September 29, 2006. 3 Online Tournaments Won in the Past 12 Days.

I have been on a mini-rush the last two weeks. I have made 12 final tables and won 3 tournaments. I haven't changed my style and have followed Doyle's Super System faithfully; but I have also been getting the cards and hitting my draws when I need them. And yes, I have had my share of suck-outs. But you have to hit your draws to win consistently. My thanks to the Poker Gods for smiling down on me as I build my bankroll to make my run at winning a seat to the 2007 WSOP Main Event. Only 9 months to Viva Las Vegas and the Rio...

Thursday, September 14, 2006. Ocean’s Eleven Casino, Oceanside, California.

I have not played “live” poker since July, 2002, and I was not sure what to expect; or how I would stack up against other players. Ocean’s Eleven Casino in Oceanside has a daily tournament, which on Thursday is no-limit holdem with a $35.00 buyin and no re-buys. Seemed like a cheap way to get my feet wet.

In preparation for war, I rose early; showered; groomed myself and even polished my nails. I carefully chose my clothes – nothing too fancy; but not too grungy, either. I wore perfume; I just hate sitting next to players reeking of B.O. I pulled my hair up and secured the top and sides with a barrette and wore diamond studs and Tabra chandelier earrings.

I went to great pains to choose just the right card protector, which was my father-in-law’s cremation tag that had come with his remains. Norman loved to talk cards and poker, although I don’t think I ever saw him play in the more than two decades I knew him.

I headed down the 5 freeway, husband in tow, to test the waters. When I had called the night before, a casino rep had told me they usually had 3 or 4 tables. I liked my odds. Not a lot of money to win, but not a large field to try and outlast. A few more than 3 or 4 tables of folks decided to show-up and we had 14 tables of 10. A larger field than I had expected.

I played through 9 rounds and lasted almost two hours and NEVER had a pocket pair nor Big Slick. Somehow, I was able to stay afloat. The small pots I won were played strictly from position and because I chose a tight persona, I picked up a few blinds here and there. But I just never got the chance to try and do anything fancy. The blinds began to kill me and I fell quickly below the 10x ratio.

In the big blind, I was forced to go all-in with a 97 off-suit against pocket Aces and pocket Kings. I sucked out for a straight on the river and tripled-up. That kept me alive a bit longer and finally staring down $3000 in blinds next two hands, (and only $2500 in chips), I went all-in with AQ off-suit and was called by pocket 5s. The flop was 5-2-2 and I was done.

I placed 27^th out of 140 and felt I held my own. I was surprised by two things; the players were not nearly as formidable as I feared and the dealers were un-polished and made lots of mistakes.

Next week, I’ll return to play in a no-limit cash game – that should be more fun…