The second shot: Actually did well for a change.

Earlier today I went on my job interview at the California Pizza Kitchen with my friend Hale. There were about 10 people there for the group interview and most of them seemed half-retarded. Even if the interview wasn't rigged for me I think I would have taken it down anyway considering my abysmal competition. We were all told that we would be called in 24 hours for a second interview. Hale called me only a couple hours later and told me to come in tomorrow at 4:00 in the afternoon for the next round of interviews. I really don't know what to expect but things are slowly starting to look up.

I got to Commerce at 7:15 and was prepared for a potential all nighter.

As I said things went well but the end did not justify the means.

The following happened in my nearly 5 hour session tonight.

1. I saw all the big pocket pairs tonight. I can't remember the last time I've seen any of them. That was really nice.

2. I didn't take a single bad beat. Unbelievable! I probably will not accomplish such a feat for another 3 months.

3. I took the standard cooler which fucked me for the night.

I sat down in the $200 and immediately I was getting nothing to play with. It's probably been close to 20 sessions in a row where the vast majority of my hands are completely unplayable. 9 2, 10 3, K 4, J 2. Those are the hands that I have been getting every night that I have been playing for weeks.

I have been playing really tight as of late, but I keep getting involved in the same types of marginal situations that are impossible to avoid that end up fucking me.

About 20 hands in, I picked up my first legitimate hand. 7 7.

There was a raise to $20 which I called, and a really wild player who had been caught bluffing a couple times made it $40 to go. The original raiser called and it was now another $20 for me to see a $120 pot. I could not have been more displeased because never under any circumstances would I put $40 in pre-flop with 7 7 in a $3-$5 NL game. I obviously called and missed the flop. It checked around on the flop and our bluffer went on all-in when a 2 peeled off on the turn. The original raiser folded and I had a decision to make. There was a Jack on the flop and the only other hands that could possibly beat me were a higher pocket pair. The way the hand was played did not go along with our bluffers bluffing tendencies and I actually gave him credit for a bigger hand then what I had. I mucked and after only playing one hand and folding the rest my stack was already down to $140.

A few more rounds went by and I won a couple of really small pots here and there and kept my stack at around the $140-$150 range. In that time I picked up QQ for the first time in forever and won $12.

I picked up KK and was shocked to see that I had now gotten two big pocket pairs in a 30 minute period. I raised and got two callers. The board came 8 high with a potential straight out there. I bet out $80 which was close to the rest of my stack. A really aggressive player put me all in and another short stack called. Shocking. I stood up accepting my fate and figured I had been cracked once again. To my good fortune the turn was a K and the river paired the board giving me the nut full house. I don't know what the shortstack had but I did not need to improve since the other guy had QQ. My stack was now up to $400.

A few hands later I picked up QQ and raised to $25 and got two callers from very loose aggressive types. I flopped top set and won the pot with a bet on the flop.

I then picked up KQ in the BB and flopped the nut straight in an un-raised pot. Flop: 9 10 J rainbow.

I almost didn't know how to play it since I am not use to getting this lucky. I checked the flop and a rainbow 4 came out. I checked once again and there was a bet of $20. I check-raised to $45 and he called. I knew that regardless of the river I was going to lay out a $50 value bet. The river of course was a Q which almost counterfeited my hand and I made the $50 bet and it got called and I scooped.

I won a few more pots and I left the $200 game with a stack of $594.

I pocketed the $194 and moved onto the second tier of my mission.

I bought into the $400.

I have to say. I was absolutely stoked for a couple reasons.

1. I was on a complete free-roll and no matter what happened I would be breaking even for the night.

2. It was so satisfying that I actually did well in the $200 and was able to step up to the next level of play.

It was a 10:00 at this point and this was probably going to be my last table unless something really extreme happened and I wanted to jump into the $600.

Playing in the $400 tonight was a really different experience. For one, it was a short-stacked table. Only two people had $1000 stacks and everyone else was shorter. Not only that, but it was a really soft table. The pre-flop action was much more passive then I am use to for a $5/$10 game. The first few pots I played were really nice. I don't know what anyone had obviously but everyone respected my bets. My first 4 preflop raises were not called and I kept winning $30-$40.

That allowed me to stay even for a while when my first big hand on the $400 came about.

I picked up 4 4 and limped in early position.

There was a raise to only $35 and I along with several others called. I actually flopped my 4 and the initial raiser went all in for like $275. I obviously called and my 4's held up.

I am now sitting on a stack of $750 which was all profit.

I was at a point where I was ready to go but I kept telling myself to not forget my goals and I decided to keep playing.

Then the big bad cooler happened. I obviously cannot go a night without a really bad hand happening.

I looked down at 8 6 in the BB and checked my option.

Flop 8 6 4 w/2 spades.

I checked and the button bet $25.

I checked raised to $75 and he called. I tried talking him into folding since he and I had been chatting most of the time that I had been at the table. I put him on a flush draw. He obviously called.

The turn was an unsuited Q and I fired out $200 expecting a quick muck. Instead he announced all-in and it was only $120 more to call.

I knew at this point that I was dead and since it was so little to call I had to. I wish we were both deeper because I would have had no problem folding my 2-pair. I called hoping that maybe one-time I would catch the elusive 4 outer and that poker would give me one back. Of course I missed the river and the button flipped over 5 7.
Standard.

I was now down to $310 and was quite disappointed.

Only 2 hands later I picked up A Q and raised to $50. The very next player to act made it $150 to go and I quickly folded my AQ face up and he showed QQ. I could already see the way the rest of the night was going to go. I already had my couple hours of running good which usually means that I am probably going to run bad until I lose the rest of my stack. Not a good attitude but I know how I run. My stack dwindled down to $200 and I realized that I was now completely even from when I pulled the original $600 out of the bank. I decided to play one more round hoping to see the hand that has eluded me for so long. AA.

With 2 hands left before my BB I looked down and saw two black aces. Finally! Maybe I can make most of it back on this hand. I decided to limp hoping for a raise but nobody did unfortunately. The flop was J high and luckily I was able to take it down on the flop with no resistance. That put my stack up to $207 and I got up and left.

I came up $201 for the session and am now up $1 in my two sessions for March.

Hopefully tomorrow will be a better result.

Hopefully I can actually have two winning days in a row.