Well everyone gets their latest "Sebok blew up" story today, I guess. I started the day with 150k and ran it up to 320k, before settling at about 175k right before dinner. I went up and down a bit, but was there for the better part of about three hours.

It really was a maddening day for me. I have never been re-raised so many times in any tournament that I can remember. Now, of course, I have to expect that because of how I play the game. People are going to be much more cavalier about re-popping me because of me being a maniac. It was truly amazing today though. They continually kept showing me their hands...after I would fold before the flop, fold on the flop, fold on the turn, and fold on the river. I ran into Aces three times today and Kings five times. I guess you really aren't supposed to do that well after running into big hands at every turn, but it still makes me sick to have to hear all the "blow up" shit once again.

Truth be told, I don't really think that I blew up, really. Outside of two hands that I wish I had back, which were doubling up Juanda with my 99 vs. his KK all in before the flop, and paying off an opponent when he obviously held either no pair or top set -you can guess which one it was-, I really felt that I did the most with what I had. I never had Aces or Kings this entire tournament, I held Queens one time and took the pot before the flop, and the best hand I had all day, Jacks, was the hand I went broke with. I was constantly building my stack by either stealing pots, or outplaying people. I finally pick up a decent pocket pair and...WHAM! See ya. I'll tell you how it went down.

We were playing 1200-2400 with a 300 ante. The action folded around to Joey Brooks who brought it in for 7k. I looked down at my Jacks, of course, and I elected just to call Joey. I had already reraised him in late position two other times and I didn't want him to push in on me and make me make a big decision. I tossed in my call and the action folded around to David Tran, who had been supremely aggressive from the blinds all day when I either raised late or there was a squeeze possibility. By my count, his raise here would be fourth time that he had made this move while I was in a pot. He did it again and made it about 25k to go. Joey hemmed and hawed for a bit and eventually folded.

Now, I am saying to myself, "It just can't happen again. I just don't believe that I am running into ANOTHER higher pair today." Of course, this is somewhat flawed thinking as every hand is it's own action, in an absolute card sense, and me running into big pairs all day doesn't mean I won't do it again. Still, it certainly fucks with your mind a bit...

So, David makes it 25k to go and I have roughly 170k left. I really feel that calling off more than 1/8th of your stack is a recipe for disaster. You can do it in individual hands, sure, but I think if you get used to playing that way over the long haul that you won't give yourself much of a chance to win. You will just be calling off too much. This thinking, coupled with the fact that David had been doing this all day to me and you get..."I'm all in"...

David thought for quite a while, considering his hand, before calling my bet. I turned my Jacks and he flipped up his...wouldn't you know it...Kings. I was sick, as usual, and I wasn't able to suck out to keep this thing rolling here at Borgata. Another missed opportunity...

I know I play more aggressively than most, and I know I take more chances than most. I really believe that you have to to keep building your stack and eventually taking one of these damn things down. I don't know, there will always be those who saying that I do too much and I zig far too often, but I don't really feel that I blew up today. It is what it is. It sucks, I can tell you that.

Poker tournament is a bitch, man. It is starting to get a little old. You know when you are sitting around whining to yourself, "Man, why do I have to run into big hands? Man, do I always have to have this happen?", that you are in a bit of a rut. Bah, it sucks...big time. The line between tournament genius and tournament blow up is so thin though. I can think of several players who play tournaments the way I do, David Pham, John Phan, and Tuan Le to name a few, but it seems that all we look at is results...of which I have few and far between in the big events...

Whatever...things will break at some point...or they won't. Either way I suppose I will have to get over it...

It's funny though. It does kinda get in the back of my head when I am playing and doing well, which is at most tournament these days. It's kinda what Mike Wilbon says about my Chicago Cubbies, that as they get closer to the World Series, ala 2003, the pressure just mounts and mounts. Not saying that affected my thought process, or even that it normally does, but I definitely hear about it all day from people when I play now... Anyway, holler at you guys from back in LA...

peace,
J


Music for the Day...

Level 1: Dan Bern "Fleeting Days"
Level 2: Creeper Lagoon, "Take Back The Universe And Give Me Yesterday"
Level 3: John Mayer, "Continuum"
Level 4: Tom Petty, "Wildflowers"
Level 5: Auf Der Maur, "Auf Der Maur"
Level 6: Fall Out Boy, "Infinity On High"
Level 7: Toad The Wet Sprocket, "In Light Syrup"