Check this fun hand from the PCC weekly tournament this Wednesday.

First I busted out of the tourney on the 5th hand.

Relatively tight guy opens in late position for 125 (started with stacks of 2000, I'm around 1800).

Three people call, I look down and see the pocket fives and call, big blind calls too.

Flop comes 8[c]7[d]5[h]

First thing that goes through my mind is, "Wow, I'm probably gonna get busted here."

That's a pretty risky flop with 6 players calling that raise. I''m certain no one has 9-6, or 4-6, but someone could easily have 7-7 or 8-8. Also, I have to check-raise it, and only a donk is gonna call me all in with A-A or K-K with the blinds at 25-25 and that flop with that many players calling a raise.

So I check, BB checks, original raiser leads for 425, folds around to me, I push, BB calls, original raiser folds his A-A and the B-B turns over 8-8.

I'm not as lucky as Gus Hansen so I didn't get there.

Now check this fun hand from the PCC cash game (shortly thereafter) against Juice.

Last hand of the night - we started playing mixed games while the tourney was going: $1-2 NLHE with a $50 cap, $2-4 kill LHE (which sucked balls), $2-4 kill OH8, and I went on a huge downswing - got A-K against A-A in the 6-handed $50 cap game, so there is no way I don't pay him $50. Then in a kill pot that's been re-raised a couple times, I'm holding 2[d]3[c]9[d]10[c] and a board showing 10[d]8[c]5[c]7[d] it comes a 2[h] on the river. It gets bet, I fold, one turns over a low of A-4 and the other has 2-4. The guy who has 8-5 in the hole takes the high - Superb.

Eventually I came back and got to about even ($175, I was in for two buys), when they started a No-Limit game at the other table with Juice, Schulz, Cass, etc. - of course I'm going to move, so I move and go on an up-swing playing great poker and getting sucked out on a couple of times. I'm up to $310 off my $100 buy (cashed out before buying in at new table, two seperate pots), and it's about 12:20 - I decide it's gonna be my last round, and when it gets to me under the gun I have J-J.

Now I also have Juice sitting to my left - worst spot at the table to play loose with, best spot at the table to play tight and trap with.

I limp because I know he'll raise with any hand and he does make it $15 - he'd been opening up for 3/4 of the time for $15-25 with hands such as 2-4, 3-7 suited, J-6, K-4, etc.

I call after it folds around (he is stacking a little more than me, about $400).

Flop is K-9-8.

I check and he bets $15.

Now I instantly know he doesn't have the K, and he probably has anywhere of a range from A high to J-10 to 8-7.

I instacall.

Turn is an offsuit 3.

I didn't want to get myself in trouble and get played off this hand - I knew I had him, and I knew he'd call a big raise or a big leadout with any draw or any pair. If he rivers me, after I lead out I'll be committed and I'll lose my whole $300 stack right there. I'd rather control the pot size and let someone who will fire 4 bullets fire that fourth bullet.

I check and he bets $30, which I instacall.

River is a 9. Really didn't want to see that.

I check and he bets $50.

My read was that he had A-9, 10-9, etc., because Juice would usually bet more if it was bluff - the pot was $120, why wouldn't he lead for $80 or $100 unless he was trying to guarantee he got value (after-all, he has no idea that I've got a hand because he doesn't have the level of thinking ability to consider his opponents perspective while playing a hand - not that I just check-called him down on three bullets with no hesitation and I'm a relatively tight-passive-aggressive player).

Anyways, I couldn't not call the $50 still, though I felt I was beat - I just felt that he might have not been aware of the pot size and it could still be a bluff.

So I threw it in and he turned over the almight 9-6 offsuit. What's really sick though is that if I would check-raised/led huge/went all-in on the flop or turn he would have called me without hesitation and stacked off my whole $300.

My profit for the night goes from -40 tourney/-25 1st table/+210 2nd table to +100 last table when it obviously should have been +310..

Earlier in the night, there was a two-way all-in between Schulz and this New guy. It was raised and re-raised pre-flop to $7 and than $25. Juice calls in between.

Flop is 3[d]4[d]J[c]

Juice leads for $35, Schulz goes all-in for like $100, new guy calls all-in.

Juice stops and thinks for a second and announecs, "While, I've only got a gut-shot" goes as if to muck, stops in mid-throw (tuck rule style ala Brady vs. the Raiders) and than says "what the hell" and calls off his last like $45-$50 and turns over the almight 5[h]7[s]

New guy turns over J-J and Schulz doesn't show (afterwards he said he had A-A).

Turn is a Q[h].

River is a 6[s].

Juice scoops like $275. I mentally throw-up.

Another ugly suckout session, flopped 2 sets didnt get a call ib either when I bet. Two big hands against the same moron.

Hand 1: I am the button with . I raise to $40 and get 2 callers. Flop is [10d] [10s] , checks to me I bet $80, villian #1 folds, villian #2 push for $100 more. I call Turn is a , river moron turns over J9o.

Hand 2: Same moron, he raises to $20 preflop, I cal with . Flop is AT4 rainbow, checks I bet $30, he raises to $60. I call, turn is a Q, he checks I bet $60. He calls. River is a 10. He checks I bet $60 again, he min raises to $120. I call and he shows 107o.

Totals -$497 in 5 hrs

So I am back in the CS lab on a weekend studying my EE stuff since finals are in a couple weeks and I'm bored and as usual when I get bored I start thinking about poker. I am on a bit of a downswing, I ended up paying a bunch of money in bills and am playing at a lower level than I was this summer. I have lost 4 straight sessions which is something that happens very rarely for me. I also am not playing all that much. I am spending the majority of my time studying, that and I have a new girl who I am trying to keep happy with limited free time. This has all has contributed to one of the lowest hours months I have had in a couple years. I am not sure if I am playing worse because I am not playing as much or if its just a matter of such a small amount of hours equaling such a large standard deviation that my results are just variance. I had similar results last winter, where I played a lot less and had a downswing. I have made a couple mistakes in my last couple sessions but they were not terrible and I have been getting sucked out a ton. In the last 3 years (since I have been keeping good stats) I have played 100+ hours a month 9 months and I have never had a less than $35 per hour month. This month I am + $34 in 18 hrs.

So funny story about today. I was supposed to see the girl this morning, with school I been so busy I havent seen her in about a week. So I call her when I wake up and she tells me that she is going out to breakfast with a friend and will be over in the afternoon. At the same time Piers send me a PM that I should play the BTP main event. Oh so WTF, I'll donk off $10 to you BTPers and watch football.

So the tourney starts and everyone is rock tight. So I start stealing, I pushed Seb and ED off hands with nothing, then stacked trump when I flopped a str8 with 106 out of the blinds, and he flops top 2 with 98. So now WTF the maniac has chips. I get to the final table, and all of a sudden the GF shows up. First hand she is there for I raise A5h from the CO. Bobby??? calls flop is . Bobby check calls my bet. Turn is a small card, Bobby bets and I push figuring WTF. He has [kd] and misses all is river outs. so now I'm the big stack with 8k in chips.

I kinda would have expected to have donked off all my chips by now . The GF is a little unhappy that I am playing online since we really havent spent much time together. So WTF I click sit out with about 7 players left. I look back about 30 min later and I have just squaked into the money, I am now short stacked down to 2000 in chips. Twelver raises my blind and I push with 107, he has 36h. Flop is kk10. Up to 4000 in chips, look down at 66 and push after 12er raises. He calls with A7o and hits a A.

Moral of the story is for a tourney donk like me sometimes the best stratagy is to click the sit out button and see what happens.

As a sad side not I am now off of Seb's chrstmas list, wonder what I was going to get?