I actually kind of bounced back and forth whether to do my little HU challenge, or not. Yesterday I actually looked at the 500/1000 Horse game, and it looked really soft to the best of my knowledge. I then wavered and decided that I was going to qualify for the 50k HORSE event (reserving the right to take the money and run), and then I finally decided to just break into the 25/50NL scene full time again.

I cut down on my number of tables to 4 or less, and decided to take a 10 buyin "shot." So far I am down about 8k total, and I think I'm running fairly bad. It's really annoying to run bad when you try to move up.

On the plus, I managed to finagle a 25/50 HU match vs Matusow by helping him start a few FR tables and also immediately re-calling him out when he challenged me to play another game.

I'm going to start watching a bunch of FR videos to get a better sense for that dynamic because there were 3 HORRIBLE players in a FR game I just got out of, and the stars 9m usually have a few straight up bad players as well. I'm also going to be doing a lot of talking with Aaron, and also pry some info out of straate .

Here are the obligatory running bad/standard coolers hands:

Full Tilt Poker, $25/$50 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

CO: $4,073
BTN: $4,850
SB: $4,950
Hero (BB): $6,366
UTG: $6,817
MP: $7,029.50

Pre-Flop: K A dealt to Hero (BB)
UTG folds, MP raises to $175, 3 folds, Hero raises to $650, MP calls $475

Flop: ($1,325) 4 6 6 (2 Players)
Hero bets $850, MP calls $850

Turn: ($3,025) A (2 Players)
Hero bets $1,350, MP calls $1,350

River: ($5,725) 2 (2 Players)
Hero bets $3,516 and is All-In, MP calls $3,516

Results: $12,757 Pot ($5 Rake)
Hero showed K A (two pairs, Aces and Sixes) and LOST (-$6,366 NET)
MP showed 7 6 (three of a kind, Sixes) and WON $12,752 (+$6,386 NET)

Full Tilt Poker, $25/$50 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

BTN: $2,992
SB: $4,570
Hero (BB): $4,775
UTG: $7,555
MP: $11,465
CO: $5,000

Pre-Flop: A K dealt to Hero (BB)
UTG folds, MP raises to $150, 2 folds, SB raises to $650, Hero raises to $4,775 and is All-In, MP folds, SB calls $3,920 and is All-In

Flop: ($9,290) 5 7 3 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Turn: ($9,290) 5 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

River: ($9,290) 4 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: $9,290 Pot ($5 Rake)
SB showed Q Q (two pairs, Queens and Fives) and WON $9,285 (+$4,715 NET)
Hero showed A K (a pair of Fives) and LOST (-$4,570 NET)

Poker Stars, $25/$50 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 9 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

Hero (MP1): $5,075
MP2: $5,922.50
CO: $10,721.50
BTN: $4,975
SB: $5,317
BB: $7,157
UTG: $2,500
UTG+1: $11,125
UTG+2: $2,922

Pre-Flop: A K dealt to Hero (MP1)
3 folds, Hero raises to $150, 2 folds, BTN calls $150, SB raises to $650, BB folds, Hero raises to $1,555, BTN folds, SB raises to $5,317 and is All-In, Hero calls $3,520 and is All-In

Flop: ($10,350) 4 2 T (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Turn: ($10,350) Q (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

River: ($10,350) 2 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: $10,350 Pot ($3 Rake)
Hero mucked A K and LOST (-$5,075 NET)
SB showed K K (two pair, Kings and Deuces) and WON $10,347 (+$5,272 NET)

Full Tilt Poker, $25/$50 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 9 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

BTN: $5,519
SB: $5,047
BB: $4,572
UTG: $8,494
UTG+1: $5,000
Hero (UTG+2): $9,308
MP1: $7,349.50
MP2: $1,125
CO: $4,800

Pre-Flop: A J dealt to Hero (UTG+2)
2 folds, Hero raises to $175, MP1 calls $175, BB calls $125

Flop: ($550) 4 J 5 (3 Players)
BB checks, Hero bets $350, MP1 folds, BB raises to $1,222, Hero calls $872

Turn: ($2,994) A (2 Players)
BB bets $3,175 and is All-In, Hero calls $3,175

River: ($9,344) K (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: $9,344 Pot ($3 Rake)
BB showed 8 7 (a flush, King high) and WON $9,341 (+$4,769 NET)
Hero showed A J (two pair, Aces and Jacks) and LOST (-$4,572 NET)

There are smaller pots under 5k that I won't bother posting. I also have won 0 flips AIPF in this timespan for any pot > 3k.

I am going to continue playing the Sunday 650 on Stars and 535 on FTP to try to qualify for the WSOP. The field seems super easy, and there will be no clothing restrictions because of UIGEA (the site can't register you, so they have no way of making you wear something). So, I will attempt to SEABEAST-it and get about 5 or so .


Wish me luck!