But I Hate Full Tilt!

Man, I am getting almost Nord and Duque-esque in my blog update slowness.....

Truth is I have not had much to say. I have not played too much poker, but I did have a fun Monday that I was too tired to blog.

I try to be a nice guy at the table, and I tend to only razz those people that I think can take it. So sorry to anyone who does not realize that I rarely mean what I say -- if you could see my face you'd know I was joking.

This was the case in our biweekly WPTFanSOP tournament, Limit O8. When I play in a limit tournament, especially given the odd blind schedule of FTP and especially in games where others are not as familiar (like O8), my strategy is to play tight and only good starters, then get progressively more aggressive as the tournament progresses. So, naturally, I folded most of my hands in the first hour of O8. Only to see folks play some of the most atrocious hands, hands that were sometimes not even good high-only hands. So, in my usual spirit of talking like a fiend when playing with my friends I made fun of some of these hands. Sorry Steve, I target you sometimes because you're one of the best people I know and I figure you can take it.

However, I did manage to eke out some chips, and then my table broke and I went on a sick run. Ran myself up to 7K in chips playing aggressive and catching some cards. Made it to the final table, where I faced 1 big stack player who knows how to play every game, 2 or 3 players who had no clue but are good players in other games, 2 solid players with small stacks, and a couple others.

Fortunately I had a good run of cards to go with my aggressiveness (and one good read on a player I had position on), and I managed to get to heads up only slightly outchipped.

Then I went on a maniacal Gavin Smith-esque tear. I raised every time I had the opportunity to do so. Usually I had the cards or a draw to back it up, but even when I did not I raised anyway. This strategy worked out for me because I was playing a smart player who, even if he realized what I was doing, never had a hand to punch back with.

So, I am O8 king for a week or two. Bragging rights for five or ten minutes and some points towards the final prize pool. More importantly, I was happy to see I have a decent feel for a game I don't play that often. Still no expert by any means, but at least I am not studying the board to figure out if I won or why I lost....