CASH #3 AT THE LODGE THIS WEEK

WEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!! Ace, my new sidekick, and I came in 3rd at the Lodge last night for a $500 cash. I had a huge chip stack and played great poker to get there....and then the blinds were so astronomical that it became impossible for skill to be a factor. As the big stack, I had 4.5x the blind. I doubled up each person at least 3x. So unfair. But in any case, I played well and I got compliments on my play, which is always really nice and feels good. The best part is that I am second on the leaderboard, which of course, means I am in the free roll on Monday night, woo hoo. I am excited about that also.

More news. I am a part time employee as of August 1, 2007! So I can concentrate on poker, and per diem legal work, etc and make just enough at my job to cover my bills & expenses, while I sort out the direction my life is headed. I am super excited. it is going to be phenomenal. We are also going to Vegas the last week in July to hang with Dragon and play some poker poker, so thta will be fun also! I am trying to also schedule a trip for us in August to Cali, we will see if that flies or not.

My new poker goal: win the aruba trip! I want to so so so badly!!! We must go to Aruba this year. It will be great~

Anyhow, this weekend will be packed with AC and poker, I will update on Monday

Good money and peace~
Lucky C and her sidekick, Ace.

WSOP Domination. It begins.

CONGRATULATIONS DRAGON. Second tournament he played in Vegas, chop it up baby!!! =) I am so happy for him- $1k buy in, 7:00 pm second chance or something like that, at the WSOP at the Rio- Dragon chops for 14$k! So exciting. Similarly, and not so similarly, depending on how u look at it, last night at the Lodge, I cashed for close to $400 when I finished 4/33 w/ two bounties. Alas, my short victory was eclipsed by Dragon's 35x-my-cash- win, but I digress. hehe. In all seriousness, it is so awesome that he is making things happen in Vegas. Also similarly, he mentioned to me how great it is to start the trip out on a positive note, especially with a fairly large cash, and I agree with him. The same thing happened for Jonathan and I when we were in Vegas and it set a great tone for the entire trip!

We will be visiting Dragon the last week in July, I cannot wait, it will be amazing, as Vegas always is. I am afraid this time, I won't come back. hehe. I hope my parents aren't reading this. =)

P.S.- I have adopted a beanie baby mascot. Her name is Ace and she is a little fuzzy pink monkey and she is so cute. She lives in the side pocket of my little bag I carry with me. Last night was her first tourney with me, and look how well we did.

P.P.S. I am not crazy, just eccentric (eccentric always being the word that I believe rich crazy people call themselves to justify their craziness but I am not rich, so eccentric retains its true meaning when I use it.)

Good money and peace,

Lucky C and Ace.

Lucky at the Lodge

Hey everyone! Today is Tuesday, and it is sunny and bright and hot outside. I wish I were playing full time right now. I am at a super cross-roads. In the next few weeks, I will be working part time and traveling more for poker. My apartment is not sold yet, but I have faith that it will happen soon. Also, two colleagues of mine are considering going into their own practice and I may work with them on that. I have to see how things go for now and then we will figure it out.

I played the $150 freeze out at the Lodge last night. I was completely card dead the whole night and then, I got hit with the deck at the end. It was really nice. I floated to first place. That has not happened in a really long time. It was excellent.

I am looking forward to poker this summer and for the rest of my life. It is really what I love to do.

The stress and everyday bs that I deal with is ridiculous- and while I am a relatively positive person, it is difficult to always maintain a happy front. At least if I am going to have a lot of issues, I should at least love my job, or from whatever my source of income is derived.

Anyway, that's all for now. I hope you have a great day and good luck at the tables.

Good money and peace,
Lucky C.

Dishes in the Oven...& A Renewed Vow toward Poker

I called Jon and told him the real estate people were bringing potential buyers to see the apartment in one hour. Usually, we receive 24 hrs notice. I anticipated that Jon may not be happy with having to make the apartment look presentable in 45 min, so I told him to put the dishes in the sink, in the oven. And I would take care of it when I got home. He just laughed, and said, babes it's only a few dishes, I think I can have the apt nice in an hour, no worries.

That being said, hopefully....hopefully, we get a buyer soon. With my job the way it is and the apartment on the market and my overwhelming desire to play poker full time, the anticipation is driving me crazy.

MY RENEWED VOW

I will play better, I will play harder, I will play smarter and I will play stronger. I commit myself to what I love, and that is playing poker. I want to be the best, better than the best. I know I have the skills and 8 years of experience. I just need to put in more hours to accustom myself to longer hours at the table. Usually my sessions are less than 3 hours. That will not cut it for full time play. I know that I can win tournaments and be profitable, and one day be rich from this sport. I have it in me. I have final tabled many tournaments. I am viewed as a tough player, I know this because other players have told me. I am excited to get going on my journey. I want to exercise and eat healthy and get myself fit for poker full time. I wish my new career was starting right now.

More later.

Good money and peace,

Lucky C.

Another night at the Club....good play or not?

So I busted last night with 10s v. JJs. But I thought the play I made was fabulous and should have taken down a huge pot. I had 10h 10s utg. I raised to 2000, blinds were 400-800. In a regular tourney, I just call, but the players at the club are so weak that I am comfortable with a raise here. The small blind, who is an O.K. player, reraises to 5000. I was goin to muck- I swear I put him on JJ. I had 16k in my stack. I decided to call and if ace, king or good flop came i could raise all in. So I call. Flop comes down 9 3 6 all hearts. I have the 10h. He bets 3500, which is obviously a scaredy bet into an 11000 chip pot. It was either muck or push all in. I decided to push because if he doesnt have the Jh, he has to fold. Even if he has the Jh, he has to think he is behind. So I pushed. He thought about if forever and ultimately called. I am still O.K. with my play. I think it was the right play. I am happy with how I played. So I busted like 17th out of 40 that played, which is not bad. The tournaments at the club are such a crapshoot anyway. I played perfectly the whole time.

Yesterday, after discussing my work situation with my boss/friend, she gave me the option to work part- time this summer. I think I may do that. It wouldl be great to only work 3 days. I would love to do that. It is a huge difference in salary, but if I can make it up with poker, it would be ok. I am leaning towards it right now. It is also a great seguay into playing full time, so we will see.

I am excited about this summer.

More later.

Good money and peace,

Lucky C.

AC Weekend...A 10 is the nuts!

I haven't been posting much lately. I have had a rough time online for the last month and a half. Granted, I have not played much since the end of May, but I feel like I have not final tabled an online tournament, other than satellites in forever. I am also more enamored with playing live than online. I need to get back on the poker horse and not be discouraged. I am also antsy because it is taking forever and a day to sell the apartment. I really just want to move on with my life and I can't do that as I am strapped with a mortgage and high maintenance payments.

As for this AC Weekend, I traveled to Borgata on Sun to play the Ladies Only event. I finished 48/180. I am actually shocked I lasted as long as I did. I have never been on the felt more times in one tournament or sucked out more, ever. I pushed all in at least 18x in the course of 4 hours. That is A LOT. Especially for me. I am usually masterful at accumulating chips in chic tourney without putting a lot at risk. Plus, I was check raised twice and I did not know how to deal with that in chickie tourney =)

I played well though, so I cannot be upset. I did everything I could to cash. After the chickie tournament, I went to Trop to meet Jon. There was a juicy 2/5 game, but I had to wait for a seat. While I was waiting, I played 1/2 NL. 1/2 was fun. I picked up two big hands early and chipped up an extra $70. Then, I bluffed two pots and showed the second one, which felt good. I then moved to the 2/5 game.

This 2/5 game was wild. The game was full after I joined. 3 people had between 1500-2000 in front of them, 3 or 4 had over 800 and under 1500, and the rest had around 700. I was the shorties with my 500. I noticed immediately that the game was very aggressive. So aggressive, in fact, that I was having a hard time getting into a pot pre. Then, a few players left for dinner, so we were playinig 7 handed. I picked up A 10 os in second pos. Normally I insta muck, but, I saw this as a good opportunity to take control of the action. Plus, I had been pretty quiet for the last 1/2 hour, so my opponents should give me credit for a big hand. I raise to 25 and get two callers, the button (who is a chauvanistic pig/idiot- he bluffed off about 600 while i was there) and the small blind, who counted out a re-raise preflop and then decided to 'just call'. At this point, I put the small blind on 88 or 99. Any higher pair, he definitely would have re-raised. So the pot is $75 and we take the flop 3-way. Flop comes out Kd 10s 4s. Small blind checks, I check and button checks. I was thinking that perhaps I should continuation bet, but I did not. I wanted to see what the actio would be on the turn. I was also worried about getting check raised because the button is an idiot and I wante to ensure he did not have top pair. Once it checked around, I felt for sure I had the best hand.

The turn was an offsuit 7. The small blind led out for $35. My option is to call or raise. Because the small blind had such a deep stack, I decided to call and see what action was taken on the river, although I do believe in retrospect, this would have been a good spot to raise, representing a huge hand, like a set of KK. The button called also. Now the pot is nearing $200. The river is the Qc. Not a great card, but I think I still have the best hand. The only possible hands that beat me or Q 10 or AJ, which would have been a gut shot when the turn bet was made. Small blind checks, I check, intending to call a bet by the button for a few reasons: 1. he bluffs too much, 2. he is a chauvanistic pig, and 3. there is a 85% chance I have the best hand. I did not bet because he was definitely capable of pushing on a bluff. I also saw him check the river when he hit second pair to the board previously, so I cannot imagine he would bet a q in that spot.

So after I check to him, he bets $130. I thought about for perhaps 10 seconds, separated the 130$ from my stack (about 30% of my money) and decided that I had to call. I called, turned up my hand and he insta mucked and I scooped a nice pot. Of course, chauvanistic pig was like, how do you make that call? That's such a bad call. The rest of the table applauded my play and ability to read the situation and make a good call. It felt so good, and provided me more evidence of my abilities to be a profitable player.

I am going to execute a new plan for online; I need to revamp my plan as it has been an expensive 8 weeks considering that I have not final table d one tournament on UB or Stars. Though, I have been goin quite far in the rebuys.

More later,

Good money and peace,

Lucky C.

Chambas, Stutes and Hooks...in Las Vegas

I know, the title of this blog is confusing. Chamba is a new word Jon and I made up as a code word for women that look and act like men. It is really funny, actually. We also witnessed so many prostitutes and hookers that they are now categorized as "stutes & hooks" for short. LOL. Vegas, in a nutshell, was amazingly awesome. It was so good. We had a miserable time with the flights, both there and back, but our time in Vegas made the plane headaches worth it.

Summary of Events: Saturday, I spent at Binion's. I played the Ladies Only super satellite and won the package, which included my entry to the Ladies Only WSOP on Sunday and entry to a LIPS event on July 22, 2007, that I probably cannot make, so I will try and sell the seat.

After that, at 4pm on Sat, I played the $100 Ladies Only Binion's Poker Classic Event. I chopped first three ways at 3 a.m. I thought the tourney was pretty easy, but I did have a few rough patches. Sunday, the WSOp Ladies Event was a DISASTER. It was hot and uncomfortable in the 'tent' that we played in. Further, I switched tables 4x in less than 2 hours. How can I possibly accumulate chips with so many table moves? The pattern was, get my money in with the best, get sucked out, time to switch tables, lol. I did chip up to 4k right away and then lost two pretty big hands, QQ to Aq. and AQ to AK, and then I was out. Monday and Wednesday, I played a 340 and a 550 Venetian Deep Stack events. I went pretty far on Monday, but did not make the money. Wednesday, I believe was my quickest tourney exit ever, 35 min after it started. I lost with JJ twice, AK twice, and 99. It was insane. Twice, my opponents hit sets on me, and twice, I lost to the river. So I spiraled downward from 10k (up to 11k) and then to 2800, when my top pair lost to a set for my tourney exit.

Cash games in Vegas are so extremely juicy. So, so easy. I only played 5 sessions, and was completely card dead in three of them. I had two profitable sessions, one break even and two minor deficiting sessions. But overall, I think the cash games in Vegas are much more profitable than AC. Jon did really well in cash, but he always does well.

We didnt see any shows, but that was expected. We were only at the Rio one day. I really feel like the WSOP is overrated considering the terrible structure and lack of organization. Plus, they treated the Ladies Event like a second class tourney. The tournament director was very chauvanistic. However, I am already looking forward to next year's events.

We ate at some fabulous restaurants in Vegas. We had sushi at Shibuya, French tapas at a fancy french place in MGM Grand, great breakfast at Grand Lux Cafe, american bistro food at David Burke's, which was awesome, and more sushi at Tao. It was so yummy. As for the weather, it was cooking in Vegas, like 100 degrees or more every day....

I had fights with both Harrah's and JetBlue. We were resigned to staying at Harrah's for our trip, because it was the only one of five hotels for which I had comps that was not booked. Neverr again. It was disgusting. It was fake, and gross and old. Bad service, rude personnel, room not made, twice. It was just bad. I will never stay there again. Jetblue, I may just publish the link to the extremely heated letter I will be composing shortly to them.

Future poker plans. Jon and I are so psyched to both play full time. It will be amazing. I cannot wait. The apartment, hopefully, will sell in the next month so we can make plans to move for October 1.

Immediate future. Ladies Only Event at Borgata on June 17, 2007. Cannot wait. What's really great is pros will be in Vegas so this tourney should be really juicy. Tonight, I think we are going to the Club and I will play a tourney there. Jon and I are both goin down to AC on Sunday, but we will be goin down separately.

Lastly, Dragon left for his trek to Vegas today. So good luck Dragon, hopefully we see you at some WSOP final tables!!!!

More later.

Good money and peace,

Lucky C.

Celebrate Good Times

Last night, we went to Morton's Steakhouse to celebrate Jon's win. It was scrumptious. Jon and Dragon got steak, naturally, and I had blackened salmon, yum yum. Afterwards, we went back to the apartment and played the 8 p.m. I finished 164/250 gg me. LOL. I lost a few big hands, trips to a flush, etc., and then was down to 20x the blind. I raised all in with top pair and open ended, but I believe it was a bad play. I suspected that dry_benefit, a relatively tight, solid player, who raised preflp, had AA. He almost folded actually, but he did call, and it was only 1/4 of his chips. The right call, I think. The retard who pushed had an underpair, I had top pair and open ended and AA held. I then played Aruba and lost two big hands there, and ended up getting all my money in with KQ v. 99 and of course KQ flopped a full house- what a tortured evening. The saving grace to these debacle tournaments is that I won two sats for Sun yesterday, so I was esentially free rolling on tournament dollars that cost me $50.

Tomorrow, we leave for Vegas. I am super excited, probably too excited. Is there such a thing as too excited? I don't think so. (Me rambling on my blog, sorry).

The plan is as follows. Its going to be a LADIES ONLY EXTRAVAGANZA. Ladies Only sat at Binions 12pm on Sat, Ladies Only Tournament 4 pm at Binions also, and later that evening, register for Ladies Only at Rio. Sun, wake up early, breakfast and head over to Rio. Jon will most likely play some deep stack extravaganza tournaments over at Venetian. If I bust on Sun, I will play the one on Monday over there.

I had a good conversation with my father about poker and I think he struggles with the concept of his "lawyer" daughter concentrating on poker, but at the same time, he sees my results (and Jon's as well) and he instinctively senses that poker is profitable for us as well. He actually said, well if you move to Jersey, you will be close to A.C. and you can play live tournaments often and make some real money. I was shocked.

My wish this week is to make the money in the Ladies Only event...we will see what happens.

More later,

Good money and peace,

Lucky C.

First out in Leaderboard Freeroll, but a New Month Begins

Last night, Jon and I went to the Club. I haven't been there in two weeks I believe. In any case, I went primarily to play the free roll and then the rebuy tourney afterwards, but alas, my KK could not survive against ak and 88. AK spiked an ace and out I went. Then I played the $50 rebuy (ended up only buyin in once for a double and adding on, so it cost me $150). The rebuy is hilarious, but what is even funnier is that people play like its still the rebuy AFTER the rebuy period has ended. So therefore, we end up witnessing the new phenomenon 'hold em without a flop' (see post below). I ended up playing pretty tight, chose my spots to raise and chopped the tournament for an $890 win. It also put me at the top of the leaderboard for June, weeeee!

I am so exhausted today. I have been going to bed at 2 in the morning every night. I am so tired, I can barely keep my eyes open. Meanwhile we are leaving for Vegas on Fri and I need sleep. I guess I will sleep at my desk if all else fails.

Ok, I just busted out of 9k guaranteed when my AA could not possibly beat AK, all in with no pair and a gut shot. That's all for now, more latta!

Good money and peace,

Lucky C.

OSTRICHMAN rocks 200k on UB!!!!!

First let me say CONGRATULATIONS OSTRICHMAN! Whooo hoooo! Ostrichman, aka Jon, my boyfriend, took down the 200k guaranteed last night. A combination of him playing great poker and luck at the final table got him heads up against a pretty weak player. The weak player had monster hands against him heads up and Ostrichman ended up chopping evenly, but taking the title! Please go to www.pocketfives.com or www.cardplayer.com to read all about it (online results June 3, 2007). So, with Jon pocketing close to 36,000$$$ yesterday and my monster $400 cash session on Sat at Foxwoods, it was a pretty good weekend, to say the very least =)

On another note, this gives me a whole, renewed confidence in playing full time. While it happeend to Jon and not me, I feel like I won too. It was amazing! I cannot wait to leave my job and do my own thing! Freedom reigns!

Cannot wait till Vegas! Tonight is the freeroll at the club for the top 10 finalists of May and I am #5 so I hope I am able to report some earniings from the freeroll.

More later,

Good money and peace,

Lucky C.

Hold Em Without a Flop

A few days ago, I was speaking with my friend Dragon regarding tournament play, both online and live. We have been experiencing the same phenomenon that should be coined "Hold Em Without a Flop." This is the situation where, regardless of how much the raise is pre flop, and regardless of how much is in the pot and how many people are in the hand and REGARDLESS OF WHAT THE FLOP ACTUALLY IS, the either caller of a big raise or actual raiser feels he or she is committed to the hand.

Usually the show down hands are AK , AJ or a small pair with overcards on the board. It is actually quite shocking. It is like 2-card hold em. In their heads, at least. How is the a good, profitable play? The answer is simply, that it is not. It cannot be profitable in the long run. It simply can't. It is unbelievable the number of time I have re-raised all in or pushed in on a good flop for my hand, and I have been called by Ace hi. It is astounding, very very astounding. If you call me with Ace hi, you must be a great player with a perfect read, or a complete moron, and I have found that the latter is what has been calling my alllins.

In other poker news, I have been running terrible online. I have not cashed in a sng in days, have deficited in cash with incredibly bad suck outs and havent final tabled a mtt in a week. It is severely diminishing my online bankroll, which I will have to focus on building up on Sunday. I am positive though, that things will turn around, ,and once I have my next big cash online, instead of making a withdrawal, I am goin to spread that out on other sites so I can build up.

I won my entry for Sunday's tournament (only tourney I won all week) so I am excited for that.

I am also playing Ladies Only at Foxwoods tomorrow so that should be a lot of fun.

That's all for now, more later.

Good money and peace,

Lucky C.