[bloggerbane1]

I went hunting before the game and got absolutely "Ate Up" by mosquitoes in my deer stand. It was so hot that I couldn't wear my normal camouflage, so about an inch of my neck was exposed and they went crazy on me for about 4 hours. And no, I didn't see anything.

Lately, I've been raising pre-flop, getting called, betting the flop (after missing it most of the time), getting called again, and then checking the turn and then my opponent bets and I run and hide like an Arkansas Grey Squirrel.

This has been my pattern for the past month or two. I thought it was going to be the same crap again after the $10 buy-in was over...

Table Seating...

$10 buy-in

I only picked up 2 really good hands in this one. The first one was in a pot with blinds at 25 and 50 cents. After a couple of limpers I looked down at AA! In my excitement, I knocked over my chip stack trying to just call the blind. Everyone at the table had a comment about that, smooth move. So now, everyone pretty much knows I have a monster but I didn't raise so they call anyways. The flop came J-6-6. I bet out $2 and the Jackal to my left called. The turn was another Jack. Now anyone with half a brain would figure that the Jackal that was in the pot with me had made a boat, but guess what... NOT ME! I fired $3 into the Jackal who once again called me cold. The river brought an 8. Now I was feeling pretty sure that I was beat here but I decided to bet again (for some reason). I bet $3 more to the Jackal. I figured, if I got raised I was folding for sure. To my total surprise, the Jackal just called.

That really made me believe that he didn't have a Jack or a 6 so I proceeded to proudly roll over my Aces. Then the Jackal rolled over Queen Jack! I don't know why he didn't raise me. No really, Why didn’t he raise me? I have no clue... Anyway, I felt like a HUGE donkey for the rest of that tournament and was out a few hands later in 6th place.

$20 buy-in

I took an early chip lead in this one taking down the 1st pot against the 2 Jackals with A4 on a board of 4-7-K-9-4. The Jackal to my left had K8 and the Jackal to my right had 10 4. This was critical for me to get my confidence back up. After that I played much better for the rest of the night. I was "picking my spots" much better than I have been lately. My timing was good and I started running good again for the first time in a while.

It got down to heads up with the Jackal that had crippled me in the first game. He had a 2 to 1 chip advantage on me. After about fifteen hands I was at $47 in chips and he had $53 when this key hand came up. Blinds were at $4 and $8 and I was fist to act. I looked down at 98 offsuit and limped in and the Jackal checked. The flop was 9-7-6 rainbow. I beat out $8 and the Jackal, being his Jackaly self, moved all-in for $37 more. I called. He rolled over 74 of off-suit and the turn and river were blanks. After that hand the Jackal only had $3 in chips left. After two all-ins, with the cards dealt face up, I was victorious and happier than a fat kid on cake.