Hangin' in there

I definitely had a better weekend this time around - I'm back on the plus side of the column for my online poker career after a 2nd place finish in a 20 table, 4.40 SNG tourny. And as much as I like to bitch about bad beats (for instance, dealt pocket rockets, I got called on my preflop 4BB raise by two people; the flop is T/8/x rainbow, first guy bets 350 into a 600 dollar flop, other guy folds, I raise to 800, he calls; turn is a 9, and since the straight draw is now much more likely and because my remaining stack is only about 65% of the pot, I push; he calls and turns over...T/9 offsuit, for two pair - you cannot make this shit up), I know that luck is a factor. And I also know (and my boyfriend loves to remind me) that while it FEELS like the luck always bounces against me, sometimes it saves my hide.

The fact that I even made final table at this tourny was relatively impressive. I was down early and managed to scrape and claw my way back. Nothing luckier than surviving a couple of coin tosses, but even that is luck. I was always near the bottom of the stacks, but people kept busting out ahead of me, until I found myself in the final three with the short stack.

The big stack was, for lack of a better description, a confusing player. He was routinely raising odd amounts, then immediately folding to a reraise. I ended up in a pot with him holding K/6 offsuit. The flop was pretty junky, Q/x/x rainbow with no straight draws, so when this guy bet, I decided to push. Not because I had a great hand, of course, but since he had been raising and folding so much in previous hands, and because I know most flops miss most hands, I thought this would be a good steal opportunity. Bad read, because he turned over Q/x for top pair, and had me more than covered chip wise. I laughed and shrugged, ready to appreciate my better than expected finish, when runner runner 6s hit the turn and river to give a highly improbable set.

Heads up was odd with this guy, and I was ahead at one point, but I ended up crippled when he caught a small pocket pair the same hand I landed A/Q suited and failed to improve. Still, I think the lesson here is to try to focus on those times when you do get lucky (even if that luck is surviving a coin toss) instead of constantly focusing on the improbable beats delivered by the donks who don't know to fold top pair, weak kicker and end up getting lucky on the turn or river.

Anyway, I'll be able to play live in a couple weeks (AC, but only a day trip so it will probably be ring game). Good luck, and I'll see you at the tables.

SGT RJ