Running With The Devil

I must have sold my soul to the poker devil, because I've been on a pretty damn good run.

After running terribly in $5/$10 SnGs, I decided I need to go down a level and started playing the $1 shorthanded SnGs on Titan again. Last night I played in 7 and finished first in six of them and second in the last one. I know that these games are extremely fishy, but I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing. It's helped me prepare for the fishiness and bad beats at higher levels.

Yes, there were some junk sodomizing suckouts (e.g. 48s hits his flush on the river cracking my queens), but I was able to recover and take the run of the table. I understand that going from $5 and $10 SnGs to $1 tourneys is sort of like breaking up with Elisha Cuthbert to date Mary Lynn Rajskub, but when you're running bad, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

One big hole in my game is my bluffing. I used to never bluff. I played my cards as they were, folding it down to any bet even if I caught a part of the flop. I never bothered looking at other people's betting patterns to see if they were trying to lay a bluff on me.

That's changed. I've been a lot more successful at stealing the blinds at higher levels, re-raising in the BB to push people off pots pre-flop, etc. I've also avoided becoming a push monkey when I feel I've got the best hand. Instead, I've been laying out traps, check-raising when I know my opponent will follow my check with a bet, and getting as much "calling" money as possible in the middle when I know my opponent is chasing a straight or flush draw and I've got what the French call "ze nuts".

Finally, I will be spending Saturday with voodoo dolls of Joe Speaker, Al Can't Hang, Dr. Pauly, CJ, and Boy Genius. They'll be at the Playboy Mansion. I'll be in my basment with a 12 pack of Special Export Light poking their likenesses in the swimsuit area with knitting needles.

And you thought getting your aces cracked was a junk killing experience? No match for the needles.

OK, ok, have fun gents.

You lucky, lucky bastards.