  A Queen on the turn dashed all my hopes.  Lousy two-outer.

Monday, after an incredibly long and tiring day at work I decided to play in the 9:15 pm (12:15 am EST) $100 tournament.  As a side note, we had a mocap shoot with our NFL team scheduled for 7 am.  I got to work at 6:15, the talent got there at 6:30, and for the next hour and a half we waited there for the NFL game programmers to show up.  They finally waltzed in around 8:15 with their coffee, commenting on how they "forgot" that they had a shoot.  I wasn't too happy with them.

Anyway, back to poker.  I logged in and signed up, and it turned out that 27 players total signed up.  That meant the top 2 won seats into the $1000 event, 3rd paid out $450, and 4th paid out $250. 

For the first few minutes I increased my starting stack of 2500 chips to around 2800.  A few hands later I called an early raiser with sixes in the hole, and the flop came K-K-4.  I checked, my opponent bet, and I check-raised him.  He called, and I knew I was in trouble.  The turn was glorious: a six.  I checked again, my opponent bet, and I just smooth-called, hoping he had a King.  The river was an inconsequential 8, and again I checked, hoping to check-raise.  My opponent, to my disappointment, checked behind me, and showed down Aces.  When he saw my sixes he went ballistic.  I was now up to around 3800 in chips and doing very well.

Exactly two hands later I picked up two red Kings in the small blind.  The very same player who had his Aces cracked by me raised again.  I re-raised, and then he moved in.  I called, figuring him for Queens.  He turned over Aces AGAIN!  Well, I lost that pot and he wrote, "Finally some justice.  Idiot."  Geez ... getting Aces cracked sucks, but he doesn't have to berate me like that. 

So now I'm short-stacked, down to about 700 chips.  Fortunately the blinds are still pretty low (15/30), so I have a little bit of room to maneuver.  I worked my stack back up, and in the process cracked Aces again with my pocket 9's; this time I flopped a set and he moved in on me.  The rest of the way I was pretty up and down but worked my way back to around 3300 in chips when the blinds hit the magical 50/100 mark.  As most of you know, I feel that when the big blind is 5 to 10% of your original buy-in it's "gambling time", which means I'll start calling All-Ins hoping to accumulate chips.  This strategy again had me up and down, and unfortunately I was unable to make any headway.  I was up to around 5800 at one point, but then lost a coinflip when my A-J suited couldn't hit against someone's pocket 4's.  Now down to about 3300 with the blinds at 100/200 I began to get worried; I'd have to gamble much more recklessly in the hopes of doubling up.  We went on break, and when the break resumed I'd be under the gun with the blinds now at 150/300.  Yikes! 

I recall saying aloud (I tend to talk to myself when playing online), "I could really use Aces or Kings under the gun right about now" as I paced back and forth.  The break ended, and play resumed.  The first card I was dealt was the King of hearts.  "Come on!  Come on!" I again said aloud.  The next card was dealt to me, and it was, believe it or not, the other red King.  Perfect!  I limped in, knowing that the rest of the table was super-aggressive.  Sure enough, someone raised to 900 and the chip leader moved all-in for about 13,000.  I gleefully called, putting the chip leader on Queens or A-K, and sure enough, he turned over A-K after the initial raiser folded.  My Kings held up, and I had around 8500 in chips and the chip lead. 

We got down to the final table, and I was in the middle of the pack.  I got into several big hands:

1. a player named "GoGirl" was chip leader, and raised every time she came into a pot.  I called one of her raises with 10-10 from the SB, and the flop came with ragged undercards.  I checked it to her, she bet the pot, about 2800, and I moved in on her.  She wrote, "Spade draw?" and folded.  I really didn't want her to call because I figured she had overcards on me (K-Q, Q-J, A-Q) and didn't want to get unlucky.

2. Lost a gigantic pot immediately afterwards when the donkey at the table moved in for about 6500 in chips (I had about 14,000 at that point) and I called with A-K.  My opponent showed K-J.  Domination!  At least until the flop, which came J-J-6. 

3. Bashed heads again with GoGirl when she raised triple and I called with A-4 of spades.  The flop came J-8-4 with one spade.  I checked it, she bet the pot, and I got suspicious.  I didn't give her credit for a Jack, so I smooth-called with the intention of moving in on her on the turn if a rag came off.  The turn was the 3 of spades, so I moved in the rest of my chips and hoped she wouldn't call.  She thought and thought and thought, and just as the warning buzzer went off she called and showed A-8.  Uh-oh.  I had to catch another 4 or a spade in order to win!  I held my breath, and the river saved me with the 6 of spades, giving me the Ace-high flush!  Being the considerate player I am (yeah, right?), I wrote her, "That was a heck of a call, sorry you got unlucky."  We conversed for a bit, and she, while noticably upset, wasn't taking it personally. 

4. Well, you knew it had to happen.  GoGirl raised double, and I called from the big blind with K-10 of clubs.  The flop came with three clubs!  I checked, she bet, I called.  I wrote, "here we go again!"  The turn was meaningless; I checked, she bet, and I check-raised her all-in.  She called INSTANTLY.  I immediately thought that I had run into the Ace-high flush, but to my delight she showed down two smaller clubs (something like 8-6 or 7-4).  I took her chips and knocked her out.

5. I eliminated the best player remaining at the table, the same fellow who moved in with the A-K when I had Kings.  He raised, I re-raised with A-9 of diamonds and he moved in.  I called in a heartbeat, putting him on a straight steal.  He showed down 5-4 of hearts!  Very fortunately for me, I flopped an Ace and ended the silliness then and there.

At this point we were now down to 3-handed; the K-J donkey was to my right and a rather novice player to my left.  This novice player repeatedly moved in; he never raised, never limped, he just moved all-in.  At this point I had about 38,000 in chips, donkey had about 12000, and novice had about 14000.  I was in the big blind with A-7 of clubs when novice, on the button, moved in again.  Donkey folded, and I figured novice might be on a steal.  I called, and this time, my read was wrong: he had A-Q.  I said to my roommate (who happened to wander in and watch me eliminate the last 3 players), "Man, I'm gonna need a 7."  A 7 came on the flop, and now the roles were reversed!  My suckout held up, and donkey and I finished 1-2 to qualify for Saturday's $1,000 tournament. 

I hope my suckouts continue all the way to Aruba!