Sunday Should Not Rhyme with Funday!

Well folks, I was right and wrong. I know I am playing fantastic but results do not often come along in the process. Today was a day of mixed emotions as Sunday's often are for an online poker professional. I said up front that I am at rock bottom but that I wanted to start this blog now because I know I am going to hit soon.
I just took 2nd in the $163 on FTP which is normally a star studded field b/c they don't run many satellites into it (if any). I will enjoy giving the $20k to my backer because well, it's his $ afterall but am upset that the monkey I lost to headsup shipped J5 pre and beat me but meh, that's poker. I lost with top set of Aces on flop 4 times today & was sick every time. Here is the one from the $535 Main Event Qual


FullTiltPoker Game #11276963763: Sunday Main Event Qualifier (83360266), Table 18 - 10/20 - No Limit Hold'em - 16:41:14 ET - 2009/03/22

Seat 1: rlstking (3,195)
Seat 2: dswdo (6,260)
Seat 3: adam-y-y-y (3,560)
Seat 5: barak obamup (2,530)
Seat 6: oneymunny (2,860)
Seat 7: Smaugs (2,895)
Seat 8: bizzleraises (2,730)
Seat 9: MclovinLovin (2,970)
adam-y-y-y posts the small blind of 10
barak obamup posts the big blind of 20
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MclovinLovin [Ah As]
oneymunny folds
Smaugs calls 20
bizzleraises folds
MclovinLovin raises to 120
rlstking calls 120
dswdo folds
adam-y-y-y folds
barak obamup folds
Smaugs calls 100
*** FLOP *** [Ad 2c 4s]
Smaugs checks
MclovinLovin bets 150
rlstking calls 150
Smaugs calls 150
*** TURN *** [Ad 2c 4s] [Ks]
Smaugs checks
MclovinLovin bets 440
rlstking calls 440
Smaugs folds
*** RIVER *** [Ad 2c 4s Ks] [Jh]
MclovinLovin bets 800
rlstking raises to 2,485, and is all in
MclovinLovin calls 1,460, and is all in
Uncalled bet of 225 returned to rlstking
*** SHOW DOWN ***
rlstking shows [3s 5s] a straight, Five high
MclovinLovin mucks
rlstking wins the pot (6,240) with a straight, Five high
*** SUMMARY ***
Duration 85s
Total pot 6,240 | Rake 0
Board: [Ad 2c 4s Ks Jh]
Seat 1: rlstking showed [3s 5s] and won (6,240) with a straight, Five high
Seat 2: dswdo (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: adam-y-y-y (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 5: barak obamup (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 6: oneymunny didn't bet (folded)
Seat 7: Smaugs folded on the Turn
Seat 8: bizzleraises didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: MclovinLovin mucked [Ah As] - three of a kind, Aces

The one from the Double Deuce was particularly sickening. I usually do not play small buyins with huge fields but decided to anyway. My table ( I was in 10 games or so) never popped up so I missed the first hour of 10000 player field so no biggie. Well these lower limit mtters were just giving chips away and I soon had a stack. Hour after hour my stack was growing. They paid 1350 of 10000 players and I coasted into it and was hovering around 30th to 50th in chips for hours. I try not to resteal against worst players b/c they do not understand what hands they should and should not be playing. A lot of pros get mad at bad players for making bad calls butI have found that if you're trying to get a bad player to fold then you're often worse than he is for knowing he isn't capable of folding.

The blinds are at 6-12 k with like 150 left and I get AA utg. I had been opening a lot and had control of the table with 350k in chips. I had just picked up KK and got reshoved on so my image is gr8 even with my opening frequency. Anyway, a player with JTd behind me decides to shove and the board runs out AdKd3 Xd brick and he makes a flush and cripples me. I know I shouldn't be too upset but losing with a set is bad enough but to lose with flopped set of aces over and over is especially so.

The poker players who read this will understand my mood while my non-poker playing friends will say, wtf u made $20k today, I 'd kill for $20k in one day. There is a definite fine line in how important you make the $. The gr8 players don't think about the $ near as much as the lesser players who are constantly hitting the info button to see where they stand.

I know I am headed for the Venetian series in Vegas in a couple weeks & then maybe to Pendleton but past that I have no clue. I am not leaving town until my son's 1st baseball game and I cannot wait to watch him play. I truly have the best son in the world. I used to play poker for money but now I just play for him. I cannot wait for the day that I score big enough that I can truly play whenever I want and do more things with him!

Basketball was enjoyable to watch today other than Syracuse dominating. I have a feeling my Sooners are in for a lot of trouble. I haven't been betting but if I were I might actually bet against Oklahoma in this game which says a lot! Special shout to my friend who got deep in the $750k on FTP. (50th or so) Made a marginal call with AQ and it turned out poorly but there is a fine line between donkey and genius (most of us aren't far from either) .

Russ