yesssssssssss.  after finally winning, my game was very strong for the lapc horse championship.  I've realized that I'm obviously a bit of a streaky player, and what I have to work on is not just playing my best amidst success but playing my best even during tougher times and emotionally more challenging streaks.  Right now though, I think I'm doing pretty well with all that.

The HORSE tourney went really well from the beginning.  Hitting cards and frustrating opponents was the general gist of things.  Occasionally or often I will play some hands a little unusually or play kind of loose, this benefits me on other hands that I play very well and I think my image as a young inexperienced HORSE player serves me well in that I get paid off a bit more often and others can be more aggressive against me to try and counter-act my aggressiveness.  I played pretty aggressively early but had to tighten up and play more solid as we approached the final table. Poker Videos

These big horse tournies are by far the toughest fields in the game, and the final table was no exception!  Chino Reem, Scotty Nguyen, Amnon Fillipi, etc.  I had the chip lead but it wouldn't be smooth sailing.  Not picking up that many hands late, I hovered around the 400k mark and eventually was fortunate to get down to 3 handed with Chino and Scotty.  

Scotty had been pretty much silent up until this point, but finally about four handed he was having beers and started becoming the huge DICK that we all saw on the WSOP horse broadcast.  It's incredible how Scotty acted how he did at the wsop, apologized for it, and then comes out here in the exact same situation and completely confirms the fact that he has no respect for others at the table and he really doesn't understand the minimum required etiquette at the table.  Laughing at players when he busts them, getting angry inappropriately when he loses hands then hypocritically calling out others when he beats them in a hand.  It's just ridiculous.  Least favorite online poker player of mine.  Sorry Scotty... you're funny off the table I guess.  Baby. 

I ended up busting 3rd in the omaha round when my straight flush draw low draw missed vs. chino's two pair.  Oh well.  Top 3 is really where all the money is, so I'm pretty happy with the week!  Of course, Scotty ended up winning... standard.  The trophy was so big and beautiful.  Damn it.

Annnyyway I played a 5k the next day and didn't play my best because I was too content with my week and didn't wholly focus.  I've got to work on this shit but at least I know I can control my play more then after my first wins in 06'.

I came into the main event very ready and my day 1 was pretty much a ridiculous run of cards and great plays.  I can't recall feeling better about a day 1 before... however, the last hand of the night was the only one that bugged me and maybe screwed up mindset a bit:  I have about 105k to start the hand.  I was at a pretty new table and had straddled a couple times, this last hand I announce I'm going to raise dark to something like 800.  I don't look at my cards it folds to me and I raise, everyone knows I haven't looked.  Folds to the big blind who thinks and reraises to 3k.  Now I look down, at  ... two jacks!!!  Of course I pick up a big hand after complaining for an hour about how small the pots were at the table, and that we needed a 50k pot.  

I of course tank for a second and re-raise to about 9k.  The big blind ships it for 25, Obv I call.  He has KJ, flop King, and my ego takes a slight hit, lol.  Still, I had 85k to end the day, and I really shouldn't let hands like that get to me, but they do!  I'm still young and workin on it.  

Day two didn't go amazing but I was able to end with 115k after coming back from a set over set situation and a long day of not many cards.  

Day three was when I just blew it, aaas usual.  I don't value my chips enough in tournaments sometimes, or I worry about not cashing when i get close and it ends up affecting my play!  115k was plenty of chips and I was in the middle of the pack, but for some reason I don't respect my chips enough when I think I should have a bigger stack.  I probably play the poorest with a mid-stack sometimes because I have some room to be undisciplined and I tend to want to push things and try to build chips.  This day it was counterintuitive and I lost just about every hand I played, busting short of the money.

Oh well, I think this is the year I finally start pushing through to the money in more WPT events, the Lapc was just a reminder of how I can't win the tournament on the first few days!  I need to stay disciplined.  I'm not worried though, I am in top shape.  

Tonight is the WPT celebrity invitational and even though it's not a completely legit tournament I will be actually trying to win.  PeAcE