I was right that going deep in the VIP event would catapult me up the rankings. Unfortunately, I didn’t do that. Suited, on the other hand, followed my plan to a T. She finished 6th and is not 6th in the overall rankings. She plays a very solid, tight game that does well in ITH events. She got short-stacked in the middle, but doubled up twice and was back in the thick of things very quickly.
I made a few interesting (and probably bad) decisions with JJ. Early on chrisjp limped in EP, I raised, another player called and chris pushed. I was in a bad position and had to fold. In hindsight, I know that Chris knew I was in a bad position and would have a hard time calling and I really didn’t think Chris was the kind of guy to limp-raise a big pair in that situation. I should have played that hand for all his chips there. Much later in the event, I re-raised an early raiser with JJ. He had been a bit aggressive with pre-flop raises and I thought I had a good chance to push him off the pot. Instead, he pushed with KK. I knew I was in trouble, but the push wasn’t that many more chips and I had to call, in case he had AK. I never really recovered from that hand and busted out near the middle of the field.
We had a great weekend. I took Suited for little getaway to an amazing Inn and restaurant. We had a 20 year old Sancerre with our first few courses. To be honest, I never imagined you could hold a Sancerre for 20 years, but it held up surprisingly well. It didn’t last quite like a classic white Burgundy would have, but it had a complexity you wouldn’t associate with Sancerre. We also had a stunning half bottle of Châteauneuf du Pape from the amazing 1998 vintage. One course that was particularly memorable was a diver’s scallop that was encrusted in bits of black truffle and was so good you wanted to cry. We staggered up the stairs to our room and crashed into a food and wine induced coma. It was a splurge, but well worth it.
I’ve been playing very few cash games since the ITH schedule started. I’m not sure this is a good thing, since I’m probably not even in the top echelon of ITH tourney players, but I’m a regular winner in cash games. Somehow, I’m really enjoying tourney poker lately, but it seems like I’m giving away some serious EV. Especially since Suited is kicking my butt.
